Jia Dorene Perkins (born February 23, 1982) is an American retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. She announced her retirement after the 2017 season when the Lynx won the WNBA championship. She was born in

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a city in the U.S. state of New York, within Orange County. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area. Located north of New York City, a ...

. She moved to

Granbury, Texas Granbury is a city in and the county seat of Hood County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 10,958, and it is the principal city of the Granbury micropolitan statistical area. Granbury is named after Confede ...

, where she attended

Granbury High School Granbury High School is a public high school located in the city of Granbury, Texas, United States and classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). It is part of the Granbury Independent School District which serves s ...

College career

College statistics

Source

2000–2001

Jia helped

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

to get to

March Madness The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

, as Texas Tech claimed the 2nd seed. Texas Tech went all the way to the regional semifinals, beating 15th seeded

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

and 7th seeded

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. However, in the regional semifinals, Texas Tech lost 74-72 to

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, who went all the way to the National Championship before losing to Notre Dame.

2001–2002

Despite being seeded in a lesser position, Texas Tech still managed to surge their way through to the Sweet Sixteen round again as the 4th seed team in the West Region's bracket. Texas tech beat 13th seeded

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

in the 1st round, then went on to beat 12th seeded

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

. However, Texas Tech came to the same end as they did in 2001, losing by 10 points to 1st-seeded

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, who also went on to lose in the Championship.

2002–2003

Texas Tech looked to overcome their Sweet Sixteen losing streak, and this year they were the 2nd-seeded team again. Texas Tech started off a bit shaky, beating 15th-seeded

Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

by only 8 points. However, they redeemed themselves in the 2nd round, winning 71-48 over UC Santa Barbara. They went on to beat

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by the same score, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first (and last) time in Jia's college era. Texas Tech went on to lose to

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

2003–2004

In Jia's last year at Texas Tech, Jia played her fewest ever games in her college career, only playing 16 total games. That being said, Texas Tech also was eliminated in the earliest stage of Jia's college career. Texas Tech finished 4th seeded again, and beat

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

in the 1st round. They went on to lose by 17 points to

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

. Jia never did go to the Final Four tournament.

WNBA career

Perkins was selected by the

Charlotte Sting The Charlotte Sting were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the league's eight original teams. The team folded on January 3, 2007. The Sting was originally the sister organization of ...

with the 35th pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft. Perkins missed most of the season due to the birth of her daughter. On November 16, 2005, Perkins was selected by the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 20 ...

in the expansion draft. She played in Chicago for five years and posted a career-best 17.0 points per game in 2008. In 2009, Perkins was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team as a reserve. Prior to the 2011 season, she was traded to the

San Antonio Stars The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the ...

in exchange for

Michelle Snow Donnette Jé-Michelle Snow (born March 20, 1980) is a retired American professional basketball player who played most recently in the Turkish Women's Basketball League. High school career Born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, Snow led Pensaco ...

. That same year, Perkins made her first playoff appearance. During the 2016 WNBA Draft, Perkins was traded to the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

in exchange for Jazmon Gwathmey. In February 2018, it was announced that Perkins had officially retired from the game of basketball.

WNBA playoffs

The Silver Stars qualified for the

2011 WNBA Playoffs The 2011 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason for the Women's National Basketball Association's 2011 season. Four teams from each of the league's two conferences qualified for the playoffs seeded 1 to 4 in a tournament bracket, with the two openin ...

and Perkins made her first career postseason appearance in 2011, where the Stars lost in the first round to the

. Perkins scored the team's high of 24 points in the 2nd game of the series, played in San Antonio, where the Stars won 84-75. The next year, the Stars made the

2012 WNBA Playoffs The 2012 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason for the Women's National Basketball Association's 2012 season. Four teams from each of the league's two conferences qualified for the playoffs, seeded 1 to 4 in a tournament bracket, with the two openin ...

, where the Stars improved to the third seeded spot. However, their season came to an early end as the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

defeated them 2-0 in the 1st round. The Stars missed the playoffs in 2013, but came back in 2014 as the third seed. However, they met the same sticky end that they did in 2012, losing 2-0 to the

Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

. Perkins has played in every playoff game the Stars have partaken in since 2011. In her first season with the Lynx, they made it all the way to the WNBA Finals where the faced the Sparks. However, they Lynx ended up losing the series 2-3. In her second season with the Lynx, they made it back to the Finals for the third straight season. This time the Lynx would win in 5 games against the Sparks, winning their fourth championship in seven seasons, tying the now-defunct

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

for most championship titles.

WNBA career statistics

Source

Regular season

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