Marianna Tolo

Marianna Tolo (born 2 July 1989) is an Australian basketball player for the University of Canberra Capitals in Australia's Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She has also played for the CJM Bourges Basket in the LFB and Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA. She has also been a member of the Australia women's national basketball team.

Marianna Tolo
Tolo during a game between the UC Capitals and Logan Thunder at AIS Arena
No. 12 – Canberra Capitals
PositionCenter
LeagueWNBL
Personal information
Born (1989-07-02) 2 July 1989
Mackay, Queensland
NationalityAustralian
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Career information
Playing career2006–present
Career history
2006–2008Australian Institute of Sport
2008–2012Canberra Capitals
2012–2013Pays d'Aix Basket 13
2013–2015CJM Bourges Basket
2015Los Angeles Sparks
2016–presentCanberra Capitals
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Women’s basketball
Representing  Australia
FIBA World Cup
Bronze medal – third place2014 Turkey
Bronze medal – third place2022 Australia
FIBA Asia Cup
Silver medal – second place2017 India

Tolo was a member of the Australian Women's basketball team (Opals) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Opals were eliminated after losing to the USA in the quarterfinals.[1]

Personal

Marianna Tolo was born in Mackay, Queensland, on 2 July 1989.[2] At 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) tall, she is one of the tallest players on the Canberra Capitals' roster.[2][3] In March 2011, she attended the Sport for Women Day at the University of Canberra and participated in an outdoor Zumba class alongside some of her University of Canberra Capitals teammates.[4] Tolo and Carly Wilson share a house, where they have hosted a party for the University of Canberra Capitals.[5]

Juniors

Tolo was a member of the Queensland North squad in 2003 and 2004 during the Australian U16 Championships.[6] She was a member of the Queensland North squad in 2005 and 2006 during the Australian U18 Championships.[6] She was a member of the Queensland squad in 2007 and 2008 during the Australian U20 Championships.[6]

Australian Institute of Sport

In 2006, Tolo earned a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for basketball. She competed in the 2006/2007, and 2007/2008 AIS squads that played in the WNBL.[6]

Canberra Capitals

2008/2009 and 2009/2010: early years
female basketball players
Tolo in a 2011/2012 game for Canberra Capitals

Tolo was a member of the 2008/2009 Canberra Capitals squad that won the WNBL championship.[6] During the regular season, she was not a regular starter.[7]

During the 2009/2010 season, Tolo set a WNBL record for the most shots blocked in a single game when she blocked 13 in a 5 November 2009 game against the Townsville Fire.[8] In an October 2009 game, she scored 21 points in a game against the Adelaide Lightning.[9] She played in the team's Grand Finals victory over the Bulleen Boomers, where she was primarily guarding Elizabeth Cambage.[10] She was the team's season MVP.[11][12]

2010/2011

Tolo played for the Canberra Capitals again during the 2010/2011 season.[13] She was one of the reasons the Capitals beat Townsville in Townsville for the first time in two years.[14] In an October 2010 game, she scored 12 points and had 13 rebounds in a game against the Sydney Uni Flames.[15] She played in the Preliminary Final game against the Bendigo Spirit in a game the Capitals won 83–78. She was one of the team's three leading scorers with 20 points.[13] According to Tolo, she "was running on fumes toward the back end of last season."[11] She was the team's season MVP this season,[11][12] with 8.4 rebounds and average 13.4 points a game.[16] At the end of the season, she was named a member of the WNBL All Star Five.[6] During the team's Mad Monday celebration at the end of the season, Tolo dressed as Xena: Warrior Princess.[17] At the immediate end of the season, she was one of several players from the 2010/2011 squad who did not have a contract with the team for the 2011/2012 season.[12]

2011/2012

Between WNBL seasons, Tolo played for the national team but did not play for a club team in a league like the SEABL.[18] She participated in the team's first training session for the season on 13 September 2011 at the Belconnen Basketball Centre.[18] In one of Canberra's opening games of the season, she led the team in scoring with 12 points in a loss against Dandengong.[19] In a 13 November 2011 game against the West Coast Waves, she scored 21 points, had seven rebounds, and seven assists.[20] On 18 December 2011, 85–78 victory over the Bulleen Boomers, she scored 22 points, and was one of Canberra's top three scorers.[21] In 2011/2012, Tolo's height was used as part of the strategy to scare and intimidate other teams.[22] It was used in the game against the Australian Institute of Sport team in early December.[23] In the game right before the WNBL broke for the holiday against the Bulleen Boomers, she injured her ankle.[24] The local press asserted that Tolo herself with the team, had become a more responsible team member and was taking more shots during games.[25]

The Townsville Fire tried to sign her at the end of the season when she became a free agent.[26]

Tolo moved to France to play for Aix En Provence in the Ligue Féminine de Basket[27] with former AIS teammate Cayla Francis in August 2012. Tolo later played for the CJM Bourges Basket before the 2013–2014 season.

female basketball player
Tolo during a 2011/2012 season game

SEABL

In 2010, Tolo played for the Nunawading Spectres in the SEABL season held between the end of the 2009/2010 WNBL season and start of the 2010/2011 season.[8] Tolo contemplated playing for a Canberra-based SEABL team during the Canberra Capitals off-season in 2012.[28]

WNBA

On 9 February 2015 Tolo signed with the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.[29]

National team
Marianna Tolo at day two of the Opals camp
Marianna Tolo at day two of the Opals camp

Tolo was a member of the junior national team, where she had 31 caps.[6] As a member of this team, she competed at the 2006 FIBA Oceania U19 Championships.[6] She as a member of the senior team in 2007, where she was part of the team that competed at the 2007 FIBA Oceania Women's Championships.[6] She was a member of the national squad during 2008.[6] In late March, early April 2008, she participated in a week-long training camp with the national team in Canberra.[30] She was part of the 2009 national side selected to compete against the New Zealand national team during the Oceania Championship,[31][32] where her team took home gold.[6]

Tolo was a member of the national team in 2010. She was supposed to compete in a Salamanca Invitational Basketball Tournament game against Spain, but had to miss the match because of a bad ankle.[33] In 2010, she also competed for Australia at the FIBA Women's World Championships.[6] In July 2011, she participated in the Olympic qualification competition.[34] Tolo was named to the Australia women's national basketball team that competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics qualifying tournament.[35][36][37][38] As of January 2012, she had 47 caps for the national team.[6] In late April and early May 2012, she was one of four of Australia's "big" players to participate in a special training camp for the team.[39] She was scheduled to participate in the national team training camp held from 14 to 18 May 2012 at the Australian Institute of Sport.[40]

Tolo was a member for the national team for the 2014 FIBA World Championships. The team beat host nation Turkey to finish with the bronze medal. In this tournament Tolo led her team in scoring with an average of 12.2 PPG (13th in the tournament), led her team in field goal percentage with an average of 56% FG (1st in the tournament), led her team in free throw percentage with an average of 85% FT (2nd in the tournament) and tied in her team for blocked shots at 1.0 per game (tied for 6th in the tournament).[41]

Tolo, like all the other members of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Opals women's basketball team, had a difficult tournament. The Opals lost their first two group stage matches. They looked flat against Belgium and then lost to China in heartbreaking circumstances. In their last group match the Opals needed to beat Puerto Rico by 25 or more in their final match to progress. This they did by 27 in a very exciting match. However, they lost to the United States in their quarterfinal 79 to 55.[42]

See also

References
  1. "Basketball TOLO Marianna - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". olympics.com. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  2. "Canberra Capitals: Player Profile". WNBL.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  3. "Tall order feeding WNBL stars | smh.com.au". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  4. Dutton, Chris (7 March 2011). "Zumba record attempt a useful exercise – Local News – News – General". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  5. Dutton, Chris (9 March 2010). "Hurst eyes Opals, LJ statue in works – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Canberra, Australia. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  6. "Basketball Australia : Marianna Tolo". Basketball.net.au. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  7. Dutton, Chris (11 March 2009). "Caps 'benchies' play vital role – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  8. "Marianna Tolo" (PDF). Canberra Capitals Media Guide 2010–2011. Canberra, Australia: Canberra Capitals: 63. October 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  9. "Canberra ends Lightning's bolt – ABC Canberra – Australian Broadcasting Corporation". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 October 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  10. "Canberra takes WNBL championship". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 6 March 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  11. Tuxworth, Jon (15 July 2011). "Ardossi's arrival will ease pressure on overworked Tolo: Graf – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  12. Jon Tuxworth (2 April 2011). "Caps hoping to stick with the status quo – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  13. "O'Hea, Batkovic set for decider". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  14. Tuxworth, Jon (24 October 2010). "Canberra creates firestorm to snap losing streak in Townsville – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  15. Jon Tuxworth (16 October 2010). "Nicole keeps Caps – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  16. Tuxworth, Jon (16 March 2011). "Tolo voted Caps' best, but can we keep her? – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  17. Polkinghorne, David (15 March 2011). "Caps go from GF zeroes to heroes – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  18. Dutton, Chris (14 September 2011). "Short will be sweet for seasoned Caps – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  19. "WNBL champs win season opener | smh.com.au". M.smh.com.au. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  20. Tuxworth, Jon (14 November 2011). "Caps score confidence boost – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  21. "WNBL | Bulleen Boomers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  22. Dutton, Chris (9 December 2011). "Fear the secret weapon in Caps' aresenal: Dombkins – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  23. Dutton, Chris (9 December 2011). "Fear the secret weapon in Caps' aresenal: Dombkins – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  24. Tuxworth, Jon (6 January 2012). "Ardossi fires for finals charge – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  25. Tuxworth, Jon (2 January 2012). "Caps ready to run finals gauntlet – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  26. Thompson, Michael (24 March 2012). "basketball - Fire to chase Tolo's timber". Townsville Bulletin. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  27. "Tolo heads for Europe". The Canberra Times. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  28. Tuxworth, Jon (7 December 2011). "SEABL side a bonus for Caps – Local News – Sport – Basketball". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  29. Sparks Sign Australian Center Marianna Tolo Archived 14 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  30. "News Article". SportsAustralia.com. 8 April 2008. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  31. "Opals side selected to take on Kiwis". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 25 August 2009. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  32. "Opals side selected to take on Kiwis". Nine MSN. 25 August 2009. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  33. "Opals down Spain in final tune-up". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 19 September 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  34. "Opals count down to Olympics". Nine MSN. 23 July 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  35. "Opals name squad for Olympic qualifiers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  36. "On the path to Games glory". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
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  39. "Opals, Graf think big". Canberratimes.com.au. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
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  41. "Player Statistics". FIBA. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  42. "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
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