TAMPA, MAY 14, 2015 - Former USF women's basketball player Inga Orekhova returned to the United States from her first year of professional basketball overseas, signing with the WNBA's Connecticut Sun as one of 17 players competing for a spot this season.

Orekhova, the Bulls' highest-ever draft pick when the Atlanta Dream selected her early in the second round, is one of seven guards on the Sun roster, adding another shooting threat to the Connecticut lineup after shining overseas for Belgium's Belfius Namur, averaging 10.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in her first professional season.

"I'm excited for Inga," USF head coach Jose Fernandez said. "I'm happy she's getting another chance to prove she belongs in the league. She had a very good first professional year in Belgium, and I and the entire USF family wishes her the best of luck."

Orekhova is one of just 20 USF players ever to reach the 1,000 point mark, scoring 1,072 points in her three-year career with the Bulls. She registered 218 three-point baskets, just three less than USF's all-time three-point leader Shantia Grace, and helped lead USF to its second-ever NCAA Tournament and second-ever WNIT Final Four.

Orekhova may best be remembered at USF for her NCAA Tournament heroics, scoring six of her 22 points against California during the final 30 seconds of the second-round game, including three free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining to force overtime. One year later, Orekhova helped shoot the Bulls into the WNIT Final Four, becoming USF's all-time leader in postseason games played in the process.

Orekhova is the second USF player to suit up for Connecticut, as Andrea Smith was drafted by the Sun in 2013.