Carla Cortijo

Carla Cortijo Sánchez (born July 21, 1987) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player. She played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns and the Puerto Rican national team.

Carla Cortijo

Personal information
Born	(1987-07-21) July 21, 1987 Carolina, Puerto Rico
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Listed height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight	135 lb (61 kg)
Career information
College	Texas (2005–2008)
Playing career	2008–2018
Position	Point guard
Number	8
Coaching career	2017–present
Career history
As player:
2014–2015	Gigantes de Carolina
2015–2017	Atlanta Dream
2015–2017	Gigantes de Carolina
As coach:
2017	Puerto Rico (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
3× BSNF champion (2014–2016) 2× BSNF Finals MVP (2014, 2015)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Women's basketball Representing  Puerto Rico Pan American Games 2011 Guadalajara Team competition Centrobasket 2012 Puerto Rico Team competition 2014 Mexico Team competition Central American and Caribbean Games 2010 Mayagüez Team competition 2014 Mexico Team competition

Early life

Cortijo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Angel Cortijo and Lourdes Sanchez. She grew up in the city of Carolina, Puerto Rico. Cortijo first earned widespread fame for her basketball skills during two seasons of play for Maria Auxiliadora High School, which went undefeated and won the Puerto Rico commonwealth championship both years. Cortijo was named Puerto Rico's High School Basketball Player of the Year for 2002.

After Cortijo's sophomore season, her family moved to the Houston area.[1] Cortijo attracted national attention as a star point guard for Bellaire High School. She also played AAU basketball for the Houston Elite squad, leading them to the 2004 AAU national title. Cortijo earned Parade Magazine All-American honors for her high school play, and was rated the nation's best point guard in her recruiting class by All Star Girls Report.[2] However, she missed her entire high school senior season with an injury to her left knee.

College career

Cortijo signed with the University of Texas. Early in her freshman season, she re-injured her knee, and received a medical redshirt waiver for the 2005–2006 season.

As a redshirt freshman in 2006–2007, Cortijo played in 28 games for the Longhorns and started in 18. She led the team in assists, with 137 on the season. Cortijo was one of five players named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team and the Big 12 All-Academic First Team.

Cortijo announced during the offseason that she planned to transfer to St. John's University in New York.[3] However, Texas coach Gail Goestenkors eventually persuaded Cortijo to rejoin the Longhorns for the 2007–2008 season.[4][5]

Cortijo is majoring in Spanish and minoring in textiles.

Texas statistics

Source[6]

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2005-06	Texas	6	45	37.8%	0.0%	85.0%	3.0	2.3	1.3	-	7.5
2006-07	Texas	30	223	36.3%	25.4%	73.0%	4.4	4.9	1.7	-	7.4
2007-08	Texas	35	353	37.5%	32.6%	75.8%	3.0	4.9	2.0	0.1	10.1
2008-09	Texas	33	230	39.1%	39.1%	71.1%	3.3	4.5	1.3	0.0	7.0
Career		104	851	37.6%	31.3%	74.5%	3.5	4.6	1.6	0.0	8.2

WNBA controversy

Cortijo alleged that Puerto Rican basketball federation's president Carlos Beltrán denied her an opportunity to play for the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s Atlanta Dream in order for her to participate with the Puerto Rican women's national basketball team on the 2015 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Women's Pre-Olympic qualifying tournament.[7]

International career

Cortijo represents Puerto Rico in the international competitions sanctioned by FIBA. As regular point guard, she led the team to the gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games, which advanced to the finals gathering victories over the United States, Argentina and Brazil. In the gold medal game, Cortijo scored 29 points and recovered 10 rebounds, being Puerto Rico's most productive player in the victory over Mexico.

She was a member of the team which competed for Puerto Rico at the 2011 Pan American Games, winning a gold medal.[8]

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans

References

1. Carla Cortijo Article Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
2. TexasSports.com Archived February 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
3. St. John's RedStorm Sports – Women's Sports – Basketball – News – Women's Basketball Player Carla Cortijo To Attend St. John's Archived November 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
4. Cortijo ready to step up and lead young team – Sports
5. The Associated Press (2007-11-11). "Key Piece of Family Returns to Texas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
6. "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
7. "Federación de baloncesto troncha el sueño de Cortijo en la WNBA". El Nuevo Dia (in Spanish). 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
8. "Basketball: Women's Gold Medal Match 18". Guadalajara2011.org.mx. Archived from the original on 2014-08-19.

External links

• University of Texas media guide