Erin Buescher Perperoglou (born June 5, 1979) is a former American 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. She played most recently as a forward for the

San Antonio Silver Stars The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the ...

of the WNBA. In her WNBA career, Buescher Perperoglou played more than 2,500 minutes in 150 WNBA games, including 9 playoff games, scoring nearly 900 career points and accumulating 500 rebounds. She announced her retirement from the WNBA at the conclusion of the 2009 season.

Early life

Born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

,Erin Buescher Playerfile - Bio
, wnba.com, accessed 30 May 2008. Perperoglou is the daughter of Jim and Margie Buescher. She has two sisters, Jenny and Emily, and a brother, James. From 1997 to 2000 she attended

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

(UCSB) for her freshman, sophomore, and junior years, helping to lead its women's basketball team (''The Gauchos'') to an 83–14 record during that three-year period. In each of those years Buescher Perperoglou was named the Big West Conference Player of the Year, UCSB won the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

title, and the team appeared in 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 ...

tournament. In September 2000, Buescher Perperoglou, a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, transferred to

The Master's College The Master's University is a private non-denominational Christian university in Santa Clarita, California. History The college was founded in 1927. It was originally named Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary. In 1961, it moved to Ne ...

, a small Christian college in

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...

. During her senior year at Master's, Buescher Perperoglou helped lead their team (''The Lady Mustangs'') to a 26–3 record and a

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) tournament appearance. She was an NAIA first-team All-American and was voted the National Christian College Athletic Association player of the year.

USA Basketball

Buescher was named to the team representing the US at the 1998

William Jones Cup The R. William Jones Cup (), also known as the Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in Taiwan. It was named in honor of basketball promoter ...

competition in

Taipei, Taiwan Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

. She scored six points over the five games.

WNBA career

Minnesota Lynx

On April 11, 2001, Buescher Perperoglou was drafted by 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 ...

in the second round (No. 23 overall) of the 2001 WNBA Draft. She spent her rookie year with the Lynx, playing in all of the team's 32 games that year and starting 19 times.Erin Buescher Playerfile - Career Stats and Totals
wnba.com, accessed 30 May 2008. She led the Lynx team with 29

blocked shots In basketball, a block or blocked shot occurs when a defensive player legally deflects a field goal attempt from an offensive player to prevent a score. The defender is not allowed to make contact with the offensive player's hand (unless the de ...

Charlotte Sting

In a 2002 WNBA multi-player draft-day deal, the Charlotte Sting acquired Buescher Perperoglou and teammate

Maylana Martin Maylana Lynn Martin (born April 17, 1978, in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American former professional women's basketball player and currently a collegiate coach. Although born in Hawaii, she grew up in Southern California. She attended Perris Hig ...

from the Lynx in exchange for

Shaunzinski Gortman Shaunzinski Toronnie Gortman (born December 7, 1979) is a former professional women's basketball player for the WNBA. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, she was the ninth pick in the 2002 WNBA draft. South Carolina statistics Source WNBA caree ...

and Charlotte's No. 9 overall selection in the 2002 WNBA Draft. During the 2002 WNBA season, Buescher Perperoglou averaged 3.3 points per game in 29 games with Charlotte, but had to miss the final 3 games of the regular season due to a sprained left ankle. During the 2003 WNBA season she only averaged 0.6 points per game in 14 games with the Sting and missed the 11 remaining games of the regular season due to a strained lower back. Buescher Perperoglou took a hiatus from the WNBA in 2004 but played in New Zealand for the Harbour Breeze and in Greece for Akademia during the 2004-05 WNBA off-season. She returned to the WNBA in 2005.

Sacramento Monarchs

The Charlotte Sting traded Buescher Perperoglou, along with teammates

Nicole Powell Nicole Kristen Powell (born June 22, 1982) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head women's basketball coach at UC Riverside Highlanders women's basketball, University of California, Riverside. As a player, she had a standout col ...

and

Olympia Scott-Richardson Olympia Scott, formerly known under her married name of Olympia Scott-Richardson, is an American former professional basketball player in the WNBA, and a former college coach. She is also co-founder of an online parenting education company ...

, to the

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Mona ...

in exchange for

Tangela Smith Tangela Nicole Smith (born April 1, 1977) is a retired American basketball player in the WNBA. Smith played the bulk of her career for the Sacramento Monarchs and the Phoenix Mercury where she won two WNBA Championships. She's currently an assis ...

and a second-round draft pick in the

2006 WNBA Draft On November 16, 2005, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) held an expansion draft for the Chicago Sky. It was the first expansion draft since the 2000 season, when the WNBA welcomed the Miami Sol, Portland Fire, Indiana Fever, and ...

. The Monarchs off-season trades paid off and they finished with a franchise-best 25–9 record. They won their first WNBA Finals by defeating the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was established ...

three games to one in a

best-of-five playoff There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

series, which brought Sacramento its first major championship in a professional sport. Buescher Perperoglou averaged 3.3 points per game in 23 games with the Monarchs but missed 11 games due to lumbar strain. During the early part of the 2006 WNBA season, the Monarchs played Buescher Perperoglou more often after teammate

DeMya Walker DeMya Chakheia Walker (born November 28, 1977) is a professional basketball player from the United States. High school Walker was born and grew up in Mount Holly, New Jersey, where she attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School and she set s ...

went on

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...

. Buescher Perperoglou went on to lead the WNBA in

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gener ...

(.537) during the regular season and was awarded the 2006

WNBA Most Improved Player Award The Women's National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 2000 WNBA season, to the most improved player of the regular season. The winner is selected b ...

San Antonio Silver Stars

In March 2007, Buescher Perperoglou signed with the

as a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

. During the 2007 season she averaged 11.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assist and 1.9 steals per game. She was the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week when she suffered a season-ending knee injury less than a minute into a game against the Phoenix Mercury on July 11.

Off the court

Buescher Perperoglou was a local broadcast commentator for Silver Stars games during her convalescence from an Anterior Cruciate Ligament rupture and reconstructive surgery. She married Stratos Perperoglou,Mysanantonio.com Silver Stars’ Perperoglou walks away from game.
/ref> who plays basketball for the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

team

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. Founded ...

. Buescher Perperoglou also started a ''Healthful Hints'' column for fans on the Silver Stars' website. Buescher Perperoglou is an avid surfer and belongs to a Christian surfers' organization. She has said in interviews that she is interested in

missionary work A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

after her playing career ends. In a ''

Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

'' article in 2006, Buescher Perperoglou revealed she purchased land near a beach in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and said that she dreamed of owning a coffee shop in the area. Buescher Perperoglou speaks fluent

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and is learning

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

WNBA career statistics

: ''Correct as of May 2008''

References

External links

WNBA player profileAugust 31, 2001 ''San Francisco Chronicle'' article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perperoglou, Erin 1979 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American women's basketball players Basketball players from San Francisco Charlotte Sting players Minnesota Lynx draft picks Minnesota Lynx players Power forwards (basketball) Sacramento Monarchs players San Antonio Stars players The Master's University alumni UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball players