María Pilar Alonso López, known as ''Piluca Alonso'' (born October 8, 1968) is a former Spanish basketball player, member of the Spanish team at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. She won the gold medal at the 1993 European Championship.

Club career

Born and raised in León, she started playing basketball with school club Dominicos, and later in nearby Casa Galicia Baloncesto. She transferred to one of the top teams of the time, the Celta Citroën in 1983. At 1.95m, she was the tallest player in the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto. Being only 16, she won her first title, the 1984 Copa de la Reina. She played at Celta Citroën until the team disappeared for financial reasons. After one season at Amanecer Alcorcón, she signed for Dorna Godella / Costa Naranja, where she won FIBA European Champions Cup 1993.

National team

She made her debut with Spain women's national basketball team at the age of 19. She played with the senior team for 11 years, from 1987 to 1998, with a total of 171 caps and 5.3 PPG. As one of the most promising young players of her time, she was offered the chance to join the Caja Toledo - BEX Banco Exterior project in 1988, with other young Spanish prospects in order to prepare for the

, but she refused for personal reasons. She was later called up for the Olympic squad due to Yolanda Moliné's injury, but head coach

Chema Buceta Chema is a common nickname for the Spanish given name José María (an alternative to the short form ''José Mari''), and less commonly for ''José Manuel'' (or ''Josema''). People The name Chema may refer to: * Chema (footballer born 1976), Sp ...

didn't give her the chance to play because of her denial to join the team in 1988. She participated in the

1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, two World Championships and four

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

: * 7th

1985 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women The 1985 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women took place in the United States from 13 to 21 August 1985. It was co-organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and USA Basketball. Ten national teams competed for the champion ...

(''youth'') * 6th

1987 Eurobasket The 1987 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1987, was the 25th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Greece between 3 and 14 June 1987. Twelve national teams entered the ev ...

* 5th

1993 Eurobasket The 1993 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1993, was the 28th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Germany between 22 June and 4 July 1993. Sixteen national teams entered ...

* 8th 1994 World Championship * 9th

1995 Eurobasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to e ...

* 5th

1997 Eurobasket The 1997 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1997, was the 30th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1998 FIBA World Championship, giving a ber ...

* 5th 1998 World Championship

References

1968 births Living people Spanish women's basketball players Olympic basketball players for Spain Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Centers (basketball) {{Spain-basketball-bio-stub