BATON ROUGE — Seven former LSU Lady Tigers basketball players are in camp with WNBA teams this week, including Temeka Johnson, the sixth pick of the 2005 draft by the Washington Mystics.
Johnson’s former LSU teammate’s Aiysha Smith, DeTrina White and Doneeka Hodges all return to the league. Smith, who enters her third season, will again be Johnson’s teammate in Washington, while White enters her second season with the New York Liberty and Hodges will be in her second season with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Smith averages 3.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in her career with Washington, having played in 60 games, starting five times.
White, who was originally drafted by the Indiana Fever in 2003, posted 2.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 31 games for New York last season.
Hodges scored 1.8 points in her rookie season in Los Angeles last season in 24 games.
Two-time WNBA All-Star Marie Ferdinand enters her fifth year in the league with the San Antonio Silver Stars organization. Ferdinand, who played at LSU from 1997 to 2001, is averaging 13.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 105 career starts.
Elaine Powell, a Lady Tiger from 1995-97, returns for her eighth WNBA season and her fourth with the Detroit Shock. Powell, who averages 7.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in her career, helped guide the Shock to the WNBA title in 2003.
Katrina Hibbert returns to the league after signing a free agent contact with the Indiana Fever. Hibbert, a Lady Tiger from 1996-2000, was originally drafted into the league in 2000 by the Seattle Storm.
The WNBA opens the regular season on May 21, while preseason games begin on May 1.