[4/18/04]Trina Frierson spent Saturday morning in Vicksburg with a small group of family and friends.

Then she got the call.

The former Vicksburg High and Louisiana Tech standout was chosen with the 19th overall pick by the Seattle Storm in Saturday’s WNBA draft, becoming the first women’s player from Warren County to get drafted by the league.

“I don’t know much about them,” said Frierson, who added that she has never been to Seattle. “They tried to get me earlier, but couldn’t get a trade. I was their only pick.”

Frierson was selected with the sixth pick of the second round, and will join former Louisiana Tech teammate Betty Lennox in Seattle.

But first, she will have her knee scoped again and may have to have surgery.

As a sophomore at Tech, Frierson badly injured her knee in a pickup game. The injury cost her her sophomore season.

She redshirted that season, but was hampered by injuries the following year.

She does not know when she will go to the doctor next, or when the Storm will have her report.

Frierson said there will be no elaborate celebration, just, “chillin’ out with some of my friends.”

Frierson was the second Louisiana Tech player chosen on Saturday. Anisha Carter went with the 17th pick to the New York Liberty.

The early picks were expected.

National Player of the Year Diana Taurasi became just the second guard to be the top pick in the draft when she was selected first overall by the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday.

“It’s a lot closer to home than Connecticut is,” the Chino, Calif., native said. “My parents will get a better opportunity to go out there. It’s a new city with new teammates, new surroundings.”

Taurasi scored 19.8 points a game on the way to earning Final Four most outstanding player honors for the second straight year.

The point guard averaged 15.0 points and 4.5 assists for her college career.

Former Connecticut teammate Sue Bird, 2002’s top pick, is the only other guard to be selected first.

The Washington Mystics selected Alana Beard from Duke with the second pick, and the Charlotte Sting followed by taking Stanford’s Nicole Powell. The Connecticut Sun picked Minnesota’s Lindsay Whalen at No. 4, and Arkansas’ Shameka Christon went to the New York Liberty with the fifth pick.

Rounding out the first round, it was: Houston’s Chandi Jones to Phoenix at No. 8; Ebony Hoffman from Southern Cal to the Indiana Fever with the ninth pick; Georgetown’s Rebekkah Brunson to the Sacramento Monarchs at No. 10; Duke’s Iciss Tillis to the defending champion Shock next; Georgia’s Christi Thomas to the Los Angeles Sparks with the 12th pick, and Purdue’s Shereka Wright to Detroit with the 13th and final pick of the first round.

The Associated Press contributed to this report