Mexican-Born Player Lou López Sénéchal Makes History With Her WNBA Draft

Women continue to make waves in the world of sports. This time, it is a Latina who has made history. She is Lou López Sénéchal, who on Monday became the first Mexican-born player to be drafted by the WNBA.

The Dallas Wings selected Sénéchal during the WNBA drafts with the fifth overall pick.

“I’ve come a long way — very grateful for my journey and all the steps I’ve achieved. [I’m] very grateful to be here,” López Sénéchal told reporters.

At the same time, the Washington Mystics selected Stephanie Soares, a native of Brazil, as their fourth pick.

Lou López Sénéchal follows in the footsteps of Evina Westbrook

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, the Latina star lived her early years in Grenoble, France. At 19, she was attending a basketball academy in Ireland, and although she never thought this would be her professional career, life would have other surprises in store for her.

Along with his stepfather, López Sénéchal applied to schools across the United States just five years ago. UMass Lowell, Tulsa, Akron, Duquesne, and Fairfield schools responded, and the family traveled with a new career plan.

López Sénéchal accepted the offer from Fairfield, where he played for four years. She played with the team in the NCAA tournament. The Latina player led the team to a conference title in 2022, the school’s first in 24 years.

López Sénéchal was named the 2022 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

As reported by NBC News, after signing with UConn last fall, the Latina player became one of the season’s breakout stars. López Sénéchal scored an average of 15.5 points per game and hit 44% of her 3-point attempts.

Simultaneously, he finished his five-year college career with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Fairfield. López Sénéchal will also soon receive a bachelor’s degree from UConn in general studies.

But perhaps the biggest news in her career came last Monday. The 24-year-old Latina star was selected fifth overall in the draft by the Dallas Wings and is the first Mexican-born player to do so.

López Sénéchal follows in the footsteps of Evina Westbrook, who last year became the first Mexican-American to be drafted by the Minnesota Lynx.