SAN FRANCISCO — The Bay Area’s new WNBA team made Iliana Rupert its first player selected in the 2024 WNBA expansion draft on Friday afternoon.

The 6-foot-4 center from France started her career with the champion Las Vegas Aces in 2022. She played for Atlanta in 2023, but did not participate in the 2024 season.

She was the first of the 11 picks that the Bay Area team made in the nationally-televised draft on ESPN.

After selecting Rupert, the Valkyries took Maria Conde from Chicago, Veronica Burton from Connecticut, Carla Leite from Dallas, Temi Fagbenle from Indiana and Kate Martin from Las Vegas.

In the WNBA’s first expansion draft since 2008, the Valkyries are allowed to select one player from each of the other 12 teams, provided that they were not one of the six players each team protected.

The list of protected players was finalized on Nov. 26 but the league did not make the names public.

Of the unprotected players, the Valkyries can draft only one unrestricted free agent over their 12 picks.

After the draft, the Valkyries will be able to make trades and sign free agents.

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