I'm very excited to be chosen by Portland. It's definitely a dream come true to be playing in the WNBA.

It's so disappointing it has to come to an end. After having the experience of playing for SMS, an incredible coaching staff and with an incredible team, it's been a great ride and I didn't want it to end.

I was really lucky that Coach Hargrove took a chance on me because I feel like Portland has been a great fit for me.

My main focus at the start of the season was basically to have the best senior year possible for Southwest Missouri State. I really didn't take into consideration the draft that much. I just wanted to help my team win basketball games. Once our season run was over, that's when I really started looking into where I might be going, or if I would go anywhere, so that's when I really started focusing on the next step.

Even after such milestones as Kathryn Bigelow winning an Oscar, there still seem to be few women in leadership roles.

We didn't have a backyard, so as I child, I would turn the coffee table into a stage and put on shows. But it was just a fun thing to do; I never thought about it as a profession. That started as a fluke; my mother had a friend who was an artist with a theater company, and I started going there after school because my mom knew I'd be safe.