Nykesha Sales played her college basketball at the University of Connecticut from 1994 to 1998. In 1995, Sales helped lead the Huskies to the National Championship and undefeated season. Also, in 1995, Sales won the Freshman of the year.
WIth Connecticut in the 1997-98 season, she was named to the All-American first team, Defensive Player of the Year, and Big East Player of the Year. Sales averaged 20.9 points per game in her senior season at UCONN. In four seasons with the Huskies, she averaged 15.9 points per game on 56% shooing from the field. When she left Connecticut she was the Huskies all-time leading scorer with 2,178 points a record that Maya Moore now holds.
Nykesha Sales was assigned to the Orlando Miracle in the 1998 expansion draft. In her rookie season, Sales averaged 13.7 points and 2.2 steals per game for the Miracle. Also, in her rookie season, she made the WNBA all-star team. Sales went on to make the all-star team four straight seasons after that.
In 2003 when the Orlando Miracle became the Connecticut Sun, Sales averaged a career-high 16.1 points a game on 41% shooting from the field. Sales helped the Sun get to back to back WNBA Finals appearances in 2004 and 2005 but came up short to the Seattle Storm and the Sacramento Monarchs.
Sales wrapped up her WNBA career in 2007; she had a pretty successful career. In nine seasons, she averaged 14.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. Also, Sales shot 41% from the field and 35% from three-point land.
The former WNBA star made the all-star team seven times, All-WNBA second-team once, and was the co-leader in steals in 2004. Sales was a fun player to watch; she could score off the dribble and shoot from the outside. On the defensive end, Sales could also lock you down a real all-around player. A lot of people forget how good of player Sales was, one of the best two-way women players ever. Now Sales is an assistant coach for the UCF Knights and has been since 2016.
