Lashann Higgs.July 22, 2020Simba French0334Views
She missed out on being selected in the 2020 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft, but Bahamian female guard Lashann Higgs is headed to Bembibre, Spain, to play professionally.
Higgs signed with Embutidos Pajariel Bembibre PDM which plays in the Liga Femenina Endesa (Liga Dia) – the highest women’s basketball division in Spain. Higgs will look to help elevate the team from the bottom of the standings after they finished with four wins and 18 losses last season.
The Bahamian is coming off her final year of playing for the University of Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas, before entering the WNBA draft back in April. She was unable to follow in the footsteps of Walteia Rolle and Jonquel Jones as Bahamians to be drafted into the WNBA. Despite not being selected in the draft, Higgs is optimistic about going elsewhere to play professionally.
Back in May, Higgs told Guardian Sports that she was proud of everything she accomplished in her collegiate career at Texas.
“God has blessed me tremendously – to be able to compete in college and earn a college degree. I am proud that I was able to accomplish that feat… I would like to continue playing for as long as possible, but you never know what path God would lead you to. Everything that took place happened for a reason so I’ll just have to trust that God has my best interest in store for me,” she said.
That faith led her to Spain, where she will have a chance to continue her basketball career.
In her final season as a Longhorns player, Higgs averaged 9.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Like every other National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I sporting discipline that was in action in March, women’s basketball was shut down. That happened before the season officially ended, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Higgs showed resiliency when she bounced back from a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in her left knee in 2018. She returned this season with a knee brace and finished her collegiate basketball career.
This season, she dropped a season-high 19 points back in January in a 70-53 victory for the Longhorns over the University of Oklahoma Sooners. Higgs was able to pull down a season-high 12 rebounds in the Longhorns’ game against the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros back in November 2019. The Longhorns won that game, 85-69.
The Harbour Island native helped her team to a 19-11 win/loss record this season, including 11-7 in conference play. They finished third in the BIG 12 Conference.
The Longhorns were set to play the West Virginia University Mountaineers on March 13 in the Big 12 Conference Championships before the season was shut down.
The 24-year-old’s best season was the 2017-2018 season where she started all 35 games, averaging 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
For her career, Higgs averaged 9.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, and helped lead the Longhorns to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament four straight seasons. They reached the Elite Eight in 2016, and the Sweet 16 in back-to-back years of 2017 and 2018.
Higgs is still working out during the pandemic, staying in game shape for when the season starts in Spain. On July 10, she posted a video with her going through some dribbling and finishing drills.
Higgs spent her entire collegiate career with the Texas Longhorns and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Youth and Community Studies.