Sparks Get the Player They Sought--Nebraska’s Kubik

The Sparks went small, then big with their first two picks in the WNBA’s player draft on Tuesday.

First, with the 15th pick of the first round, the club selected 5-foot-9 Nebraska guard Nicole Kubik, then, in the second round, chose 6-5 Connecticut center Paige Sauer with the 31st pick.

UCLA’s Maylana Martin was the 10th overall pick, by Minnesota.

The No. 1 pick, by Cleveland, was Ann Wauters, a 20-year-old, 6-foot-4 Belgian.

Sparks Coach Michael Cooper said after the draft he figured “about a month ago” he’d take Kubik with the team’s first pick. He said she’d rated among the best backcourt defenders in the country.

Cooper said Kubik at the outset probably will be Ukari Figgs’ backup at point guard, but added: “The luxury we have with her is that she can play the one or two spots.”

Kubik, in a conference call, said she was reasonably sure she was headed to Los Angeles after attending the WNBA’s combine workouts in Chicago earlier this month.

“I talked a lot with the Spark people at the combine and I had a really good feeling about them,” she said.

“I hoped it would work out this way. I’m so excited--I hope I can help them win a championship. Houston had better watch out.”

Kubik averaged 14.6 points last season as Nebraska’s shooting guard. As a point guard in her sophomore and junior seasons, she had 330 assists.

Sauer was a starter as a sophomore at Connecticut but went to the bench her junior year. She’s a mobile inside player who shoots well to mid-range. Cooper said he called Sauer right after the pick.

“I told her I need her big body in there, banging on everyone in the paint,” he said. “She said she’d do anything I wanted--she’s very excited. We need her to let us give Lisa [Leslie] a rest now and then.”

Sauer, with substitute minutes, shot 53% from the floor and averaged three rebounds and four points a game for the national-champion Huskies this season.

Other Tuesday highlights:

* Louisiana Tech’s quick guard tandem of Betty Lennox and Tamicha Jackson were picked sixth and eighth, by Minnesota and Detroit.

* Former Stanford center Naomi Mulitauaopele, a 6-4 power forward/center, was taken 12th, by Utah.

* Two prominent guards, Penn State’s Helen Darling and Rutgers’ Shawnetta Stewart had long falls. Cleveland took Darling with the first pick of the second round, and Orlando chose Stewart with the 36th pick of the third.

* The first collegian taken was Texas guard Edwina Brown, by Detroit, as the third pick. With the second pick of the draft, Washington took center Tausha Mills, a former ABL and Alabama player.

* Phoenix didn’t have a pick until the 21st spot. Cheryl Miller picked a 1999 USC player, Adrian Williams.

* UC Santa Barbara point guard Stacy Clinesmith was the 30th selection, by Sacramento.

* Long Beach State’s 6-8 Rhonda Smith, who led the nation in blocked shots, went 55th, to Portland.

The hardest-working of the WNBA’s 16 coaches Tuesday was Minnesota’s Brian Agler, who had stockpiled eight picks, including three during the first round. He took guards Grace Daley (fifth) and Lennox (sixth) as his first two, then Martin.

Utah, everyone agreed, in two days went from near-worst (15-17) to near-best.

First the Starzz sent their two first-round picks, the third and eighth, to Detroit for Jennifer Azzi on Monday, then strengthened their inside game with the Mulitauaopele choice. Their next pick was Iowa State guard Stacy Frese.

“We had a hard time beating Utah before they got Azzi,” Cooper said.

Houston, three-time WNBA champion, took a 6-4 Russian, Elena Chakirova, with the last pick of the first round and took a second center, 6-1 Andrea Garner of Penn State, as its second pick (32nd).

The Sparks will have tryouts this weekend at Loyola Marymount for 38 players who weren’t drafted, including UCLA’s Erica Gomez and Carly Funicello, and former USC guard Kristin Clark.

The WNBA season begins May 29.

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Sparks Picks

Players chosen Tuesday by the Sparks in the WNBA draft:

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Pick Player Pos. Ht. College 1. Nicole Kubik Guard 5-9 Nebraska 2. Paige Sauer Center 6-5 Connecticut 3. Marte Alexander Center 6-4 Arizona (‘98) 4. Nicky McCrimmon Guard 5-8 USC (‘94)

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DRAFT LIST, Page 9