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Lady Lions Star Teniya Page Not Selected In WNBA Draft

Penn State women’s basketball guard Teniya Page will have to wait a bit longer to begin her professional career.

The four-time All-Big Ten guard and two-time WBCA All-American honorable mention did not get selected in the three-round, 36-pick WNBA Draft on Wednesday night.

Page, who came into the draft as a projected late third rounder, averaged 19.2 points per game in her senior season, which is good for 35th in the nation and second in the Big Ten.

While the Lady Lions haven’t had much team success in the past four years, missing the NCAA Tournament each season and earning two WNIT berths, the Chicago native has always been a touted star — coming to Penn State as a five-star prospect.

She had her injury struggles the past two seasons, though, which may have hampered her draft stock. Page was playing at the USA Basketball U-23 national team training camp prior to her junior season when she fractured her ankle, causing her to miss the opening third of the season. She had ankle issues again towards the end of this past season, missing three games and looking noticeably off in her final two collegiate games when she did return.

With the draft snub, Page will not add to the list of 15 Lady Lions who have been drafted in the WNBA’s 23-year history. The last Penn State women’s basketball player who was selected was Maggie Lucas in 2014.

While she wasn’t drafted, Page might still be invited to join three other Penn State women’s basketball alumnae — Alex Bentley (Atlanta Dream), Tanisha Wright (Minnesota Lynx), and Lucas (Dallas Wings) — on WNBA training camp rosters this May.

Still, league rosters are notoriously difficult to crack. With just 12 roster slots per team, in comparison to 15 for the NBA plus a whole development league, that means there are just 144 pro women’s basketball opportunities on the 12 teams in the United States. Sometimes first round picks from this draft don’t even make the team, with the 2017 draft’s ninth overall pick Tori Jankoska getting cut from her Chicago Sky side after the season opener.

Should Page not make a WNBA roster, there are still plenty of opportunities for a crafty scorer like herself to make it in the pro game in Europe.

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About the Author

Steve Connelly

Unfortunately, former editor Steve Connelly has graduated. Where is he now? He might be doing something related to that PR degree he got in 2019. Maybe he finally opened that sports bar named after one of his photos, the Blurry Zamboni. Or he might just be eating chicken tenders and couch surfing. Anything’s possible. If you really want to know, follow him on Twitter @slc2o.

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