Alice Kunek (born 6 January 1991) is an Australian-Irish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for

Sopron Basket Sopron Basket is a Hungarian women's basketball club from Sopron. Founded in 1921 as the women's section of Soproni VSE, it has played in the Hungarian National Championship since 1986. It plays its home games in the Aréna Sopron. Sopron won ...

, the current champions of the EuroLeague Women.

Professional career

WNBL

Kunek began her WNBL career at the AIS alongside fellow up and coming players. She spent three seasons at the

AIS AIS may refer to: Medicine * Abbreviated Injury Scale, an anatomical-based coding system to classify and describe the severity of injuries * Acute ischemic stroke, the thromboembolic type of stroke * Androgen insensitivity syndrome, an intersex ...

, before moving signing with the

Bulleen Boomers The Melbourne Boomers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Boomers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play the majority of their home games at Melbourne Sports Centre – Par ...

, where she played for three seasons. In her first season with the Boomers, she helped them take home their inaugural WNBL Championship, averaging 9.9 points per game. In 2013, Kunek left the Boomers and signed with the

Dandenong Rangers The Dandenong Rangers were an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League ( WNBL). The club is based in Dandenong, Melbourne, Victoria. The team was founded as the Dandenong Rangers, howeve ...

. In her first season with the Rangers, Kunek averaged a career high 15.9 points per game. After two seasons with the Rangers, she returned to the

Melbourne Boomers The Melbourne Boomers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Boomers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play the majority of their home games at Melbourne Sports Centre – Pa ...

. Kunek was named captain of the

ahead of the 2016–17 season. On 16 May 2017, Kunek signed with the

Perth Lynx The Perth Lynx are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Bendat Basketball Centre. For sponsorship reasons, t ...

for the 2017-18 WNBL season. On 8 November 2017, Kunek was named to the WNBL Team of the Week, after scoring 25 points, including five three-pointers, in her team's victory over the Townsville Fire. On 29 December 2017, Kunek played her 200th career WNBL game.

Overseas

At the conclusion of the 2016/17 WNBL season, she joined French side Lyon Basket féminine for the remainder of their season. Kunek played 10 games with Lyon, averaging 6.3 points and 5.1 rebounds, and helped her side avoid relegation. On 17 January 2018, Kunek signed as an injury replacement for French side

Tarbes Gespe Bigorre Tarbes Gespe Bigorre (often called Tarbes GB or TGB) is a French women's basketball club, taking part to the professional French league for women, the LFB, and to European Cups (now EuroLeague Women). It is the most important club sport in the t ...

National team

Kunek was a member of the

Gems Gems, or gemstones, are polished, cut stones or minerals. Gems or GEMS may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media *Gems (Aerosmith album), ''Gems'' (Aerosmith album), 1988 *Gems (Patti LaBelle album), ''Gems'' (Patti LaBelle album), 1994 *G ...

. She was then named to the Gems squad and helped them take home the Gold at the Oceania Under-18 Championship and qualify for the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

the following year in Thailand. Playing alongside,

Elizabeth Cambage Elizabeth Folake Cambage (born 18 August 1991) is an Australian professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Cambage currently holds the WNBA single-game scorin ...

, the team placed fifth. In 2015, Kunek was named to the

Opals Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) is a spacecraft communication instrument developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory that was tested on the International Space Station (ISS) from 18 April 2014 to 17 July 2014 to demonstrate the te ...

side for the

2015 FIBA Oceania Women's Championship The 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship for Women was the 16th edition of the FIBA Oceania Championship for Women. Held in August 2015, it took the form of a two-game series between the Australian Opals and New Zealand Tall Ferns. It served as the ...

. She was once again named to the Opals squad, in the lead up to the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. However, as the squad was dropped down to 17 members, Kunek was cut from the Olympic squad. Kunek joined the Opals side ahead of the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, where Australia took home Silver. In December 2017, Kunek was named to the Opals training camp squad ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Personal life

Kunek is currently studying a Master of International Business at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

References