Cecilia Zandalasini (; born 16 March 1996) is an Italian

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

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

of the Italian

LBF The pound of force or pound-force (symbol: lbf, sometimes lbf,) is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement, including English Engineering units and the foot–pound–second system. Pound-force should not be confused with pound-m ...

and the

Italian national team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

. She was the MVP of 2016 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women.

Early life

Zandalasini was born on 16 March 1996 in

Broni Broni is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about 45 km south of Milan and about 15 km southeast of Pavia. Broni borders the following municipalities: Albaredo Arnaboldi, B ...

, Italy. She is the daughter of Roberto Zandalasini and Paola Lombardi. While playing with

Geas Basket ASD Geas Basket is an Italian women's basketball club from Sesto San Giovanni founded in 1955. Geas was the Serie A's leading team in the 1970s, with eight national championships between 1970 and 1978. The ''rossoneri'' culminated this golden er ...

, she won six Italian youth club championships.

Professional career

Geas Basket (2013–14)

At the age of 17, Zandalasini played as a guard under

for the 2013–14 season. She led the team in points with a total of 314 across 20 games (15.7 PPG).

PF Schio (2014–2018)

Zandalasini has played with

PF Schio Pallacanestro Femminile Schio, also known as Beretta Famila Schio for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian women's basketball team based in Schio that competes in Serie A. Founded in 1973, Schio enjoyed its first successes between 1996 and 2002, wi ...

since 2014. In Zandalasini's third season with the team in 2016–17, the team won the Coppa Italia and reached the Serie A1 playoff finals. The team continued to the EuroLeague postseason, where Zandalasini had a team high 13.5 PPG.

EuroBasket

EuroBasket Women 2017 The 2017 European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called EuroBasket Women 2017, was the 36th edition of the continental tournament in women's basketball, sanctioned by the FIBA Europe. The tournament was awarded to Czech Republic after w ...

she averaged 19.0 points (2nd in event) and 9.6 rebounds (3rd in event) and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Jeff Taylor of FIBA.com called her performance "the greatest FIBA

EuroBasket Women EuroBasket Women is a biennial international women's basketball competition held between the nations of FIBA Europe for women's national teams. EuroBasket Women is also used as a qualifying tournament for the FIBA Women's World Cup and also the ...

debut of all time".

Minnesota Lynx (2017–2018)

With only three games left in their 2017 regular season, the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

signed Zandalasini as an unrestricted free agent on 28 August 2017. Zandalasini was only able to play 18:37 of the remainder of the regular season and 11 during the playoffs, which the Lynx won. On 7 February 2018 it was announced that the Lynx would re-sign Zandalasini for the 2018 season. Zandalasini became a breakout player during the season after a buzzer-beating play against 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 their 16 June game. She has subsequently seen more minutes of play, establishing herself as a fit for the sixth woman role. Zandalasini did not play with the Lynx during their 2019 season due to her international team commitments and an ankle injury. On 29 February 2020 the Lynx announced they would re-sign Zandalasini for the 2020 season in a non-disclosed deal. However she did not play any games for the Lynx during the shortened 2020 season.

Fenerbahçe (2018–2021)

On 4 July 2018 she had signed a two-year deal with the Turkish women's basketball club, Fenerbahçe.

Virtus Bologna (2021–present)

On 5 May 2021 Zandalasini signed a two-year deal with the Italian women's basketball club

.La Virtus Bologna ufficializza Cecilia Zandalasini: Felice di tornare e vestire questa maglia
''Sportando''

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

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Playoffs

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zandalasini, Cecilia 1996 births Living people Fenerbahçe women's basketball players Italian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Italian expatriate basketball people in the United States Italian women's basketball players Minnesota Lynx players People from Broni Small forwards Sportspeople from the Province of Pavia Undrafted Women's National Basketball Association players