INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever tied the franchise record for the most players acquired in a single draft with seven players taken during Monday night’s WNBA Draft. After the Fever selected NaLyssa Smith with the third-ever second overall pick in franchise history, six additional playmakers were added to this year’s roster.
Emily Engstler – 1st rd. – No. 4 overall pick
Forward – 6-1 – Louisville
The New York City native returned home to be selected with the second pick from the Indiana Fever’s draft allotment. Engstler played her final collegiate season with the Louisville Cardinals during the 2021-22 campaign, averaging 11.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists per game while starting all 34 games played. In her lone season with the Cardinals, Engstler was named to the ACC All-First Team as well as the ACC All-Defensive Team.
The 6-foot-1 forward began her collegiate playing career at Syracuse, where she played from 2018-21 with the Orange. In her three seasons with Syracuse, Engstler averaged 8.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 82 games played.
Lexie Hull – 1st rd. – No. 6 overall pick
Guard – 6-1 – Stanford
A pivotal member of Stanford’s 2021 national championship team, Lexie Hull was a three-time All Pac-12 selection, a two-time Pac-12 All-Defensive Team recipient and a two-time NCAA Tournament Regional All-Tournament Team honoree. The 6-foot-1 guard from Spokane, Washington spent her entire Stanford career on the hardwood with her twin sister, Lacie, and would go on to average 11.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 27.3 minutes in 127 games played with the Cardinal. Hull knocked down 191 3-point field goals and shot 37.4 percent from beyond the arc in her collegiate career.
Queen Egbo – 1st rd. – No. 10 overall pick
Center – 6-3 – Baylor
The Baylor starting frontcourt will both begin professional careers with the Indiana Fever as Queen Egbo was taken with the 10th overall pick. It was the third time in Fever franchise history college teammates were taken in the same draft, joining Zuzu Klimesova and Jillian Danker (Vanderbilt) in 2002, as well as Kelsey Mitchell and Stephanie Mavunga (Ohio State) in 2018. In her senior season with the Bears, the Houston, Texas native averaged 11.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 23.6 minutes and a 49.8 field goal percentage in 23.6 minutes per contest in 35 games played.
Destanni Henderson – 2nd rd. – No. 20 overall pick
Guard – 5-7 – South Carolina
The starting point guard for this year’s national champion South Carolina Gamecocks joins the Indiana Fever after the greatest game of her collegiate career to close out her tenure in Columbia. In Henderson 129th game played, her career-high 26 points helped capture the second national title in South Carolina women’s basketball history. The Fort Myers, Florida native is the Gamecocks’ ninth pick of the Dawn Staley era and the 13th WNBA Draft selection in program history.
Henderson’s 157 made 3-pointers ranks eighth in South Carolina history, and her career 37.9 3-point field goal percentage finished fourth in the school record book. She joined the 1,000-point club earlier this season and closed her career at 1,220 points to rank 24th in Gamecock women’s basketball history.
Ameshya Williams-Holliday – 3rd rd. – No. 25 overall pick
Center – 6-4 – Jackson State
Williams-Holliday became the sixth player from an HBCU selected in the WNBA Draft and the first HBCU player selected in the WNBA Draft since 2002. The Gulfport, Mississippi native also became the second Southwestern Athletic Conference player drafted ever.
The 6-foot-4 center helped Jackson State to a 48-3 record in SWAC games during her career. She is a three-time First Team All-SWAC selection, three-time SWAC Defensive Player of the Year and won Player of the Year, as well as Defensive Player of the Year honors in her final season. Ameshya comes to Indiana with her husband James and a son, Jace.
Ali Patberg – 3rd rd. – No. 34 overall pick
Guard – 5-11 – Indiana
From Columbus North High School, to college stops at both Notre Dame and Indiana, 2015 Indiana Miss Basketball Ali Patberg will continue her basketball career in Indiana. The 5-foot-11 guard played seven years of college basketball and was the second-ever NCAA women’s basketball player to earn a seventh season.
From 2018-22 with the Hoosiers, Patberg finished her career ninth all-time in IU scoring history with 1,752 points, third all-time in assists with 528 and also pulled down more than 500 rebounds in her four-year playing career for the Hoosiers finishing with 512. The Hoosier legend started all 123 games she appeared in at IU and became the program’s 28th member of the 1,000 points club during the 2020-21 season.
With Notre Dame from 2015-17, Patberg p​​​​​layed in 22 games and averaged 7.7 minutes per appearance.