<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="13604609" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="indiana-fever" source="Orion">Indiana Fever</keyword> selected Louisville's <keyword id="13604610" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="emily-engstler" source="Orion">Emily Engstler</keyword> with the fourth pick in the 2022 <keyword id="13568780" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wnba-draft" source="Orion">WNBA Draft</keyword>.</li><li>The Queens, New York, native teared up while reflecting on her "long journey" to the pros.</li></ul><p>Emily Engstler was overcome with emotion when she heard her name called Monday night.</p><p>The Indiana Fever selected Louisville's 6-foot-1 forward with the fourth overall pick in the 2022 <keyword id="11896033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wnba" source="Orion">WNBA</keyword> Draft. After transferring schools, transforming her body, and sacrificing so much for the game she loves, the 21-year-old Queens, New York, native was finally going pro.</p><div type="image" title="Emily Engstler (left) poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after she was selected in the 2022 WNBA Draft." height="1666" width="2500" msid="90805392" hostid="261"></div><p>She couldn't help but tear up in the moment — especially while reflecting on her siblings' influence on her path to the WNBA.</p><p>"Me and my sister are so close, and my brother, too," Engstler told ESPN's Holly Rowe after walking across the draft stage. "I wouldn't be here without them. I'm getting a little emotional, I'm sorry."</p><p>"It's been a really long journey, you know?" she added through tears. "I love them, and they've always been there for me."</p><div type="image" title="Emily Engstler dribbles the ball during Louisville's Final Four matchup against the South Carolina Gamecocks." height="1667" width="2500" msid="90805393" hostid="261"></div><p>Engstler's family looked on from a nearby table with tears in their eyes, too. They were all there on Roosevelt Island when, early on in the pandemic, Engstler upended her previous approaches to diet and fitness and went all-in on off-court basketball preparation.</p><p>Her sister, Danielle, helped design new routines for the then-Syracuse Orange star. Engstler lost 40 pounds by the time she returned to campus, <a href="https://dailyorange.com/2021/03/emily-engstler-transformation-syracuse-womens-basketball/">according to The Daily Orange</a>, which helped her reach new heights on the basketball court.</p><p>Engstler later left a <a href="https://www.insider.com/syracuse-womens-basketball-transfer-chaos-head-coach-response-2021-4">Syracuse program embroiled in controversy</a> and joined <a href="https://www.insider.com/louisville-coach-blasts-pti-hosts-cardinals-final-four-snub-2022-4">Jeff Walz's Cardinals</a>, which she called "a very smart decision" in hindsight. She continued to elevate her game at Louisville and credited the move with helping her WNBA draft stock rise as high as it had.</p><div type="image" title="Emily Engstler (left) and Louisville head coach Jeff Walz." height="1667" width="2500" msid="90805395" hostid="261"></div><p>Those two years made all the difference. So after she walked off the draft room floor and took a moment to let it all sink in, Engstler explained that the flood of emotions came after realizing that all that hard work and sacrifice had finally paid off.</p><p>"I got a little emotional up there for a second because I think it all hit me at once," Engstler said at her post-draft press conference. "This has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I'm super grateful, and I feel very blessed."</p><p>Check out the full video of Engstler's tearful interview with Rowe below:</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—ACC Network (@accnetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1513664947145875458">April 11, 2022</a></blockquote>

A WNBA lottery pick teared up over the 'long journey' to hearing her name called at this year's draft

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="12137456" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="south-carolina-gamecocks" source="Orion">South Carolina Gamecocks</keyword> bested the <keyword id="13468972" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="louisville-cardinals" source="Orion">Louisville Cardinals</keyword> 72-59 in their <keyword id="13392004" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="final-four" source="Orion">Final Four</keyword> matchup.</li><li>The top team in the country led throughout the second half to head to the national championship game.</li></ul><p>MINNEAPOLIS — The South Carolina Gamecocks are just one win away from a national championship.</p><p>Dawn Staley's wire-to-wire No. 1 team in the country took down the Louisville Cardinals 72-59 in the first of two Final Four matchups at Minneapolis' Target Center Friday evening.</p><p>South Carolina superstar Aliyah Boston — who earned consensus National Player of the Year honors — recorded a game-high 23 points and 18 rebounds to notch her 29th double-double on the season and lead her Gamecocks on to the title game.</p><div type="image" title="Aliyah Boston pulls down a rebound during South Carolina's Final Four game against the Louisville Cardinals." height="1667" width="2500" msid="90602364" hostid="261"></div><p>Though Louisville managed to claim a brief lead midway through the second quarter, the Gamecocks used an early second-half surge to pull away from the Cardinals. Junior guard Zia Cooke stretched South Carolina's six-point halftime lead to double-digits all on her own to start the third quarter, scoring five unanswered points on a quick three-pointer and a steal-turned-layup on the next trip down the floor.</p><p>The Gamecocks' lead never dipped below six points after Cooke's early-half heroics. Though the Cardinals managed to string together an 8-1 run late in the third quarter, Boston stymied their momentum with a huge lay-in through contact with four seconds left in the period.</p><p>She sank the free throw to complete the three-point play and put South Carolina up by nine at the end of the quarter.</p><div type="image" title="Zia Cooke (left) dribbles as Hailey Van Lith defends." height="1510" width="2262" msid="90602365" hostid="261"></div><p>Despite serious offensive struggles to start the contest — including a handful of layup attempts that missed the rim entirely — the Cardinals managed to climb back from their early nine-point deficit, thanks to a stellar stretch from forward Emily Engstler. The New York native was held scoreless through the first five minutes of the contest but pulled in 10 points and seven rebounds in the first half to keep Louisville close and lead all scorers.</p><p>The senior transfer led the Cardinals with 18 points and nine rebounds when the final buzzer sounded — even though she fouled out with 4:56 remaining in the contest.</p><p>Hailey Van Lith — the star guard who has been on an offensive tear for Louisville throughout the team's run to the Final Four — went 1-of-4 from the floor through the first two quarters and finished the game with six points in 40 minutes on the floor.</p><p>The Gamecocks will move on to face the winner of Friday night's second national semifinal between the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal and No. 2 UConn Huskies. South Carolina will pursue the program's second-ever national title Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.</p>

South Carolina continues near-flawless run to national championship with big Final Four win over Louisville

<ul class="summary-list"><li>12 players from last year's <keyword id="10375652" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="syracuse-orange">Syracuse Orange</keyword> women's basketball team have decided to <keyword id="6370787" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="transfer">transfer</keyword>.</li><li>Some signs suggest that players and staff clashed over COVID-19 protocols throughout the season.</li><li>Coach Quentin Hillsman insists his team isn't in "panic mode" despite the mass exodus.</li></ul><p>The Syracuse Orange will look like a new team heading into the 2021-22 season.</p><p>A whopping 12 players from last year's squad have elected to transfer for the upcoming season, leaving coach Quentin Hillsman with just three familiar faces on his roster one month after their 2021 run came to an end.</p><div type="image" title="syracuse" height="1634" width="2178" msid="82264414" hostid="261"></div><p>With the promise of immediate eligibility upon switching teams, 17% of Division I women's basketball players have entered their names into the transfer portal since the <keyword id="125824" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="NCAA">NCAA</keyword> title game on April 5, <a href="http://dailyorange.com/2021/04/quentin-hillsman-syracuse-womens-basketball-transfers/">according to The Daily Orange</a>. But even given the nationwide uptick, Syracuse's mass exodus stands out.</p><p>Some signs suggest that players and staff clashed over COVID-19 protocols throughout the season, which might have led to the Orange's unprecedented roster turnover. Four players were suspended from the program after the ACC tournament due to breaches of Syracuse's pandemic-related rules. All four of those players have since transferred, and eight of their former teammates have followed suit.</p><div type="image" title="quentin hillsman" height="1666" width="2222" msid="82264415" hostid="261"></div><p>"You have to wear a mask, don't go anywhere, wash your hands, you can't be around people, stay in your bubble, you can't go to class, all your classes are online," Hillsman told <a href="https://www.theoaklandpress.com/sports/syracuse-coach-quentin-hillsman-has-11-players-enter-transfer-portal/article_0ae88940-a367-11eb-9a52-7338bf1842df.html">The Oakland Press</a>. "It wasn't fun for me every day trying to enforce that, but we had to. We didn't do anything as a team, even on the road. It was a really tough year."</p><p>"How much that had to do with it, I don't know," he added. "But it definitely made the year less than enjoyable for all of us."</p><p>At least five of the Orange's latest transfers will stay within the conference. <a href="https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/31319843/syracuse-women-basketball-standout-kamilla-cardoso-transfer-portal">The Associated Press reports</a> that Kiara Lewis - Syracuse's 2020-2021 leading scorer - is joining the Clemson Tigers, while her fellow starter Digna Strautmane will head to Georgia Tech. Emily Engstler, Amaya Finklea-Guity, and Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi are taking their talents to Louisville, Duke, and Miami, respectively.</p><div type="image" title="kiara lewis" height="1405" width="1874" msid="82264416" hostid="261"></div><p>But Syracuse will welcome the No. 11 recruiting class for 2021 along with four transfers of its own to soften the blow of the program's many departures. USC's Shalexxus Aaron, Texas Tech's Naje Murray, Arizona State's Eboni Walker, and Howard's Jayla Thornton are all set to join the Orange come fall.</p><p>"For me, it's okay if you want to make a decision to move on," Hillsman told The Daily Orange. "But it's also okay for us as coaches to be able to go to the portal and get some players that can help you win and continue your standards."</p>

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A WNBA lottery pick teared up over the 'long journey' to hearing her name called at this year's draft

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South Carolina continues near-flawless run to national championship with big Final Four win over Louisville

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The Syracuse women's basketball team is in disarray as almost the entire team transferred in an end-of-season mass exodus

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