Samantha Issabelle Roscoe (born 23 October 1995)[1] is an Australian-British former professional basketball player. She played college basketball in the United States for the North Dakota Fighting Hawks between 2013 and 2017 before splitting her time between Australia and Europe following college. She won an SBL championship with the Lakeside Lightning in 2018 and a championship in Bosnia in 2022.
Early life and career
Roscoe was born in Perth, Western Australia.[2] While in high school at Newman College,[3] Roscoe was on the cusp of pursuing a modelling career. As a 16-year-old, she was scouted by international modelling agencies. She ultimately chose to pursue a basketball career.[4]
Roscoe moved to the United States in 2013 to play college basketball for the North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
She played sparingly for the Fighting Hawks as a freshman and sophomore, averaging 3.8 minutes across 35 games between 2013 and 2015.[3][9][10]
As a junior in 2015–16, Roscoe played in all 33 games with 24 starts, averaging 9.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 blocks in 23.7 minutes per game. She twice scored 22 points during the season, a career high.[3][11] In March 2016, she hit a buzzer beater that made the ESPN Sports Center top 10 plays of the day.[12]
As a senior in 2016–17, Roscoe was co-captain of North Dakota's 2017 Big Sky Championship team.[3][13] She averaged 10.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 22.4 minutes in 30 games with four starts. She scored a season-high 20 points in January 2017.[14][15]
Professional career
After graduating from North Dakota, Roscoe began playing in both the Australian and European winters.[16]
In the 2018 SBL season, Roscoe helped the Lightning win the SBL championship.[20] She then returned to the Mystics for the 2018–19 WBBL season[19] and averaged 16.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.[16]
In the 2019 SBL season, Roscoe helped the Warwick Senators reach the grand final.[6][21] With the Mystics in the 2019–20 season,[22] she averaged 18.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.[13]
Roscoe continued in the DBBL for the 2021–22 season with TK Hannover,[24] averaging 15 points and six rebounds per game.[27] The team finished sixth and lost in the quarter-finals.[4] Following the DBBL season, she helped ZKK Play Off win the Bosnia and Herzegovina League championship.[27][28] She then returned to Perth and had a four-game stint with the Warwick Senators during the 2022 NBL1 West season.[29]
Roscoe returned to TK Hannover for the 2022–23 season[27] and was appointed team captain.[4] She re-joined the Kalamunda Eastern Suns for the 2023 NBL1 West season.[30][31]
In July 2024, Roscoe retired from professional basketball.[34]
National team career
In May 2019, Roscoe was named in an extended squad for the Great Britain national team.[35] In November 2020, she made Great Britain's final squad for the EuroBasket qualifiers[13] but did not receive any game time in their lone match.[1]
Personal life
Roscoe is the daughter of Carole and Gary Roscoe.[3]
After retiring from playing, Roscoe moved to Bristol to settle down with her partner, fellow basketball player Raphell Thomas-Edwards.[34] She began working for Bristol Sport.[34]