Andrea Congreaves

Andrea Congreaves (born 3 June 1970) is a British former women's basketball player for England's national team who played professionally in the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Britain.[1] She is the former head coach of the Rhondda Rebels of the English Women's Basketball League (Division 1), and the current head coach of the Mansfield Giants of the English Basketball League (Division 2) as well as the women's team of the University of Nottingham.

Andrea Congreaves
Personal information
Born (1970-06-03) 3 June 1970
Epsom, Surrey, England
NationalityBritish
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight183 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High schoolCarshalton High School for Girls
(London, England)
CollegeMercer (1989–1993)
WNBA draft1997 / Round: 4 / Pick: 26th overall
Selected by the Charlotte Sting
Playing career1997–2011
PositionPower forward / Centre
Number3, 11
Career history
1997–1998Charlotte Sting
1999Orlando Miracle
1999–2000CJM Bourges Basket
2000–2001Priolo
2001–2002Gran Canaria
2002Kumho Falcons
2002–2004Barcelona
2004–2005Alessandria
2005–2009Rhondda Rebels
2010–2011Nottingham Wildcats
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
2006 Melbourne Team Competition

She was born in Epsom, Surrey, and graduated Carshalton High School for Girls in Carshalton, Sutton, in 1986. She played for the Carshalton High School girls' basketball team, and through a connection with her high school coach was eventually offered an athletic scholarship to attend university in the United States.

Congreaves enrolled in Mercer University, an American private liberal arts college located in Macon, Georgia.[2] While attending Mercer, she played for the Mercer Bears women's basketball team – the university's varsity women's team – from 1989 to 1993, and led the Lady Bears to two regular season championships in the Atlantic Sun Conference (1991, 1992). As a junior in 1991–92, and again as a senior in 1992–93, she led National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I in scoring.[3] She was a first-team all-conference selection in 1991, 1992 and 1993, and was the conference player of the year in 1992 and 1993. After her senior season in 1992–93, she was selected as an All-American by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) – recognising her as one of the top ten women players in NCAA Division I college basketball.[4] Congreaves graduated from Mercer University with a four-year bachelor of arts degree in 1993, and was inducted into the university's athletic hall of fame in 2013.

Congreaves was the first-ever British sportswoman to play in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the highest level professional league for women basketball players in the United States.[5] After being drafted in the fourth round (26th pick overall) of the 1997 WNBA Draft,[6] she played three seasons in the WNBA, including her first two seasons (1997–98) for the Charlotte Sting, and her final season (1999) for the Orlando Miracle.[7] During her three WNBA seasons, she appeared in 84 of 90 games played by her teams, starting 58 of them, and scoring exactly 500 points.[7][8]

Congreaves also enjoyed a successful European career in lengthy spells in Spain and Italy, as well as one-season stops in Turkey (where she contributed to the double championship of Fenerbahçe at the 1998–99 season) and France, before signing for the Rhondda Rebels for the 2005–06 season.[5]

She was the key performer on England's national team that won the bronze medal in women's basketball at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, averaging 17.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.[5] England defeated Nigeria 78–75 in the women's consolation final to claim third place in the Games.

Mercer statistics

Source[9]

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
1990 Mercer 27 404 .552 .182 .667 10.6 1.3 1.5 1.3 15.0
1991 Mercer 27 662 .633 .359 .755 9.7 1.6 1.3 0.2 24.5
1992 Mercer 28 925 .583 .416 .717 11.6 1.6 2.4 0.6 33.0
1993 Mercer 26 805 .549 .323 .833 10.2 1.6 2.4 0.9 31.0
Career 108 2,796 .580 .366 .753 10.6 1.5 1.9 0.8 25.9

See also

References
  1. Colin Jackson, "Raise Your Game: Andrea Congreaves," BBC (2012). Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  2. Richard Taylor, "NBA: Jump up for Congreaves," The Independent (7 May 1997). Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  3. Mark Bradley, "British Import Putting Her Stamp On U.S. Game," Chicago Tribune (2 February 1992). Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  4. Women's Basketball Coaches Association, Players Awards, Past WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches' All-America Teams Archived 15 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  5. British Basketball, The Players, Andrea Congreaves. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  6. WNBA.com, All-Time WNBA Draft List, 1997 WNBA Draft Archived 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  7. Basketball-Reference.com, Players, Andrea Congreaves. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  8. WNBA.com, Players, Andrea Congreaves Archived 7 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  9. "Women's Basketball Finest" (PDF). fs.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
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