Matilde Villa
| No. 6 – Umana Reyer Venezia | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Shooting guard | ||||||||||||||
| League | Lega Basket Femminile | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | December 9, 2004 Lissone, Carate Brianza, Lombardy, Italy | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| WNBA draft | 2024: 3rd round, 32nd overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2022–present | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 2022–present | Umana Reyer Venezia | ||||||||||||||
| Stats at WNBA.com | |||||||||||||||
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Matilde Villa (born 9 December 2004) is an Italian basketball player for Umana Reyer Venezia of the Lega Basket Femminile. She was drafted by the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) with the 32nd pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.[1]
Professional career
[edit]At age 14, she debuted in Serie A1 with the Costa Masnaga sports club first team in the position of point guard. In 2020, she scored 36 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in a match against Dinamo Sassari.[1][2] Her Serie A record is 20 wins and 3 losses.[3]
Villa has played for Umana Reyer Venezia in Venice, Italy since 2022. In the 2023–2024 season, she led the Italian Serie A with a per-game average of 10 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3 assists. She had a 52% shot rate from two points, 36% from three, and 78% from the free throw line.[2]
She was selected in the third round, 32nd overall, by the Atlanta Dream in the 2024 WNBA draft. She was the fourth Italian player to be selected in the WNBA, and joined fellow Italian Lorela Cubaj on the team.[2] Villa remained overseas for the 2024 WNBA season.[4]
International career
[edit]At the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship in 2023, Villa was named a stand-out player by FIBA. She accumulated an average of 18.9 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, 4.9 assists per game, and 2.6 steals per game.[5]
Personal life
[edit]Matilde was born in Lissone, Carate Brianza, Lombardy, Italy.[1] Her older brother Edoardo[6] and her twin sister Elonora are both basketball players, with Eleonora currently playing in the NCAA with the Washington State Cougars.[3] Her and her sister Eleonora wanted to be professional dancers growing up, but were discouraged by her dance teacher and advised to change to basketball.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Sport, Sky (16 April 2024). "Matilde Villa scelta al Draft della WNBA". Sky Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ a b c Sanaldi, Stefano (16 April 2024). "Matilde Villa: who is the new blue star in the WNBA?". Backdoorpodcast.com | Podcast e news su Nba, Eurolega e Basket Serie A. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ a b "Chi è Matilde Villa, la giocatrice di basket italiana che giocherà nella Nba femminile". ELLE (in Italian). 22 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ Cruse, Hunter (16 April 2024). "Atlanta Dream add international talent in the 2024 WNBA Draft". The Next. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ "Eight standout players of #FIBAU20Europe". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ "Chi è Matilde Villa, l'italiana scelta dalla Nba femminile". Vanity Fair Italia (in Italian). 17 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ Vanetti, Flavio (16 April 2024). "Brianzola, 19 anni, predestinata: chi è Matilde Villa scelta per giocare in Wnba". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 3 May 2024.
External links
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