NEW YORK — Former Lady Tiger All-American and No. 1 draft pick Marie Ferdinand finished third in the 2001 WNBA Rookie of the Year voting, it was announced by the league on Thursday.
Ferdinand, a four-year letterwinner at LSU from 1997-2001, was seventh in the league in field-goal percentage at 49.3 (143 of 290) and averaged 11.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game to help the Utah Starzz make the WNBA playoffs after the 2001 season. She was the Starzz No. 1 pick, the eighth overall in the 2001 WNBA draft after leading Sue Gunter‘s Lady Tigers to the NCAA tournament for the third straight season.
The 5-9 guard from Miami, Fla., played in all 32 of Utah’s games, starting the final 22 and averaging 27.0 minutes per game. Utah won 8 of its final 10 games to finish 19-13 and clinch the third spot in the WNBA Western Division. Utah will face Sacramento in the first round of the WNBA playoffs on Friday at 8 p.m. CDT in Salt Lake City. The Monarchs won two of three regular-season meetings with the Starzz, with Ferdinand averaging 11.0 points per game.
Portland Fire guard Jackie Stiles was named the 2001 WNBA Rookie of the Year. She received 32 of a possible 60 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
No. 1 overall draft pick Lauren Jackson of the Seattle Storm received 20 votes, Ferdinand received five votes, Svetlana Abrosimova of the Minnesota Lynx received two votes and Ruth Riley of the Miami Sol received one vote.
Stiles finished the regular season second among rookies in scoring with 14.9 points per game (9th in the WNBA). The 5-8 guard, who started all 32 games for the Fire (11-21) and finished as the team’s leading scorer, led rookies in three-point field-goal percentage, connecting on 43.1 percent (6th in the WNBA) from beyond the arc. Stiles was selected by Portland out of Southwest Missouri State in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2001 WNBA Draft.
As the WNBA Rookie of the Year, Stiles will receive a Tiffany-designed trophy and $5,000. The 60-member voting panel consisted of 12 national media representatives, as well as media representatives from each of the league’s 16 markets who cover the WNBA regularly.
Below are the complete results of the 2001 WNBA Rookie of the Year vote and past recipients:
2001 Rookie of the Year Results
| Player | Team | Votes |
| Jackie Stiles | Portland Fire | 32 |
| Lauren Jackson | Seattle Storm | 20 |
| Marie Ferdinand | Utah Starzz | 5 |
| Svetlana Abrosimova | Minnesota Lynx | 2 |
| Ruth Riley | Miami Sol | 1 |
Rookie of the Year Winners
2001 — Jackie Stiles, Portland Fire
2000 — Betty Lennox, Minnesota Lynx
1999 — Chamique Holdsclaw, Washington Mystics
1998 — Tracy Reid, Charlotte Sting