NEW YORK — Former LSU All-America Marie Ferdinand, in her second season with the WNBA’s Utah Starzz, was selected as a reserve for Monday night’s All-Star Game in Washington D.C., by the leagues’ coaches it was announced Wednesday.
Ferdinand, a 2001 Kodak All-American for the Lady Tigers, will make her first appearance as an All-Star, but did play in last season’s Rookie Game during the All-Star weekend.
The 2002 WNBA All-Star Game will be hosted by the Washington Mystics and the District of Columbia on Monday, July 15, at the MCI Center. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Ferdinand was one of 12 reserves selected by the league’s coaches to participate in this season’s All-Star game.
“This is one of those honors that is terrific for Marie,” LSU head coach Sue Gunter said about Ferdinand. “She richly deserves this and has worked very hard to get to this point in her career. She had a terrific rookie season last year and just missed the Rookie of the Year honor so for her to come back this season like she has shows just how hard she has worked to achieve it.”
Ferdinand, who was the eighth overall selection in the 2001 WNBA Draft by the Starzz and finished third in last season’s Rookie of the Year voting, averaged 14.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in the first 17 games of the 2002 season. She also recorded career highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds versus Indiana on June 18 and ranks sixth in the league in field goals made (95).
The 5-9 guard from Miami, Fla., was a 2001 Kodak All-American, a member of the 2000 USA Women’s Select Team and a finalist for the 2001 Naismith Award for the nation’s top female collegiate basketball player. As a four-year letterwinner at LSU from 1997-2001, Ferdinand also tallied All-Southeastern Conference honors while ranking eighth in career points scored (1,648), fifth in steals (239) and games played (120), sixth in field goals (655), and seventh in free throws (304) and assists (384).
Ferdinand, who finished third in the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year voting last season, is the first former LSU player to be selected as a WNBA All-Star.
Starters for the game were determined by fan votes cast in the WNBA All-Star Balloting Program Presented by Yahoo! Sports. The West starting lineup features guard Sheryl Swoopes and forward Tina Thompson from the Houston Comets, guard Sue Bird from the Storm, guard Ticha Penicheiro from the Sacramento Monarchs and center Lisa Leslie from the Sparks.
The Eastern Conference starters include forward Chamique Holdsclaw from the Washington Mystics, forward Tamika Catchings from the Indiana Fever, guard Dawn Staley from the Sting and guard Teresa Weatherspoon and center Tari Phillips from the New York Liberty.
Charlotte coach Anne Donovan will guide the Eastern Conference All-Stars, while Los Angeles coach Michael Cooper will lead the West squad. Fans may purchase tickets to the game by calling 1-800-551-SEAT, through all Ticketmaster outlets, online at WNBA.com and ticketmaster.com, and at the MCI Center box office. Ticket prices start at $10.
Ferdinand’s WNBA Statistics
| YEAR | TEAM | G | GS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OFF | DEF | TOT | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| 2001 | UTA | 32 | 22 | 864 | 143-290 | 11-42 | 69-113 | 23 | 63 | 86 | 79 | 40 | 4 | 63 | 70 | 366 |
| 2002 | UTA | 17 | 17 | 553 | 95-198 | 1-20 | 58-77 | 14 | 41 | 55 | 48 | 23 | 3 | 45 | 43 | 249 |
| Career | 49 | 39 | 1,417 | 238-488 | 12-62 | 127-190 | 37 | 104 | 141 | 127 | 63 | 7 | 108 | 113 | 615 | |
| Playoff | 2 | 2 | 69 | 7-16 | 0-2 | 15-18 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 29 |
|
WEST STARTERS
|
POS.
|
TEAM
|
HT
|
WT
|
SCHOOL
|
| Sheryl Swoopes | F | Houston | 6-0 | 145 | Texas Tech ’93 |
| Tina Thompson | F | Houston | 6-2 | 178 | USC ’97 |
| Lisa Leslie | C | Los Angeles | 6-5 | 170 | USC ’94 |
| Sue Bird | G | Seattle | 5-9 | 155 | Connecticut ’02 |
| Ticha Penicheiro | G | Sacramento | 5-11 | 158 | Old Dominion ’98 |
|
WEST RESERVES
|
POS.
|
TEAM
|
HT
|
WT
|
SCHOOL
|
| Tamecka Dixon | G | Los Angeles | 5-9 | 148 | Kansas ’97 |
| Marie Ferdinand | G | Utah | 5-9 | 153 | LSU, ’01 |
| Adrienne Goodson | G | Utah | 6-0 | 160 | Old Dominion ’88 |
| Lauren Jackson | C | Seattle | 6-5 | 185 | Australia |
| Mwadi Mabika | G-F | Los Angeles | 5-11 | 165 | Congo |
| Katie Smith | F | Minnesota | 5-11 | 181 | Ohio State ’96 |
 |
|||||
|
EAST STARTERS
|
POS.
|
TEAM
|
HT
|
WT
|
SCHOOL
|
| Chamique Holdsclaw | F | Washington | 6-2 | 172 | Tennessee ’99 |
| Tamika Catchings | F | Indiana | 6-0 | 166 | Tennessee ’01 |
| Tari Phillips | C | New York | 6-1 | 200 | Central Florida ’91 |
| Teresa Weatherspoon | G | New York | 5-8 | 161 | Louisiana Tech ’88 |
| Dawn Staley | G | Charlotte | 5-6 | 134 | Virginia ’92 |
|
EAST RESERVES
|
POS.
|
TEAM
|
HT
|
WT
|
SCHOOL
|
| Shannon Johnson | G | Orlando | 5-7 | 144 | South Carolina ’96 |
| Nykesha Sales | F-G | Orlando | 6-0 | 184 | Connecticut ’98 |
| Sheri Sam | F-G | Miami | 6-0 | 160 | Vanderbilt ’96 |
| Andrea Stinson | G | Charlotte | 5-10 | 158 | North Carolina State ’91 |
| Tammy Sutton-Brown | C | Charlotte | 6-4 | 203 | Rutgers ’01 |
| Penny Taylor | F | Cleveland | 6-1 | 168 | Australia |