Kelly Schumacher (born October 14, 1977) is an American-born Canadian professional basketball player and professional volleyball player. She had been playing in the WNBA for the Detroit Shock, until her release 18 June 2009.[1]
After her junior season at the University of Connecticut, she competed with USA Basketball as a member of the gold medal-winning Jones Cup Team that compiled a 4–0 record in Taipei.[2] In her professional career she plays in Spanish League in Arranz Burgos, Perfumerías Avenida and now in UB F.C.Barcelona. She is currently playing professional beach volleyball on the AVP Tour.[3]
Awards and achievements
She has appeared in more games (159) than any player in Fever history.
Fever's starting power forward in first 14 games of 2005.
Second all-time in career blocked shots for the Fever.
Played a career-high 39 minutes during an overtime game played at Radio City Music Hall in New York, September 16, 2004.
Pro career highs of 22 points and nine rebounds in an 81–57 win over San Antonio, July 23, 2003.
Finished her career at Connecticut ranked third all-time in career blocked shots with 181.[4]
Set NCAA Women's Final Four record with nine blocked shots as Connecticut defeated Tennessee for the 2000 national championship.[5]
Played a career-high 39 minutes during an overtime game played at Radio City Music Hall in New York, September 16, 2004.
She is the Indiana Fever's career leader in blocked shots
She has appeared in more games than any other player in Indiana Fever history
At age 23, Schumacher was selected by the Indiana Fever in the first round (14th overall) of the WNBA draft on April 20, 2001.
USA Basketball
Schumacher was named to the team representing the US in 2000 at the William Jones Cup competition in Taipei, Taiwan. The USA team started strong with a 32-point win over the host team, the Republic of China National Team. They then beat South Korea easily and faced Japan in the third game. Japan started out strongly, and had an 18-point lead in the first half. The USA then out scored Japan 23–3 to take a small lead at the half. The USA built a ten-point lead, but Japan cut it back to three with under a minute to go. Kelly Schumacher grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to bring the lead back to five points and the team held on for the win. Schumacher had 24 points to help the USA team beat Japan 83–80. The final game was against Malaysia, but it wasn't close, with the USA winning 79–24, to secure a 4–0 record for the competition and the gold medal. Schumacher tied Camille Cooper for the team rebounding lead with 7.3 rebounds per game.[8]
Professional career
After playing professional volleyball, Schumacher is returning to basketball, signing with the Spanish professional team Rivas Ecópolis[9]