April 7, 1998
The WNBA has announced that 1998 Kodak All-American Alicia Thompson, a 6'1" forward, from Texas Tech University and five additional college seniors have signed player contract to play in the league.
Also signing contracts were Julie Krommenhoek, a 5'9" guard and Alli Bills, a 5'7" guard, both from Utah; Mfon Udoka (mmm-FON YOU-doe-ka), a 6'0" forward from DePaul; Iowa's Nadine Domond, a 5'9" guard; and Sonia Chase, a 5'11" guard from Maryland.
Thompson was named the 1997-98 Big 12 Player of the Year and was a member of the Big 12 First Team the last two years. She averaged 23.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game this past season and was the leading scorer in the Big 12 Conference her junior and senior seasons. Thompson is the second-leading scorer and rebounder in Texas Tech history, with 2,156 points and 953 rebounds.
Thompson scored a career high 47 points against Texas on January 4, 1997, which tied Sheryl Swoopes of the Houston Comets for the third highest single-game point total in school history. Swoopes holds the first two spots with a 53-point performance versus Texas and a 48-point game versus Washington.
Bills and Krommenhoek both were members of the 1997-98 All-Western Athletic Conference First Team. Krommenhoek is a four-time selection to the All-WAC First Team and holds the conference career scoring record with 2,087 points. She led her team in scoring this past season with an average of 20.2 points and is Utah's career leader in steals with 255.
Bills' 7.6 assists per game ranked second in the NCAA last season. She is the all-time assist leader (605) in WAC history. Bills recorded a triple-double against Colorado State (2/26/97), where she scored 13 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and had 10 assists.
Udoka was named to the 1997-98 All-Conference USA First Team. This past season, she led her team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 20.1 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Udoka was the nation's second-leading rebounder during the 1996-97 season, with an average of 12.1 rebounds per game. She led the conference in rebounds with an average of 11.7 per game this past season and is the second-leading career rebounder (1,035) in DePaul history.
Domond was named to the 1997-98 All-Big Ten Second Team. She led Iowa in assists (3.8), steals (44) and three-pointers (46) while averaging 11.4 points and 4.6 rebounds this past season. Domond holds the school record for career three-pointers made (121).
Chase was the second-leading scorer on her team this past season, with an average of 13.6 points per game, and she led the ACC in steals with 89. Chase averaged 15.5 points and 8.0 rebounds during the 1997-98 ACC Tournament.
