Angela Lynette Aycock (born February 28, 1973), later known as Sister Paula, is an American former professional basketball player. She played for two seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) before retiring to a monastic life in 2002.[1]

Angela Aycock
Personal information
Born (1973-02-28) February 28, 1973 (age 51)
Dallas, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight161 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High schoolLincoln (Dallas, Texas)
CollegeKansas (1991–1995)
Playing career1995–2002
PositionGuard
Career history
1995–1996SC Alcamo
1996–1998Seattle Reign
1999Panathinaikos AC
1999Phoenix Mercury
2000Seattle Storm
2000Minnesota Lynx
Career WNBA statistics
Points8 (1.1 ppg)
Assists7 (1.0 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Representing the  United States
U18 and U19
Silver medal – second place 1992 U18 Guanajuato, Mexico Team Competition

College career edit

Aycock was recruited in 1991 from Lincoln High School in Dallas, Texas to play college basketball for the University of Kansas (Kansas Jayhawks). At the time she was touted as the second-best player in the country by the Women's Basketball News Service, and was the USA Today and Dallas Morning News Texas Player of the Year.[2]

In her sophomore year, she was named team captain. As a junior, she was the Big Eight Conference co-player of the year. In her senior year, she made several All-America teams. By the end of her college career she had scored 1,978 points for Jayhawks, the third highest total in the team's history.[1][3]

She also turned out for the USA Women's U18 and U19 teams, in 1992 and 1993. Her U18 team won the silver medal at the COPABA Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Guanajuato, Mexico.[4][5][6]

Kansas statistics edit

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
1991-92 Kansas 29 300 47.5% 0.0% 63.3% 5.2 1.3 1.8 0.9 10.3
1992-93 Kansas 30 489 47.1% 25.0% 67.8% 6.9 2.0 2.8 0.5 16.3
1993-94 Kansas 28 473 44.6% 14.3% 69.8% 8.7 3.2 2.8 0.5 16.9
1994-95 Kansas 31 716 41.3% 32.8% 74.4% 7.3 3.4 3.0 0.4 23.1
Career 118 1978 44.5% 31.0% 70.7% 7.0 2.5 2.6 0.6 16.8

Professional career edit

Early in her professional career, Aycock played two full seasons and part of a third for the Seattle Reign in the now-defunct American Basketball League. She also traveled overseas to compete in Italy, Greece, Spain, France and South Korea. In her short stint with the WNBA she saw game time with the Phoenix Mercury, the Minnesota Lynx and the Seattle Storm. Overall, she featured in 98 games for the ABL, and in 12 for the WNBA.[1][7]

WNBA career statistics edit

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

Regular season edit

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1999 Phoenix 8 0 3.8 .000 .000 1.000 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.8 0.5
2000 Seattle 1 0 7.0 .000 .000 .000 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2000 Minnesota 3 0 2.0 .000 .000 .000 1.0 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Career 2 years, 3 team 12 0 3.6 .000 .000 1.000 0.5 0.6 0.2 0.0 0.5 0.3

Post-basketball edit

In 2002, Aycock moved on from professional basketball to become a nun of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia after converting to it, coming from a Baptist background. According to her sister, she was apparently introduced to the church during her time visiting various churches and cathedrals in Europe.[8] She took the name Sister Paula, and was subsequently cloistered at the Protection of the Holy Virgin Mary Convent in Bluffton, Canada. In mid-2003 she transferred to another convent, the location of which is not known.[1]

Other honors edit

In February 2003, Aycock made the journey from her Bluffton convent to the KU campus in Lawrence, Kansas to see her jersey (No. 12) retired.[1][3] It remains the last time she has made a public appearance.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f Anderson, Jared (February 22, 2017). "After dominance at Kansas, Angela Aycock became Sister Paula, a nun in the Russian Orthodox Church". The University Daily Kansan. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  2. ^ Horn, Miranda (December 22, 2020). "Jayhawk Insider: A Higher Calling". Kansas Athletics. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Jayhawks to pay tribute to Dixon, Aycock tonight". KUsports.com. February 3, 2003. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  4. ^ "USA Women's FIBA Americas U18 Championship Team All-Time Alphabetical Roster". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  5. ^ "USA All-Time Women's U19 World Championship Alphabetical Roster". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  6. ^ "Second Women's Junior World Championship Qualifying Team –1992". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  7. ^ "Aycock's ABL & WNBA stats". justsportsstats.com. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  8. ^ "Aycock aiming higher". Dallas Morning News. July 13, 2003. Retrieved April 4, 2021 – via KUsports.com.

External links edit