NEW YORK—South Dakota women's basketball player Hannah Sjerven was selected as the 28th overall pick of the WNBA Draft Monday night by the Minnesota Lynx.
 
Sjerven becomes the first-ever Coyote women's basketball player to be selected in the WNBA Draft. The Coyotes qualified for the NCAA Tournament all four seasons she was on the court, reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history her senior year.

"This is the best possibility I could have dreamed of," Sjerven said. "I couldn't have even imagined this, watching the Lynx play as a little girl, now getting to go to training camp with them is so exciting."
 
A 6-foot-3 center from Rogers, Minnesota, Sjerven joins a Lynx program that won four WNBA Championships from 2011 to 2017.
 
Sjerven saw her stock rise following the Coyotes' 2022 NCAA Tournament run. She faced three first-round draft picks and one second-rounder in three games – No. 2 NaLyssa Smith (Baylor), No. 3 Shakira Austin (Ole Miss), No. 10 Queen Egbo (Baylor) and No. 15 Naz Hillmon (Michigan). Sjerven averaged 17.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.2 steals in the month of March, leading the Coyotes to the team's third-straight Summit League Tournament crown and the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.
 
Sjerven was a three-time Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, three-time all-Summit League first team, four-time Summit all-tournament team and a finalist for the 2021 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year. South Dakota's all-time blocks leader, Sjerven also finishes her career ranked in the top-10 at USD in scoring, rebounding and steals.
 
Preseason workouts for Sjerven and the Lynx are expected to begin next week. Minnesota's season opener is at Seattle on May 6. The home opener is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 8 against the Washington Mystics.
 

Summit League and the WNBA Draft
2006 - Zane Teilane, Western Illinois (Detroit Shock) - 3rd Rd. Pick No. 7; No. 35 overall
2015 - Vicky McIntyre, Oral Roberts (Seattle Storm) - 2nd Rd. Pick No. 8; No. 20 overall
2019 - Macy Miller, South Dakota State (Seattle Storm) - 3rd Rd. Pick No. 12; No. 36 overall
2022 - Hannah Sjerven, South Dakota (Minnesota Lynx) - 3rd Rd. Pick No. 4; No. 28 overall