Lynx sign veteran forward Plenette Pierson

A former league champion with Detroit, she was a WNBA All-Star in 2015.

February 10, 2017 at 1:38AM
Plenette Pierson (22) fouled Minnesota Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen last season.
Plenette Pierson (22) fouled Minnesota Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen last season. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Plenette Pierson, a 13-year WNBA veteran who won titles in 2006 and 2008 with Detroit, was signed by the Lynx on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-2 forward/center has played for three different franchises during her career. In 410 WNBA games, she averages 10.0 points and 4.3 points. She was named the league's Sixth Woman of the Year in 2007 with Detroit.

Her two league championships with the Shock came with current Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve as an assistant to Bill Laimbeer in Detroit.

Pierson, 35, was the fourth overall pick in the 2003 WNBA Draft by Phoenix. She was with the Mercury for three seasons before being traded to Detroit, where she spent five seasons with the franchise. She was traded to New York in 2010 and signed with Tulsa in 2015, making the league's All-Star Game for the first time. Tulsa moved to Dallas in 2016, and Pierson averaged 11.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last year.

She is now playing for KB Stars Seoul in the Korean women's basketball league.

Pierson's signing could mean the Lynx will part ways with center Janel McCarville, who played for the WNBA runners-up last season after sitting out the 2015 season, a year in which the Lynx won the title. McCarville, a former Gophers standout, played on the Lynx' 2013 WNBA championship team.

about the writer

about the writer

Kent Youngblood

Reporter

Kent Youngblood has covered sports for the Minnesota Star Tribune for more than 20 years.

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