Sophia Witherspoon

Sophia L. Witherspoon (born July 6, 1969) is a former American college and professional basketball player who was a guard for seven seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Witherspoon played college basketball for the University of Florida, and was selected in the second round of the 1997 WNBA Draft. She played professionally for the New York Liberty, Portland Fire and Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.

Sophia Witherspoon
Personal information
Born (1969-07-06) July 6, 1969
Fort Pierce, Florida
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight145 lb (66 kg)
Career information
High schoolFort Pierce Central (Fort Pierce, Florida)
CollegeFlorida (1988–1991)
WNBA draft1997 / Round: 2 / Pick: 11th overall
Selected by the New York Liberty
Playing career1997–2009
PositionGuard
Number13
Career history
1997–1999New York Liberty
2000–2001Portland Fire
2002–2003Los Angeles Sparks
Career highlights and awards
  • WNBA champion (2002)
  • First-team All-SEC (1991)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing the  United States
World University Games
1993 Buffalo, New York Team competition

Early years

Witherspoon was born in Fort Pierce, Florida. Her older brother introduced her to basketball when she was 6 years old. She attended Fort Pierce Central High School, where she was a standout high school basketball player for the Fort Pierce Central Cobras.

College career

Witherspoon accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Carol Ross's Florida Gators women's basketball team from 1988 to 1991. In three seasons as a Gator, she scored 1,381 points, made 445 rebounds, and was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in 1991. She graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in health and human performance in 1991, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2005.[1][2] In her honor, the Florida Office of Student Life awards the Sophia Witherspoon Award for Overall Excellence each semester to two Gator athletes "who exemplify the positive attitude and strong work ethic in the classroom that they display on the playing field."

Florida statistics

Source[3]

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
1988-89 Florida 29 436 41.6% 26.3% 62.2% 5.7 2.1 1.3 0.5 15.0
1989-90 Florida 28 424 40.7% 22.9% 59.1% 4.4 2.2 1.8 0.5 15.1
1990-91 Florida 28 521 43.9% 38.0% 72.9% 5.7 1.9 2.4 0.7 18.6
TOTALS Florida 85 1381 41.9% 32.3% 65.5% 5.2 2.1 1.8 0.2 16.2

USA Basketball

Witherspoon was named to the USA team for the 1993 World University Games competition in Buffalo, New York. The team had a 6–2 record and won the bronze medal. Witherspoon averaged 1.8 points per game.[4]

Professional career

The New York Liberty selected Witherspoon in the second round (seventh pick overall) of the 1997 WNBA Draft. She played for the Liberty from 1997 to 2000, the Portland Fire from 2000 to 2001, and the Los Angeles Sparks from 2001 to 2003.[5]

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See also

References
  1. F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  2. "Nine Hall of Fame Inductees Announced," GatorZone.com (September 30, 2004). Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  3. "Florida Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  4. "Sixteenth World University Games -- 1993". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  5. Women's National Basketball Association, Player Files, Sophia Witherspoon Archived 2008-10-07 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
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