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Pierson a no show

January 1, 2005 - National Women's Basketball League (NWBL)
Lubbock Hawks News Release


With only 17 days remaining until the first home game of the Lubbock Hawks inaugural season, one of the newest teams in the National Women's Basketball League has hit a rough spot in its roster.

Former Texas Tech stand-out Plenette Pierson has decided not to play with the Hawks during the 2005 season.

"We are very disappointed that Plenette has chosen not to play for the Lubbock Hawks," said general manager Ricky Romero, "Coach Estes and I have left numerous messages for her. She has put us in a difficult position with our marketing campaign."

When the Hawks came to town the team prided itself on the fact that it was bringing back two former Lady Raiders and coined the phrase, "The girls are back in town!" Unfortunately, one of the girls chose not to make the move leaving the Hawks in a difficult situation.

"We open training camp on Tuesday, so it makes it very difficult to replace her on such short notice," says Ricky.

Head coach Sheryl Estes said if the team had known in November that Plenette was not going to honor her commitment, "then we would have replaced her with another WNBA post player."

Pierson did sign a letter of intent in July, however the Hawks did not find out until December 29, 2004, that Plenette would not be playing in Lubbock. According to Plenette's agent, Trishyona Abraham, Plenette signed a contract in November to play professionally in Greece. Apparently, Pierson player for a brief period of time in Israel before being dismissed from the team, she then negotiated a contract to play in Greece for the remainder of the season.

Ricky says, "on behalf of Plenette, the Hawks would like to apologize to the fans that were anticipating seeing her play." However, Coach Estes says, "we have signed an outstanding team for the 2005 season and we can't wait to show the Lubbock basketball fans our team on January 18, 2005.

Season tickets for the Lubbock Hawks 2005 inaugural season can still be purchased at the Lubbock Sports Center located at 6024 45th Street or by calling 806-797-2333. All games will be played at the Rip Griffin Center on the campus of Lubbock Christian University. For further information log on to www.nwbl.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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