Samantha Richards

Samantha Richards (born 24 February 1983) is an Australian basketball guard from Melbourne, Victoria who played her junior basketball in Nunawading. She has played professionally in Australia for the WNBL's Dandenong Rangers, the Australian Institute of Sport, the Perth Lynx and the Bulleen Boomers. She has also played professionally in Europe. Richards has been a member of the Australia women's national basketball team on the U19, U21, University and Senior teams.

Samantha Richards
Richards (wearing #5) at the London 2012 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Born (1983-02-24) 24 February 1983
NationalityAustralian
Listed height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Listed weight64 kg (141 lb)
PositionGuard
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
2012 London Team

Personal

Richards was born on 24 February 1983 in Melbourne.[2][3] She is 168 centimetres (66 in) tall.[2][3]

Basketball

Richards is a guard,[2] specialising as a point guard.[4] She played her junior basketball for Nunawading.[3]

Europe

Richards has played basketball in Europe.[3][4] In 2007, she signed to play with AZS PWSZ Gorzow in Poland.[3] In 2009, she was playing for a Czech team.[4]

WNBL

Richards played for the Dandenong Rangers in 1998, and 1998/1999 WNBL seasons.[3] In 1999, she earned a scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and played with the WNBL AIS team in 1999/2000.[3][5] She rejoined Dandenong for the 2001/2002 season and continued to play for them during the 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 seasons,[3] and was a key player in their Grand Final victory in 2003/2004.[3][6] Her 2004 Dandenong team competed in the FIBA World League.[3] She played for the Dandenong Rangers in 2004/2005.[3] That season, her team won the league championship,[3] Richards being a key part.[6] She continued to play for the team in 2005/2006 and 2006/2007,[3][7] missing the first third of the 2006/2007 season because she was injured.[7] That season, she was the team's co-captain alongside Caitlin Ryan.[6] This season, she was 25 years old.[6] In the team's 66–61 loss to the Adelaide Lightning, she scored only five points, while attempting only a pair of three-point shots that she lost.[8] In 2008, she was named as one of the players on the Dandenong Rangers Team of the Decade.[9]

Richards joined the Perth Lynx in 2007/2008.[3][9] In a December 2007 game against her former team the Rangers, she scored 23 total points, 14 of them in the first half.[10] She played for the Perth Lynx in 2008/2009.[3][11] In a December 2008 game against the Christchurch Sirens, she scored 12 points in 66–61 win for the Sirens.[11] She missed a pair of three-point shots in the clutch that would have tied the game for her team.[12] Following the loss, her team remained in tenth and last position on the WNBL's ladder.[11]

Richards played for the Bulleen Boomers in 2011/2012.[2][3][13][14] That season, she was named to the WNBL's All-Star Five.[15]

National team

Richards has represented Australia on U19, U21 and University level, and made her international debut in 2001, in the U19 World Championships for Australia.[3] She has 20 caps for Australia's junior national team and 18 caps for the Australian Young national team.[3] She was part of the Australian side at the 2003 FIBA U21 Women's Championships in Croatia[3][16][17] and the 2007 Australian World University gold medal-winning team.[3]

Richards was a member of the Australian Opals in 2005[18][19] and 2007.[3] In 2007, she was a member of the Australia women's senior team that won a gold medal at the Oceania World Qualifications series.[3][20] and by March 2007, she was named to the national team what would prepare for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[21]

Richards was with the Opals in 2008[3] and participated in a week-long training camp with the national team in Canberra in late March, early April.[22] She played in a three-game test series Taiwan in May 2008.[23][24]

Richards continued to play for the Opals in 2009, playing in a Canberra-hosted return game against New Zealand in the Oceania Championship on 2 September, having gotten permission from her Czech club to participate.[4] Her team ended up winning a gold medal at the FIBA Oceania Women's Championships.[3] In mid-2010, she participated in a tour of China, USA and Hungary.[25] In 2010, she participated in the Salamanca Invitational Basketball Tournament in Spain. Her team beat Spain 85–64. They also beat the United States. As the team's guard, she helped prevent turnovers in the game against Spain.[26] In 2010, she was a member of the senior women's national team that competed at the World Championships in the Czech Republic.[3][27]

Richards was a member of the 2011 Opals squad.[3] In July 2011, she participated in the Olympic qualification competition, returning to the team following an injury.[28] She was named to the 2012 Australia women's national basketball team.[29] She was scheduled to participate in the national team training camp held from 14 to 18 May 2012 at the Australian Institute of Sport.[30] At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was part of the Australian team that won the bronze medal.[31]

References
  1. "Sam Richards". london2012.olympics.com.au. Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  2. "London 2012 – 2012 Australian Opals squad named". Australian Olympic Committee. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  3. "Basketball Australia : Samantha Richards". Basketball.net.au. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  4. "Opals side selected to take on Kiwis". Wwos.ninemsn.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  5. "Past Athletes : Australian Institute of Sport : Australian Sports Commission". Australian Institute of Sport. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  6. "Richards, Ryan lead by example | Star Dandenong | Star News Group Local News, Sport, Entertainment". Starnewsgroup.com.au. 13 October 2006. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  7. "O'Hea Puts Best Foot Forward". Herald Sun. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  8. "Lightning strikes out Rangers | Star Dandenong | Star News Group Local News, Sport, Entertainment". Starnewsgroup.com.au. 8 February 2007. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  9. "Rangers name shining stars". Star News Group. 20 March 2008. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  10. "Youth and experience net Rangers victory | Star Dandenong | Star News Group Local News, Sport, Entertainment". Starnewsgroup.com.au. 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  11. "Another home win for Chch Sirens — sport". Stuff.co.nz. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  12. "Sirens survive assault — sport". Stuff.co.nz. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  13. Travis King (17 February 2012). "Kristi eyes fourth Games — Local News — Sport — Basketball". Bendigo Advertiser. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  14. Tanya Paolucci (15 October 2011). "Spirit strives to silence Bulleen's big guns — Local News — Sport — Basketball". Bendigo Advertiser. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  15. Kerry, Craig (27 March 2012). "Suzy Batkovic wins WNBL gong — Local News — Sport — Basketball — Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  16. Australian Institute of Sport; Basketball Australia (2011). AIS Basketball 2011. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. p. 49.
  17. "Hammonds set to fight Fire with fire". The Age. 15 February 2003. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  18. "Anstey in from the cold to join Tigers — Basketball". The Age. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  19. "Jessica Foley Selected To 'Price Attack' Opals Team For 2005 :: Foley has set a school record with 66 three-pointers this season". Cstv.com. 9 March 2005. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  20. Australian Institute of Sport; Basketball Australia (2011). AIS Basketball 2011. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. p. 47.
  21. "Phillips keeps Opals place". The Advertiser. 12 March 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  22. "Opals twelve for Beijing test selected". SportsAustralia.com. 8 April 2008. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  23. "Three Olympic dreams likely over | Sports News". Fox Sports. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  24. "Big names bounced from Opals as Games dream fades — Beijing2008 – Sport". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  25. "Opals hit road for world title lead-up". Nine MSN. 30 June 2010. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  26. "Opals down Spain in final tune-up". Nine MSN. 19 September 2010. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  27. Australian Institute of Sport; Basketball Australia (2011). AIS Basketball 2011. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. p. 45.
  28. "Opals count down to Olympics". Nine MSN. 23 July 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  29. "Basketball Australia : 2012 Squad". Basketball Australia. 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  30. "AUS — Opals announce training camp squad". FIBA. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  31. "basketball women results - Basketball - London 2012 Olympics". olympic.org. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
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