Swanier Headed Home!!

ATLANTA DREAM SIGNS GUARD KETIA SWANIER

– 2009 WNBA Champion with Phoenix Mercury signs with Dream –

ATLANTA, March 1, 2012 –The Atlanta Dream announced today the team has signed free agent guard Ketia Swanier to a multi-year deal. Per team policy, further terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Ketia is a tremendous basketball player with a great knowledge of the game,” said Dream General Manager and Head Coach Marynell Meadors. “She fits our style of play because she likes to run and push the ball up the floor. Ketia is going to give us valuable minutes at point guard and she also brings versatility as a swing player that’s going to really help us overall at the guard position.”

Swanier, a 5-7 guard, spent the last three seasons with the Phoenix Mercury and helped the team to the 2009 WNBA Championship. She appeared in 29 games for the Mercury in 2011, averaging 2.7 points and 2.3 assists per game. In four seasons in the WNBA, Swanier is averaging 2.6 points and 1.7 assists per game.

The Columbus, Ga. native was originally drafted by the Connecticut Sun with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft after an impressive collegiate career at the University of Connecticut. As a senior, Swanier earned the Big East Sixth Man of the Year award and was the only Huskies player in program history to rank among the top ten career leaders in games played (142), assists (479) and steals (247).

Swanier played for Columbus High School, where she was the Georgia AAAA Player of the Year as a senior and a three-time Georgia AAAA All-State First Team selection.

The Atlanta Dream tips off its fifth season this summer at Philips Arena as part of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the world’s longest-running women’s professional sports league. The Dream, the defending two-time, back-to-back Eastern Conference Champion, opens its home schedule on May 25 against the New York Liberty. Season and group tickets are on sale now and individual tickets will be available for purchase in the spring. For more information, visit www.AtlantaDream.net or call (877) 977-7729.