Thorburn was the top Utahn selected, taken by Minnesota with the seventh overall pick.

"I'm still in shock," Thorburn said. "It's a little surreal right now. I'm just so excited. I really think I'm going to a team that I can contribute to, learn a

lot from and just have a good time and win some basketball games."

Smith, the 13th selection, will play for defending champion Sacramento.

Also, Brigham Young's Ambrosia Anderson was taken in the second round by Detroit. However, Anderson, the 17th player chosen in the three-round draft, was immediately on the move, as she was traded to Minnesota.

"There was a lot of excitement," Smith said of her selection. "Sacramento won the championship, so I know I'm going someplace where they win basketball games."

Smith, a 6-foot-1 forward and the all-time leading scorer in Utah and Mountain West Conference history as well as the league's four-time player of the year, averaged an MWC-best 19.3 points while pulling down 8.3 rebounds. Thorburn, a 5-10 guard and Utah's career leader in assists as well as MWC co-Player of the Year in 2005, averaged 11.9 points, 7.1 assists and 6.4 rebounds in 2006.

Thorburn was Minnesota's second pick of the first round. Two-time player of the year Seimone Augustus of LSU was the No. 1 pick in the draft.

"[Augustus] probably has no idea who I am," Thorburn told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "But that's OK, I'm sure a lot of people don't."

The three players drafted tied the MWC's single-season record (2003), while Thorburn's selection was the conference's highest ever. Texas Christian's Sandora Irvin was taken third in 2005, one month prior to the Horned Frogs' official jump to the MWC.

"It's funny how that works out," Anderson, the MWC co-Player of the Year, said about joining rival Thorburn on the Lynx, who finished 14-20, sixth in the Western Conference.

"Shona's a good point guard, she knows how to deliver the ball," Anderson said. "I'll probably be playing behind Seimone most of the time, but I don't mind."

Anderson paced the 26-6 Cougars to the round of 32 in this season's women's NCAA Tournament. The 6-2 forward averaged 17.9 points and 7.5 rebounds.

"We're very excited for her," BYU coach Jeff Judkins said, adding that Anderson will need to work on her defensive skills. "She'll surprise a lot of people there. It's a dream she's always wanted."

Phoenix selected Rutgers' Cappie Pondexter with the second pick, followed by Duke's Monique Curry (Charlotte), Sophia Young of Baylor (San Antonio), Lisa Willis, UCLA (Los Angeles) and Temple's Candice Dupree (Chicago).

The SEC had four first-round selections, while the ACC had three.

Minnesota coach Suzie McConnell Serio discovered Thorburn while scouting another player.

"We expect her to contribute," Serio said. "The No. 7 pick isn't always guaranteed to be a starter in this league. Nothing at this level is guaranteed for anybody. We do expect Shona to come in and contribute. From here on out, it is up to her. We don't have a starting point guard returning, so she will have every opportunity to earn a spot from the beginning.

"We liked a lot of things about her - her toughness, her ability to create, she can get into the paint at will, she creates for her teammates and she rebounds very well."

Utah coach Elaine Elliott, in Boston for the draft, looks at her players' draft positions as the perfect topper to a season that saw the 27-7 Utes reach the women's Elite Eight for the first time. Utah eventually lost in overtime to Maryland, which went on to win the NCAA Tournament.

"I don't know how it could have gotten any better," Elliott said. "I'm just honored to have them in the program."

Sacramento coach John Whisenant, interviewed on ESPN, said of Smith: "She's an excellent passer and good rebounder. She'll be part of our nine-player rotation."

Smith was unsure of her draft position.

"It has been pretty nerve-wracking," she said. "I didn't have a great [pre-draft] camp [on Monday], so I was definitely nervous. Going into the camp, I had heard that if I was still available that Sacramento was going to take me. But I didn't know until I heard my name called."

martyr@sltrib.com

Notable picks

Pick Team Player

1 Minnesota Seimone Augustus, LSU

2 Phoenix Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers

7 Minnesota Shona Thorburn, Utah

13 Sacramento Kim Smith, Utah

17 x-Detroit Ambrosia Anderson, BYU

x-traded to Minnesota