Nicole Kristen Powell is an American basketball coach who is currently the head women's basketball coach at University of California, Riverside. As a player, she had a standout collegiate career at Stanford University, Powell had an 11-year WNBA career most notably with the Sacramento Monarchs where she was an All-Star and won a WNBA Championship. Powell also played professionally overseas for Fenerbahçe Istanbul. Powell had previously served on the coaching staffs at Gonzaga, Oregon, and Grand Canyon before being named the head coach of UC Riverside in March 2020.
Women's basketball became popular, spreading from the east to west coast of the United States in large part via women's college competitions. As of 2020, women's basketball is played globally, with basketball being one of the most popular and fastest growing sports in the world.
Suzanne Brigit Bird is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Bird was drafted by the Storm first overall in the 2002 WNBA draft and is considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history. As of 2021, Bird is the only WNBA player to win titles in three different decades. She held a front office position for the NBA's Denver Nuggets as their Basketball Operations Associate. She has also played for three teams in Russia. Her family is from Israel and she has both American & Israeli citizenship.
The WNBA Draft is an annual draft held by the WNBA through which WNBA teams can select new players from a talent pool of college and professional women's basketball players. The first WNBA Draft was held in 1997.
Dawn Michelle Staley is an American basketball Hall of Fame player and coach, who is currently the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Staley is a four-time Olympic gold medalist, winning three as a player and one as head coach. Staley was elected to carry the United States flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics. After playing point guard for the University of Virginia under Debbie Ryan, and winning the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, she went to play professionally in the American Basketball League and the WNBA. In 2011, Staley was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. Staley was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
Suzie McConnell-Serio is a former American women's basketball coach and player. She was the head coach for the women's basketball team at the University of Pittsburgh from 2013 to 2018. In 2004, she was named WNBA Coach of the Year as coach of the Minnesota Lynx. McConnell-Serio was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
Teresa Gaye Weatherspoon is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). She played for the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and served as the head basketball coach of the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters. Weatherspoon was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. In 2016, Weatherspoon was chosen to the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the league's best 20 players ever in celebration of the WNBA's twentieth anniversary.
Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke is an American basketball coach and former player who has won championships in college, in the Olympics, and in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is considered by many as one of the greatest women's basketball players ever. In 2011, Cooper-Dyke was voted by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. Upon the league's formation, she played for the Houston Comets from 1997 to 2000, being named the Most Valuable Player of the WNBA Finals in all four seasons, and returned to play again in 2003. Cooper-Dyke still holds the record for most Finals MVPs with four. On April 30, 2019, she was introduced as the head coach for the Texas Southern Lady Tigers basketball team, a position she held in the 2012–13 season. She has also coached at USC, UNC Wilmington, Prairie View A&M, and, professionally, for the Phoenix Mercury. Cooper-Dyke was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Sheri Lynette Sam is an American professional women's basketball coach and player who played in the WNBA. She was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana as the youngest of eight siblings, and where she was a standout at Acadiana High School. She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1996. She was an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois University.
Jennifer Lynn Azzi is a former basketball coach, most recently the head coach of the women's team at the University of San Francisco. Azzi is also a former collegiate and professional basketball player, as well as an Olympic and FIBA world champion. Azzi was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Allison Sharlene Feaster-Strong is a retired American professional basketball player. Feaster-Strong played in the Women's National Basketball Association from 1998 through 2008, for the Los Angeles Sparks, Charlotte Sting, and Indiana Fever. She played professionally in Europe from 1998 through 2016 for teams in Portugal, France, Spain, and Italy. She retired from professional basketball on August 8, 2016.
Catherine Evelyn Starbird is an American computer scientist and former professional basketball player.
Lindsey Brooke Yamasaki is an American former professional women's basketball player.
Kathryn Suzanne Steding is a former collegiate and professional basketball player. She is currently an assistant coach for the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team.
Kristen Michelle Newlina.k.a.Nevin Nevlin is a Turkish American basketball player at the center position who plays for Fenerbahçe Istanbul. Born in Kailua, Hawaii she is 1.96 m and her primary position is center. Nevlin became a valuable member of a EuroLeague Women side of Fenerbahçe Istanbul. Although she is known with her size, Kristen Nevlin is a very good mid-range shooter, a good rebounder in the low post, she has been flirting with WNBA teams for two years.
The USC Trojans women's basketball team, or the Women of Troy, is the collegiate women's basketball team that represents the University of Southern California, in the Pac-12 Conference. The team rose to prominence in 1976, at which time scholarships became available to female basketball players. They were the first Division I team to give these scholarships.
Marianne Crawford Stanley is an American basketball coach, currently head coach of the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Sabrina Elaine Ionescu is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. She is the NCAA all-time leader in career triple-doubles, the Pac-12 Conference all-time leader in assists, and the only NCAA Division I basketball player to record 2,000 points, 1,000 assists, and 1,000 rebounds in a career.
Arike Ogunbowale is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, before being drafted by the Wings with the fifth overall pick of the 2019 WNBA Draft. She was the Most Outstanding Player of Notre Dame's 2018 national title run, hitting game-winning baskets in both the semi-final and championship game.
Nicky McCrimmon is a retired WNBA basketball player who was on the Los Angeles Sparks between 2000 to 2004. Before joining the Sparks, McCrimmon played basketball on the New Mexico Junior College and University of Southern California teams. During her varsity career, McCrimmon played at the 1993 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament and the 1994 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament with USC. After college, McCrimmon was on several teams in the American Basketball League from 1997 to 1998.
