TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Former Florida State Women’s Basketball student-athletes Natasha Howard and Roneeka Hodges will be on WNBA opening day rosters as WNBA Tip-Off 2015 presented by Boost Mobile begins Friday night.
WNBA Tip-Off 2015 presented by Boost Mobile will feature 24 games from June 5 through Sunday, June 14, culminating with the launch of ESPN2’s season-long coverage of the WNBA. Howard begins her second season with the Indiana Fever while Hodges enters her 11th year and recently signed with the Atlanta Dream.
The ACC leads all leagues with 32 players on opening day rosters. At least one player from an ACC school is represented on each of the 12 WNBA teams. Among the 32 players representing the ACC, Hodges is the second-longest tenured behind former Duke player Alana Beard.
In Howard’s 2014 rookie season, she averaged seven points, 3.1 rebounds and played 16.9 minutes per game. At Florida State the Toledo, Ohio, native established a school-record 41 career double-doubles as well as a single-season school record of 15 as a senior. She also became FSU’s all-time leader in rebounds with 1,047 boards and is second all-time with 1,811 career points.
Hodges has averaged six points per game as well as 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists over her long career. Last season she played for the Tulsa Shock, averaging 5.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists. The native of New Orleans played one year at FSU as a senior in 2004-05, with her season highlighted by a then-school record 39 points against Maryland. Hodges averaged 19.2 points in 2004-05, good enough for second-most in the ACC.
Howard and the Indiana Fever begin their season at the Chicago Sky Friday night at 7:30 p.m., while Hodges and the Atlanta Dream tip off Friday night at the New York Liberty at 7:30 p.m
***FSU Athletics
