No Frenchwoman had ranked as well in the draft of the North American women's basketball championship Wnba since Isabelle Fijalkowski in 1997.

She shared her joy, surrounded by her family. The French Dominique Malonga was selected by the STORM of Seattle in second position of the draft of the North American women's basketball championship WNBA on Monday April 15 in New York (United States). This is the best ranking in history for a Habs.

At 19, the pivot (1.98 m) from ASVEL, Olympic silver medalist last summer with France, was chosen just behind the new American basketball star Paige Bueckers, 23, drafted in first position by the Dallas wings. No Frenchwoman had been classified as well since Isabelle Fijalkowski in 1997, but it was at the time in a scholarship reserved for professional players, when the WNBA had just been born.

Dominique Malonga joins a dozen other compatriots like Marine Johannès, who re-signed with the defending champions of the New York Liberty, or his future teammate at the STORM in Seattle, the Ailière des Bleues Gabby Williams.

“I am so proud to be there”launched in English the native of Yaoundé, capital of Cameroon, on the stage of the Shed, the New York hall where the draft was held. “My family is there, they know all the work it took to get there,” she added. She paid tribute to her clubs, Tarbes and Asvel, and also praised her fans “In Cameroon and Congo”.