Maria Villarroel

Ofelia María Villarroel Caraballo (born December 3, 1978) is a former Venezuelan basketball player. She was drafted in 2004 WNBA Draft after a decorated U.S. college career with the University of Oklahoma[1] and in Europe playing in the Swiss Women's Basketball Championship for over a decade.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Villarroel and the second or maternal family name is Caraballo.
Ofelia María Villarroel Caraballo
Personal information
Born (1978-12-03) December 3, 1978
Porlamar, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela
NationalityVenezuelan
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight135 lb (61 kg)
Career information
CollegeOklahoma (2002–2004)
WNBA draft2004 / Round: 3 / Pick: 27th overall
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury (traded by Houston Comets)
Playing career2004–present
PositionGuard
Career history
2005–2010Sierre Basket
2010-2012Hélios VS Basket
2010Barcelona Guayaquil
2012BCF Elfic Fribourg
2016Hélios VS Basket
Career highlights and awards
  • NJCAA Consensus All-American (2001, 2002)
  • Big-12 All-Tournament Team (2004)

Villarroel is considered the best women's basketball player ever from the South American country, and holds several accolades and records. She is still the only Venezuelan to be selected to a NCAA D-1 Conference All-Tournament squad, the first one to be drafted into the WNBA, and the first player to play in the EuroCup.

College career

Villarroel arrived stateside at the age of 21 on a basketball scholarship with help of Jesús Cordovez, a nationally acclaimed basketball coach in Venezuela. At Independence Community College, she immediately gained national recognition averaging 22.1 PPG and was named consensus NJCAA All-American and Conference Player of the Year.

For her sophomore season, Villarroel transferred to NEO and improved her PPG average to 24.4 while shooting a remarkable 73% from the field. Again, she made the NJCAA All-America selection and twice named Conference Player of the Year. A heavily touted recruit out of the JUCO ranks, she committed to play for head coach Sherri Coale and the Oklahoma Sooners.

During her senior year, Villarroel alongside Dionnah Jackson leaded the sixth seeded Sooners into an upset of the first seeded Texas Longhorns to win the 2004 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament for the second time in history. Villarroel averaged 14.3 points per game in her senior year and 14.6 PPG during her two years at Norman. She was named to the Big-12 All-Tournament First Team[2]

WNBA

Villarroel got selected 27th overall by the now-defunct Houston Comets and then traded to the Phoenix Mercury, who had the first pick in this Draft and selected Diana Taurasi, now considered to be one of the best female basketball players in history. The native of Venezuela played on several preseason games but was cut through training camp, and decided to turn pro in Europe.

Pro career

The Venezuelan guard was a stalwart playing in Switzerland for three teams. With Sdent Sierre Basket, Villarroel had success and was the team's leader for several seasons, including their 2008 EuroCup stint, where Villarroel was first of her squad in PPG with 19.3 points[3]

She amassed three Swiss championships, three league cups and three Swiss cups during her eight-year career in the SB League Women.


College statistics

Source[4]

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
2000-01 Independence Community College 22.1
2001-02 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 73.4 44.6 24.4
2002-03 Oklahoma 32 480 57.6 27.0 71.0 5.0 1.9 1.79 0.65 15.0
2003-04 Oklahoma 33 472 52.7 34.6 76.1 6.3 1.6 1.5 0.5 14.3
Career Oklahoma 65 952 55.0 31.4 73.4 5.7 1.7 1.6 0.6 14.6

References
  1. "Maria Villarroel, University of Oklahoma". WNBA. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  2. .https://soonersports.com/news/2004/2/29/208398828.aspx?fbclid=IwAR1IaHlaMYxRG8oLft1Kb0Rk3d0POUVuNVbuWYIA79TnVbGLija4oDVGiZw
  3. "Sdent Sierre Basket 14 - Ofelia Maria Villarroel Caraballo". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  4. "Maria Villarroel, University of Oklahoma". wnba.com. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
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