Sky trades guard Toliver to Sparks for draft pick

After failing to crack the starting lineup for the Chicago Sky as a rookie, former Maryland guard Kristi Toliver will get a new start with the Los Angeles Sparks and WNBA superstar Candace Parker.

The Sky traded Toliver on Thursday in exchange for the Sparks' 2011 second-round draft pick.

Toliver game off the bench in 27 games with the Sky last season and averaged 7.6 points and 1.9 assists in 14.3 minutes per game. Despite scoring a career best 25 points against New York last August and shooting 44.4 percent from three-point range on the season, Toliver didn't crack the starting lineup for head coach Steven Key.

With the Sky leaning on veteran guards Dominque Canty and Jia Perkins to run the offense and drafting former Rutgers star Epiphanny Prince, Toliver was looking at limited playing time in Chicago.

Over the winter, the 5-foot-7 Toliver averaged 19.7 points and 5.5 assists playing in a pro league in Israel. As a freshman at Maryland, she helped the school win its first national championship in women's basketball.

Toliver was the third overall pick in the 2009 WNBA draft.