BATON ROUGE – Six former LSU women’s basketball players, headlined by 2010 All-WNBA performer and All-Star Game most valuable player Sylvia Fowles, are on rosters for the 2011 WNBA season-opening weekend.
Fowles, who enters her fourth season with the Chicago Sky, is coming off the most productive year of her career after being selected as a first-team All-WNBA center. She averaged 17.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game and she has posted 14.1 points for her career.
In 2010, Fowles ranked sixth in the league in points per game, third in rebounds per game, first in block shots (2.6) and third in field goal percentage (58.2). She also poured in a game-high 23 points in the 2010 WNBA All-Star game to claim MVP honors.
Two Lady Tigers will make up the Phoenix Mercury roster, which is expected to contend for the WNBA crown after winning the title in 2009. Temeka Johnson is back as the starting point guard. The 2005 Lieberman Award winner as the nation’s top collegiate point guard put up 9.2 points and 4.7 assists per contest.
“Offensively and defensively, it starts and ends with me,” said Johnson, who begins her seventh overall year in the league. “I accept the responsibilities of having this group of women follow me, and I do everything I can to make sure I do it the correct way.”
Joining Johnson this year will be WNBA veteran Marie Ferdinand-Harris. Ferdinand, a 2001 State Farm All-America selection with the Lady Tigers, joined the Mercury during the spring and is excited about reuniting with a former Lady Tiger.
“I’ve been a fan of Temeka’s game dating back to the first time we played recreation ball during off-season workouts during our LSU careers,” said Ferdinand. “I really believe Temeka is among the top five point guards in the game today. I am really excited about reuniting with Temeka because she simplifies the game in every avenue.”
A national television audience will watch Ferdinand and Johnson’s season debut when the Mercury travel to defending champion Seattle for a 2 p.m. CT Saturday tip on ABC.
Seimone Augustus is primed and ready for a sixth season with the Minnesota Lynx. Augustus was limited to 25 games last season to injuries, but she is healthy again for the Lynx who will contend in the Western Conference. Augustus posted 16.9 points last season and she owns the third-highest scoring average in league history at 20.4 points per contest.
Augustus and the Lynx open the WNBA season in primetime on Friday at Los Angeles. The game will be televised by NBA-TV.
After a rookie campaign in 2010, Allison Hightower enters her second WNBA season with the Connecticut Sun. Hightower spent the offseason in France, where she averaged 5.5 points and 3.3 rebounds for Reze Nantes Basket 44 in her first year abroad.
“I think I feel a little bit more comfortable,” Hightower said entering the season. “I feel as nervous as always, but I do feel more comfortable with the players and some of the things we’re doing because I remember them from last year. It’s a good feeling.”
Scholanda Robinson is beginning her sixth WNBA season and her first with the San Antonio Silver Stars. Robinson played four seasons in Sacramento before spending the 2010 year with the first-year Tulsa Shock where she averaged a career-best 11.9 points and 2.4 boards per game. It was the first time in her career that she posted double-figure scoring.
Robinson has played in 164 career WNBA games and tallied 1,195 points.
Lady Tigers in the WNBA
Player, Team, Year
Seimone Augustus, Minnesota Lynx, 6th
Marie Ferdinand-Harris, Phoenix Mercury, 10th
Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Sky, 4th
Allison Hightower, Connecticut Sun, 2nd
Temeka Johnson, Phoenix Mercury, 7th
Scholanda Robinson, San Antonio Silver Stars, 6th