MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Lynx today announced the team has signed guard Danielle Robinson to a contract extension. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are pleased to extend Danielle’s contract with the Minnesota Lynx,” said Head Coach and General Manager Cheryl Reeve. “We look forward to her continued growth as a leader of our team.”
In 28 games (two starts) with the Lynx this season, Robinson averaged 6.5 points per game on 44.5% shooting, 1.8 rebounds per game and a team-high 3.3 assists per game before suffering a season-ending ankle injury on Aug. 9 at Las Vegas. In her first start with Minnesota, she notched her fourth career double-double on Aug. 7 at Chicago and recorded a season-high 11 assists while finishing with 12 points. The 11 assists are the most by any Lynx player since Lindsay Whalen dealt a club-record-tying 14 vs. Los Angeles on Sept. 4, 2013. Robinson sank her first career three-pointers on July 11 at Indiana.
“I am both ecstatic and incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to continue my journey with the Lynx,” Robinson said. “I’m ready to come back stronger than ever for the 2019 season and help our team succeed both on and off the court.”
The San Jose, California, native is a three-time All-Star (2013, 2014, 2015) and a three-time WNBA All-Defensive Team selection (2012, 2013, 2014) along with being named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team in 2011. Robinson is one of seven active players to hold career averages of at least nine points and four assists per game with a minimum of 40 games played (Sue Bird, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Moriah Jefferson, Diana Taurasi, Lindsay Whalen and Courtney Vandersloot).
Robinson, 28, spent the 2017 season with the Mercury after being drafted by the San Antonio Stars with the sixth overall draft pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft. Robinson appeared in 32 games (29 starts) in 2017, averaging 6.9 points (on 43.2% shooting), 2.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and a team-high 1.1 steals in 23.5 minutes per game. She tallied a season-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting while pulling down five rebounds and dishing out seven assists in the Mercury’s 101-100 overtime victory on August 10.
Prior to the WNBA, the 5-9 guard played collegiately at Oklahoma University where she finished her career with 2,138 points, 726 assists and 309 steals, joining Nancy Lieberman and Dawn Staley, and later Courtney Vandersloot, as the only women’s college basketball players in history to cross the 2,000-point, 700-assist and 300-steal benchmarks in a career.