The Mercury went all international in the WNBA Draft for the first time this year.
The team drafted French forward Ines Pitarch-Granel with the 12th pick of the second round and Hungarian guard Eszter Ratkai with the 12th pick of the third round in Monday night’s WNBA Draft.
Phoenix had traded away its first-round pick, 12th overall, in the draft this year to Chicago in the trade that brought star Kahleah Copper to the Mercury. Chicago later traded that pick to Connecticut, who selected Nell Angloma with the pick.
A fan holds up a rally towel featuring the Mercury's new primary logo during a WNBA Finals in October at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.
(Courtesy Phoenix Mercury)
Pitarch-Granel is a 6-foot forward currently playing for French club Tango Bourges Basket, averaging 5.3 points and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 38.1% from three in 24 games this season.
Ratkai is a 5-foot-9 guard, who has played for Hungarian club PEAC-Pécs since 2022. She is currently averaging 8.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.2 steals in 23 games.
The Mercury have drafted one other player from each country before. Petra Ujhelyi from Hungary was the fourth pick in the second round of the 2003 draft. However, she was then traded to Detroit where she only played in 14 games in her WNBA career.
Kadi Sissoko was the fifth pick of the third round in 2023. While she played college ball in the U.S. she was born in France. While she played in all 40 games for the Mercury in a 9-31 season that year, she has not played in the WNBA beyond 2023.
Undrafted rookies
Those two weren’t the only two additions to the Mercury roster over the past few days. The Mercury signed the following players on rookie scale contracts between Sunday and Tuesday:
Quionche Carter, Florida Gulf Coast
Jovana Nogic, Providence, Serbia
Noemie Brochant, France
Yarden Garzon, Maryland, Israel
Shay Ciezki, Indiana
Kara Dunn, USC
The following players signed training camp contracts between Sunday and Tuesday:
Jaime Nared, Tennessee
Played for Aces 2018-19.
Kyara Linskens, Belgium
Played for Valkyries in 2025.
Morgan Maly, Creighton
Lauren Jensen, Creighton
Kiana Williams, Stanford
Played in WNBA 2021-22, ’24-25, including for Mercury in 2025.
Aisha Sheppard, Virginia Tech
Played for Aces in 2022.
Ashten Prechtel, Stanford
Kathryn Westbeld, Notre Dame
Played for Mercury in 2025.
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Mark Carlisle joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, covering Glendale. He has since moved to the Daily Independent team, primarily covering the city of Phoenix along with other topics affecting the Valley at-large.
Community: Mark enjoys taking his two young sons to parks, the Phoenix Zoo, the Phoenix Public Library and other fun events around the Valley. He also participates in a local book club.
Education: Chapman University with a BA in English Journalism and one in Screenwriting.
Random Fact: Mark worked at a tuxedo shop in college. Just don’t ask him to tie a bowtie.
Hobbies: Spending time with his wife, sons and dog, watching sports and TV shows, listening to audiobooks and occasionally writing fiction or designing a board game.
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