Yelena Leuchanka (Belarusian: Алена Сцяпанаўна Леўчанка; born 30 April 1983) is a Belarusian professional women's basketball player who last play for Panathinaikos.

Yelena Leuchanka
Personal information
Born (1983-04-30) 30 April 1983 (age 40)
Homel, Belorussian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityBelarusian
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight194 lb (88 kg)
Career information
College
WNBA draft2006: undrafted
Playing career2006–present
PositionCenter
Number20
Career history
2006Charlotte Sting
2006–2008TEO Vilnius
2007Estudiantes
2007Washington Mystics
2008–2009Ekaterinburg
2009–2010Galatasaray
2010Gorzów Wielkopolski
2010Atlanta Dream
2011Wisła Kraków
2011–2013Ekaterinburg
2012Atlanta Dream
2013–2014Good Angels Košice
2015–2016Xinjiang Tishan Deers
2021Panathinaikos
Medals
Representing  Belarus
EuroBasket
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Italy

Biography edit

Prior to joining the Dream for their inaugural 2008 season, Leuchanka was a member of the Charlotte Sting in 2006 and Washington Mystics in 2007. She began her college career at Seminole Junior College.[1] She also attended West Virginia University after transferring from Wabash Valley Junior College.[1]

During the seasons 2011-12 and 2012-13 she was a member of the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA in the United States and UMMC Ekaterinburg in the Russian Superleague.[1]

On 30 September 2020 Leuchanka was arrested at the Minsk National Airport.[2] She was sentenced to 15 days of arrest for her participation in the 2020 Belarusian protests against the rule of president Alexander Lukashenko.[3] She was re-arrested immediately after her release on the 15th of October, for unclear reasons.[4]

West Virginia 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[5] Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003-04 West Virginia 1 4 - - 100.0 8.0 - - 1.0 4.0
2004-05 West Virginia 10 74 55.6 - 57.1 6.5 0.4 0.5 1.2 7.4
2005-06 West Virginia 31 237 56.9 - 77.0 6.1 0.8 0.6 1.1 7.6
Career West Virginia 42 315 55.8 0.0 76.4 6.2 0.7 0.5 1.1 7.5

National team edit

A member of the Belarus women's national basketball team, Leuchanka competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics for her country after leading the squad at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in June 2008. She also competed at EuroBasket Women 2007 and EuroBasket Women 2009 for Belarus.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Player Biography WNBA.com
  2. ^ "Sports news feed: Yelena Leuchanka arrested at Minsk airport". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Belarusian basketball champion arrested". PledgeTimes. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Belarusian Ex-WNBA Player Leuchanka Rearrested, Fined After Jail Release over Protest".
  5. ^ "Women's Basketball Player stats". NCAA. Retrieved 7 March 2017.