WNBA dreams came true for three New Jersey athletes this past weekend, including first-round draft pick Bella Alarie.

The Dallas Wings selected Alarie, from Princeton University, with the fifth pick in the 2020 WNBA draft.

Alarie was surrounded by her family at their home in Maryland. Even though it was a virtual draft, Alarie says hearing her name called was better than she could have imagined.

“I think a lot of people tuned in and were able to see all these amazing women athletes get drafted and have their dreams come true, so I think that's really special for our sport going forward and I'm just really happy that I got to be a part of that historic moment,” says Alarie.

The three-time Ivy League Player of the Year says her dream growing up was to play basketball as her job. Alarie becomes only the fourth Ivy League player to be drafted by the WNBA, and second to go in the first round.

“I hope I'm a good example for girls choosing what school to go to in the future,” says Alarie. “I got the best of both worlds at Princeton, I got the Ivy League degree and I get to play in the WNBA.”

Her father, Mark, was also a first-round draft pick out of Duke, and went on to have a five-year career in the NBA.

Alarie says the support from Princeton has been overwhelming and she's excited to bring her basketball IQ and versatility to Dallas.