Plenette Pierson
Pierson in 2019
Texas Tech Red Raiders
PositionAssistant coach
LeagueBig 12
Personal information
Born (1981-08-31) August 31, 1981 (age 42)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High schoolKingwood (Kingwood, Texas)
CollegeTexas Tech (1999–2003)
WNBA draft2003: 1st round, 4th overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career2003–2017
PositionPower forward / center
Number54, 23, 33, 22
Coaching career2019–present
Career history
As player:
2003–2005Phoenix Mercury
2005–2006Coconuda Maddaloni
2006–2010Detroit / Tulsa Shock
2006–2007Elitzur Ramla
2007–2009Dynamo Moscow
2010–2014New York Liberty
2010–2011Tarsus Belediyesi
2011–2012Maccabi Bnot Ashdod
2012–2014Good Angels Košice
2014–2015Cheongju KB Stars
2015–2016Tulsa Shock / Dallas Wings
2016–2017Cheongju KB Stars
2017Minnesota Lynx
As coach:
2019–2022Minnesota Lynx (assistant)
2022–presentTexas Tech (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Plenette Michelle Pierson (born August 31, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).[1] In the 2007 season, Pierson won the first ever Sixth Woman of the Year Award given in the WNBA. Pierson is currently an assistant coach at Texas Tech.

College

Pierson played college basketball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders women's basketball team. She graduated in 2003.[2]

Texas Tech statistics

Source[3]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1999-00 Texas Tech 33 449 50.6 - 56.9 6.9 0.6 1.0 0.8 13.6
2000-01 Texas Tech 32 471 49.6 0.0 63.9 7.4 1.1 1.3 1.3 14.7
2001-02 Texas Tech 4 58 41.8 - 66.7 9.0 2.5 1.8 0.5 14.5
2002-03 Texas Tech 35 624 51.0 - 63.5 8.1 1.5 1.5 1.3 17.8
Career 104 1602 50.0 0.0 61.8 7.6 1.1 1.3 1.1 15.4

Professional career

WNBA

Pierson during the 2015 WNBA All Star game

Pierson was drafted fourth overall by the Phoenix Mercury in 2003 WNBA draft. Midway through the 2005 season, Pierson was traded to the Detroit Shock. In the 2006 season, the Shock were a championship contender as they finished second in the Eastern Conference with a 23–11 record. They would advance all the way to the finals and defeat the Sacramento Monarchs in five games. The following season, Pierson would win the first ever WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Award given by the league for her scoring and rebounding efforts off the bench, averaging 11.9 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. Coinciding with her efforts, the Shock were in the hunt to win back-to-back championships with the number one seed in the eastern conference and another trip to the Finals, but were defeated by the Phoenix Mercury in five-game series. The following season, the Shock made it to the Finals for the third year in a row, this time winning their second championship in three years, after sweeping the San Antonio Silver Stars in the Finals. However, the following season, Pierson would only play one game and missed the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury.

In 2010, the Detroit Shock franchise relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma and were renamed the Tulsa Shock. In the 2010 season, Pierson would play 8 games for the Shock before being traded to the New York Liberty where she played for the rest of the season. In the 2011 season, Pierson averaged a career-high in scoring with 12.9 points per game in the Liberty's starting lineup. She would continue to play with Liberty until 2014.

In 2015, Pierson returned to the Tulsa Shock in free agency. She played 30 games with 29 starts, averaged 12.8 points per game and was voted as an all-star for the first time in her career. In 2016, the Shock relocated to Dallas, Texas and were renamed the Dallas Wings. She played and started in 27 games and averaged 11.9 points per game.

On February 1, 2017, Pierson signed with the Minnesota Lynx in free agency.[4] On August 18, 2017, Pierson announced that she would retire at the end of the season.[5] During the season, Pierson would contribute off the bench for the Lynx, averaging 5.2 points per game. The Lynx finished with the best record in the league with a 27–7 record, earning the number 1 seed and a double-bye to the WNBA semi-finals. The Lynx would eliminate the Washington Mystics in a 3-game sweep of the WNBA semi-finals and would advance to the 2017 WNBA Finals, making it Pierson's fourth career Finals appearance. The Lynx would defeat the Los Angeles Sparks in 5 games to avenge last season's Finals loss, as Pierson won her third WNBA championship.

Overseas

In the 2005-06 WNBA off-season, Pierson played in Italy for Coconuda Maddaloni. In the 2006-07 WNBA off-season, Pierson played in Israel for Elitzur Ramla. In the 2007-08 WNBA off-season, Pierson played in Russia for Dynamo Moscow. In the 2011-12 WNBA off-season, Pierson played in Israel for Maccabi Bnot Ashdod. From 2012 to 2014, Pierson played two off-seasons in Slovakia for Good Angels Košice. In the 2014-15 WNBA off-season, Pierson played in Italy for Passalacqua Ragusa.[6] In August 2016, Pierson signed with the Cheongju KB Stars of the Korean League for the 2016-17 WNBA off-season.[7]

Coaching

Lynx

On March 14, 2019, The Minnesota Lynx announced the hiring of Pierson as an assistant coach.

Texas Tech

On June 6, 2022, Pierson was announced as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Texas Tech. She'd leave her post as an assistant with the Lynx and would join the team immediately.

WNBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader
† Denotes seasons in which Pierson won a WNBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2003 Phoenix 33 5 18.2 .379 .000 .634 2.4 0.7 0.5 0.3 1.2 6.0
2004 Phoenix 31 25 25.9 .443 .000 .606 4.2 0.8 0.8 0.5 1.5 9.4
2005* Phoenix 12 11 26.5 .343 .000 .690 4.9 1.1 0.8 1.0 2.6 7.7
2005* Detroit 17 15 19.3 .494 1.000 .476 5.5 0.5 0.5 0.2 1.8 7.7
2005 Total 23 0 19.3 .437 .500 .698 2.7 0.9 0.6 0.2 1.8 7.7
2006† Detroit 34 0 16.6 .456 .000 .700 3.9 0.7 0.5 0.4 1.0 6.5
2007 Detroit 34 0 25.2 .478 .000 .754 5.8 1.7 0.7 0.8 2.3 11.6
2008† Detroit 28 0 23.2 .457 .000 .752 4.9 2.3 0.8 1.2 1.7 11.9
2009 Detroit 1 0 5.0 .000 .000 .000 0.0 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0
2010* Detroit 8 1 15.8 .535 .429 .857 2.5 1.3 1.2 0.3 1.6 12.1
2010* New York 25 0 16.7 .458 .250 .817 3.8 1.1 0.6 0.3 1.8 9.0
2010 Total 33 1 16.5 .479 .364 .827 3.5 1.2 0.8 0.3 1.8 9.7
2011 New York 33 33 28.6 .478 .200 .806 5.2 1.4 1.1 0.9 1.8 12.9
2012 New York 26 24 24.7 .466 . 278 .759 5.4 2.3 0.7 0.8 2.3 12.0
2013 New York 32 27 27.6 .401 .000 .720 5.8 2.5 0.5 0.6 2.4 11.6
2014 New York 33 8 17.4 .455 .000 .859 3.1 1.2 0.4 0.1 1.3 7.2
2015 Tulsa 30 29 28.1 .437 .362 .808 4.1 1.9 0.9 0.4 1.8 12.8
2016 Dallas 27 27 26.6 .387 .337 .829 4.6 2.0 0.8 0.3 1.7 11.9
2017† Minnesota 34 4 13.7 .427 .339 .792 2.2 1.5 0.4 0.1 1.0 5.2
Career 15 years, 4 teams 444 194 22.2 .439 .302 .744 4.1 1.5 0.7 0.5 1.7 9.6

Postseason

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2005 Detroit 2 0 10.0 .400 .000 .000 3.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 2.0
2006† Detroit 10 0 18.9 .426 .000 .706 5.4 1.7 0.6 0.9 1.4 8.8
2007 Detroit 11 1 25.5 .422 .500 .732 7.2 1.6 0.6 1.0 2.5 11.2
2008† Detroit 6 0 17.8 .474 .000 .846 3.0 1.7 0.6 0.3 1.8 7.8
2010 New York 5 3 20.0 .523 .333 .625 2.4 1.2 0.0 0.2 2.0 10.4
2011 New York 3 3 29.0 .577 .000 .500 4.0 2.7 1.3 1.6 2.6 10.7
2012 New York 2 2 30.5 .389 .000 .800 5.0 3.0 0.5 0.0 1.5 9.0
2015 Tulsa 2 2 26.8 .357 .333 .000 5.5 0.5 1.0 0.5 0.5 10.5
2017† Minnesota 8 0 5.4 .364 .500 .000 0.8 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.6 1.1
Career 9 years, 4 teams 49 11 19.2 .444 .364 .698 4.2 1.4 0.5 0.6 1.6 8.0

Personal life

Pierson was born in Houston, Texas and grew up in nearby Kingwood, Texas. She is the daughter of Paulette Pierson and has a younger brother, Cleven and another brother Vontriel. She attended Kingwood High School, from which she graduated in 1999.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Plenette Pierson". wnba.com. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Player Bio: Plenette Pierson -". TexasTech.com. Texas Tech Red Raiders Official Athletic Site. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  3. ^ "Women's Basketball Player stats". NCAA. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  4. ^ "Minnesota Retires Rachel Banham's No. 1 Jersey - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  5. ^ "Minnesota's Plenette Pierson to Retire After 2017 Season - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  6. ^ Gamecenter Player Profile
  7. ^ "2016-2017 WNBA Overseas Signings - Women's Basketball 24.7". Women's Basketball 24.7. August 22, 2016. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
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