NatalieAchonwa

NOTABLE

• Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award (2020)
• Three-time Olympian with Canada Basketball (2012, 2016, 2020)
• WNBA Community Assist Award Winner (2019)
• WNBA All-Rookie Team (2015)

CAREER TRANSACTIONS

Selected by Indiana in the 1st round (9th overall) of the 2014 WNBA Draft… Signed to a three-year contract on Feb. 6, 2015… Indiana exercised her 2018 contract option on Apr. 25, 2017… Re-signed by Indiana to a two-year contract on Feb. 1, 2019… Signed by Minnesota as an unrestricted free agent to a three-year contract on Feb. 1, 2021.

2021 SEASON

Completed her first season in Minnesota (seventh in the WNBA) by playing in 21 games and averaging 3.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg and 1.2 apg in 12.0 mpg… Shot 42.6% from the floor and 89.3% (25-for-28) from the FT line… Made her lone start in the Aug. 31 win vs. New York… Returned Aug. 15 vs. New York, having missed 10 games with a right MCL injury suffered June 12 vs. Los Angeles… Reached double figures twice during the season-ending four-game winning streak, tallying 10 points vs. Indiana on Sept. 10 and scoring a season-high 11 at Indiana a week later; she averaged 7.8 ppg (on 60.0% shooting) while playing 14.3 mpg in those last four contests… Posted season highs in minutes (21:40) and assists (four) Sept. 4 vs. Washington… Swiped a career-high three steals Aug. 17 at Connecticut and pulled down a season-best six rebounds May 28 at Seattle.

WNBA CAREER CAPSULE

2020: Started 11 of 18 games played for the Fever… awarded the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award…returned from a right hamstring injury suffered early in the season to sustain a six-game stretch scoring at least 10 points…Averaged 6.5 rebounds per game in the six-game stretch, which began August 20 in a win against the eventual WNBA champion, Seattle Storm… Ended the season as the ninth leading scorer in franchise history, totaling 1,301 points in her six-year career with the Fever. 2019: Averaged 8.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 21.1 minutes per contest…started in 18 of 30 games played…she ended her fifth season second in career field goal percentage with the Fever at 52.9 percent…became the fifth Fever player since Erlana Larkins (2013, 2014) to have at least three double-doubles in consecutive seasons…ended the season with 661 rebounds trailing Natalie Williams for fifth in team history with 676… named recipient of the season-long WNBA Community Assist Award presented by State Farm in recognition of her commitment… lead the charge on the team’s 20 Towns for 20 Seasons tour, which included appearances at a variety of community events and basketball tournaments.2018: Paced the Fever and was 13th in the WNBA with 6.9 rebounds per game…with 10.3 points per game, she joined WNBA Most Improved Player Natasha Howard as the league’s only players with at least a 3.0 improvement in points and rebounds over 2017…she joined Tamika Catchings, Erlana Larkins and Natalie Williams as the only players in club history with at least six double-doubles in a season…four of her double-doubles came within Indiana’s first 12 games, including then-career highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds at Washington, 5/20…she later set new career highs with 26 points and 15 boards in an overtime loss to Las Vegas, 6/12…her fifth double-double came at New York, 8/4, and her sixth came on the season’s final weekend with 21 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to Chicago, 8/18…she had six games with at least 20 points, led all Fever starters with 52.7 percent shooting from the floor and she led the club with 23 blocked shots…she was the only Indiana player to start all 34 games and she averaged a career-best 26.0 minutes per game.2017: Third-year center averaged 7.1 points and 3.7 rebounds during what was then a career-best 18.3 minutes of action…she reached double-figure scoring nine times, including a then-career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting against New York, 7/28…she had a season-high nine rebounds at Atlanta, 8/26…she was second on the club in shooting with a 55.7 percent field-goal clip.2016: Appeared in 24 games off the bench, averaging 3.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game…played in 8.1 minutes per game while shooting 36-of-66 (54.5%) from the floor…scored a season-high 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting against Washington, 8/27…contributed seven points and a season-high eight boards against Atlanta, 5/29.2015: Member of the WNBA All-Rookie Team…completed her rookie season with averages of 8.0 points and 3.5 rebounds during 17.3 minutes per game…her 55 percent shooting led all WNBA rookies… ranked fourth among rookies in scoring and rebounding…she managed a season-high 14 points against Minnesota, 6/6, and a season-high nine rebounds vs. Atlanta, 9/11…she made 17 starts in 28 appearances replaced Erlana Larkins in the starting lineup early in the year…earned WNBA Rookie of the Month honors, becoming the first Fever player ever to win the award…during June, she paced all rookies with 10.2 points per game…shot 52.6 percent for the month with 4.6 rebounds and 21.5 minutes per game…reached double-figure scoring in seven of her first 10 games…finished with 11 double-figure scoring efforts, overall.2014: Resided in Indianapolis following her final year of college while rehabbing the ACL injury sustained as a senior…she doubled as the director of basketball operations with Notre Dame, through another trip to the NCAA Final Four.

PLAYOFFS

2016: Contributed four points and four rebounds in a Round 1 loss to Phoenix 2015: Appeared in six playoff games… Averaged just seven minutes per game…was a starter in her playoff debut against Chicago…finished with four points and four rebounds, which both were playoff highs for the rookie…totaled 10 minutes while appearing in Games 1 and 2 of the WNBA Finals against Minnesota.

INTERNATIONAL

2020: Averaged 8.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 4.0 apg in three games for Canada at the Olympics in Tokyo… 2018: Finished as Canada’s second-leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 8.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game during a six-game FIBA World Cup in Tenerife, Spain…shot 47 percent from the floor with her best game of the tournament a 13-point, 7-rebound performance in a loss to China. 2016: Making her second Olympics appearance, played in all six games for the Canadian team that reached the Olympic quarterfinals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil…averaged 5.0 points and 2.8 rebounds during 11.4 minutes per game. 2015: Helped Canada to gold-medal finishes at both the Pan Am Games (Toronto, Canada) and the FIBA Americas Championship (Edmonton, Canada) while qualifying for the 2016 Olympics… Averaged 10.0 points and 3.5 rebounds off the bench in six games…shot 54.5 percent in the tournament. 2013: Helped Canada earn a silver medal and qualify for the 2014 FIBA World Championships at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico… averaged 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in six games.2012: Appeared in six games for the Canadian team that reached the Olympic quarterfinals in London…she averaged 7.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 19 minutes per game.2010: Played in eight games for Team Canada at the FIBA World Championships in the Czech Republic, averaging 4.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in eight games. 2009: Made her Canadian Senior National Team debut at age 16 at the FIBA Americas Championship in Brazil…helped Canada win a bronze medal and a berth in the 2010 FIBA World Championships…played in all five games during the tournament while averaging 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game…earlier in the summer, appeared in nine games for the Junior Women’s National Team at the FIBA U19 World Championships in Thailand.2008: Made her international debut at age 15 for Canada’s Junior Women’s National Team at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship in Argentina…helped her team win the silver medal with a 4-1 record as she averaged 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

OVERSEAS

2020-21: Played for Italian power Famila Schio, averaging 13.7 ppg and 7.9 rpg while hitting 52.8% in 12 LegA contests… Added 14.2 ppg (58.9%) and 5.2 rpg in six EuroLeague appearances… 2019-20: In eight games with Bourges (France), Achonwa averaged 11.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per contest in eight games. 2018-20: Appeared in 25 games with Jiangsu in China, averaging 25.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game…she turned in top performances with 42 points and 17 rebounds, and 42 points and 15 rebounds, in back-to-back outings in December.2017-18 Led Woori Bank to a 29-6 record and WKBL regular season and tournament championship in South Korea…she played in the WKBL All-Star Game..  2016-17 In 34 games, shot 50 percent from the floor while averaging 12.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game with KEB Hanabank in South Korea.  2015-16 Achonwa played with Napoli (Italy) in EuroCup competition, averaging 12.3 points and 6.9 rebounds. In the Italian League, she posted 19.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

COLLEGE

2013-14: Finished career ranked 12th on Notre Dame’s career scoring list (1,546), fourth in rebounds (970), tied for fifth in double-doubles (28) and sixth in career field goal percentage (.562)…helped Notre Dame reach four consecutive Final Four appearances…earned Associated Press All-America Third Team, All-ACC Second Team and NCAA Notre Dame Regional All-Tournament Team honors during senior season… started 33 games and averaged a career-high 14.9 points to go along with 7.7 rebounds and a career-best 2.8 assists per game…posted a team-high eight double-doubles…finished second in the ACC, third nationally and seventh in Notre Dame single-season history with a .611 field goal percentage…season ended when an ACL injury knocked her from the NCAA Regional Final against Baylor.2012-13: Earned Associated Press All-America Team honorable mention, First-Team All-Big East and NCAA Norfolk Regional All-Tournament Team honors…she started all 37 games while averaging 13.8 points and a career-high 9.5 rebounds per game…she set a school record and led the Big East with 19 double-doubles, including three during the NCAA Tournament…she shot 52.0 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from the free throw line.2011-12:  As a sophomore, she played in 36 games and made one start while averaging 7.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game…she finished third in the Big East with a team-high .557 field goal percentage…she was named to the NCAA Raleigh Regional All-Tournament Team and helped the Irish reach the NCAA National Championship Game. 2010:-11: Named to the Big East All-Freshman Team, Achonwa appeared in all 39 games off the bench during her freshman season…she averaged 6.9 points and 5.3 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game with a .566 field goal percentage.

PERSONAL

Nicknamed “Ace”…Native of Guelph, Ontario… the daughter of Marion and Manny Achonwa…she has one older brother, Adrian, and one younger sister, Kendra…her brother, Adrian, played basketball at the University of Guelph (Ontario)… In 2009, she was selected as one of Guelph’s “top 40 influential people under 40” by the Guelph Mercury…she graduated in May 2014 from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business with her bachelor’s degree in management-consulting…conducted her first Ace of Hoops basketball skills camp on March 8-9, 2019 in Guelph, Ontario…personal website is NatalieAchonwa.com.