Plenette Pierson

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.

Plenette Pierson

Pierson in 2019
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Position	Assistant coach
League	Big 12
Personal information
Born	(1981-08-31) August 31, 1981 (age 43) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school	Kingwood (Kingwood, Texas)
College	Texas Tech (1999–2003)
WNBA draft	2003: 1st round, 4th overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career	2003–2017
Position	Power forward / center
Number	54, 23, 33, 22
Coaching career	2019–present
Career history
As player:
2003–2005	Phoenix Mercury
2005–2006	Coconuda Maddaloni
2006–2010	Detroit / Tulsa Shock
2006–2007	Elitzur Ramla
2007–2009	Dynamo Moscow
2010–2014	New York Liberty
2010–2011	Tarsus Belediyesi
2011–2012	Maccabi Bnot Ashdod
2012–2014	Good Angels Košice
2014–2015	Cheongju KB Stars
2015–2016	Tulsa Shock / Dallas Wings
2016–2017	Cheongju KB Stars
2017	Minnesota Lynx
As coach:
2019–2022	Minnesota Lynx (assistant)
2022–present	Texas Tech (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
3× WNBA champion (2006, 2008, 2017) WNBA All-Star (2015) WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year (2007) Israeli National League champion (2012) Slovak National League champion (2013) Third-team All-American – AP (2003) First-team All-Big 12 (2003) Big 12 Freshman of the Year (2000)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

College career

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*	Tulsa	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. "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.

External links

• Media related to Plenette Pierson at Wikimedia Commons