By Nathan Keil | Sports Writer
The Women’s National Basketball Association Draft on April 13th saw two Lady Bears hear their names called. Those two players were redshirt senior guard Alexis Jones going No. 12 to the Minnesota Lynx and senior guard Alexis Prince going No. 29 to the Phoenix Mercury.
However, after not getting the call that night, senior forwards Nina Davis and Khadijah Cave were left pondering what was next for them.
Neither of them had to wait very long to land their next opportunity.
Both have signed training camp contracts with the defending WNBA champs Los Angeles Sparks.
Cave said she is humbled and greatly looking forward to her opportunity to compete in Los Angeles.
“It’s a great opportunity. I’m thankful I received a call from them,” Cave said in a statement. “It’s all about timing, and I’m happy to have this chance. I’m going to take it and do my best, and hopefully I make the team.”
Cave, a native of Augusta, Ga., averaged a modest seven points and rebounds over the course of her career at Baylor but was highly effective in head coach Kim Mulkey’s system, logging 146 games over her career where she earned the Big 12’s Sixth Man of the Year award in 2015.
Davis logged 149 games in her career at Baylor, advancing to four straight Elite Eights. She averaged just over 16 points per game while shooting 57 percent from the floor. Despite being undersized at 5 feet 11 inches, she averaged nearly eight rebounds per contest in her career.
She earned All Big-12 First Team in 2014, 2015 and 2016 while earning Player of the Year in the conference in 2015. She was an All-American in both 2015 and 2016 and finished with 2,433 points in her career.
For Davis, it is just an opportunity to continue to live out her lifelong dream. It’s a chance to do so with the defending champions.
“I’m thrilled. It’s a blessing and a wonderful opportunity to be able to go to LA,” Davis said in a statement. “They’re not just any team, they’re the champs, so I’m excited to get there and see what happens.”
Both Davis and Cave will be reunited with former Lady Bear Odyssey Sims.
Davis said that Sims encouraged them to be confident and stay within their own skillsets as they attempt to make the season roster.
The Los Angeles Sparks will play their first preseason game at 4 p.m. Tuesday against the New York Liberty.
The good news for the Lady Bears did not stop with the signings of Davis and Cave but stretched across the parking lot to Getterman Stadium.
Softball senior utility specialist Lindsey Cargill was selected in Round 5 at pick No. 22 in the National Pro Fast Pitch college draft on Monday by the Texas Charge.
Cargill, the Robinson native, is putting together a stellar senior season for No. 13 Baylor. She leads the team with a .457 batting average, which is good for eighth in the country. She also leads the team in triples with three, stolen bases with 28 in 33 attempts and is successful in 83 percent of her attempts over her career.
She cemented her legacy in Baylor history when she set a school record for longest hitting streak at 22 games.
The team is headquartered in New Braunfels and has competed in the National Pro Fast Pitch since 2015.
The Charge also drafted LSU outfielder Bailey Landry, Arizona infielder Katiyana Mauga, Florida pitcher Delaney Gourley and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville pitcher Haley Chambers-Book.
The Charge begins its season at 7:05 p.m. June 8 at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos. Texas will host the Scrap Yard Dawgs.
Meanwhile Cargill and the Lady Bears remain in the hunt for a Big 12 Championship. Baylor will host a weekend series with first place Oklahoma State beginning at 6:30 p.m. today.
