Rising Star: Former Manchester Girls Hoops Player Makes WNBA Draft
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April 17, 2024Rising Star: Former Manchester Girls Hoops Player Makes WNBA Draft
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack )
Leilani Correa
Leilani Correa, who captained the Manchester Township girls basketball team to a championship season during her last year of high school, is on her way to the WNBA.
Correa was selected by the Indiana Fever with the 27th overall pick in the draft. She played her final two years of collegiate ball at the University of Florida. Correa will team up with Caitlin Clark, the first overall choice, who won over fans with her incredible performance in college, setting multiple scoring records, including the most career points of any collegiate player.The NJSIAA Tournament of Champions semifinals was the farthest Manchester has ever gone in Correa's career, with 595 points and 264 rebounds for the team. After the coronavirus pandemic, the NJSIAA ended the TOC.
Correa played at St. John's University following graduation before moving to Florida. According to the Florida Gators women's basketball website, she was one of the team's most reliable players, averaging 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game in the 2022–2023 season and 16.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game in the 2023–2024 season.With 27 games in which she scored in double figures and three in a row in which she scored more than 30 points a game, she led the Southeastern Conference in scoring in 2023–2024. She was also named the 2024 SEC Sixth-Woman of the Year.
Having scored 1,272 points at St. John's and 860 points at Florida, Correa concluded her NCAA career with 2,132 points, 27 games in double digits, and three straight 30-point games.
