Rousseau Part Of WNBA's 15th-Anniversary Game Festivities

The eight-year Pepperdine head coach was with the Los Angeles Sparks coaching staff from 1997-98.

Julie Rousseau as the Sparks head coach with 6-8 Haixia Zheng.
 
Julie Rousseau as the Sparks head coach with 6-8 Haixia Zheng.
  
 

June 16, 2011

MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine women’s basketball head coach Julie Rousseau will be recognized alongside the WNBA’s best players Tuesday night June 21 at Staples Center when the league plays host to its 15th Anniversary Game, featuring the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN2, during which the WNBA will unveil 30 candidates for its 15th Anniversary Team.


 

 

Organizers also have plans to showcase 15 years of Sparks basketball and honor the 1997 club, which featured Rousseau as an assistant coach. She was later promoted to head coach in December of 1997 and held that position for one year. Her players included three-time WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie and current Sparks general manager Penny Toler.

“First of all I can’t believe it’s been 15 years,” Rousseau said. “I’m honored to be a part of this celebration, which I consider to be a great testament to a league that continues to thrive and gives hope to young girls everywhere who aspire to be professional players in the United States.”

Rousseau returned to the collegiate ranks in 2000, first serving as an assistant coach at Stanford for four seasons before taking over the head coaching reins at Pepperdine in May of 2004. She recently completed her seventh year in Malibu and will enter the 2011-12 campaign on the strength of a third-straight winning season and second-consecutive postseason appearance.

Rousseau won her 100th career game as Pepperdine’s head coach on February 3, 2011 as the Waves swarmed Saint Mary’s at Firestone Fieldhouse, 69-48.

 additional sport links

Head Coach Ryan Weisenberg

2012-13 Season

Pepperdine Points

• History
• Camps

Basketball Links