Lorela Cubaj

Lorela Cubaj (born January 8, 1999) is an Italian professional basketball player, who play currently in Umana Reyer Venezia at the Lega Basket Femminile. She played college basketball at Georgia Tech. She was drafted by the Seattle Storm in the 2022 WNBA draft and played for the New York Liberty in the WNBA. She was waived by the team during her rookie season on July 1, 2022 after playing 11 games.

Lorela Cubaj
No. 18 – Umana Reyer Venezia
PositionForward
LeagueLega Basket Femminile
Personal information
Born (1999-01-08) January 8, 1999
Perugia, Italy
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Career information
High schoolIstituto Paritario Giuseppe Parini
(Mestre, Italy)
College
WNBA draft2022: 2nd round, 18th overall pick
Selected by the Seattle Storm
Career history
2015–17Umana Reyer Venezia
2022New York Liberty
2022–presentUmana Reyer Venezia
2023Atlanta Dream
Career highlights and awards
  • 2x ACC Defensive Player of the Year (2021, 2022)
  • 2x All-ACC First-team (2021, 2022)
Medals
Women's Basketball
Representing  Italy
U17 World Championship
Silver medal – second place2016 SpainTeam Competition
U16 European Championship
Bronze medal – third place2015 PortugalTeam Competition

Playing career

Early years

Cubaj started playing basketball when she was 8. She won the Italian U18 championship with Umana Reyer Venezia in the 2016–17 season.[1]

College career

Cubaj signed with Georgia Tech the summer of 2017.[1] She made the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen with the Yellow Jackets in 2021, where they were defeated by South Carolina. That match Cubaj scored 15 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.[2]

Professional career

On April 11, 2022, Cubaj was drafted 18th overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2022 WNBA draft and they traded her draft rights to New York immediately.[3] Cubaj played in 11 games for the Liberty during her rookie season before being waived on July 1, 2022.[4] On 15 June 2022 Cubaj was signed to Umana Reyer Venezia for the 2022–23 LBF season.[5]

WNBA career statistics
Legend
  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
2022 New York 1108.0.333.000.0002.10.40.00.20.50.7
2023 Atlanta 306.3.000.000.0002.30.00.00.30.30.0
Career 2 years, 2 teams 1407.6.308.000.0002.10.30.00.20.40.6

National Team

Youth level

Cubaj won the bronze medal with the Italian team at the U16 European Championship in 2015, averaging 11 points and 6.6 rebounds and being voted to the tournament All-Star Five.[6][7] One year later she won the silver medal with the Italian U17 team, at the 2016 U17 World Championship in Spain. They lost the final against Australia. At the tournament Cubaj averaged 6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds.[8] A few weeks later, she was part of the Italian U18 national team at the U18 European Championship in Hungary and finished seventh place. At the tournament Cubaj averaged 10.4 points and 7.3 rebounds.[9]

References
  1. "L'orogranata Lorela Cubaj giocherà in NCAA con Georgia Tech". www.legabasketfemminile.it (in Italian). June 1, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  2. "Jackets Fall to South Carolina in NCAA Sweet 16". ramblinwreck.com. March 28, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  3. "Cubaj Selected in WNBA Draft by New York Liberty". ramblinwreck.com. April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  4. New York Liberty [@nyliberty] (July 1, 2022). "Thank you, @LorelaCubaj for your hard work and dedication on and off the court.🗽" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. "UFFICIALE: LORELA CUBAJ TORNA ALL'UMANA REYER". www.reyer.it (in Italian). June 15, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  6. "Lorela Cubaj stats at the 2015 U16 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  7. "Ramos crowned MVP, headlines All-Star Five". FIBA Europe. 23 August 2015. Archived from the original on 26 August 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  8. "Lorela Cubaj stats at the 2016 U17 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN". fiba.basketball. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  9. "Lorela Cubaj stats at the 2016 U18 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN". fiba.basketball. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
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