Natalie Chioma Achonwa (born November 22, 1992) is a Canadian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the Minnesota Lynx of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). She played on the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball The Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. The program currently competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Divisio ...

team. Achonwa was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, started playing basketball in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, Ontario, and is tall.

High school

Achonwa attended Centennial Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Guelph, Ontario, for grade 9 before moving to Hamilton, Ontario, to play with Canada Basketball's NEDA program at St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School.

College career

Achonwa was recruited as the first ever international player on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team. In 2011, Achonwa was named to the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

All-Freshman Team along with being selected Big East Freshman of the Week in her freshman season. In 2012, she was named to the NCAA Raleigh Regional All-Tournament Team. In her junior season, she was named as an Honorable Mention for the Associated Press All-America Team. Since her freshman season, she and her team have had four Final Four appearances and three National Championship appearances. In what ended up being her final home game, the six-foot-three forward suffered a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

with about five minutes left in Notre Dame's 19-point victory over Baylor on March 31, 2014. This win helped push the Irish into the NCAA Final Four. In 2015, Achonwa was selected as the Notre Dame Representative in the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Legends Class.

College statistics

International career

At age 16, Achonwa became the youngest player to ever play on the Canadian national team in 2009. She competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics as well as the

2010 FIBA World Championship for Women The 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, the 16th edition of FIBA's premier tournament for women's national basketball teams, was held from September 23 to October 3, 2010 in the Czech Republic. Three cities, Ostrava, Brno and Karlovy Vary, h ...

. Achonwa was invited to join the national team, to play in the

2013 FIBA Americas Championship for Women The 2013 FIBA Americas Championship for Women was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Americas at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey. The tournament was held at the Gimnasio USBI in Xalapa, Mexico from 21 to 28 September 2013. ...

, held in

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

from September 21–28, 2013. She averaged 7.5 points per game and helped the Canadian National team to a second place, silver medal finish. Canada faced Cuba in a preliminary round and won 53–40, but in the championship game, Cuba prevailed 79–71. She missed the

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 implemen ...

due to injury. Achonwa was invited to play for Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics, making it her second Olympic appearance. She played for Canada at the

2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup The 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, the 18th edition of FIBA's premier international tournament for women's national basketball teams, was held in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain from 22 to 30 September 2018. This was the first edition to u ...

. Achonwa was invited to play for Canada at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Pan Am games 2015

Achonwa was a member of the

Canada women's national basketball team The Canadian women's national basketball team represents Canada in international basketball competitions. They are overseen by Canada Basketball, the governing body of basketball in Canada. They are currently ranked fourth by FIBA. History Pa ...

, which participated in

at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

held in

, Ontario, Canada July 10 to 26, 2015. Canada opened the preliminary rounds with an easy 101–38 win over Venezuela. The following day they beat Argentina 73–58. The final preliminary game was against Cuba; both teams were 2–0, so the winner would win the group. The game went down to the wire, with Canada eking out a 71–68 win. Canada would face Brazil in the semifinal. Canada went on to beat Brazil 91–63 to earn a spot in the gold-medal game against the USA. The gold-medal game matched the host team Canada against the USA in a sold-out arena dominated by fans in red and white and waving the Canadian flag. The Canadian team, arm in arm, sang "Oh Canada" as the respective national anthems were played. After trading baskets early, the US edged to a double-digit lead in the second quarter. However, the Canadians, spurred on by the home crowd cheering, fought back and tied up the game at halftime. It was Canada's time to shine in the third quarter as they outscored the US 26–15. The lead would reach as high as 18 points. The USA fought back, but not all the way and Canada won the game and the gold medal 81–73. It was Canada's first gold medal in basketball in the Pan Am games. Achonwa contributed 13 points and two rebounds.

WNBA

Indiana Fever (2015–2020)

Achonwa was drafted ninth overall by the Indiana Fever in the

2014 WNBA draft The 2014 WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 14, 2014 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut at 8:00 pm ...

. She sat out the entire 2014 WNBA season due to a left knee injury she suffered during her senior year at Notre Dame in the NCAA playoffs. In the fall of 2014, while continuing her rehab, Achonwa took a job as the interim Director of Operations for the Notre Dame women's basketball program. She was filling in for the incumbent Katie Schwab, who was hospitalized with a life-threatening illness. Achonwa did not sign her rookie contract with the Fever until February 2015, once she recovered from her injury. She returned to the court in time for the 2015 WNBA season. She was a backup center on the Fever roster in her rookie season, averaging eight ppg and 3.5 rpg in 28 games with 17 starts. The Fever finished third place in the East with a 20–14 record. By the end of the season, Achonwa was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team. Led by their two all-stars Tamika Catchings and

Marissa Coleman Marissa Coleman (born January 4, 1987) is an American professional basketball player previously played for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Personal life Coleman was born in Portland, Oregon to Tony and ...

, the Fever advanced to the Finals facing off against the Minnesota Lynx but lost the series 3–2. In the 2016 WNBA season, Achonwa had a reduced role on the Fever's roster playing 24 games while coming off the bench with limited minutes. The Fever made it to the playoffs again but was eliminated in the first-round elimination game by the Phoenix Mercury. During the 2017 season, Achonwa played a full 34 games for the first time in her career while starting in 17 of those games, averaging 7.1 ppg and 3.7 rpg. However, the Fever finished as the second-worst team in the league with a 9–25 record. In the 2018 season, Achonwa became a full-time starter for the Fever and played all 34 games, averaging career-highs in scoring and rebound with her new role, but the Fever would continue their losing ways, finishing 6–28 as the worst team in the league. In 2019, Achonwa re-signed with the Fever as a restricted free agent. She played 30 games and would start in 18 of the games played during the season. The Fever had an improved season but fell short of making the playoffs with a 13–21 record. In 2020, the season was delayed and shortened to 22 games in a bubble at

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Achonwa played 18 games and started in 11, but the Fever would again miss out on the playoffs with a 6–16 record, finishing as the second-worst team in the league.

Minnesota Lynx (2021–present)

On January 28, 2021, Achonwa signed a multi-year deal with the Minnesota Lynx in free agency.

Overseas

In the 2015–16 off-season, Achonwa played in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

for Dike Napoli. As of November 2016, Achonwa signed with Bucheon KEB Hana Bank, a South Korean club, for the 2016–17 off-season. In 2017, Achonwa signed with

Asan Woori Bank Wibee Asan Woori Bank Woori Won ( ko, 아산 우리은행 우리WON) is a South Korean professional basketball club based in Asan that competes in the Women's Korean Basketball League. They are the most successful team in the league with 12 champions ...

of the South Korean league for the 2017–18 WNBA off-season. In 2018, Achonwa signed with Jiangsu Phoenix of the Chinese league for the 2018–19 WNBA off-season. In 2019, Achonwa signed with Tango Bourges Basket of the French league for the 2019–20 WNBA off-season. In 2020, Achonwa signed with Famila Schio of the Italian league for the 2020–21 WNBA off-season.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, 28 , , 17 , , 17.3 , , .550, , .000 , , .746 , , 3.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 1.3 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

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, 24 , , 0 , , 8.1 , , .545 , , .000 , , .700 , , 2.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 3.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

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, 34 , , 17 , , 18.3 , , .557 , , .000 , , .763 , , 3.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.9 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

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, 34 , , 34 , , 26.0 , , .527 , , .000 , , .800 , , 6.9 , , 1.4 , , 0.9 , , 0.7 , , 1.1 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

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, 30 , , 18 , , 21.1 , , .488 , , .250 , , .909 , , 5.2 , , 1.6 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.9 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

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, 18 , , 11 , , 20.2 , , .496 , , .000 , , .813 , , 5.5 , , 1.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 1.8 , , 7.8 , - , 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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

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Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

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

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, 22 , , 0 , , 15.1 , , .516 , , .000 , , .815 , , 4.1 , , 1.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 1.0 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 8 years, 2 teams , 211 , , 98 , , 17.9 , , .519 , , .120 , , .808 , , 4.2 , , 1.1 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 7.1

Postseason

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, 6 , , 1 , , 7.0 , , .267 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 1.1 , , 1.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 1 , , 0 , , 8.7 , , .667 , , .000 , , .000 , , 4.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 1 , , 0 , , 11.0 , , .667 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 3 years, 2 teams , 8 , , 1 , , 7.8 , , .381 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.9 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 1.0 , , 2.4

Personal life

Achonwa's father immigrated from Nigeria to Canada when he was twelve.

References

External links

* *
Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Achonwa, Natalie 1992 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Toronto Black Canadian basketball players Canadian expatriate basketball people in France Canadian expatriate basketball people in Italy Canadian expatriate basketball people in South Korea Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in China Canadian sportspeople of Nigerian descent Canadian women's basketball players Centers (basketball) Indiana Fever draft picks Indiana Fever players Jiangsu Phoenix players Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Minnesota Lynx players Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Canada Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in basketball Power forwards (basketball)