Stephanie Talbot (born 15 June 1994) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for the Adelaide Lightning of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL).

Stephanie Talbot
Talbot in 2019
No. 7 – Adelaide Lightning
PositionForward
LeagueWNBL
Personal information
Born (1994-06-15) 15 June 1994 (age 30)
Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight192 lb (87 kg)
Career information
WNBA draft2014: 3rd round, 33rd overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career2011–present
Career history
2011–2014Adelaide Lightning
2014–2016Canberra Capitals
2016–2017Gorzów Wielkopolski
20172018Phoenix Mercury
2017–2018USO Mondeville
2018–2019Melbourne Boomers
20192020Minnesota Lynx
2019–presentAdelaide Lightning
20212022Seattle Storm
2023–presentLos Angeles Sparks
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris Team
FIBA World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2018 Spain
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Australia
FIBA Asia Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Bangalore
Oceania Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Australia / New Zealand
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Gold Coast

Talbot 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]

Career

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WNBL

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Talbot began her career at just the age of 17, playing with the Adelaide Lightning for the 2011–12 WNBL season. In just her second season, Talbot was recognised as one of the brightest prospects in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL), winning the 2013 Betty Watson Rookie of the Year award.[2] In accepting her award, Talbot was asked what she had learned from playing with Olympians Suzy Batkovic, Laura Hodges and Jennifer Screen, and she replied "Shitloads".[3]

In 2018, Talbot returned to the league after signing with the Melbourne Boomers.[4] This was her first season back after spending two seasons overseas in Europe.

In 2019, it was announced Talbot would re-join the Adelaide Lightning, returning to both her home state and her first WNBL team.[5]

In 2020, Talbot re-signed with the Adelaide Lightning for her second consecutive season.[6]

WNBA

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In 2014, Talbot nominated for the WNBA draft, where she was selected in the third round (33rd overall) by the Phoenix Mercury.[7] Talbot opted to play for the Canberra Capitals for the WNBL 2014-15 season.[8] In 2017, the Phoenix Mercury re-acquired Talbot.[9]

In 2019, Talbot was traded to the Minnesota Lynx after two seasons with the Mercury.[10] In the off-season, she was traded to the New York Liberty for draft pick Erica Ogwumike.[11]

After electing to sit-out the 2020 season, Talbot's rights remained with the Liberty. In February 2021, the Liberty traded their negotiating rights to the Seattle Storm.[12] Talbot would subsequently sign a training camp contract with the Storm.[13] She played for the Storm for two seasons.

On February 1, 2023, Talbot signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Sparks.[14] She missed the 2023 WNBA season due to an ACL injury sustained while playing in Australia.[15] On August 22, 2024, Talbot signed a one-year contract extension with the Sparks.[16]

National team

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Youth Level

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Talbot made her international debut for the Sapphires at the 2009 FIBA Under-16 Oceania Championship in Brisbane. Later in 2013, Talbot was a member of the bronze medal winning team at the World Championship held in Lithuania.[17] At that tournament, Talbot was named to the World Championship All-Star Five.

Senior Level

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Talbot is a current member of the Australian Women's basketball training squad. At official senior FIBA tournaments, Talbot has played for the Opals at the 2015 Oceania Women's Championship, 2016 Olympic Games and 2018 World Cup.[18]

Talbot, 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.[19]

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

WNBA

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Regular season

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WNBA regular season statistics[20]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2014 Did not appear in WNBA
2015
2016 Did not appear in WNBA (Olympics)
2017 Phoenix 34 24 17.9 .415 .381 .652 2.7 1.6 0.7 0.3 0.9 4.4
2018 Phoenix 31 8 14.6 .464 .386 .905 1.9 1.3 0.4 0.3 0.9 3.7
2019 Minnesota 33 10 17.0 .370 .326 .871 2.4 1.2 0.9 0.3 1.3 5.2
2020 Did not play (opted out)
2021 Seattle 30 9 17.9 .483 .415 .750 2.9 1.6 0.5 0.4 1.6 5.7
2022 Seattle 34 1 16.1 .464 .397 .583 3.1 1.3 0.7 0.3 1.1 5.0
2023 Did not play (injury)
2024 Los Angeles 37 10 16.2 .395 .260 .690 2.7 2.1 0.5 0.5 1.0 3.5
Career 6 years, 4 teams 199 62 16.6 .430 .360 .730 2.6 1.5 0.6 0.3 1.1 4.6

Playoffs

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WNBA playoff statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2017 Phoenix 4 0 5.7 .750 .500 1.000 0.5 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.5 2.0
2018 Phoenix 4 4 27.1 .474 .333 .600 5.3 2.8 1.0 0.0 2.2 6.3
2019 Minnesota 1 0 14.9 .500 .500 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 5.0
2021 Seattle 1 0 17.0 .500 .000 .000 4.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 6.0
2022 Seattle 6 2 21.3 .448 .500 .600 4.3 1.7 0.5 0.5 1.0 6.2
Career 5 years, 3 teams 16 6 18.2 .484 .412 .583 3.4 1.4 0.5 0.3 1.1 5.1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Basketball TALBOT Steph - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". olympics.com. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  2. ^ Basketball Australia. Player: Stephanie Talbot. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  3. ^ Nagy, Boti (25 March 2013). NBL/WNBL – All the Winners. Basketball On The Internet. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  4. ^ "OPALS, WNBA GUARD STEPH TALBOT JOINS THE BOOMERS".
  5. ^ "LIGHTNING SIGNS OLYMPIAN STEPH TALBOT IN HUGE WNBL COUP".
  6. ^ "20/21 WNBL SEASON PLAYER SIGNING!".
  7. ^ WNBA Enterprises, LLC. WNBA Draft Board 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  8. ^ Tuxworth, Jon (14 May 2014). Canberra Capitals sign Adelaide WNBL star Stephanie Talbot. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  9. ^ Phoenix Mercury Signs Olympian Stephanie Talbot
  10. ^ "Minnesota Lynx Acquire Forward Stephanie Talbot". Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  11. ^ Arsenis, Damian. "Steph Talbot traded to New York Liberty". pickandroll.com.au. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Storm acquires Katie Lou Samuelson, Mikiah "Kiki" Herbert Harrigan; Rights to Stephanie Talbot and two 2022 draft picks - Seattle Storm". storm.wnba.com. WNBA. 10 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Storm signs Stephanie Talbot, Tamera Young - Seattle Storm". storm.wnba.com. WNBA. 11 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Sparks Sign Stephanie Talbot". Los Angeles Sparks. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  15. ^ Gordon, Abby (29 March 2023). "Inside the Stephanie Talbot journey back". The Next. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Sparks Forward Stephanie Talbot Signs Contract Extension". Los Angeles Sparks. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  17. ^ FIBA Archive. 2013 Under 19 Championship for Women.Event Standings. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  18. ^ FIBA Archive. Players: Stephanie Talbot. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  19. ^ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Stephanie Talbot WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference.
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