New York state has produced some high quality athletes over the years, and a few have managed to shine on the D1 Women's Basketball stage. Lets take a look at the Top 5 players to come from the Empire State:
Sue Bird, UConn
From 1999-2002, UConn lost just 11 games, winning two National Championships. The dominant force on that squad? Sue Bird, of Syosset, NY. Bird only played in eight games during her freshman campaign, but she turned it up over the next three seasons. When her career came to a close in Connecticut, she finished with a total of 1,378 points, 243 steals, 585 assists and 330 rebounds. The list of her accolades is long. Bird won the Wade Trophy and the Naismith Trophy in 2002. That same year she was named the Division I Player of the Year by the USBWA. After graduating from UConn, Bird was selected with the first overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft by the Seattle Storm. She is one of a select few female athletes to win an Olympic Gold Medal, an NCAA title and a WNBA Championship which came in 2011. During a 12-year professional career with the Storm, Bird averaged 12.5 points per game, 5.4 assists per game and 1.4 steals per game. She also played pro ball overseas in Russia.
