Laura Nicholls (basketball)

Laura Nicholls González (born 26 February 1989) is a Spanish basketball player who plays for Fenerbahçe Öznur Kablo of the Turkish League. She is a regular member of the Spain women's national basketball team since 2008,[1] having won eight medals in final tournaments.

Laura Nicholls
No. 4 – Fenerbahçe Öznur Kablo
PositionPower forward / Center
LeagueTKBL
Personal information
Born (1989-02-26) 26 February 1989
Santander, Cantabria, Spain
NationalitySpanish
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight198 lb (90 kg)
Career information
Playing career2007–present
Career history
2007–2009Celta Vigo
2009–2010Hondarribia-Irún
2010–2014Rivas Ecópolis
2014–2015Kayseri Kaski
2015–2016WBC Wisła Kraków
2016–2017Virtus Eirene Ragusa
2017–2018CB Avenida
2018–2019Nadezhda Orenburg
2019-Fenerbahce Oznur Kablo
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Representing  Spain
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam
World Championship
2014 Turkey
2010 Czech Republic
2018 Spain
EuroBasket
2013 France
2017 Czech Republic
2019 Serbia/Latvia
2009 Latvia
2015 Hungary/Romania
This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Nicholls and the second or maternal family name is González.

Club career

She started playing as a child in Cantabria before moving to Catalonia as a junior in 2004 to play at Segle XXI, a club which works in lower division developing young prospects. Her first club in the top tier of the Spanish League was Celta Vigourbán in 2007, at 18 years of age. For good performance in the season she received her first call-up with the Spanish senior team for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The following year she transferred to Hondarribia-Irún for one just season before signing with Rivas Ecópoolis, where she played from 2010–11 to 2013–14, winning one Spanish League in 2014 and two Spanish Cups in 2011 and 2013, and playing for four seasons in the EuroLeague Women, reaching the final in the 2011–12 EuroLeague edition.

She played the next three seasons in three different countries: Kayseri Kaski S.K. from Turkey, Wisła Kraków from Poland (winning the Polish League) and Virtus Eirene Ragusa from Italy. She went back to Spain to play for CB Perfumerías Avenida in 2017.[2] She signed for Russian team Nadezhda Orenburg for the 2018-19 season, winning the 2018-19 EuroCup Women. In 2019 she signed for Turkish team Fenerbahçe Öznur Kablo.

European cups statistics
Season Team GP MPP PPP RPP APP
2010–11 EuroLeague Rivas Ecopolis 12 13.9 4.2 2.4 0.6
2011–12 EuroLeague Rivas Ecopolis 21 26.0 7.6 6.5 1.4
2012–13 EuroLeague Rivas Ecopolis 11 26.6 5.2 5.0 1.5
2013–14 EuroLeague Rivas Ecopolis 15 35.4 14.0 8.6 1.5
2014–15 EuroLeague Kayseri Kaski 11 25.8 6.4 5.2 1.5
2015–16 EuroLeague WBC Wisla Krakow 15 33.7 9.4 7.1 2.7
2016–17 EuroCup Virtus Eirene Ragusa 8 29.3 7.9 7.8 1.1
2017–18 EuroLeague Perfumerías Avenida 14 23.2 5.0 4.6 0.9
2017–18 EuroCup Perfumerías Avenida 4 18.7 4.0 4.0 0.8
2018–19 EuroLeague Nadezhda Orenburg 6 33.3 6.8 8.2 3.0
2018–19 EuroCup Nadezhda Orenburg 6 33.8 5.5 7.5 2.7
2019–20 EuroLeague Fenerbahçe Öznur Kablo

National team

In the Spanish youth teams since she was 15, she won medals in tournaments of all age groups (U-16, U-18, U-20).

She made her debut with the Spanish senior team at 19, and has been in all tournaments that the team has played. She is one of the most capped players with a total of 157 caps and 4.9 PPG.[3] She participated in two Olympic Games, two World Championships and in six European Championships:[4]

Personal life

Nicholls is of Curaçaoan descent through her paternal grandfather.[5] She is openly lesbian and dates model Sofía del Prado.[6]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Laura Nicholls". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  2. "Laura Nicholls, nueva guerrera para Perfumerías Avenida". www.feb.es. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  3. "Selección Española Absoluta Femenina de Baloncesto". seleccionfemenina.feb.es. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  4. "archive.fiba.com: Players". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  5. Martínez, Daniel (20 August 2016). ""Hemos pedido a la Virgen de Valmayor la medalla para mi nieta"". El Diario Montañés (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  6. Duque, Nacho (6 August 2018). "Laura Nicholls derriba otra barrera y declara su homosexualidad". Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 September 2019.
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