LEXINGTON, Ky. – Former UK women’s basketball standout Jennifer O’Neill (pictured) has earned a spot on the Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) Minnesota Lynx official 12-person roster, the club announced on Thursday, June 4, the WNBA’s roster deadline.
O’Neill, a 5-foot-6 guard, joins a team that finished last season 25-9 and second in the Western Conference. The two-time league champions (2011 and 2013) are the preseason favorites to win the West.
O’Neill will go down as one of the most prolific scorers in UK Hoops history. She finished her career at No. 12 on UK’s all-time scoring list with 1,356 points and hit 197 3-pointers, which ranks second all-time. She scored in double figures 74 times in her career, including 11 games of 20 more points. One of the highlights of her career was a school-record 43-point output in Kentucky's four overtime win over ninth-ranked Baylor in 2013.
“All of us in the UK Hoops family are happy and very proud of Jennifer,” UK Hoops head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “She put in countless hours of hard work to prepare for her opportunity and it paid off. Jennifer will be a great asset to the Lynx.”
In 2014-15, O’Neill came off the bench to average 14.4 points per game, second on the team and seventh in the league. She was named to the All-SEC Second Team and voted the SEC Sixth Woman of the Year for the second straight season.
O’Neill graduated from Kentucky in May with a degree in kinesiology.
The first nationally-televised game for the Lynx is set for Sunday, June 21 at 7 p.m. ET as the Lynx play host to Tulsa, live on NBATV.
UK Athletics Photo