Deanna Nolan and Katie Smith Signed Through 2010, Plenette Pierson Signed Through 2012
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Detroit Shock General Manager Cheryl Reeve announced today
that the club signed Deanna Nolan, Katie Smith, and Plenette Pierson to contract
extensions. Per team policy, financial terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
Nolan, a three-time WNBA champion with the Shock, appeared in 33 games (all starts)
this season and averaged 16.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals in
33.7 minutes per game. She scored in double-figures in 29 of 33 games this season,
and was named WNBA Player of the Week three consecutive times to end the season.
Nolan tallied career highs in defensive rebounds (11) and total rebounds (14) vs.
New York on (8/4). The Flint native was named 2006 WNBA Finals MVP and has WNBA
career averages of 13.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals in 260 games.
Smith, the 2008 WNBA Finals MVP, has appeared in 27 games (all starts) this season
for the Shock, averaging 15.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 34.7 minutes
per game. She shot a career-high 91.8% (56-61) from the free-throw line and a
career-high-tying 43% (57-132) from beyond the arc. Smith recorded her 300th steal
at Indiana (6/21), becoming the first player in WNBA history to record 5,000 points,
1,000 rebounds, 900 assists, and 300 steals. The Ohio State product and member of
two Shock WNBA Championship teams has WNBA career averages of 15.7 points, 3.1
rebounds, 2.8 assists and 0.9 steals.
Pierson, who was named 2007 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year and a member of two Shock
WNBA Championship teams has been sidelined since the Shock's first game of the 2009
season. She was injured while battling for a rebound vs. Los Angeles on June 6 and
had season-ending shoulder surgery on June 24 to repair shoulder instability
following her injury.
Pierson appeared in 28 games last season and averaged career highs in points (11.9
ppg), assists (1.9 apg) and blocks (1.2 bpg) in 23.2 minutes per game. She led the
Shock in scoring on five occasions, rebounds five times and assists four times.
Pierson had seven multiple block games, finishing with a career-high 34 blocks.
During the 2008 WNBA Playoffs, Pierson averaged 7.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7
assists in six games. She missed three games with a dislocated shoulder/torn labrum
after getting injured in Game 2 of the first round. In 196 WNBA games Pierson has
career averages of 8.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.6 blocks.
