Rebecca Allen (basketball)

Rebecca "Spida" Allen (born 6 November 1992) is an Australian basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Rebecca Allen
Phoenix Mercury
PositionGuard
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1992-11-06) 6 November 1992 (age 31)
Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight162 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High schoolCarey Grammar (Victoria)
Playing career2009–present
Career history
2009–2010Dandenong Rangers
2010–2012Australian Institute of Sport
2012–2015Melbourne Boomers
20152019New York Liberty
2015–2016South East Queensland Stars
2016–2017Good Angels Košice
2017–2018ASVEL Féminin
2018–2020Arka Gdynia
2020–presentValencia Basket
20212022New York Liberty
2023Connecticut Sun
2024–presentPhoenix Mercury
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Medals
Women’s basketball
Representing  Australia
FIBA World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2018 Spain
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Turkey
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Australia
FIBA Asia Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Bangalore

Allen was a member of the Australian Women's basketball team (Opals) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Opals were eliminated after losing to the USA in the quarterfinals.[1]

Early years edit

Allen was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia and is a dizygotic twin. She played in the junior competition for the suburb Nunawading. Allen was sought out by the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) at the age of 16.[2]

Career edit

WNBL edit

In the domestic Women's National Basketball League (WNBL), Allen has played for the Dandenong Rangers (2009–2010), Australian Institute of Sport (2010–2012), Melbourne Boomers (2012–2015) and South East Queensland Stars (2015–2016).[3] In 2014, Allen was awarded the WNBL Robyn Maher Defensive Player of the Year.[4]

Alongside the WNBL, in Australia Allen played with the Knox Raiders for the 2013 SEABL Season where the team took home the Championship. Allen starred and was awarded the Barbara Barton (Grand Final MVP) medal. She was previously awarded the 2011 SEABL Youth Player of the Year.[5]

WNBA edit

After her success at the World Championship, where she won a bronze medal, Allen signed as a free agent with the New York Liberty for the 2015 WNBA season.[6] She made her WNBA debut in the Liberty’s 2015 season opener against Atlanta, scoring six points.[7] Shortly into the 2015 season, Allen suffered a season-ending right knee cartilage injury and decided to return home to Australia to undergo surgery.[8]

Allen was traded to the Connecticut Sun in January 2023, as part of a three-team deal.[9]

On February 3, 2024, the Connecticut Sun traded Allen to the Phoenix Mercury in a sign-and-trade deal in exchange for Moriah Jefferson. [10]

LIGA FEMENINA ENDESA edit

In 2020, after the pandemic, she signed with the Spanish team, Valencia Basket.

National Team edit

Youth Level edit

Allen made her debut for the Gems at the 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women held in Chile.[11] Her long arms and legs earned her the nickname "Spida".[4]

Senior Level edit

Allen is a current member of the Australian Women's basketball squad.[3] Following good form in preliminary lead-up games, Allen was selected to represent the Opals at the 2014 World Championship held in Turkey where she would make her national team debut.[12]

In 2019, Allen was named to the final roster for the 2019 FIBA Asia Cup.[13] After strong showings throughout this tournament, Allen was named to the tournament All-Star Five.[14]

Allen, like all the other members of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Opals women's basketball team, had a difficult tournament. The Opals lost their first two group stage matches. They looked flat against Belgium and then lost to China in heartbreaking circumstances. In their last group match the Opals needed to beat Puerto Rico by 25 or more in their final match to progress. This they did by 27 in a very exciting match. However, they lost to the United States in their quarterfinal 79 to 55.[15]

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

WNBA edit

Regular season edit

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2015 New York 2 0 17.0 .300 .000 .000 4.5 0.0 1.5 1.0 1.5 3.0
2016 New York 21 6 13.3 .459 .567 .867 1.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.6 5.7
2017 New York 33 0 9.2 .376 .341 .333 2.0 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.5 2.8
2018 New York 28 0 10.4 .376 .263 .840 1.7 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.5 3.8
2019 New York 24 2 17.2 .417 .426 .813 2.5 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.7 7.2
2021 New York 25 13 24.6 .343 .381 .892 3.7 1.1 1.6 1.2 0.8 9.2
2022 New York 25 19 20.9 .379 .313 .833 3.4 1.2 0.8 1.0 1.0 7.0
2023 Connecticut Sun 40 27 21.5 .408 .348 .704 2.8 0.9 0.9 1.3 0.9 6.4
Career 8 years, 2 teams 198 67 16.8 .390 .364 .807 2.6 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.7 5.8

Playoffs edit

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2017 New York 1 0 6.7 1.000 1.000 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 3.0
2021 New York 1 1 29.0 .500 .600 .000 4.0 0.0 1.0 3.0 0.0 11.0
2022 New York 3 0 16.3 .286 .167 1.000 3.0 1.3 0.7 0.3 1.0 4.3
2023 Connecticut Sun 6 6 30.8 .489 .423 1.000 5.5 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.0 9.7
Career 4 years, 2 team 11 7 24.5 .457 .421 1.000 4.2 1.3 1.1 1.3 0.8 7.7

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Rebecca Allen Olympics 2021 | Rebecca Allen Olympic Medals List, Records, Stats, Age, Appearances - myKhel.com". mykhelcom. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Rebecca Allen". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b Basketball Australia. Opals Players: Rebecca Allen. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  4. ^ a b Ward, Roy (3 March 2014). Rebecca Allen re-signs with Melbourne Boomers. The Age. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  5. ^ South East Australian Basketball League (19 December 2013). WNBL star Rebecca Allen returns to the Spectres. SEABL. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  6. ^ Basketball Australia (3 February 2015). Allen signs with New York Liberty. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  7. ^ Rebecca Allen Bio. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  8. ^ Rebecca Allen to Miss Remainder of 2015 Season (18 June 2015). Women's National Basketball Association. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Connecticut Sun Acquire Rebecca Allen, Tyasha Harris and the No. 6 Pick in a Three-Team Trade". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Sun trading Rebecca Allen to Mercury for Moriah Jefferson". espn.com. WNBA. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  11. ^ FIBA Archive. Under 19 World Championship for Women. Team: Australia. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  12. ^ Basketball Australia (10 September 2014). Jayco Oplas Team Named for FIBA World Championship for Women. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  13. ^ "CHEMIST WAREHOUSE AUSTRALIAN OPALS ANNOUNCE TEAM FOR FIBA WOMEN'S ASIA CUP". australia.basketball.
  14. ^ "Japan's Nako Motohashi named MVP to headline Women's Asia Cup All-Star Five". FIBA. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 14 October 2021.

External links edit