# Nekeshia Henderson

Nekeshia Shiondrail Henderson (born February 28, 1973) is an American former professional basketball guard who played for the Houston Comets of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Texas. She also played for the San Jose Lasers and Colorado Xplosion of the American Basketball League (ABL).

## Early life and college

Henderson attended South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas, Texas.
Henderson played for the Texas Longhorns of the University of Texas from 1991 to 1995, playing in 96 games and starting 64. She recorded 12.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game during her college career. She earned First Team All-Southwest Conference honors and was named the SWC Freshman of the Year in 1992. Henderson garnered Second Team All-SWC recognition in 1995. She was named the Team MVP for the 1994–95 season. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in applied learning & development.

## Professional career
### San Jose Lasers and Colorado Xplosion

Henderson began her professional career playing for the San Jose Lasers and Colorado Xplosion. She signed a replacement contract with the Colorado Xplosion in December 1996.

### Houston Comets

Henderson spent the 1997 season on the Houston Comets' developmental squad as a shooting guard. She never played in an actual game for the team during the season and was released shortly after the 1997 season ended.
After playing overseas for a few years, Henderson returned to the WNBA but tore an anterior cruciate ligament in her knee before the start of the 2000 season. Henderson signed with the Comets on May 1, 2000 and spent the entire season on the injured list.
Henderson would finally get her time on the court as an active WNBA player when she played her debut game on May 28, 2001. On that day, the Comets lost their season-opening game to the Los Angeles Sparks in a very close battle 63 - 66, with Henderson recording 4 rebounds and 3 assists (but no points). Although the Comets lost their first game, they would go on a 9-game win streak from May 31 to June 27 and have a 9 - 1 record in 10 games. The last half of the team's season was not as successful, as they would lose 12 of their final 22 games and end the season at 19 - 13. Henderson played in 23 games for the team (winning 14 out of 23 games) and averaged 1.1 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. The Comets made the playoffs but were swept in the Western Conference First Round by the Sparks.
Henderson was waived by the Comets on May 22, 2002, 5 days before the 2002 season started. She would not play in the WNBA again after being waived by the Comets. Thus, her final game ever was Game 2 of the aforementioned 2001 first round series against the Sparks on August 20, 2001. The Comets lost the game 58 - 70 with Henderson only playing for 1 minute and recording no stats.

### BK Klosterneuburg and Elitzur Holon

Henderson played overseas after her initial release from the Houston Comets in 1997. She participated in the 1997–98 Ronchetti Cup with BK Klosterneuburg, an Austrian team. She also played in the 1998–99 Ronchetti Cup with Elitzur Holon, a team from the Israeli Female Basketball Premier League.

## National team career

Henderson competed with USA Basketball as a member of the 1993 Jones Cup Team that won the Bronze in Taipei.

## Career statistics
### WNBA career statistics
#### Regular season

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
| 2001 | Houston | 23 | 0 | 7.8 | 23.7 | 27.3 | 28.6 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Career | 1 year, 1 team | 23 | 0 | 7.8 | 23.7 | 27.3 | 28.6 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.1 |

#### Playoffs

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
| 2001 | Houston | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Career | 1 year, 1 team | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |

### College

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
| 1991–92 | Texas | 31 | - | - | 40.6 | 27.3 | 71.4 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.3 | - | 10.2 |
| 1992–93 | Texas | 29 | - | - | 43.3 | 36.6 | 62.2 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 1.6 | 0.1 | - | 10.2 |
| 1993–94 | Texas | 21 | - | - | 43.0 | 35.7 | 64.7 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 2.5 | 0.6 | - | 13.0 |
| 1994–95 | Texas | 15 | - | - | 42.2 | 40.0 | 71.9 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 2.1 | 0.4 | - | 17.9 |
| Career | Career | 96 | - | - | 42.2 | 35.3 | 67.6 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 1.9 | 0.3 | - | 12.0 |
| Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference. ||||||||||||||