Kathleen Doyle picked by Indiana Fever in WNBA Draft

Kathleen Doyle's last venture to Indianapolis wasn't a fond one.

She got banged around the floor a lot, and the Iowa Hawkeyes got smoked by Ohio State in the Big Ten women's basketball tournament.

It turned out to be her last game in an Iowa uniform.

Now, she's headed back to Indy.

The 2019-20 Big Ten player of the year, Doyle was selected by the Indiana Fever in the WNBA Draft, held Friday night.

She was the 14th pick, which was higher than anyone projected.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the draft was held virtually. Doyle watched the event with her family at their home in LaGrange, Ill.

A 5-foot-9 point guard, Doyle becomes Iowa's 12th WNBA draftee, its second in two years. Megan Gustafson, the 2019 consensus national player of the year, went 17th last year to the Dallas Wings.

Doyle was part of a senior class that won 96 games, the most of any class in Coach Lisa Bluder's 20 years.

She has hired Ticha Penicheiro as an agent, and now the goal is to make the Indiana roster. The Fever finished 13-21 last season.

'People like the way she plays,' ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said of Doyle earlier this week. 'Her fire, her mentality, her toughness, her grittiness. She's a great passer and she can shoot the basketball.

'She's not going to be upset if she's a 12th player, if she doesn't get a lot of minutes. Because of her competitiveness, that's the kind of player, that kind of second-rounder than can make a roster.'

Doyle averaged 18.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists last season as the Hawkeyes went 23-7.

All subsequent dates, including training camps, the regular season and postseason, are pending.

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