Kristine Anigwe

Kristine Chioma Anigwe (born March 31, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Çukurova Basketbol in the Women's Basketball Super League.[1]

Kristine Anigwe
Anigwe in 2019
No. 33 – Connecticut Sun
PositionCenter / power forward
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1997-03-31) March 31, 1997
London, England
NationalityBritish / American
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High schoolDesert Vista (Phoenix, Arizona)
CollegeCalifornia (2015–2019)
WNBA draft2019: 1st round, 9th overall pick
Selected by the Connecticut Sun
Playing career2019–present
Career history
2019Connecticut Sun
2019Dallas Wings
2019–2020İzmit Belediyespor
2020Los Angeles Sparks
2020–presentÇukurova Basketbol
2021Dallas Wings
2021Los Angeles Sparks
2022Phoenix Mercury
2023Chicago Sky
2023–presentConnecticut Sun
UNI Győr
Career highlights and awards

Early life

Kristine Anigwe was born in London to Nigerian parents.[2] She and her siblings were raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and attended Desert Vista High School. At age 17, Anigwe became a U.S. citizen in June 2014.[3]

In her upperclassman years, Anigwe won two consecutive FIBA age group World Championships competing for the United States, first with the under-17s in 2014 and then with the under-19s in 2015. Anigwe scored in double figures in all 27 games for Desert Vista in her senior season, leading the state with 21.1 points and 13.3 rebounds per game and registering 17 double-doubles.[4]

College career

Before her junior year of high school, Anigwe accepted an offer to play college basketball at the University of California, Berkeley,[4] where she would major in sociology.[5]

Freshman season

In her first season with California in 2015–16, Anigwe won eight consecutive Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Week honors. She led the Golden Bears in points, rebounds, field goal percentage, field goals made, blocks, free throws made, and free throw attempts.[6] Anigwe was voted to the 2016 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball tournament All-Tournament Team, and she was named the women's USBWA National Freshman of the Year following the season.[7]

Sophomore season

Anigwe's success continued as a sophomore, as she became the first player in California history to average 20 points per game in consecutive seasons.[6] On December 8, 2016, Anigwe recorded the first 50-point game in Golden Bears history, scoring 50 in only 24 minutes against Sacramento State.[8] A month later, on January 8, she became the fastest player in Pac-12 history to reach 1,000 points, hitting the milestone in a loss to eventual Elite Eight participant Oregon.[6] Anigwe continued to lead the Golden Bears in points and rebounds, also leading in field goal percentage and blocks.

For the second consecutive year, Anigwe was named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team. Anigwe saw her first NCAA tournament action, in which the Golden Bears narrowly defeated LSU before falling to No. 1 seed Baylor.

Junior season

Anigwe registered 28 points and 25 rebounds in a win against Brown on November 19, 2017, achieving the first 25–25 game in Division I women's basketball in three years.[9]

For the third consecutive season, Anigwe led California in points and rebounds as a junior, and was named to the All-Pac-12 Team. She was also a late season nominee for the 2018 Wade Trophy, John R. Wooden Award, Naismith College Player of the Year, and Katrina McClain Awards.[6] California were upset in the first round of the 2018 NCAA tournament by Virginia.

Senior season

As a senior in 2018–19, Anigwe posted career highs in points (22.3) and rebounds per game (16.2), leading the country in rebounds.[10] She became the third California Golden Bear to score 2,000 career points on December 2, 2018, in a win against Cal State Northridge.[11]

Anigwe set multiple school and conference records during her senior season. On February 8 and 10, 2019, Anigwe broke California's scoring and rebounding records in consecutive home losses to Oregon State and Oregon.[12]

In her final regular-season college game on March 3, 2019, at Washington State, Anigwe scored 32 points and added 30 rebounds. In doing so, she both set the Pac-12 women's rebounding record, and became the first Division I player since 2002 to record 30 points and rebounds in a single game.[13]

Anigwe and California received an at-large big to the 2019 NCAA tournament, in which they defeated North Carolina before falling to eventual national champions Baylor.

Following the season, Anigwe was named the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.[14]

California statistics

Source[15]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015-16 California 31 635 57.0% 0.0% 75.4% 9.3 0.6 1.1 1.2 20.5
2016-17 California 34 714 56.6% 33.3% 68.1% 9.3 0.9 0.7 2.1 21.0
2017-18 California 30 500 56.9% 54.5% 58.3% 8.8 0.9 1.0 1.3 16.7
2018-19 California 33 742 50.8% 30.4% 65.6% 16.2 1.0 1.0 1.7 22.5
Career 128 2591 55.0% 36.8% 67.8% 11.0 0.9 0.9 1.6 20.2

Professional career

Anigwe was selected ninth overall in the 2019 WNBA draft by the Connecticut Sun.[16]

On August 6, 2019, Anigwe was traded to the Dallas Wings in exchange for Theresa Plaisance.[17]

On May 26, 2020, Anigwe was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for a second-round 2021 draft pick.[18]

After spending time with both the Wings and Sparks in 2021, Anigwe was signed by her hometown Phoenix Mercury ahead of the 2022 WNBA season.[19]

On July 3, 2023, Anigwe was waived from the Chicago Sky after Ruthy Hebard was activated from the Inactive/Pregnancy List. [20]

Anigwe joined the Connecticut Sun in July 2023 after being waived by the Sky. She signed a 7-Day Contract with the Sun.[21] She was brought back on a 2nd 7-Day Contract with the Sun in August 2023.[22]

WNBA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2019 Connecticut 1707.1.314.000.7061.80.20.40.20.62.0
2019 Dallas 10012.9.333.000.6673.60.30.30.40.73.2
2020 Los Angeles 17111.6.604.000.5382.60.20.60.40.94.6
2021 Dallas 3010.0.500.000.5002.00.00.30.00.72.3
2021 Los Angeles 7115.1.391.000.5633.90.70.60.11.43.9
2022 Phoenix 1016.5.500.000.5001.30.20.10.20.61.5
Career 4 years, 4 teams 64310.1.444.000.5932.50.30.40.30.83.0

Postseason
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2020 Los Angeles 1118.0.600.0001.0007.00.00.01.01.08.0
Career 1 year, 1 team 1118.0.600.0001.0007.00.00.01.01.08.0

References
  1. "Anigwe profile at TBF". Turkish Basketball Federation (in Turkish).
  2. Almond, Elliott (9 January 2017). "Cal's Kristine Anigwe scoring big in Berkeley". The Mercury News. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  3. "Cal Freshman Sensation Kristine Anigwe is an All-Around Force". Sports Illustrated for Kids. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  4. Killian, Tyler (22 March 2015). "Desert Vista's Kristine Anigwe stands above all others this girls hoops season". azcentral.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  5. Hickey, John (22 March 2019). "Doctor on the court: Kristine Anigwe's surgical brand of basketball". Berkeley News. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  6. "Kristine Anigwe". University of California Golden Bears Athletics. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  7. "UCONN'S STEWART WINS THIRD ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE AWARD". United States Basketball Writers Association. 3 April 2016. Archived from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  8. "Kristine Anigwe first Cal player ever to score 50 points in game". ESPN. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  9. "Anigwe has 28 and 25, No. 20 Cal women hold off Brown 89-79". USA Today. Associated Press. 19 November 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  10. "Kristine Anigwe". Pac-12. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  11. "Bears Roll In Anigwe's Milestone Night". University of California Golden Bears Athletics. 2 December 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  12. Simmons, Rusty (10 February 2019). "Another Kristine Anigwe record; another hard-fought Cal loss". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  13. "Anigwe Sets Rebounding Record". University of California Golden Bears Athletics. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  14. Maiman, Beth (7 April 2019). "Cal's Kristine Anigwe wins Naismith defensive Player of the Year award". NCAA.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  15. "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  16. Stacy, Kelli (10 April 2019). "Connecticut Sun draft Kristine Anigwe in the 2019 WNBA Draft". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  17. "Wings Acquire Kristine Anigwe from Sun for Theresa Plaisance". wnba.com. WNBA. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  18. "Los Angeles Sparks Acquire Kristine Anigwe From Dallas Wings". wnba.com. WNBA. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  19. Anderson, Jake (5 May 2022). "Phoenix Mercury reveal opening night roster for 2022 WNBA season". KMVP-FMarizonasports.com. Bonneville International. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  20. @chicagosky (3 July 2023). "We have activated Ruthy Hebard off of Pregnancy/Childbirth absence, and have released Kristine Anigwe. Thanks for everything, Kristine! 👊🏾" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. "Connecticut Sun Sign Kristine Anigwe". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  22. "Connecticut Sun Sign Kristine Anigwe- 8/18/23". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.