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Cecilia Zandalasini

Cecilia Zandalasini (Italian: [tʃeˈtʃiːlja ddzandalaˈziːni]; born 16 March 1996) is an Italian basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Galatasaray of the Turkish Women's Basketball Super League and the Italian national team.[1] She was the MVP of 2016 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women.

Cecilia Zandalasini
Zandalasini with the Minnesota Lynx in 2024
No. 24 – Galatasaray
PositionSmall forward
LeagueWNBA
Turkish Super League
EuroCup Women
Personal information
Born (1996-03-16) 16 March 1996 (age 28)
Broni, Italy
NationalityItalian
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
Playing career2010–present
Career history
2013–2014Geas Basket
2014–2018PF Schio
2017–2018Minnesota Lynx
2018–2021Fenerbahçe
2021–2024Virtus Bologna
2024–presentMinnesota Lynx
2024–presentGalatasaray
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Early life

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Zandalasini was born on 16 March 1996 in Broni, Italy. She is the daughter of Roberto Zandalasini and Paola Lombardi.[2] While playing with Geas Basket, she won six Italian youth club championships.[2]

Professional career

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Geas Basket (2013–14)

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At the age of 17, Zandalasini played as a guard under Geas Basket for the 2013–14 season. She led the team in points with a total of 314 across 20 games (15.7 PPG).[3]

PF Schio (2014–2018)

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Zandalasini has played with PF Schio since 2014. In Zandalasini's third season with the team in 2016–17, the team won the Coppa Italia and reached the Serie A1 playoff finals. The team continued to the EuroLeague postseason, where Zandalasini had a team high 13.5 PPG.

EuroBasket

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At EuroBasket Women 2017 she averaged 19.0 points (2nd in event) and 9.6 rebounds (3rd in event)[4] and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Jeff Taylor of FIBA.com called her performance "the greatest FIBA EuroBasket Women debut of all time".[5]

Minnesota Lynx (2017–2018)

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Zandalasini with the Minnesota Lynx in 2018

With only three games left in their 2017 regular season, the Minnesota Lynx signed Zandalasini as an unrestricted free agent on 28 August 2017.[6] Zandalasini was only able to play 18:37 of the remainder of the regular season and 11 during the playoffs, which the Lynx won.[2]

On 7 February 2018 it was announced that the Lynx would re-sign Zandalasini for the 2018 season.[7] Zandalasini became a breakout player during the season after a buzzer-beating play against the New York Liberty in their 16 June game.[8] She has subsequently seen more minutes of play, establishing herself as a fit for the sixth woman role.[9][10]

Zandalasini did not play with the Lynx during their 2019 season due to her international team commitments and an ankle injury.[11]

On 29 February 2020 the Lynx announced they would re-sign Zandalasini for the 2020 season in a non-disclosed deal. However she did not play any games for the Lynx during the shortened 2020 season.[12][13][14]

Fenerbahçe (2018–2021)

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Zandalasini with Fenerbahçe in 2019

On 4 July 2018 she had signed a two-year deal with the Turkish women's basketball club, Fenerbahçe.[15]

Virtus Bologna (2021–2024)

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On 5 May 2021 Zandalasini signed a two-year deal with the Italian women's basketball club Virtus Bologna.[16] Despite good premises, in November 2021 the team was eliminated in the group stage of the EuroCup.[17] On 19 April 2022, during the national semi-finals against Reyer Venezia, Lino Lardo was fired and his assistant Angela Gianolla became the new head coach.[18] The team ousted Reyer Venezia by 2–1 in the national semi-finals, reaching the finals for the first time in its history and qualifying for the EuroLeague Women. However, Virtus was defeated 3–1 by Famila Schio.[19]

In the following season, Virtus played for the first time in the EuroLeague Women, but it was ousted in the regular season with a winning record of 5–9.[20] The club ended the Italian championship's season at the first place but, once again, it lost the national finals against Famila Schio by 2–0.[21]

Galatasaray (2024–present)

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On July 24, 2024, she signed with Galatasaray of the Turkish Women's Basketball Super League (TKBL).[22]

Minnesota Lynx (2024-present)

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On April 19, 2024, Zandalasini signed with a Training Camp Contract with the Minnesota Lynx.[23] On May 14, 2024, it was announced that she made the final roster.[24]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader
† Denotes seasons in which Zandalasini won a WNBA championship

WNBA

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Regular season

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WNBA regular season statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2017† Minnesota 3 0 6.3 .250 — — 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7 0.7
2018 Minnesota 29 6 16.5 .409 .383 .840 1.9 1.1 0.3 0.0 1.1 5.7
2019 Did not appear in league
2020 Did not appear in league (opted out)
2021 Did not appear in league
2022
2023
2024 Minnesota 40° 0 12.2 .453 .443 .621 1.2 1.1 0.4 0.2 0.8 4.6
Career 3 years, 1 team 72 6 13.7 .429 .415 .722 1.4 1.0 0.3 0.1 0.9 4.9

Playoffs

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WNBA playoff statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2017† Minnesota 5 0 2.2 1.000 — — 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4
2018 Minnesota 1 1 25.0 .250 .333 — 1.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 3.0
2024 Minnesota 11 0 9.5 .370 .250 .500 1.2 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.5 2.3
Career 3 years, 1 team 17 1 8.3 .375 .267 .500 0.8 0.8 0.3 0.1 0.5 1.8

References

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  1. ^ "archive.fiba.com: Players". archive.fiba.com.
  2. ^ a b c "WNBA Player Profile". WNBA.com. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  3. ^ "A.S.D. Geas Basket — 2014". playbasket.it. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  4. ^ "Cecilia ZANDALASINI at the FIBA EuroBasket Women 2017". FIBA.basketball.
  5. ^ Taylor, Jeff (June 25, 2017). "Italy and Zandalasini win more fans after painful loss". FIBA.basketball.
  6. ^ Youngblood, Kent (August 28, 2017). "Lynx sign Italian league standout Cecilia Zandalasini". Star Tribune. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  7. ^ "Lynx Re-Sign Cecilia Zandalasini, Add Lynetta Kizer And Endy Miyem". Minnesota Lynx. February 7, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  8. ^ Mizutani, Dane (June 18, 2018). "Italian import Cecilia Zandalasini proving to be Lynx's best kept secret". Pioneer Press. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  9. ^ Sinker, Howard (June 25, 2018). "Lynx battle in weekend of sharp elbows on social media". Star Tribune. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  10. ^ Martin, Sloane (June 19, 2018). "With the Lynx in need of a spark, Cecilia Zandalasini stepping into the spotlight". The Athletic. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  11. ^ Youngblood, Kent (July 31, 2019). "Seimone Augustus near return, but Cecilia Zandalasini won't play for Lynx". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  12. ^ Youngblood, Kent (March 2, 2020). "Lynx re-sign Cecilia Zandalasini". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  13. ^ "Lynx Re-Sign Forward Cecilia Zandalasini". Minnesota Lynx. February 29, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  14. ^ Hansen, Mitchell (February 29, 2020). "Minnesota Lynx Re-Sign Forward Cecilia Zandalasini". Zone Coverage. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  15. ^ Cicchinè, Giulia (July 4, 2018). "Zandalasini al Fenerbahce: l'azzurra ora in WNBA, giocherà in Turchia per vincere l'Eurolega". Eurosport (in Italian). Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  16. ^ La Virtus Bologna ufficializza Cecilia Zandalasini: Felice di tornare e vestire questa maglia, Sportando
  17. ^ EuroCup Women – Carolo sbanca Bologna, Virtus eliminata, Basket Inside
  18. ^ Virtus Bologna femminile, decisione a sopresa: Lino Lardo non è più il capo allenatore, BolognaToday
  19. ^ Serie A1 femminile, il Famila Schio è Campione d'Italia: battuta la Virtus Bologna 69–84, Bologna Today
  20. ^ EuroLeague Women, il percorso della Virtus Bologna si chiude con l'USK Praga. BolognaToday
  21. ^ Basket femminile, Virtus battuta, Schio è campione d'Italia. la Repubblica
  22. ^ "Galatasaray Çağdaş Faktoring'e hoş geldin Cecilia Zandalasini!". Galatasaray S.K. July 24, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  23. ^ "WNBA Player Movement & Transactions | WNBA". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  24. ^ "Minnesota Lynx Finalize 2024 Roster". lynx.wnba.com. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
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