Kristine Chioma Anigwe (born March 31, 1997) is an English-born Nigerian-American professional basketball player. She also plays for Turkish team

Çukurova Basketbol Çukurova Basketbol Kulübü, for sponsorship reasons Çukurova Basketbol Kulübü Mersin Yenişehir Belediyesi, is a Turkish professional women's basketball club based in Mersin, Turkey. The club was founded in 2017 and currently competing in t ...

in the Women's Basketball Super League.

Early life

Kristine Anigwe was born in London to Nigerian parents, Christopher and Annette Anigwe. She and her siblings were raised in Phoenix, Arizona and attended

Desert Vista High School Desert Vista High School is a public high school located in the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix, Arizona. Opened in 1996, it is the second Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) school in Ahwatukee and serves approximately 3,000 students. Academic ...

. At age 17, Anigwe became a U.S. citizen in June 2014. In her upperclassman years, Anigwe won two consecutive FIBA age group World Championships competing for the United States, first with the under-17s in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and then with the under-19s in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. Anigwe scored in double figures in all 27 games for Desert Vista in her senior season, leading the state with 21.1 points and 13.3 rebounds per game and registering 17 double-doubles.

College career

Before her junior year of high school, Anigwe accepted an offer to play college basketball at the University of California, Berkeley, where she would major in sociology.

Freshman season

In her first season with California in 2015–16, Anigwe won eight consecutive

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Freshman of the Week honors. She led the Golden Bears in points, rebounds, field goal percentage, field goals made, blocks, free throws made, and free throw attempts. Anigwe was voted to the 2016 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball tournament All-Tournament Team, and she was named the women's USBWA National Freshman of the Year following the season.

Sophomore season

Anigwe's success continued as a sophomore, as she became the first player in California history to average 20 points per game in consecutive seasons. On December 8, 2016, Anigwe recorded the first 50-point game in Golden Bears history, scoring 50 in only 24 minutes against Sacramento State. A month later, on January 8, she became the fastest player in Pac-12 history to reach 1,000 points, hitting the milestone in a loss to eventual Elite Eight participant Oregon. Anigwe continued to lead the Golden Bears in points and rebounds, also leading in field goal percentage and blocks. For the second consecutive year, Anigwe was named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team. Anigwe saw her first NCAA tournament action, in which the Golden Bears narrowly defeated LSU before falling to No. 1 seed Baylor.

Junior season

Anigwe registered 28 points and 25 rebounds in a win against Brown on November 19, 2017, achieving the first 25–25 game in Division I women's basketball in three years. For the third consecutive season, Anigwe led California in points and rebounds as a junior, and was named to the All-Pac-12 Team. She was also a late season nominee for the 2018 Wade Trophy, John R. Wooden Award, Naismith College Player of the Year, and Katrina McClain Awards. California were upset in the first round of the 2018 NCAA tournament by Virginia.

Senior season

As a senior in 2018–19, Anigwe posted career highs in points (22.3) and rebounds per game (16.2), leading the country in rebounds. She became the third California Golden Bear to score 2,000 career points on December 2, 2018 in a win against Cal State Northridge. Anigwe set multiple school and conference records during her senior season. On February 8 and 10, 2019, Anigwe broke California's scoring and rebounding records in consecutive home losses to Oregon State and Oregon. In her final regular-season college game on March 3, 2019 at Washington State, Anigwe scored 32 points and added 30 rebounds. In doing so, she both set the Pac-12 women's rebounding record, and became the first Division I player since 2002 to record 30 points and rebounds in a single game. Anigwe and California received an at-large big to the 2019 NCAA tournament, in which they defeated North Carolina before falling to eventual national champions Baylor. Following the season, Anigwe was named the

Naismith Defensive Player of the Year The Naismith College Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given to the most outstanding defensive player in men's and women's college basketball. It has been awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club since 2018. It is named in ...

California statistics

Source

Professional career

Anigwe was selected ninth overall in the

2019 WNBA draft The 2019 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2019 WNBA season. On March 19, the league announced the draft would be held on April 10 at Nike New York headquarters. The first round was televised on ESPN2, and the second and third rounds were ...

by the Connecticut Sun. On August 6, 2019, Anigwe was traded to the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg ...

in exchange for Theresa Plaisance. On May 26, 2020, Anigwe was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for a second-round 2021 draft pick. After spending time with both the Wings and Sparks in 2021, Anigwe was signed by her hometown

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

ahead of the

2022 WNBA season The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions. The WNBA's second Commissioner's Cup took place during the regular season, with the Las Vegas Aces win ...

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, style="text-align:left;", Connecticut , 17 , , 0 , , 7.1 , , .314 , , .000 , , .706 , , 1.8 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", Dallas , 10 , , 0 , , 12.9 , , .333 , , .000 , , .667 , , 3.6 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.7 , , 3.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, style="text-align:left;", Los Angeles , 17 , , 1 , , 11.6 , , .604 , , .000 , , .538 , , 2.6 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.9 , , 4.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, style="text-align:left;", Dallas , 3 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .500 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.7 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", Los Angeles , 7 , , 1 , , 15.1 , , .391 , , .000 , , .563 , , 3.9 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 1.4 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 10 , , 1 , , 6.5 , , .500 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 1.5 , - , style='text-align:left;', Career , style='text-align:left;', 4 years, 4 teams , 64 , , 3 , , 10.1 , , .444 , , .000 , , .593 , , 2.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.8 , , 3.0

Postseason

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, style='text-align:left;', Los Angeles , 1 , , 1 , , 18.0 , , .600 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 7.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 8.0 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 1 year, 1 team , 1 , , 1 , , 18.0 , , .600 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 7.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 8.0

References

External links

Cal Golden Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anigwe, Kristine 1997 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American women's basketball players Basketball players from Phoenix, Arizona Basketball players from Greater London Black British sportswomen California Golden Bears women's basketball players Centers (basketball) Connecticut Sun draft picks Connecticut Sun players Dallas Wings players English emigrants to the United States English people of Nigerian descent English women's basketball players Los Angeles Sparks players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Phoenix Mercury players Power forwards (basketball)