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.
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]
| 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 (11th pick overall) of the 1997 WNBA Draft. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997 in a 67 - 57 victory over the Sparks where she recorded 6 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.[5] She played for the Liberty her first three years in the league, being a starter in every game she played during her first two seasons. Witherspoon's minutes and PPG averages for her rookie year were 31.0 MPG and 14.5 PPG. During her second year she averaged 29.9 MPG and 13.8 PPG. However, her minutes diminished in her third season (down to 18.2 MPG) and so did her productivity (down to 8.5 points).
On December 15, 1999, Witherspoon was drafted by the Portland Fire during the Expansion Draft and played for the Fire for two seasons. She would play for the Fire for two seasons, averaging 16.8 points, 3.3 rebounds in the 2000 season, and 12 points, 2.4 rebounds in the 2001 season.
Along with her teammate Nikki Teasley, Witherspoon was traded to the Sparks for Ukari Figgs and Gergana Slavcheva on April 19, 2002.[6] She officially signed with the Sparks on June 11, 2002 and would make the Finals during her first year with the team. The Sparks defeated the Liberty 2-0 and Witherspoon earned her first and only WNBA Championship.[7] The Sparks reached the Finals again in 2003 but would be defeated by the Detroit Shock in three games (2-1).
After missing the entire 2003 season, Witherspoon would sign a contract as a free agent with the Charlotte Sting on April 5, 2004[8] but would be waived by them before as part of the final roster cuts before the season started.[9]
Due to her stint with the Sting not coming to fruition, Witherspoon's final WNBA game ever ended being Game 3 of the 2003 Finals against Detroit on September 16, 2003. The Sparks lost the game 78 - 83 with Witherspoon playing for three and a half minutes and only recording two missed 3-point attempts and no other stats.[10]
WNBA career statistics
| 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
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | New York | 28 | 28 | 31.0 | 40.6 | 34.9 | 74.8 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 14.5 |
| 1998 | New York | 30 | 30 | 29.9 | 40.1 | 34.4 | 78.6 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 2.4 | 13.8 |
| 1999 | New York | 32 | 23 | 18.2 | 39.6 | 35.9 | 71.0 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 8.5 |
| 2000 | Portland | 32 | 32 | 33.2 | 38.4 | 36.8 | 87.1 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 16.8 |
| 2001 | Portland | 31 | 30 | 27.8 | 31.6 | 31.3 | 84.9 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 12.0 |
| 2002 | Los Angeles | 31 | 1 | 11.5 | 41.5 | 41.8 | 76.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 5.2 |
| 2003 | Los Angeles | 23 | 2 | 10.2 | 32.1 | 34.5 | 85.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| Career | 7 years, 3 teams | 207 | 146 | 23.5 | 38.0 | 35.1 | 80.2 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 10.7 |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | New York | 2 | 2 | 32.5 | 27.8 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 6.0 |
| 1999 | New York | 6 | 0 | 14.3 | 44.7 | 40.0 | 63.6 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 7.5 |
| 2002 | Los Angeles | 6 | 0 | 6.5 | 35.7 | 36.4 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 3.0 |
| 2003 | Los Angeles | 5 | 0 | 2.8 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Career | 4 years, 2 teams | 19 | 2 | 10.7 | 37.3 | 34.5 | 73.7 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 4.2 |
See also
- List of Florida Gators in the WNBA
- List of University of Florida alumni
- List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
References
- ^ F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
- ^ "Nine Hall of Fame Inductees Announced," GatorZone.com (September 30, 2004). Retrieved July 22, 2011.
- ^ "Florida Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-09-10.
- ^ "Sixteenth World University Games -- 1993". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- ^ https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/199706210LAS.html
- ^ https://goheels.com/news/2002/4/19/205491266.aspx
- ^ https://sportsteamhistory.com/los-angeles-sparks/
- ^ https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/charlotte-sting-sign-sophia-witherspoon/n-3021941
- ^ https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/teams/CHA/2004_transactions.html
- ^ https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/200309160DET.html
External links
- Sophia Witherspoon – Official WNBA player profile
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