Sancho Lyttle (born September 20, 1983) is a Vincentian-Spanish former 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 for the WNBA. Combining the WNBA and the European season, she has won six domestic leagues and four Euroleague titles with four teams in three countries. She was born in

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

and was granted

Spanish nationality Spanish nationality law refers to all the laws of Spain concerning nationality. Article 11 of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes that a separate law is to regulate how it is acquired and los ...

in June 2010. With the Spanish basketball team she has won four medals between 2010 and 2017.

Early life

Sancho Lyttle was born to Evelyn Little and Ian Cain. Members of her family spell their surname 'Lyttle' or 'Little'. Sancho has a younger brother, Xavier Little. Sancho attended St. Vincent Girls' High School where she played netball and ran various

Track and Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

events. She never played basketball until prompted to do so after her move to the United States. She and three other girls from her country were requested by her Junior College and current assistant coach for the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

Women's team Wade Scott who offered to teach them how to play the game of basketball.

College career

Sancho Lyttle played collegiate basketball at Clarendon College before transferring to the

from 2003 to 2005 where she currently holds the record for single season rebound average (2004–2005), offensive rebounds (04-05) and most rebounds in a single season (04-05). She also holds the career record for highest rebounding average.

WNBA career

When the Houston Comets folded in 2008, Lyttle was selected first in the dispersal draft by 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 currently plays the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

position for 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 ...

in the WNBA. Over her career, Lyttle has scored 1,505 points, collected 1,041 rebounds, and has 200 assists, 242 steals, and 96 blocks through six seasons. She was the fifth overall draft pick in the 2005 WNBA Draft out of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. In 2010, Lyttle had career highs in points and rebounds with 27 and 20, respectively. She was hospitalized for a number of days in 2010 after being knocked unconscious for a little over a minute by an incidental elbow during a game. Lyttle recovered and played 13 days later. On February 1, 2018, Lyttle signed with the

after spending the previous nine seasons with the

. However, her season ended early when she tore her ACL on June 30, 2018. In September 2019, Little announced her retirement after 15 WNBA seasons.

WNBA stats

Euroleague career

Simultaneously to her WNBA career, she has played in Spain, Turkey and Russia, winning one Euroleague and at least one domestic league playing for every club. She currently plays for Russian team

UMMC Ekaterinburg BC Ekaterinburg (russian: БК «УГМК») is a Russian women's basketball team based in Yekaterinburg competing in the Russian Premier League, and until February 2022 in FIBA Europe's EuroLeague Women. In reaction to the 2022 Russian inv ...

Euroleague stats

National team

Lyttle played her first and only tournament with native

in 2004, at the

Caribbean championship The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...

. After her naturalization was granted in 2010, she made her debut with the senior Spanish team in 2010, days after turning 27. Up to 2017, she had 45 caps with 15.6 PPG and 9.5 RPP, participating in two

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and three European Championships. After helping the team qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio in mid-June, she missed the Games after breaking her toe in mid-July playing for the

: *

2010 World Championship * 9th 2011 Eurobasket * Gold_medal_europe

2013 Eurobasket (''MVP'') * Silver_medal_world_centered-2

2014 World Championship * Gold_medal_europe

2017 Eurobasket EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

Awards and achievements

* 2009, 2010 WNBA All-Star * Bronze medal in 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women * Named to the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women All-Tournament Team * Gold medal in

EuroBasket Women 2013 The 2013 European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called EuroBasket Women 2013, was the 34th regional championship held by FIBA Europe. The competition was held in France from 15–30 June 2013. This was the fourth time that the EuroBaske ...

FIBA Europe Women's Player of the Year The FIBA Europe Women's Player of the Year Award was a yearly Player of the Year (POY) award that has been given out by FIBA's (the international governing body of the sport of basketball) European Division, to the best female basketball player w ...

(2013) * 2014—FIBA World Championship All-Star Five * Silver medal in

2014 FIBA World Championship for Women The 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women, the 17th edition of FIBA's premier international tournament for women's national basketball teams, was held in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey from 27 September to 5 October 2014. This tournament implement ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyttle, Sancho 1983 births Living people Spanish women's basketball players Saint Vincent and the Grenadines women's basketball players Saint Vincent and the Grenadines emigrants to Spain Centers (basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Ros Casares Valencia players Galatasaray S.K. (women's basketball) players Houston Comets players Houston Cougars women's basketball players Atlanta Dream players Junior college women's basketball players in the United States Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expatriate sportspeople in Spain Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expatriate sportspeople in the United States Spanish expatriate basketball people in the United States Spanish people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines descent Naturalised citizens of Spain Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars Expatriate basketball people in Spain