INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever has signed 2014 first-round draft pick Natalie Achonwa to a contract for the 2015 season. An All-American who led Notre Dame to the NCAA Final Four, Achonwa tore her left ACL in an NCAA regional final game last season and missed the 2014 WNBA season.

Achonwa spent time between South Bend and Indianapolis last summer, and now continues her rehab and workouts with Fever medical staff in Indianapolis.

A second-team AP All-American and a first-team All-ACC selection, she is a versatile scorer and rebounder who the Fever selected ninth overall in last year’s draft, despite the injury.

PHOTO GALLERY Fever Drafts Natalie Achonwa »

“At No. 9, Achonwa was someone we looked at all along,” said Fever President and General Manager Kelly Krauskopf following last year’s draft. “We see her as a first-round draft pick in next year’s [2015] draft. We feel like we have a player who can make that kind of impact. We knew we wanted to have her.”

Achonwa averaged 14.9 points and a team-leading 7.7 rebounds for Notre Dame in 2014. She was a part of a senior class that helped Notre Dame to a 138-15 record with four trips to the Final Four. She finished third in school history with 145 games played, and eighth with 970 rebounds.

A member of the Canadian National Team from Hamilton, Ontario, Achonwa was the second Notre Dame player ever drafted by the Fever, following Niele Ivey who starred with Indiana for four seasons (2001-04). Now an assistant coach with the Fighting Irish, Ivey was a second-round pick in 2001 (19th overall).

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