Shona Thorburn (born August 7, 1982) is a Canadian professional basketball player, formerly a point guard for the Seattle Storm of the WNBA.

Shona Thorburn
Personal information
Born (1982-08-07) August 7, 1982 (age 42)
Oxford, England
NationalityCanadian
Listed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight149 lb (68 kg)
Career information
High schoolWestdale Secondary School
(Hamilton, Ontario)
CollegeUtah (2002–2006)
WNBA draft2006: 1st round, 7th overall pick
Selected by the Minnesota Lynx
Playing career2006–present
PositionPoint guard
Career history
2006Minnesota Lynx
2007Seattle Storm
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing  Canada
FIBA Americas Women's Championship
Silver medal – second place 2013 Mexico
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Toronto Team

Thorburn is a graduate of Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario.[1] She later attended college at the University of Utah and graduated in 2006. Following her collegiate career, she was selected 7th overall in the 2006 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx.

Most of Thorburn's rookie season was spent on the bench. She never got into the Lynx rotation and averaged just 0.8 points, 0.9 assists and 6.6 minutes in 21 games. On May 14, 2007, she was released by the Lynx.

Thorburn inked a 7-day contract with the Seattle Storm in July 2007, but was released when the term expired.

FIBA

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She was invited to join the national team, to play in the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship for Women, held in Xalapa, Mexico from 21 to 28 September 2013. She averaged 3.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, and helped the Canadian National team to a second place, silver medal finish. Canada faced Cuba in a preliminary round and won 53–40, but in the championship game, Cuba prevailed 79–71.[2][3]

Pam Am games 2015

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Thorburn was a member of the Canada women's national basketball team which participated in basketball at the 2015 Pan American Games held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 10 to 26, 2015. Canada opened the preliminary rounds with an easy 101–38 win over Venezuela. The following day they beat Argentina 73–58. The final preliminary game was against Cuba; both teams were 2–0, so the winner would win the group. The game went down to the wire with Canada eking out a 71–68 win.[4] Canada would face Brazil in the semifinal.

Everything seemed to go right in the semifinal game. Canada opened the game with an 11–2 run on seven consecutive points by Miranda Ayim. Langlois contributed five assists. In the third quarter Canada strongly out rebounded Brazil and hit 69% of their field goals to score 33 points in the quarter. Lizanne Murphy and Nirra Fields hit three-pointers to help extend the lead to 68–39 at the end of three quarters. Canada continued to dominate in the fourth quarter with three-pointers by Kia Nurse and Kim Gaucher. Canada went on to win the game 91–63 to earn a spot in the gold-medal game against the USA.[5]

The gold-medal game matched up the host team Canada against USA, in a sold-out arena dominated by fans in red and white and waving the Canadian flag. The Canadian team, arm in arm, sang Oh Canada as the respective national anthems were played.

After trading baskets early the US edged out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter. However the Canadians, spurred on by the home crowd cheering, fought back and tied up the game at halftime. In the third quarter, it was Canada's time to shine as they outscore the US 26–15. The lead would reach as high as 18 points. The USA would fight back, but not all the way and Canada won the game and the gold-medal 81–73. It was Canada's first gold-medal in basketball in the Pan Am games. Nurse was the star for Canada with 33 points, hitting 11 of her 12 free-throw attempts in 10 of her 17 field-goal attempts including two of three three-pointers.[6][7][8][9]

Honours

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In 2012 Thorburn was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[10]

WNBA career statistics

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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

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2006 Minnesota 22 0 6.5 .185 .125 .625 0.8 0.9 0.2 0.1 0.6 0.7
2007 Seattle 2 0 4.0 .500 .000 .000 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0
Career 2 years, 2 teams 24 0 6.3 .207 .125 .625 0.8 0.8 0.2 0.1 0.7 0.8

University of Utah statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
YEAR[11] SCHOOL GP GS  MPG   FG%   3P%   FT%   RPG  APG SPG BPG PPG
2001-02 Utah Redshirt - did not play
2002-03 Utah 31 31 36.5 0.375 0.328 0.814 5.8 3.3 1.5 0.3 14.6
2003-04 Utah 31 31 37.4 0.378 0.331 0.638 5.4 4.0 1.0 0.4 12.0
2004-5 Utah 34 34 38.5 0.406 0.353 0.654 6.2 6.5 2.0 0.3 14.9
2005-06 Utah 34 34 37.0 0.361 0.274 0.739 6.4 7.1 1.6 0.1 11.9
Total Utah 130 130 37.4 0.381 0.324 0.708 6.0 5.3 1.6 0.3 13.3

References

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  1. ^ "Celebrity High: Westdale Secondary Alumni (Shona Thorburn)" (Press release). The Hamilton Spectator. May 19, 2006. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ "6 -Shona Thorburn". FIBA. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  3. ^ "Full Schedule". FIBA. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  4. ^ "2015 Women's Pan American Games Schedule". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  5. ^ "WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM TOPS BRAZIL 91-63 TO MOVE ON TO TORONTO 2015 FINAL". CANADA BASKETBALL. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  6. ^ "U.S. Women Collect Silver At Pan American Games After Falling To Host Canada 81-73". USA Basketball. July 20, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2015.[dead link]
  7. ^ "U.S. Women Collect Silver At Pan American Games After Falling To Host Canada 81-73". USA Basketball. July 20, 2015. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  8. ^ Caple, Jim (July 21, 2015). "Battle of UConn Hoops Stars Goes To Canada in Pan Am Final". ESPN. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  9. ^ Smith, Doug (July 20, 2015). "Canada wins historic Pan Am women's basketball gold". Toronto Star. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  10. ^ "Olympic and Paralympic athletes to receive Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal". Official Canadian Olympic Team Website | Team Canada | 2016 Olympic Games. December 19, 2012. Archived from the original on May 19, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  11. ^ "Thorburn bio" (PDF). Canada Basketball. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
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