May 12, 2004

A Pair of Colonials Caught in the Draft

Two GW women’s basketball players were drafted during the second and third rounds of the WNBA Draft April 17. Ugo Oha was the 11th pick in the second round (24th overall) by the Connecticut Sun and Cathy Joens was the fourth pick in the third round (30th overall) by the New York Liberty.

Oha, the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and GW’s all-time leading shot blocker, will join the Sun, who finished second in the East last season and made it all the way to the Conference Finals. She should bolster the Sun’s defensive play, which has been one of their weak points over the past few seasons. The 6'4" center’s 100 blocks last season almost equaled the entire Sun’s output of 111, which ranked them 10th in the league. Oha joins Minnesota’s Lindsay Whalen, Penn State’s Jessica Brungo and Duquesne’s Candace Futrell as the Sun’s 2004 draft crop.

Joens, a two-time A-10 Player of the Year, will bring her feathery shooting touch to the New York Liberty, which finished 16–18 last season and tied for fifth in WNBA’s Eastern Conference. Although she has been known as a shooter, the Liberty may ask her to shift back and forth between the shooting and point guard positions. Joens, an AP All-America Honorable Mention selection and a WBCA/Kodak All-America Regional Finalist, shot 45 percent from both the field and the three during her final season at GW, so she should help the WNBA’s 10th ranked offense put points on the board. She joins Arkansas’ Shameka Christon and Louisiana Tech’s Amisha Carter as 2004 Liberty draftees.

Andruski, Joens Earn Top Senior Athlete Awards
Seniors Darrell Andruski of the men’s cross country team and Joens were named the 2004 recipients of the J. Dallas Shirley Outstanding Senior Male Athlete Award and the Lynn George Outstanding Senior Woman Athlete Award, respectively, at GW’s annual Senior Honors Luncheon May 3.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu