Women’s Basketball: Kelsey Mitchell selected second overall by Indiana Fever in WNBA draft

Ohio State senior guard Kelsey Mitchell takes a shot during the third quarter of the Buckeyes’ victory against Penn State on Jan. 31. Credit: James King | Sports Director

The greatest scorer in Ohio State basketball history will now be taking her talents to the WNBA.

Guard Kelsey Mitchell was selected second overall in Thursday’s WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever, becoming only the second player in Ohio State history to be selected as high as No. 2. South Carolina forward A’Ja Wilson was taken first by the Las Vegas Aces.

Former center Jessica Davenport was drafted second by the New York Liberty in the 2007 WNBA draft. She later played for the Fever from 2009 to 2012.

The number two seems to follow Mitchell throughout her career. The four-year Ohio State starter sits second all-time in points with 3,402, behind just Washington’s Kelsey Plum and her 3,527 points.

Mitchell does, however, rank first in NCAA history in both attempted and made 3-pointers, while finishing her career on an NCAA-best streak of a made 3-pointer in 92 straight games. She ended her collegiate career averaging 24.5 points, 3.9 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game, while never having averaged fewer than 22 points per game in a single season.

Mitchell’s success throughout her collegiate career was met with plenty of accolades. She was a three-time Big Ten Player of the Year, four-time first-team All-Big Ten, three-time second-team All-American and one-time All-American.

Despite the individual achievements, Mitchell’s teams never advanced past the Sweet 16 during her collegiate career. After winning both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles in her senior season, Ohio State was eliminated from the NCAA tournament in the second round by Central Michigan.

Mitchell will join a Fever team in desperate need of some scoring help. Indiana finished second-to-last last season in scoring average with just 75.1 points per game. Though it had a trio of guards in Erica Wheeler, Shenise Johnson and Tiffany Mitchell all average more than 10 points per game, none averaged more than 12 and only Wheeler started more than 15 games for the team.