One week ago, Donna Orender hosted a party and the pros handpicked the NCAA's best in preparation for 2005 WNBA basketball. The heart and soul of the Penn State womens' basketball team tuned in on 8 tv's, surrounded by family and friends at a restaurant-sportsbar in Pittsburgh.

As it turned out, the WNBA champion Seattle Storm stole the heart - the player Rene Portland called the 'best all-around player she coached in 25 seasons' -with the next-to-last pick of the first round.

TV analyst Ann Meyers said that Anne Donovan was hoping that Wright would slide to the 12th pick. "She was very excited about Tanisha Wright," Meyers said of her meeting with Donovan before the draft. "She said, 'Nobody's talking about her, are they?'" After the draft, Donovan beamed. "Tanisha, I think, is a great player to develop down the road."

The group that cheered for Wright was still waiting at Dave and Buster's for Strom's magical moment. Days earlier, however, Strom had re-injured an ankle she sprained in the Big 10 semi-final. 'Its not serious', she said. But on the day an out-of-school, out-of-shape Kara Braxton was judged to be an acceptable risk, the fortunes of an All Big 10 point guard ranked among the NCAA's best turned on an ankle.

Strom's reaction? "To even be considered is a big compliment," she said. "Teams can still call you and you can go to the training camps."

The duo started playing together at 14. They were opposites who became inseparable. Their AAU coach once said, 'It was like they shared one brain'. Rene Portland once said, 'They are our team.' As it turned out, Strom's phone did ring. Like Wright, Strom's invitation came from a champion. Wright went West, drafted by the Storm. Strom is staying in the East, invited to camp by the Sun. And the gods of basketball are smiling again.