BATON ROUGE — Los Angeles Sparks Point Guard and former Lady Tiger, Temeka Johnson, is ready to start the quest for the WNBA Championship with the re-launch of her website ? Meek2.com.
Fans will be able to connect with Temeka, also known as Meek, through her weekly blog, updated photo galleries, news about her work in the community and other special features only available through her website.
“This is an exciting time for me,” Johnson said. “We really feel that we are on the verge of returning the WNBA Championship to Los Angeles, and I want all of the fans to enjoy the season with me. I’m excited about sharing this season and my off-the-court life with all of my fans and fans of the WNBA. I’m most excited about having a tribute to coach Sue Gunter on my site, as she has meant so much to me.”
“Temeka is a consummate professional in that she understands that game can be a tool to reach out and make her community a better place to live,” said Bob Starkey, LSU Associate Head Coach. “I know she has been working toward this day to kick this off and get the ball rolling on so many projects that she has planned for her HOPE Foundation.”
After an undefeated pre-season, Johnson and the Sparks begin their championship quest with a nationally televised game against the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday. Game recaps, insight and photographs will be available on her site.
Temeka will also have a WNBA AIM page developed this season, which will be another source to learn all about one of the most dynamic players in the WNBA.
“One of the joys I had coaching LSU last year was getting to know Temeka,” LSU head coach Van Chancellor said. “She is a role model that LSU can be proud of, and she is utilizing her Web site to continue to make positive changes.”
“Meek’s site is going to be one of the best sites for any player in the WNBA,” said Quency Phillips, CEO of FAM (Fuzion Artist Management). “Rarely do we get to connect to athletes on this level, and fans will see that Temeka is much more than just a WNBA player. Temeka works as hard in the community as she does on the court. Her dedication to coach Sue Gunter shows the heart that she displays on the court is matched equally with her desires off the court.”
Standing at 5-foot-3, Johnson has provided a larger-than-life game experience as she has become one of the most exciting players in the WNBA. Known simply as Meek, her game and stature has given hope to other players, fans and youth.
After rising to prominence at LSU, she left as the school’s and Southeastern Conference’s all-time leader in assists and became the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year. Johnson is entering her fourth year as the starting point guard for the Los Angeles Sparks.
Report #2: May 12, 2008
The WNBA exhibition season is coming to a close as all the players have begun to return to camp from overseas play. For many players this will be an important week as teams finalize their roster in anticipation of the start of the regular season that begins May 17.
May 8, 2008
The power of LSU Lady Tiger basketball was completely evident at the Sears Centre in Chicago when the Los Angeles Spark defeated the Chicago Sky, 84-68. The Spark’s LSU backcourt of Temeka Johnson and Marie Ferdinand-Harris combined for 15 points and 5 assists to lead Los Angeles to victory. Chicago’s rookies and former LSU standouts Sylvia Fowles and Quianna Chaney came off the bench as the Sky played some younger players as cuts draw near. “Q” totaled three points while Syl tallied 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds in only 17 minutes of action.
May 9, 2008
Erica White put in 14 minutes of action in Houston’s loss to Connecticut. Erica pulled down two rebounds and recorded one assist while playing her steady, aggressive on-ball defense.
May 10, 2008
The Hodges twins, Doneeka and Roneeka, arrived from overseas and, because of trades, are playing for the same team for the first time since their LSU days. The two battled jet lag to log 10 minutes each for Seattle as the Storm beat Indiana on the road, 75-64. One important note is that Doneeka now goes by her married name, Doneeka Lewis, so that is the name displayed in the boxscore.
May 11, 2008
Los Angeles traveled to Grand Forks, N.D., to play against Minnesota and gave the fans more than their money’s worth as the Sparks defeated the Lynx, 106-105, in double overtime. Temeka and Marie combined for 9 points to help the Sparks while former Lady Tiger great Seimone Augustus literally got off the plane to join her team for the first time and tallied 12 points.
WNBA Links to Read
Read Sylvia’s rookie blog
http://my.wnba.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1800001463
Read about Doneeka and Roneeka’s adjustment in Seattle
http://www.wnba.com/storm/news/twins080507.html
Check out Seimone’s new video commercial for the Minnesota Lynx
http://www.wnba.com/media/lynx/MN_Lynx_Heir.wmv
Keep with the WNBA Transactions at:
http://www.wnba.com/transactions/WNBA_2008.html
THE WNBA ON TV
Saturday, May 17
Los Angeles Sparks at Phoenix ABC 2:30 PM CDT
Atlanta at Connecticut CSN-A 3:00 PM CDT
Washington at Indiana FSI 6:00 PM CDT
San Antonio at Sacramento CSN 9:00 PM CDT
Sunday, May 18
Connecticut at New York MSG 3:00 PM CDT
Detroit at Minnesota FSNN 5:00 PM CDT
Tuesday, May 20
Sacramento at Seattle ESPN2 9:30 PM CDT
Report #1: May 6, 2008
It may be the exhibition season in the WNBA, but it’s an important time of the year for the players looking to make rosters as well as prepare for the upcoming season. Many players are finishing their winter season overseas while rookies are working hard to learn the system of new coaches in a new league.
April 30, 2008
Sylvia Fowles, one of the most decorated student-athletes in the history of LSU, made her debut at 4:12 mark of the first quarter for the Chicago Sky against the Seattle Storm. Big Syl was limited to only 10:54 of playing because she had just returned from Team USA’s trip to China, but Big Syl registered six points and six rebounds.
On the same court that evening was Quianna Chaney who led the Sky in scoring with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting beyond the three-point arc, including a 23-footer that brought the crowd to its feet.
Former LSU Tiger and current Chicago Bull Tyrus Thomas was in the crowd to cheer on the two Lady Tigers.
The Sky beat the Storm 66-46. The Storm was short two former Lady Tigers in Roneeka and Doneeka Hodges, who are finishing up overseas.
May 1, 2008
While the LSU Lady Tigers celebrated a fifth trip to the Final Four in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at their annual season-ending banquet, Erica White took the floor as a starter for the Houston Comets in their road game against San Antonio. Erica played 23 minutes in the 74-68 Houston victory, and the former Lady Tiger contributed three assists, three steals and two points.
May 3, 2008
Big Syl picked up where she left off in Chicago’s second exhibition game. Despite playing only 19 minutes, the former Lady Tiger registered a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Fowles also added four blocked shots.
Chaney came of the bench for eight points in 18 minutes, including 2-for-3 behind the arc along with two assists. The Sky registered their second exhibition victory by defeating the Indiana Fever 81-71.
After a frustrating year of injuries, Temeka Johnson returned to the starting line-up in the Los Angeles Sparks’ exhibition game against the WNBA newcomer Atlanta Dream. In only 13 minutes of action, Johnson tallied eight points and three assists as the Sparks won in front of 7,932 Atlanta fans.
A new addition to the Sparks line-up is Marie Ferdinand-Harris. Marie was not in action for the Sparks as she is still competing overseas.
Elsewhere
Two Lady Tigers were in training camp trying to make comebacks. DeTrina White in Los Angeles and Ke-Ke Tardy with Phoenix were both released.
Both RaShonta LeBlanc and Ashley Thomas were invited to camps as well. LeBlanc was invited to Minnesota’s camp while Thomas was invited to Connecticut, but both passed on the invitations to concentrate on final exams that began this week. Both will graduate this spring.
At WNBA.com, they take a look at the top 15 steals in the history of the draft. Sitting at number seven was former LSU standout Elaine Powell. Powell was drafted in the fourth round with the 50th overall pick. The veteran is back in camp with Detroit where she was a starter on the Shock’s two World Championship teams.
WNBA Links to Read
Top Draft Steals in WNBA History
http://www.wnba.com/draft2008/draftsteals_08.html
No Shame In Being #2
http://www.wnba.com/features/second_picks_080416.html
A Day in the Life with Sylvia Fowles
http://www.wnba.com/draft2008/fowles_day_080409.html