SEATTLE -- Seattle Storm general manager and head coach Lin Dunn has resigned, saying she wants "to take a break."

	The Storm were going in the right direction under Lin Dunn, but she couldn't ignore the desire to take time off from basketball.

Dunn had a 33-63 record as the first coach for the 3-year-old WNBA team, including a 17-15 mark this year, the first time the team reached postseason play.

She said Tuesday she considered resigning even before the start of the last season and had talked with club management about her desire for some time off from the game.

"The decision to step down was extremely difficult, but it's time for me to take a break," Dunn said in a news release.

Players were caught off-guard

"It's a big shock," said guard Jamie Redd, a Storm original. "Usually when you go from where we started and help get into the playoffs, it's not a time when you hear of a coach resigning -- not when your team is going up."

Dunn thanked the Storm organization, her staff and players, adding, "I am proud of what we have achieved together."

Dunn, 55, is scheduled for knee surgery Thursday but said health concerns were not a factor in her resignation.

"I just want to re-evaluate, refocus on Lin and decide what my next challenge will be," she said.

"Lin has made a significant contribution to our organization since the Storm's inception three years ago," said Wally Walker, president and CEO of the Storm and the NBA Seattle SuperSonics. "We thank her for all of her efforts and wish her well."

Powered by No. 1 pick Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, the top draft choice in 2001, the Storm won seven of their last nine games in the regular season to earn the fourth and final playoff spot in the WNBA's Western Conference. Seattle was eliminated in two postseason games by the Los Angeles Sparks.

"I think we had a great year this year with Coach Dunn, and I want to wish her well as she goes into the next phase of her life," said Bird, playing with USA Basketball at the World Championships. "Since we don't have a new coach, it's hard to say what it'll be like next season, but we'll pretty much keep the same goals, and that's to win the Western Conference."

Dunn was named coach in 1999, assembling the team and helping build community support for it. In her first season in 2000, the Storm had a 6-26 record. It was 10-22 in 2001.

After 25 years as a college head coach at Austin Peay, Mississippi, Miami, and Purdue, Dunn joined the ABL's Portland Power as head coach and general manager in 1996. In her second season, she led the team to the Western Conference championship and won the league's 1997-98 Coach of the Year award.

The search for a new head coach will begin immediately, Walker said. Billy McKinney, Sonics and Storm executive vice president, will assume the general manager duties and oversee the search process for a new head coach.

McKinney said no deadline for choosing a replacement had been established.