BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s basketball team signed junior college standout Patty Hanten of Miami-Dade Community College on Wednesday afternoon.
Hanten is the sixth player to sign with the Lady Tigers for next season. She joins Aiysha Smith, also a junior college product, Scholanda Dorrell and Florence Williams of Miami (Fla.) Edison High School, Tillie Willis of Atlanta, Ga., and Wendlyn Jones of Grosnell, Ark.
Hanten averaged 18.1 points per game last season, which ranked seventh in the nation. She shot 42.3 percent from behind the three-point arc which was among the top 20 in the nation.
“She fills a void for us in the shooting guard position,” said LSU coach Sue Gunter. “Our three-point shooting was a weakness last year and she will fill that slot. She is a bona fide shooter.”
The signing of Hanten is just one more signee the Lady Tigers have added to the 2001 recruiting class, which has been ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation.
Smith, a 6-3 post player, was rated as one of the top junior college players in the nation last season for Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas.
Dorrell, who was listed in Thursday’s USA Today as one of the top girls available in the country, is listed as the number nine guard available according to the All Star Girls Report. The Street and Smith All-American chose LSU over Georgia, Florida and Auburn.
Her teammate, Williams, was rated the number seven forward in the All-Star Girls report after earning two All-State honors and a Nike All-American citation. She chose LSU over Georgia, Florida, Auburn and Old Dominion.
Willis will help fill the Lady Tigers need for size inside as she stands 6-3. She is considered one of the top post players heading to college next season. Jones a 6-1 power forward, averaged over 20 points and 10 rebounds a contest in high school.