Benningfield is a second-year pro who will enter her third WNBA training camp…she signed with Indiana as a free agent during the August break for the Olympics in 2004...she practiced with the Fever for the final seven games of 2004…she is a complementary forward whose hard work and persistence have proved valuable to the Fever lineup…she underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last September prior to playing overseas in Spain.
PRO – WNBA
2005: Benningfield saw action in 10 games during her rookie season, and scored nine points…the Fever was 5-5 in her 10 appearances…she played in 52 minutes, averaging 0.9 points and 0.6 rebounds per game…she made her WNBA regular season debut at Seattle, 6/4…against the Storm, she logged 19 minutes and scored three points with two rebounds, one assist and a blocked shot…in the next game at Sacramento, 6/7, she played two minutes and did not take a shot or have a rebound…only twice did she seen action in consecutive games – at Seattle, 6/4, and Sacramento, 6/7; and against Detroit, 8/25 and New York, 8/27…against the Sparks, 6/28, she scored a career-high four points in 14 minutes…she also had a rebound, an assist and her only steal of the season against L.A…at Minnesota, 7/19, she scored two points with a rebound and an assist, for what were her final points of the season…she was on the injured list for three games (6/15 to 6/18) due to a sprained right knee. 2004: Signed as a free agent on 8/24/04, she went on the injured list 8/31/04 and never saw game action…she was drafted by Charlotte and waived prior to the regular season…she appeared in a pair of Charlotte preseason games, scoring two points with three offensive rebounds in eight minutes of play…in what was her WNBA preseason debut, she was 0-for-1 from the floor with an offensive rebound in five minutes against the Fever, 5/9…she had two points, two rebounds and an assist in Charlotte’s final preseason game against the Washington Mystics, 5/14.
PLAYOFFS
2005: Benningfield was a member of the Fever’s 2006 WNBA Playoffs roster, though did not see action.
PRO – OVERSEAS
2005-06: Benningfield plays with Arranz Jopisa in Spain. 2004-05: Played in Spain with Adecco Estudiantes Madrid, where she was a teammate of former Fever guard Kate Starbird.
COLLEGE
A native of Louisville, Ky., Benningfield averaged 11.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in 136 games during her college career at Vanderbilt…she helped the Commodores to Southeastern Conference Tournament championship as a sophomore and a senior, and she received All-SEC second team honors in each of her final two seasons…2003-04: As a senior, she averaged 13.1 ppg and 5.9 rpg despite suffering a stress fracture in her right foot…2002-03: She was an honorable mention All-America selection by the Associated Press following her junior season, averaging 16.5 ppg and 7.9 rpg while shooting 55.6 percent from the field…she was an SEC All-Academic Team selection in 2003.
