Ashley Battle (born May 31, 1982), is a professional basketball player. Drafted by the Seattle Storm in 2005, she played 2 games for them before being waived. She was with the New York Liberty for the 2006 through 2009 seasons. Battle played collegiately for the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

women's basketball team.

Early life

Ashley is an only child to a single mother. She started playing basketball at an early age with her cousins. When she was in fifth grade at Manchester Elementary School in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pennsylvania, she was the only girl on the boys' basketball team. While playing in a school tournament, a few

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

coaches saw Ashley, and were soon recruiting her to play for them. During the AAU tournaments, Ashley met and became friends with Maria Conlon and

Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has w ...

High school

During her high school years she was looking to get away from the dangerous Pittsburgh gangs, so she decided to attend The

Linsly School The Linsly School, formerly known as the Linsly Military Institute, is a boarding and day school located in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was founded in 1814 by Noah Linsly and chartered by the State of Virginia in the same year. The school is the ...

, a boarding school in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

that was strong academically. Linsly was known for academics and not basketball. Ashley helped change that. In her junior season the team went undefeated. Ashley set school records in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and set the trend with more good female basketball players coming to the school to play. Battle was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2000 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored three points.

USA Basketball

Battle was a member of the USA Women's U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in

Mar Del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The event was held in July 2000, when the USA team defeated Cuba to win the championship. Battle helped the team win all five games, scoring 5.4 points per game.

College

Ashley's number 1 choice for college was

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Stanford wanted Ashley to come for her visit in the spring of her senior year in high school. Ashley wanted to make a decision and sign her commitment letter during the early signing period in the fall of her senior year so that meant Stanford was not an option. She narrowed her choices to

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. Ashley's mom really liked Duke – basketball was on the rise, the education was great, and it was driving distance from Pittsburgh. Ashley was having a tough time making the decision between UConn and Duke. Her AAU friends Maria Conlon and

had already committed to UConn so she decided to follow them there. Ashley's freshman year at UConn started out great. She consistently got playing time until she was injured her elbow in a game against Miami. Since it was only the fifth game of the season she was granted a red-shirt. In 2002 the Huskies went undefeated and won the National Championship. They would go on to also win the 2003 and 2004 Championships. During the 2003 season Ashley earned Big East Defensive Player of the Year award. She graduated from UConn with a bachelor's degree in Marketing and Economics.

Professional career

WNBA

Battle was selected by the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

at No. 25 in the 2005 WNBA draft, but played in only two games that year. After the 2005 season, she was signed by the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

. In 2006, Battle played in thirty-three games and developed a reputation as a key defensive weapon for the Liberty. In 2007, she played in thirty-four regular-season games, averaging 22 minutes per game, 7.4 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game, and 1.0 steals per game.

International

During the 2006 WNBA off-season, Battle played for the Spanish professional basketball team Universitario de Ferrol. Next two campaigns she played in Gran Canaria y Leon, and now she is playing with Asefa Estudiantes.

UConn statistics

Huskies of Honor induction

On December 29, 2013, the University of Connecticut inducted two women's basketball team, the National Championship winning teams of 2002–03 and 2003–04 into the

Huskies of Honor Huskies of Honor is a recognition program sponsored by the University of Connecticut (UConn). Similar to a hall of fame, it honors the most significant figures in the history of the UConn Huskies—the university's athletic teams—espec ...

. Battle was a player for each of those two seasons.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle, Ashley 1982 births Living people American women's basketball players Basketball players from Pittsburgh Linsly School alumni New York Liberty players San Antonio Stars players Seattle Storm draft picks Seattle Storm players UConn Huskies women's basketball players Forwards (basketball)