Selected in fifth position by the Dallas Wings of a WNBA draft which saw three French women chosen, on the night of Monday to Tuesday, Lou Lopez-Sénéchal (24 years old, 1.85 m) is the French revelation of the last few months. With the exception of Isabelle Fijalkowski (in 1997, in the context of the creation of the League) and Gabby Williams (the Franco-American had been chosen in fourth position in 2018), no French player had been selected higher than Grenoble.
She has lived in four countries
Lou Lopez-Sénéchal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico on May 12, 1998, to a Mexican father – Carlos Lopez – and a French mother – Sophie Sénéchal. She has dual nationality, Franco-Mexican. After growing up in Mexico, she moved to France with her mother at the age of 5, in Grenoble. Before going to play in Ireland, at 19, at the North Atlantic Basketball Academy (Dublin), then joining the United States at 20, in Fairfield (Connecticut).
280 applications in the United States
As she has told ESPN, Lopez-Sénéchal, coached by her stepfather, who studied in the United States, sent 280 emails to American universities in 2017-2018, in order to apply. She refrained from contacting the best universities in the country (those ranked among the top 25 in basketball), believing that the level was too high, and received several positive responses. After five official visits that resulted in scholarship offers, she received an offer from Fairfield, which she accepted.
A link with Spain
During a interview given to the site swish-swishshe said in February that she wanted to play in Europe next season: “After UConn, if I can go to a country other than France, Spain or elsewhere, to play professionally, I’m ready. […] After basketball, I don’t see myself going to a country and staying there for the rest of my life. The fact that I can speak French, English and Spanish is an asset that I try to use as much as possible. » At Fairfield, she befriended Andrea Hernangomez, the younger sister (23) of the Spanish internationals and executioners of the Blues in the final of the last Euro, Willy (New Orleans Pelicans) and Juancho (Toronto Raptors).
At UConn thanks to the Covid
The Covid-19 pandemic having interrupted the 2020-2021 season, university athletes registered at the time were entitled to an additional year of college eligibility. After completing her “traditional” four-year course at Fairfield, Lopez-Sénéchal therefore had the opportunity to extend her university adventure by a year and was recruited by UConn this season, the most successful women’s basketball program in the world. NCAA history (11 wins between 1995 and 2016). Beaten by Ohio State (61-73), Connecticut players failed to join the Final Four they had played in the previous fourteen seasons. Lopez-Senechal however, stood out throughout a season ended with an average of 15.5 points (44% at three points).
Toupane met her
While she was still almost unknown a few months ago, despite leading performances at Fairfield, Lopez-Sénéchal received a visit in March from the coach of the France team, Jean-Aimé Toupane. “It’s part of my job to go ‘walk around’ to see players, and the players that everyone is talking regarding, of which Lou is a part”had indicated the technician.
