Alexandra Jane Sharp (born 4 February 1997) is an Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player.

Early life and career

Sharp was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and attended

Our Lady of Mercy College Our Lady of Mercy College (OLMC), is a Roman Catholic, secondary day school for girls, situated in Heidelberg, a north-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The college is conducted by the Sisters of Mercy, a congregation of religio ...

. Sharp attended the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of th ...

(AIS) and played in the

SEABL The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was an Australian semi-professional basketball league. The league comprised both a men's and women's competition and was run by the country's governing body, Basketball Australia. The league wa ...

for the program's BA Centre of Excellence team in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, she played in the

Big V Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show presente ...

for the Diamond Valley Eagles.

College career

Sharp played college basketball at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private university, private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Wake Forest, north of Rale ...

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

, playing with the

Demon Deacons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ...

in the Atlantic Coast Conference of the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

Statistics

, - , 2016–17 , align="left" , Wake Forest , 32 , 25 , 33.4 , .337 , .345 , .712 , 7.6 , 2.3 , 0.6 , 0.6 , 3.0 , 7.4 , - , 2017–18 , align="left" , Wake Forest , 15 , 15 , 35.3 , .381 , .319 , .762 , 9.3 , 2.3 , 0.8 , 0.4 , 2.6 , 12.7 , - , 2018–19 , align="left", Wake Forest , 31 , 31 , 33.2 , .421 , .250 , .681 , 8.4 , 3.0 , 0.5 , 0.5 , 2.8 , 10.5 , - , 2019–20 , align="left", Wake Forest , 32 , 32 , 33.3 , .420 , .402 , .800 , 8.7 , 1.8 , 0.8 , 0.4 , 2.4 , 12.3 , - , Career , , 110 , 103 , 33.8 , .451 , .334 , .740 , 8.3 , 2.4 , 0.6 , 0.5 , 2.7 , 10.4

Professional career

Perth Lynx and Willetton Tigers (2020–2023)

In July 2020, Sharp signed her first professional contract with the

Perth Lynx The Perth Lynx are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Bendat Basketball Centre. For sponsorship reasons, t ...

of the WNBL. During the 2020 WNBL Hub season in Queensland, she led the team in rebounds with 7.9 per game and was the fourth highest scorer with 8.9 points per game. In 2021, Sharp joined the

Willetton Tigers Willetton Tigers is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Willetton Basketball Association (WBA), the major administrative basketball organi ...

for the NBL1 West season. She was named NBL1 West MVP and

All-NBL1 West First Team The All-NBL1 West First Team is an annual NBL1 West honour bestowed on the best players in the league each year. Under the State Basketball League (SBL) brand, a five-player team was named every year between 2005 and 2019. Alternating between the t ...

and helped lead the Tigers to the grand final, where they defeated the

Joondalup Wolves Joondalup Wolves is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Wanneroo Basketball Association (WBA), the major administrative basketball organisa ...

65–54 to win the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. Sharp was named grand final MVP for her 13 points, 15 rebounds and four assists. In 20 games, she averaged 18.95 points, 13.3 rebounds, 5.25 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Sharp recommitted to the Lynx for the

2021–22 WNBL season The 2021–22 WNBL season is the 42nd season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Southside Flyers were the defending champions, however they failed to qualify for finals. The Melbourne Boomers won their second championship, d ...

. She re-joined the Willetton Tigers for the

2022 NBL1 West season The 2022 NBL1 West season is the second season of the NBL1 West and 33rd overall in State Basketball League (SBL) / NBL1 West history. The regular season began on Friday 8 April and will end on Saturday 13 August. The finals will begin on Friday ...

. On 10 June 2022, Sharp re-signed with the Lynx for the

2022–23 WNBL season The 2022–23 WNBL season is the 43rd season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Melbourne Boomers are the defending champions. Cygnett was named as the WNBL's naming rights partner for this season, after signing a three-year ...

. She re-joined the Willetton Tigers for the

2023 NBL1 West season The 2023 NBL1 West season was the third season of the NBL1 West and 34th overall in State Basketball League (SBL) / NBL1 West history. The regular season began on Friday 31 March and ended on Saturday 22 July. The finals began on Friday 28 July a ...

. She was named NBL1 West MVP for the second time in three seasons.

UC Capitals (2023–present)

On 2 June 2023, Sharp signed with the

UC Capitals The University of Canberra Capitals are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The team is based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 the University of Canberr ...

for the

2023–24 WNBL season The 2023–24 WNBL season is the 44th season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Townsville Fire were the defending champions, but were defeated in the Semi-Finals by Perth. The Southside Flyers won their fifth championship ti ...

Rockingham Flames (2024–)

Sharp is set to join the

Rockingham Flames Rockingham Flames is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of the Rockingham Basketball and Recreation Association (RBRA), the major administrat ...

for the

2024 NBL1 West season 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest com ...

National team career

Sharp made her international debut with the

Sapphires Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sa ...

at the 2013 FIBA Under-16 Oceania Championship in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

where Australia swept New Zealand to take home Gold. Sharp would go on to represent the Sapphires at the

FIBA Under-17 World Championship The FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup (formerly FIBA Under-17 World Championship) is the under-17 men's world basketball championship organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). The event was held for the first time in July 201 ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

the following year. Sharp then made her debut with the

Gems Gems, or gemstones, are polished, cut stones or minerals. Gems or GEMS may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Gems'' (Aerosmith album), 1988 * ''Gems'' (Patti LaBelle album), 1994 * ''Gems'' (Michael Bolton album), 2011 *Gems TV, a ...

at the

2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Greek: Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα FIBA Under-19 2015) was the 12th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by th ...

in Russia, where the Gems took home the bronze. Sharp was named to represent the

Australian Opals The Australian women's national basketball team is nicknamed the Opals, after the brightly coloured gemstone common to the country. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive and successful having won nine medals at offic ...

at the

2021 FIBA Asia Cup The 2022 FIBA Asia Cup (formerly known as the FIBA Asia Championship) will be the 30th continental basketball championship in Asia. The tournament is organised by FIBA Asia. Originally intended to be the 2021 edition, the tournament was initi ...

References

External links

NBL1 profile2021 FIBA Asia Cup profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Alexandra 1997 births Living people Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian women's basketball players Guards (basketball) Perth Lynx players Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's basketball players Universiade medalists in basketball FISU World University Games gold medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2019 Summer Universiade Basketball players from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (state)