Gülşah Akkaya (born October 6, 1977) is a former Turkish professional woman

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 in forward position. The 1.81 m (5' 11½") tall national player was a top scorer. Akkaya started playing basketball at the age of 13. She debuted in Deniz Nakliyat and then transferred to Fenerbahçe İstanbul where she played in 1995–96 season. In 1997, she moved to the US and played in the American

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 ...

with the Lynn University team in two seasons until 1999. She still ranks 4th with an average of 23.8 points in the all-time list of single season points per season for her time being at

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. After Akkaya returned home and was with Fenerbahçe İstanbul in the season 1999–00, she transferred to the Greek club

Panserraikos Panserraikos Football Club ( el, Πανσερραϊκός 1964), the ''All-Serres Football Club'', is a Greece, Greek Association football, football club based in Serres in Central Macedonia, Greece. Panserraikos is one of the most important and ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

for 2002–03 season and became top scorer with 204 points. In 2003, Akkaya played in YES Ramat HaSharon club in Ramat HaSharon,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. She helped her team win the championship by scoring a basket at the latest second. Returned to Turkey in 2003, Akkaya played for

Erdemirspor Erdemir Spor Kulübü, also referred to as Erdemirspor or Erdemir Zonguldak, is a professional basketball team based in the city of Zonguldak in Turkey that plays in the Turkish Basketball League. The team was founded in 2000. Their home arena is ...

in Zonguldak. Akkaya participated at the

2005 Mediterranean Games The XVth Mediterranean Games Almería 2005 (XV Juegos del Mediterráneo 2005 in Spanish), commonly known as the 2005 Mediterranean Games, were the 15th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Almería, Spain over 10 days, from 24 June to 3 Ju ...

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

with the Turkish national team, which won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

. She was top scorer in

Turkish Women's Basketball League The Women's Basketball Super League ( tr, Kadınlar Basketbol Süper Ligi, KBSL), also known as the Herbalife Nutrition Women's Basketball Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the top women's professional basketball division of the Turkish wom ...

with her average of 22.0 points in 25 games in the 2004–05 season. She also played for Beşiktaş for the 2005–06 season. That year she played in the league finals with Beşiktaş. For 2006–2007 season she returned to Mersin B.B. sports club and played with an average of 17.0 points per game and help Mersin to play in playoffs. She also played for Galatasaray in the 2007–08 season. She was member of Spanish club El Cadi La Seu D'Urgell sports club for the 2008–09 season. She played for

Samsun B.K. Samsun B.K. is a women's basketball club based in Samsun, Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country locat ...

between 2009 and 2011. Akkaya played in the national team that won the silber medal at the

EuroBasket Women 2011 The 2011 European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called EuroBasket Women 2011, was the 33rd regional championship held by FIBA Europe. The competition was held in Poland from 2011. This was the 4th time that the EuroBasket Women was ho ...

championship held in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. During the 2011–12 season, Gülşah played for

TED Ankara Kolejliler TED Ankara Kolejliler Spor Kulübü, more commonly known as TED Ankara Kolejliler is a professional basketball team from the city of Ankara in Turkey. Their home arena is the Ankara Arena with a capacity of 10,400 seats, which was opened in April ...

. By the start of the season 2012–13, she was transferred to Canik, after playing half of the season with Canik, Gülşah returned to Beşiktaş in January 2013, and played with 12,4 points and 4,3 rebounds for the rest of the season.

Honors

Individual

* ''

2004-05 Top Scorer''

National team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akkaya, Gulsah 1977 births Living people Turkish women's basketball players Turkish expatriate basketball people Turkish expatriate basketball people in Greece Turkish expatriate basketball people in Spain Turkish expatriate basketball people in Israel Turkish expatriate basketball people in the United States Fenerbahçe women's basketball players Beşiktaş women's basketball players Galatasaray S.K. (women's basketball) players Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi women's basketball players Lynn Fighting Knights women's basketball players People from Bornova Sportspeople from İzmir Province Sportspeople from İzmir Forwards (basketball) Turkey women's national basketball team players

Honors

Individual

National team

See also

References