BATON ROUGE — LSU’s Katrina Hibbert, a three-time first team all-Southeastern Conference selection, has been selected as the 57th overall pick by the Seattle Storm in the 2000 WNBA Draft on Tuesday.
Hibbert, a native of Melbourne, Australia, was taken in the fourth round and she joins former Lady Tiger Elaine Powell as the two LSU players on WNBA rosters. Powell is in her second year with the Orlando Miracle.
Seattle is in its first-year of existence as it was added to the WNBA during the off-season. The WNBA currently has 16 teams.
“I’m relieved and excited,” Hibbert said shortly after being picked on Tuesday. “To be picked is a huge relief and going to an expansion team is exciting for me. I’ll have the opportunity to prove myself in Seattle.
“It didn’t look to good there for a while. I thought I might be headed back home (to Australia), but I got picked and I’m very excited for the opportunity.”
Hibbert, a 5-foot-11 guard/forward, left LSU as one of the most decorated players in school history as she is just the fourth three-time first team all-SEC pick in school history. Her 13 post-season games (10 NCAA and 3 NIT) are the most in LSU history, men or women, and she’s the only Lady Tiger basketball player to play on three NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 teams.
Hibbert also joined Pokey Chatman and Joyce Walker as the only players in school history to accumulate 1,600 points, 400 assists and 200 steals in a career. Hibbert finished ranked sixth in school history with 1,695 points, second in assists with 467 and fourth in steals with 254. Her 124 games played rank second to Julie Gross at LSU, while her 104 career starts are seventh most in school history.
As a senior, Hibbert led LSU to a 25-7 overall mark and to the Elite Eight at the NCAA Tournament. She capped her senior season by ranking in the top 12 in the SEC in seven different statistical categories and she was twice named the SEC Player of the Week.
“This is the perfect place for her,” LSU coach Sue Gunter said. “I have great respect for (Seattle coach) Lin Dunn \ and with Seattle being an expansion team, they are in need of good all-around players and that’s Katrina. Katrina is very, very good at making everyone on the court better. She can do it all. Seattle is the perfect fit for Katrina and she’s perfect for Seattle.
“There are a lot of players that may run faster or jump higher than Katrina, but they aren’t nearly the player that she is. I expect Katrina to be around the WNBA for a long time.”
Hibbert is expected to leave for Seattle either on Sunday or Monday with training camp beginning on Wednesday. Seattle’s first preseason contest is set for May 13 against Utah in Tacoma, Wash., with the regular-season starting at Sacramento on May 31.