April 19, 2002
WACO, Texas - Sheila Lambert and Danielle Crockrom became the first Lady Bears to be drafted by the WNBA when they were selected in the first round of today's draft held in Secaucus, N.J.
Lambert, a 5-7 point guard, became the first Baylor women's basketball player drafted when the Charlotte Sting made her their first pick and the draft's No. 7 selection overall. In her two seasons at Baylor, Lambert scored 1,315 points, dished out 398 assists and stole the ball 195 times. The Seattle native led Baylor in scoring and assists both seasons and averaged 20.9 points and 6.3 assists a game. Lambert earned Kodak All-American honors, was a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year, first-team All-Big 12 and received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith award which honors the nation's best player 5'8" or under.
"I am really looking forward to playing for the Charlotte Sting and head coach Anne Donovan," said Lambert. "Dawn Staley, their point guard, is awesome and I will be able to learn so much from her. Hopefully, while I recover from my injuries (broken fibula and high ankle sprain suffered in the WBCA All-Star game) I can be like a sponge and absorb as much knowledge as I can and also put on some weight."
Crockrom, a 6-2 power forward, was the No. 11 pick of the draft when she was selected by the Utah Starzz. Crockrom was a stellar performer throughout her four-year Baylor career. She scored 1,603 points and hauled down 999 rebounds for her career. She was a two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection and was named to numerous all-American teams. The Houston native shot 52.3 percent for her career and averaged 13.5 points and 8.4 rebounds as well.
"I'm really excited and happy about playing for the Utah Starzz," said Crockrom. "It's neat that I get to play with someone from the Big 12 (Oklahoma's LaNeishea Caufield was taken 14th by Utah). Jennifer Azzi and Margo Dydek are great players and I'll learn a lot from them. I told Coach (Candi) Harvey that she finally gets to coach me. She recruited me while she was head coach at Texas A&M."
- Lambert was one of eight players selected to be present in the studio for the 2002 WNBA Draft, televised by ESPN2.
- In their junior and senior seasons, the duo led the Lady Bears to a 48-15 record and two NCAA Tournament berths.
- Baylor was one of three teams to have two or more players drafted in the first round. The other two teams met on the court for the NCAA Championship (Connecticut and Oklahoma).
