BRProud.com

Women’s basketball pioneer Lusia Harris dies at 66

FILE - Lusia Harris Stewart shows off some of her medals and awards from her basketball career, Jan. 10, 2002, in her home in Greenwood, Miss. Harris, who was the only woman to be drafted by an NBA team and scored the first points in women's basketball history at the Olympics, died Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, her family announced. She was 66. (Tony Krausz/The Delta Democrat-Times via AP, File)

Women’s basketball pioneer Lusia Harris has died at the age of 66. Harris was the only woman to be officially drafted by an NBA team and scored the first points in women’s basketball history at the Olympics. She was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz in the seventh round in 1977, but didn’t try out for the team because she was pregnant at the time. Harris helped Delta State University win three straight national titles in the 1970s and earned a silver medal for the United States at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

(Story via The Associated Press)