Lia Galdeira Taken 19th in WNBA Draft

Konawaena High School graduate and former Washington State basketball player Lia Galdeira. Photo credit: Washington State athletics.

Konawaena High School graduate Lia Galdeira is taking her professional basketball career to the next level: the WNBA.

Galdeira, a 2012 Konawaena graduate, was taken in the second round of the 2016 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics. She was the 19th overall selection in the draft, which was held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Last year, Galdeira announced that she was leaving Washington State after her junior season to pursue a professional basketball career. She ended up in Bulgaria with Haskovo 2012, a member of the Bulgarian National Basketball Legaue. In her last game with Haskovo, a NBL semifinal against Neftochimic on Wednesday, she scored 28 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in her team’s 85-76 win.

For the season, Galdeira averaged 22.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game.

Galdeira scored 1,710 points in her three years at Washington State, second all time at the program. In her final season with the Cougars, she averaged 20 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest.

Washington opens the upcoming season with a preseason contest against the Indiana Fever on May 6.