SECAUCUS, N.J. -- The Cleveland Rockers selected LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State with the first pick in the WNBA draft Friday, hours after the league and its players' union signed a labor agreement.

	TRACKING THE DRAFT
	For a complete pick-by-pick look at the draft, check out WNBA.com's draft board.

Thomas, a 6-foot-2 forward and just the sixth four-time Kodak All-American, was named SEC Player of the Year after her senior season, averaging 25.6 points and 8.7 rebounds.

Sacramento selected Vanderbilt center Chantelle Anderson with the second pick. Louisiana Tech center Cheryl Ford, the daughter of NBA star Karl Malone, was chosen third by the Detroit Shock. Track gold medalist Marion Jones, who played basketball at North Carolina from 1993-97, also was selected by Phoenix in the third round.

Malone was one of Shock coach Bill Laimbeer's biggest rivals as a player.

"Hopefully, Bill will like Cheryl more than he liked me,'' Malone said with a smile. "I think he will do great things for Cheryl's game.''

Ford laughed when asked what she knew about her new coach.

"I've heard some interesting stories, some of them from my dad,'' she said. "I think I better leave it at that.''

The draft had been scheduled for April 16, but was delayed until the labor agreement was signed.

Teams will open training camp May 1, exhibition games will begin May 6 and the season will start May 22.

Thomas is a two-time AP All-American and is Mississippi State's all-time scoring leader with 2,981 points. The Rockers, who finished tied for the second-worst record at 10-22 last season, won the draft lottery Thursday.

"I'm anxious to see about training camp and what it's all about,'' Thomas said. "It's what I've been dreaming about.''

Thomas has endured plenty of heartache. Her mother, Sandra Joyce Thomas, died when LaToya was 9. Her sister and nephew were killed in a car accident in December near Waco, Texas.

Anderson, a three-time All-SEC player who will play alongside 1999 WNBA MVP Yolanda Griffith, is the Commodores' all-time leading scorer with 2,604 points.

"I've been a huge fan of (Griffith's) game, and I just think Sacramento's a great place for me because I'm going to be playing against one of the best players in the game every day in practice," Anderson said. "I can only get better from that."

Detroit had two picks in the top five. In Ford, the Shock get a player who was the Western Athletic Conference player of the year in 2002 and 2003 and averaged 15.7 points and 12.9 rebounds last season.

They then chose Tennessee guard Kara Lawson at No. 5.

"After we filled a hole with Cheryl, we had a long discussion about what to do with the fifth pick,'' Laimbeer said. "We could have gone in a lot of different directions, but we decided to get the best outside shooter available.''

Phoenix got Texas Tech forward Plenette Pierson with the fourth pick.

Jones, a guard, led the Tar Heels to the 1994 national championship. She gave up basketball to concentrate on track, where she won three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Jones is pregnant and will not be available this season.

Rounding out the first round, it was: Tennessee forward Gwen Jackson to Indiana at No. 6 (joining former Lady Vols Tamika Catchings and Nikki McCray), LSU center Aiysha Smith to Washington at No. 7, South Korean center Sun-Min Jung to Seattle at No. 8, South Carolina forward Joceyln Penn to Charlotte at No. 9, Bucknell guard Molly Creamer to New York at No. 10, North Carolina guard Coretta Brown to San Antonio at No. 11 and Tulsa guard Allison Curtin to Houston at No. 12.

In the second round, with the 14th overall pick, the Minnesota Lynx selected Teresa Edwards, who has won gold medals in four Olympics. The 38-year-old Edwards is the only American basketball player, male or female, to compete in five Olympics.

The point guard won gold medals in 1984, 1988, 1996 and 2000. She hasn't played professionally in the United States since the American Basketball League folded in December 1998.