Among the many endearing qualities of No. 1 WNBA Draft pick Chiney Ogwumike is the fact that she calls her mom Ify before every game that she plays. So what better time to examine the strong bond Chiney has with her mom than on Mother's Day.

"I have to, if not my mom will go crazy," Ogwumike said after Saturday's practice. "Before I walk into the gym for every game I have to be on the phone with my mom, usually I am pulling up into the gym or walking into the gym depending on the timing. I talk to her and she wishes me good luck. I think she does that because she knows Nneka was in China, she was in Poland and she wants to make sure we have somebody watching up everywhere we go. It is not like I take it too sentimental but it is nice to know I have somebody out there, even though they aren't there they are watching me.

"My mom, she has been a really instrumental figure in all of our lives because my dad works all the time in Nigeria and she's had to hold down the fort with four girls. We grew up in the school because that is where she worked and also taught us the importance of academics. Just having that solid foundation has really helped up realize that education is important and doing things the right way , that is what our mom brought to us."