Four local women are in the process of buying the WNBA Seattle Storm basketball team, ensuring that the franchise will stay in Seattle even if the Sonics move to Oklahoma City.

The group of women call themselves the Force 10 Hoops, and include former Microsoft employee and current UW Women’s Center employee Dawn Trudeau; former Seattle deputy mayor Anne Levinson; Lisa Brummel, Microsoft senior vice president for human resources; and Ginny Gilder, an investment business owner.

Force 10 Hoops has until February to close the $10 million deal with Seattle SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett.

Bennett needs approval from the WNBA Board of Governors. Should the board approve the deal, the Seattle Storm will be the second WNBA franchise owned exclusively by women, the other being the Los Angeles Sparks.

Sutapa Basu, the executive director of the UW Women’s Center, commended Force 10 Hoops for investing in the Seattle community and in women’s sports.

“I think it’s very inspiring,” she said. “These women are being good role models for people in this generation and for everyone.”

The women told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that they are buying the team for Storm fans and the community.

“I never thought that this would be a possibility,” Trudeau told the P-I. “It’s not just keeping the team in town, it’s the fact that we’re doing it with women leadership … We’re taking a risk here, there’s no question about it. We feel confident that we can step up to that and be very successful.”

Basu credited the dedication and vision of Force 10 Hoops for bringing the issue to the forefront.

“It’s great that they’re coming forward to do this,” she said. “Women’s sports in general don’t get a lot of attention, and this brings it into focus. It’s definitely history in the making.”

Marie Tuite, senior associate athletic director at the UW, said keeping women’s professional basketball in Seattle is a tremendous plus for the athletic community.

“I think whenever you can create a situation where there are positive role models in a healthy environment — which sports is — the young people of our city have an opportunity to be involved and engaged, and it improves the quality of life in our city,” she said.

Tuite said the switch in ownership gives young women the opportunity to continue pursuing sports on a professional level.

“Women’s basketball is the flagship program on most college campuses, and the fact that there’s opportunity after your collegiate career is an incredibly important message,” Tuite said. “Prior to the announcement of the selling of the Storm, we didn’t know we had a future, and now we know we do.”

[Reach reporter Sara Bruestle at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]