The consensus top two seniors who will be available to the Lynx next April are both posts – Stanford’s Jayne Appel and Tina Charles from Connecticut. The Monarchs, who earned the second pick, will likely select the other top player, though Minnesota Executive Vice President Roger Griffith was unwilling to rule out another candidate for the top spot emerging.

“Those are the two big names,” he told reporters in a conference call, “but there’s a long college season ahead and other names will arise. We aren’t going to look at two people, we will look at a lot of people for that spot.”

Connecticut rounded out the selections assigned by the lottery, claiming the No. 3 pick. Minnesota will select fourth and Chicago fifth.

The Storm holds the 11th overall pick and will also pick 24th in the second round and 37th in the third round.

“I am very happy,” said Wisla Head Coach Jose Hernandez. “We played very good offense but need to work to improve our game on defense. A great game for Izi Castro and Burse. Congratulations to the Hungarian team for a very good game.”

Burse has dominated the glass so far in Euroleague play. With 28 rebounds in two games, she leads all players in rebounding.

- In a matchup of two top team in Poland, Lotos Gdynia defeated TS Wisla Can-Pack in Krakow 78-70. Wisla Can-Pack was limited to six points in a low-scoring fourth quarter that began with a 65-64 score. Janell Burse had 10 points and seven rebounds, shooting 4-of-6 from the field. When Wisla Can-Pack next takes the court, it should have former Storm forward Iziane Castro Marques, who arrived in Krakow on Tuesday.

- Ashley Walker helped Maccabi Ashdod earn its first win of the season, beating Elizur Ramla 88-75 on Monday. Since Ashdod is without injured Natasha Lacy, Walker took on the role of playmaker, handing out a game-high six assists to go along with 21 points and eight rebounds.

WNBA.com is choosing its Photo of the Year, presented by HP. The first round of the voting gives fans an opportunity to select their favorite photo from the 2009 season from a specific team, and right now your Storm is highlighted. Make your voice heard and choose from among 10 great photos that highlight the photography of Terrence Vaccaro, including the picture above of the Storm lined up for the National Anthem before a game.

After Wisla took the lead in the second quarter, the game was tight throughout. It was a one-possession difference with 31 seconds left when Burse’s putback made the difference five points and forced Avenida to foul on the final Wisla possession. Two Liron Cohen free throws provided the final 65-60 margin. Burse played 37 minutes, tied with teammate Marta Fernandez for a team high, and finished with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds (second most of any Euroleague player on opening day). Burse added four blocked shots in the win.

Elsewhere, Spartak Moscow Region got off to a winning start in Euroleague without Storm stars Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson. Getting 27 points from Diana Taurasi and a double-double from Sylvia Fowles, Spartak crushed Frisco Sika Brno 95-71 at home.

It was a tough loss on Monday for Maccabi Ashdod, which led talented Electra Ramat Hasharon much of the night before surrendering a comeback and losing 76-73. Ashley Walker had a game-high 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting (including a pair of threes) and nine boards, while Courtney Paris put up 19 points and 19 rebounds, but Maccabi lost its other American import, former UTEP guard Natasha Lacy, to a fractured wrist. Lacy’s absence in the second half helped open the door for a comeback.

”I’ve had a pretty good run up until the last couple of years and injuries have taken over a little bit,” she said. “‘But what my body needs is a little bit of a break, which I’ve had, and I’m working on other aspects of my body and hopefully I’m going to get a base to push on for the next four or five years. I plan to play forever.”

In Australia, the Sydney Uni Acuvue Flames fell in heartbreaking fashion to Canberra on Friday, 74-72. Suzy Batkovic-Brown split two free throws inside the final 10 seconds to tie the game, but the Capitals’ Natalie Hurst delivered the game-winning shot in the final seconds, hitting a fadeaway. Batkovic-Brown was terrific again, scoring 24 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, coming up with five steals and blocking four shots. Here are photos from the game. Sidenote for UW fans: former Husky Jessica McCormack, who transferred briefly to UConn, made her WNBL debut for Canberra on Friday.

Janell Burse’s Wisla Can-Pack Krakow team got the weekend off from Polish League play, warming up for Wednesday’s Euroleague opener by playing a “control game” (presumably, their odd translation of a “friendly”) against Slovakian team BK PU BAMACO Presov on Thursday. Wisla dominated by a 92-60 final, holding a 43-21 advantage after halftime. Burse led the team with 16 points.

The second round of Isreali D1 play takes place tonight. Maccabi Ashdod and the Storm’s Ashley Walker will host defending champs Electra Ramat Hasharon with a chance to make a big statement with a win.

Suzy Batkovic-Brown is back home in Australia, playing for the Acuvue Sydney Uni Flames in the WNBL. Sydney has gone 2-2 thus far in four games, falling Saturday to Bulleen by an 80-71 final. Batkovic-Brown contributed 22 points on 9-of-22 shooting and 10 rebounds in defeat, posting her second straight double-double and third 20-point effort in as many games (she sat out the Flames’ opener shortly after returning from Seattle). For the season, Batkovic-Brown is averaging 24.7 points and 9.0 rebounds.

Having a player of Batkovic-Brown’s caliber actually presented something of an issue for Sydney initially.

“They all stood around and watched Suzy for a while,” Head Coach Karen Dalton told The Daily Telegraph after Batkovic-Brown’s debut. “That’s not Suzy’s fault. That’s us getting used to having her on our team.”

The mere arrival of Janell Burse in Krakow was big news. Since making her way overseas on Oct. 8, Burse has played in three games, all of them wins, while averaging 13.7 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Before her arrival, Wisla Can-Pack started just 1-2 and now sits fourth in the league table at 4-2. However, Wisla got great news when it was selected to replace defunct CSKA Moscow in the Euroleague. Burse, who played in Euroleague with ZVVZ USK Praha for three seasons before spending last year in the EuroCup, joins Storm teammates Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson (who have yet to join their Spartak Moscow Region team) in Europe’s top flight, which tips off next week.

Playing overseas for the first time, Ashley Walker got her season in Israel off to a great start by helping lead Maccabi Ashdod to the championship of the preseason “Winner Cup” tournament. Ashdod narrowly held off Ramla 84-82 last Tuesday to claim the title, with Walker’s double-double (22 points, 14 boards) leading the way. Based in no small part on her performance in the tournament, Israeli DI coaches picked Walker as the preseason favorite to win MVP honors ahead of veterans Deanna Jackson and Noelle Quinn and fellow rookie Kia Vaughn.

Walker’s Ashdod team begins the season one of the favorites to win the league, but got off to a rough start today, losing to Raanana Hertzeliya 79-76. Walker had 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and five rebounds and teammate Courtney Paris contributed 21 points and 22 boards, but Ashdod could not overcome a 33-point effort from sharpshooting Chicago guard Kristi Toliver.