April 19, 2002

Moraga, CA - Jermisha and Jerkisha Dosty will continue their basketball careers in the WNBA. Jermisha will remain close to home after being selected with the 51st pick by the Sacramento Monarchs. Jerkisha was selected 10 spots later with the 61st overall selection by the Miami Sol. Both Sacramento and Miami are coming off playoff seasons.

Jermisha will join the Monarchs, a team that finished the 2001 season with a 20-12 regular season record and a birth into the WNBA Playoff. Sacramento advanced to the semi-final round following a swept the Utah Stars in round one. Sacramento was defeated by the Los Angeles Sparks, which captured the WNBA title last season, in five games.

"I'm extremely excited about the opportunity to play close to home," commented Jermisha. "Sacramento is a good team and they have very talented players. I will have to work hard in camp to give myself an opportunity to make the team. We're both going to good teams, but were just going to have to step up our games to compete at the next level."

Jermisha was a four-year starter for Saint Mary's, playing in 124 games while making 121 career starts. During her career, Jermisha averaged 11.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Misha became the first player in West Coast Conference history to score 1,000 points an d grab 1,000 rebounds. She scored 1,435 points and pulled down 1,121 total rebounds. She was a three-time First Team All-WCC selection, the 2001 WCC Player of the Year and the 2002 WCC Defensive Player of the Year.

Jerkisha will take her talents to Miami, joining a Sol team that also finished the 2001 regular season with a 20-12 record. Miami was taken down by the New York Liberty in the first round of the WNBA playoffs. Miami lost the series in three games after defeating the Liberty in the first game of the series.

"I'm extremely happy that I was selected and I'm excited about the opportunity to play for Miami," stated Jerkisha. "It would have been nice to have a chance to play close to home and with Jermisha. But if I had to choose another place to play, Miami would have been my second choice."

Jerkisha, a 2002 Honorable Mention Kodak All-American, played in every game while at Saint Mary's. She led the team in scoring in each of the last two seasons, and as a senior, led the WCC in scoring with 17.9 points per game and was named the 2002 WCC Player of the Year. She finished her career with 1,498 total points, ranking fifth in school history, and her 833 rebounds is fourth all-time at SMC. She was a two-time First-Team All-WCC selection and was the first freshman in conference history to earn WCC All-Tournament honors.

Jermisha and Jerkisha become the first Saint Mary's women's basketball players to make the WNBA while becoming just the second and third players taken from the West Coast Conference. Pepperdine's Rasheeda Clark was selected by the Portland Fire in the 2001 WNBA Draft.