BATON ROUGE — Six former LSU Lady Tigers, including United States Olympic gold medalists Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus, are on the 11-player Opening Day rosters of WNBA teams as the league’s 13th season gets underway Saturday afternoon.
Fowles, who returned to LSU in May to receive her undergraduate degree, begins her second season with the Chicago Sky after earning WNBA All-Rookie honors in 2008.
The 2008 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year averaged 10.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks last season. Fowles ranked third in the league in blocks per game and was fifth in double-doubles with six.
Augustus enters her fourth WNBA season with the Minnesota Lynx and will once again be one of the league’s premier players. Augustus, a former national collegiate player of the year, posted 19.1 points and 3.9 boards last season and has averaged 21.3 points in her three previous seasons.
Ferdinand-Harris, a three-time WNBA All-Star, returns for her second season with the Los Angeles Sparks and her eighth overall. Harris averaged 8.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game after being acquired from the San Antonio Silver Starts prior to the 2008 season.
Johnson was traded from the Sparks to the Phoenix Mercury for the 2009 season. The 2005 WNBA Rookie of the Year averaged 6.4 points and 4.0 assists in 66 games for the club.
Robinson begins her fourth season with the Sacramento Monarchs. A second team All-SEC selection for LSU in 2006, Robinson has averaged 5.9 points for her career. She played in 29 games last season, posting 6.8 points in 18.4 minutes per contest.
White joins the Indiana Fever after playing her rookie season with the former Houston Comets. She averaged 3.6 points and 1.4 assists while playing in all 34 games with two starts.
Former LSU Lady Tigers on 2009 WNBA Rosters
Name, Team, Season
Seimone Augustus, Minnesota Lynx, Fourth
Sylvia Fowles Chicago Sky, Second
Marie Ferdinand-Harris, Los Angeles Sparks Eighth
Temeka Johnson, Phoenix Mercury Fifth
Scholanda Robinson, Sacramento Monarchs, Fourth
Erica White, Indiana Fever Second