Arizona
Arizona’s Esmery Martinez and Helena Pueyo hear their names called in 2024 WNBA draft
Esmery Martinez and Helena Pueyo didn’t just get drafted to the WNBA. They got drafted by teams that have played in the last two league finals.
Martinez heard her name called as the 17th overall pick (5th in the 2nd round) by the New York Libery, which lost to the Las Vegas Aces in the 2023 WNBA Finals. Pueyo was not far behind, getting called as the 22nd overall pick (10th in the 2nd round) by the Connecticut Sun, who lost to the Aces in the 2022 WNBA Finals.
Martinez will join former Pac-12 stars Sabrina Ionescu, Kennedy Burke, and Nyara Sabally as well as perennial MVP candidate Breanna Stewart in New York. The 6-foot-2 forward is a ferocious rebounder who worked to increase her range and handles in hopes of playing the three as a professional.
Pueyo is the prototypical team player who prefers to defend and dish but can score when pressed to do so. She will join fellow Spanish player Astou Ndour Fall on the Sun.
It was the first time Arizona had two players taken in the same draft since 2021 when Aari McDonald was drafted by the Atlanta Dream and Trinity Baptiste went to the Indiana Fever. McDonald went third that year. Baptiste was drafted 24th. Pueyo played with McDonald and Baptiste on the Arizona team that lost in the 2021 national finals to Stanford.
Martinez and Pueyo become the 12th and 13th players drafted into the WNBA out of Arizona.
WNBA training camp begins on April 28. Preseason games begin shortly after on May 3. Final roster cuts come on May 13 ahead of the season’s start on May 14.
Arizona
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Arizona
Kavan’s shutout lifts Texas to win over Arizona State, back to WCWS
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas will return to the Women’s College World Series to defend its national title.
The Longhorns capped a 2-1 series win in the super regional round over Arizona State with a 5-0 victory Sunday at McCombs Field. Katie Stewart drove in four runs, and Teagan Kavan hurled a complete-game shutout with five strikeouts.
Austin Super Regional: No. 2 Texas 2, Arizona State 1
The win sends the second-seeded Longhorns back to Devon Park in Oklahoma City, where they claimed the program’s first national championship last season. They’ll face Tennessee at 1:30 p.m. CT Thursday in the double-elimination tournament.
It’s the ninth time the Longhorns have been to the WCWS.
Texas bounced back from a 4-1 loss to open the best-of-3 series on Friday against the Sun Devils, claiming Saturday’s game 4-3 thanks to a pinch-hit 2-run home run in the seventh inning by Victoria Hunter.
Stewart provided the bulk of the offensive punch for the Longhorns, smacking a pair of 2-run singles in the third and sixth innings. Shortstop Vivi Martinez capped a 15-pitch at-bat against Sun Devils pitcher Kenzie Brown with an RBI triple in the fifth to score Kayden Henry. Martinez fouled off 11 pitches during the plate appearance, and then ripped a pitch down the first-base line that rolled all the way to the right-field wall, plating Henry to give Texas a 3-0 lead.
Martinez said she kept telling herself to win each pitch.
“I was just trying to keep it simple,” she said. “She has a great changeup, so I had to be aware of that.”
Kavan kept the Sun Devils off balance, forcing eight groundouts and eight flyouts to go with her strikeouts. She scattered five hits, allowing a 2-out triple to Yannixa Acuna in the fourth on a pop-up that dropped in shallow right field just out of Leighann Goode’s diving catch attempt. With the outfield heavily shifted the opposite way, the ball squirted into foul territory, allowing the speedy Acuna to scamper to third.
After Kavan walked Brooklyn Ulrich, she got Tiare Ho-Ching to ground out to end the inning, escaping the jam unscathed.
“Teagan was lights out. She showed the mindset of a warrior,” Longhorns head coach Mike White said. “The ability to put things that don’t go her way aside, and come out and compete for her team. She loves her team.”
Texas (47-11) was 7-for-19 with runners on and 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Arizona State didn’t have a hit with runners in scoring position, going 0-for-5. Both of Stewart’s 2-run singles came with two outs.
Stewart, Henry and Martinez all had two hits for the Longhorns. Acuna had two hits for the Sun Devils.
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