Storm Acquire Amanda Lassiter for Henning

June 17, 2002
The Seattle Storm today acquired second-year forward Amanda Lassiter from the Houston Comets in exchange for veteran point guard Sonja Henning, Storm General Manager and Head Coach Lin Dunn announced.

Lassiter, an All-Big 12 First Team selection as a senior at the University of Missouri, was selected by the Comets in the first round (15th pick overall) of the 2001 WNBA Draft. She finished her career at Missouri as the third-leading shot blocker in school history.

She averaged 4.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 32 games, including 18 starts, with Houston last season and set the franchise record for rebounds in a game by a rookie with 13 at Sacramento on July 10. Lassiter has appeared in six of the Comets nine games this season.

“Amanda brings all the things that we need - size, speed and athleticism - at the small forward position,” Dunn said. “She can score, put the ball on the floor and hit the three-point shot.”

Originally selected by the Storm in the second round (eighth pick overall) of the 2000 WNBA Expansion Draft from Houston, Henning averaged 4.1 points and 2.6 assists in 72 career games with the Storm. She was the only player to have appeared in all 72 games in franchise history through Saturday’s game at Utah. She was averaging 2.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in eight games this season.

“This is a very, very difficult day for me,” Dunn said. “Sonja is one of the original members of the Storm and she has provided enormous leadership throughout the three-year history of this franchise. It’s a decision that I felt was in the best interest in the growth of the Seattle Storm.”

Henning returns to the franchise that she helped lead to the 1999 WNBA Championship. During that title run, she started all 32 games at point guard, averaging 4.0 points and 2.3 assists per game.

The Storm host the defending WNBA Champion Los Angeles Sparks at KeyArena on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on the Oxygen network.

The first 4,000 fans in attendance will receive a Lauren Jackson bobblehead doll presented by Starbucks Coffee. Doors to KeyArena open at 6 p.m. Fans will be allowed to begin forming a line to enter the arena at 3 p.m.

Tickets for tomorrow’s game are available by calling 1-877-WNBA-TIX, logging onto storm.wnba.com or stopping by the KeyArena box office prior to tip-off.