Clarisse Machanguana (born 4 October 1976) is a professional women's basketball player and philanthropist from

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. She has played internationally in both the United States ( WNBA from 1999 to 2002) and in Spain (

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

since 2003). She also represented

at the

2006 Lusophony Games The 1st Lusophone Games ( pt, 1.os Jogos da Lusofonia; ) were held in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China between 7 and 15 October 2006. The 2006 Games were the first edition of this multi-sport event for Por ...

in Macau, China. In 2014 founded the Clarisse Machanguana Foundation, which empowers Mozambiquan youth through sport, education and health. Machanguana was the UNICEF ambassador to Mozambique from 2016 to 2018.

Early life and college

Machanguana was born on October 4, 1976, in Mozambique. When she was 19, she moved to Portugal to attend preparatory school and play basketball. She then followed her friend, Portuguese basketball player

Ticha Penicheiro Patrícia Nunes "Ticha" Penicheiro, OIH (September 18, 1974) is a Portuguese sports agent and former basketball player. She played for the Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA for most of her professional career. She was a four-time WNBA All-Star an ...

, to

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia w ...

. In 1997, Machanguana and Penicheiro led the Lady Monarchs to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

title game.

Old Dominion University statistics

Source

WNBA career

Machanguana was drafted in the 2nd round (16th overall) in the

1999 WNBA draft 1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major schoo ...

by the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

. She played collegiately at

. In 1997, Machanguana was named to the Final Four All Tournament team. With the Sparks, she played in 59 games in 2 seasons, starting 1 and averaging 3.1 points per game. In 2001, Machanguana played with the

Charlotte Sting The Charlotte Sting were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the league's eight original teams. The team folded on January 3, 2007. The Sting was originally the sister organization of ...

, where she played in 30 games, starting 8 and averaging 5.4 points per game. In her final season in the WNBA, Machanguana played with the Orlando Miracle. In Orlando, Machanguana played in 29 games, starting 25 of them. She also averaged 4.8 points per game.

Post-WNBA

Since leaving the WNBA after the 2002 season, Machanguana joined

F.C. Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded i ...

in Spain. At the

, she led the

Mozambique women's national basketball team The Mozambique women's national basketball team is the nationally controlled basketball team representing Mozambique at world basketball competitions for women. Competition record FIBA World Championship * 2014 – 15th FIBA Africa Championshi ...

to a gold medal. In 2006, Machanguana was inducted into Old Dominion University's Hall of Fame.

Non-Profit Work

After retiring from playing basketball, Machanguana returned to Mozambique. Local nonprofits approached her to represent them due to her name recognition and wide reach. Through this work, she learned more about the

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

epidemic in Mozambique. In 2014, founded the Fundação Clarisse Machanguana (Clarisse Machanguana Foundation), which empowers Mozambiquan youth through sport, education and health. This program From May 2016 to May 2018, Machanguana was appointed

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

ambassador to Mozambique in recognition of her commitment to child rights, girls empowerment, and adolescent empowerment. In spring 2016, she began a trek across Mozambique to bring awareness to the country's HIV epidemic and

obstetric fistula Obstetric fistula is a medical condition in which a hole develops in the birth canal as a result of childbirth. This can be between the vagina and rectum, ureter, or bladder. It can result in incontinence of urine or feces. Complications may i ...

. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Machanguana approached the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique for aid in obtaining a scholarship to learn about nonprofit management. She was awarded a scholarship through the

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

. In 2022, she graduated from the University of Arizona with a master’s degree in global nonprofit management.

Career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, 28 , , 0 , , 8.8 , , .490 , , .000 , , .722 , , 1.9 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 0.5 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 1 , , 13.6 , , .578 , , .000 , , .560 , , 2.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 0.6 , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2001 , style="text-align:left;",

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, 30 , , 8 , , 19.3 , , .500 , , .000 , , .649 , , 4.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 1.4 , , 5.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002 , style="text-align:left;",

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

, 29 , , 25 , , 14.8 , , .535 , , .000 , , .640 , , 2.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 1.1 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 4 years, 3 teams , 118 , , 34 , , 14.2 , , .527 , , .000 , , .650 , , 2.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.9 , , 4.1

Playoffs

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, 1 , , 0 , , 7.0 , , .667 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 0 , , 11.8 , , .500 , , .000 , , .667 , , 2.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2001 , style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 0 , , 16.5 , , .531 , , — , , .667 , , 2.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.8 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 3 years, 2 teams , 13 , , 0 , , 14.3 , , .535 , , .000 , , .667 , , 2.5 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 4.2

Sources

Player profile at wnba.com
1976 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players Centers (basketball) Charlotte Sting players Mozambican expatriate basketball people in the United States Los Angeles Sparks draft picks Los Angeles Sparks players Mozambican expatriate basketball people in Spain Mozambican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Mozambican women's basketball players Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball players Orlando Miracle players San Jose Lasers players Tarbes Gespe Bigorre players {{Mozambique-basketball-bio-stub