Samantha Prahalis (born January 23, 1990 in

Commack, New York Commack ( ) is a hamlet and census designated place (CDP) that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the towns of Huntington and Smithtown in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. The CDP's population was 36,124 at the 2 ...

) is an American

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 last played for the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

of the WNBA and currently for the Sardinian team CUS

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

. She went to

Commack High School Commack Union Free School District is a public school district located in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The school district straddles the towns of Huntington and Smithtown, with Townline Road as the dividing line. It serves the resi ...

and played collegiately for

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

USA Basketball

Prahalis was a member of the USA Women's U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The event was held in July 2008, when the USA team defeated host Argentina to win the championship. Prahalis helped the team win all five games, scoring 6.2 points per game. She was also second in assists with 17. Prahalis continued on to the USA Women's U19 team which represented the US in the 2009 U19 World's Championship, held in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

in July and August 2009. Although the USA team lost the opening game to Spain, they went on to win their next seven games to earn a rematch against Spain in the finals, and won the game 81–71 to earn the gold medal. Prahalis scored 10.7 points per game. She was the assists leader with 34 over the nine games.

Ohio State statistics

Source

WNBA

She was selected in the first round of the 2012 WNBA draft (6th overall) by the

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 ...

. On July 18, 2013 Prahalis was waived by the Phoenix Mercury. On July 22, 2013 Prahalis was signed by 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 ...

to a seven-day contract. She was released at the end of the contract. On April 4, 2014 Prahalis signed with the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...

. She was released by the Dream on May 12, 2014. On June 11, 2014 Prahalis signed with the

. She was released by the Sparks six days later.Los Angeles Sparks waives Samantha Prahalis, signs Darxia Morris

Post-WNBA career

Prahalis signed a one-year contract with the Romanian squad

ACS Sepsi SIC ACS Sepsi SIC Sfântu Gheorghe or commonly Sepsi SIC is a women's basketball professional club based in Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania. The former club was ''Sepsi BC'', but it was dissolved in 2012 and replaced by Sepsi SIC. The club competes in th ...

Sfântu Gheorghe Sfântu Gheorghe (; hu, Sepsiszentgyörgy or ''Szentgyörgy'' ; yi, סנט דזשארדזש; English lit.: ''Saint George'') is the capital city of Covasna County, Romania. Located in the central part of the country and in the historical regio ...

for the 2013–14 season. As of February 2014, she led all scorers in the Romanian women's basketball league in points per game. More recently, she has coached the Ward Melville Patriots basketball team in

East Setauket, New York East Setauket is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on Long Island, in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. Before that it was part of the Setauket-East S ...

References

External links

Ohio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prahalis, Samantha 1990 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Romania American women's basketball players Basketball players from New York (state) Los Angeles Sparks players McDonald's High School All-Americans New York Liberty players Ohio State Buckeyes women's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Commack, New York Sportspeople from Huntington, New York Phoenix Mercury draft picks Phoenix Mercury players Point guards Shooting guards Slovak women's basketball players