Harrower last played in the WNBA in 2005 for the Minnesota Lynx but the team renounced their rights to her on Wednesday and the LA Sparks swooped in to sign the Opals point guard.

If the Sparks sign Harrower to a contract for the 2009 season she would trade in the Aussie green and gold for the purple and gold of the Sparks to  suit up alongside Australia’s greatest international rivals, US Olympians Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and Tina Thompson.

The 2008/09 WNBL All-Star Five player brings a wealth of international experience to the Sparks with a World Championship Gold medal added to her Olympic silver-ware.

"We're very happy to have signed Kristi. She has played at high level for a number of years," said Sparks Vice President and General Manager Penny Toler. "She is a point guard with a lot of experience and we're excited to have her compete in training camp."

In her most recent WNBA season with the Lynx, Harrower averaged 4.6 points in 34 games but the 5'4" guard led the Bendigo Spirit to their first WNBL Finals appearance in March with 19.4 points, 6 assists and 5.6 rebounds.

Harrower was awarded the Betty Watson Medal for the 2008 Female Player of the Year at the Basketball Victoria 2008 Annual Awards Dinner last month. The medal is presented to the female player who has made the greatest contribution at state, national and international levels in the past year.

Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Story courtesy of www.wnba.com/sparks