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The Phoenix Mercury finished the 2001 season with a record of 13-19, and they missed the playoffs. The Mercury made the playoffs the year before, and they finished that season with a record of 20-12.
Phoenix had a poor season, but before things got going, the Mercury added five new faces. The Mercury had five draft picks, and they had one in the first round, one in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth.
With their first pick, the Mercury selected Kristen Veal. Veal went on to play two seasons with the Mercury, and in her rookie season, she had her career high. She had 16 points against the Miami Sol, and Phoenix defeated Miami 60-47.
Veal was the team’s leading scorer, and there was one other player who scored in double figures. Jennifer Gillom had 14 points, and she also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
In the second round of that year’s draft, the Mercury selected Ilona Korstin. She played with the team for a year, and she had six points in Phoenix’s loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks won that game 73-50, and Lisa Leslie led the way with a 23-point double-double.
Tere Williams was the Mercury’s third-round pick, and she attended Virginia Tech. Williams averaged 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds during those years, and her best year was her second. She averaged 15.6 points and 7.4 rebounds. While she was drafted by Phoenix, she did not suit up for them.
Then, the Mercury drafted Carolyn Moos and Megan Franza in the fourth round. Moos did not play for the Mercury but she appeared in two games with the Miami Sol the following year. Franza was next, and before being drafted she spent her college years with Washington.
Franza averaged 17.2 points, three rebounds and 2.6 assists in her third year. Overall, she averaged 13.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in her collegiate years. She did not play for the Mercury, as she was waived shortly after the draft.
The Mercury have had different experiences when it comes to the draft, and in a year they had numerous picks, they all went in different directions. Phoenix was rebuilding, and in due time, the Mercury would turn things around.
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