BATON ROUGE — The WNBA opened the 2007 season this past weekend with five former LSU women’s basketball players on opening day rosters, led by 2006 WNBA Rookie of the Year Seimone Augustus.
Augustus, the first pick of the 2006 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx went on to earn Rookie of the Year honors. The two-time NCAA National Player of the Year for LSU opened the season on Saturday with 16 points in a loss to Indiana.
Two-time WNBA champion Elaine Powell returns to the Detroit Shock for her eighth season in the league. Powell did not score in seven minutes of play in Detroit’s win over Sacramento on Saturday.
Scholanda Robinson, a 2006 first-round selection by Sacramento, scored four points in the season opener for the Monarchs against the Shock.
Both Marie Ferdinand-Harris, a three-time WNBA All-Star, and Temeka Johnson, the 2005 WNBA Rookie of the Year, don’t open the season until this week.
Ferdinand-Harris, a starting guard for the San Antonio Silver Stars, will open the regular season on Wednesday against Connecticut.
Johnson, the starting point guard for the Los Angeles Sparks, will open the season on Tuesday at Chicago.