Women’s basketball pioneer Lusia Harris dies at 66

By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer

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.