USC Women's Basketball: Kaitlyn Davis Drafted By Elite WNBA Team In Third Round

Former USC Trojan women's basketball graduate student standout Kaitlyn Davis is now WNBA-bound. The six-foot wing, who was a two-time All-Ivy selection while plying her trade at Columbia University as an undergrad, was selected by the mighty New York Liberty during tonight's 2024 draft.

This year, playing on a loaded Trojans club that went 29-6 overall en route to its first Elite Eighth NCAA Tournament in three decades, Davis was a more modest contributor than she had been during her Columbia days. Across 30 games (24 starts), she averaged six points on 54.4% shooting from the floor, 5.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks, while providing excellent perimeter defense.

Earlier in the third round,, another ex-Ivy League USC grad student, small forward McKenzie Forbes, was picked at No. 28 by the Phoenix Mercury. As Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times notes, 2024 marks the second straight season the USC women's hoops program under head coach Lindsey Gottlieb has seen two Trojans players picked in the WNBA draft. Last year, All-Pac-12 forward Kadi Sissoko was selected by the Mercury with the No. 29 pick, while wing Okako Adika was picked by the Liberty at No. 30.

The Liberty went 32-8 last season (the first year the league extended to a 40-game regular season), obliterating their previous franchise season wins record of 23-11. Boasting three All-Stars, including two of the last three MVPs in forwards Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart (the third was point guard Courtney Vandersloot, the best passer in the game), the Liberty were among the two best teams in the league last season. Unfortunately, they lost the WNBA Finals 3-1 to the first-best team in the league, the dynastic Las Vegas Aces, who won their second straight championship (also their second straight against Liberty forward Jonquel Jones, who was on the Connecticut Sun when she lost to the Aces in 2022).

So can Davis help the Liberty get over the championship hump this year? Time will tell.