Lorela Cubaj (born January 8, 1999) is an Italian 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, who play currently in Umana Reyer Venezia at the

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. She played college basketball at Georgia Tech. She was drafted by the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

in the 2022 WNBA draft and played for 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 the WNBA. She was waived by the team during her rookie season on July 1, 2022 after playing 11 games.

Playing career

Early years

Cubaj started playing basketball when she was 8. She won the Italian U18 championship with Umana Reyer Venezia in the 2016–17 season.

College career

Cubaj signed with Georgia Tech the summer of 2017. She made the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen with the Yellow Jackets in

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, where they were defeated by

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. That match Cubaj scored 15 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.

Professional career

On April 11, 2022, Cubaj was drafted 18th overall by the

in the 2022 WNBA draft and they traded her draft rights to New York immediately. Cubaj played in 11 games for the Liberty during her rookie season before being waived on July 1, 2022. On 15 June 2022 Cubaj was signed to Umana Reyer Venezia for the

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season.

WNBA career statistics

Regular Season

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National Team

Youth level

Cubaj won the bronze medal with the Italian team at the U16 European Championship in

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, averaging 11 points and 6.6 rebounds and being voted to the tournament All-Star Five. One year later she won the silver medal with the Italian U17 team, at the 2016 U17 World Championship in Spain. They lost the final against

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. At the tournament Cubaj averaged 6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds. A few weeks later, she was part of the Italian U18 national team at the U18 European Championship in Hungary and finished seventh place. At the tournament Cubaj averaged 10.4 points and 7.3 rebounds.

References

External links

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cubaj, Lorela 1999 births Atlanta Dream players Living people Italian women's basketball players Forwards (basketball) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women's basketball players Sportspeople from Perugia Seattle Storm draft picks New York Liberty players