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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player.

Early life and career

Sharp was born in

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and attended Our Lady of Mercy College. 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 the ...

(AIS) and played in the

SEABL The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The ...

for the

BA Centre of Excellence 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, Australian Capital Territory, Bruce, Can ...

in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, she played in the

Big V The Big V is a semi-professional basketball league in Victoria, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. History The Big V Conference was established in 2000 and joined the Australian Basketball Association (ABA). The ABA ...

for the Diamond Valley Eagles.

College career

Sharp played college basketball at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

, playing with the

Demon Deacons The Demon Deacon is the mascot of Wake Forest University, a school located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Probably best known for its slightly unorthodox name and appearance, the Demon Deacon has become a mainstay in the world ...

in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

of the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division 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 athlet ...

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 both WA Basketball Centre, Bendat Basketball Centre ...

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 all-star team was named every year between 2005 and 2019. On a few occasio ...

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 sys ...

. 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 returned to the Lynx for the

2021–22 WNBL season The 2021–22 WNBL season was 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 ...

, played a second season with the Tigers in the 2022 NBL1 West season, and then played a third season for the Lynx in

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

. With the Tigers in 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 ...

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

UC Capitals (2023–2024)

On 2 June 2023, Sharp signed with the UC Capitals 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 ...

. She was named WNBL Breakout Player of the Year.

Rockingham Flames, Estudiantes and Geelong United (2024–present)

Sharp joined 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. She helped the Flames reach the NBL1 West grand final, where she had 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in a 97–81 victory over the

Cockburn Cougars Cockburn Cougars 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 Cockburn Basketball Association (CBA), the major administrative basketball organisa ...

to win her second NBL1 West championship. She was subsequently named grand final MVP for the second time. On 2 July 2024, Sharp signed with

CB Estudiantes Club Baloncesto Estudiantes, S.A.D., (English: Club Basketball Students) known simply as Estu and as Movistar Estudiantes for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball team based in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is a member of the Liga ACB, Asociación ...

of the

Liga Femenina de Baloncesto The Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, also known as Liga Femenina Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of sports league, league competition for women's basketball in Spain. It is the women's equivalent of the men's Liga ACB and is run by ...

. She played her final game for Estudiantes on 14 December 2024 after being granted a release from her contract. In 12 league games, she averaged 5.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. On 18 December 2024, Sharp signed with Geelong United for the rest of the

2024–25 WNBL season The 2024–25 WNBL season was the 45th season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Southside Flyers were the defending champions, but they failed to qualify for Finals this season. The Bendigo Spirit won their third champions ...

. Sharp re-joined the Flames for the 2025 NBL1 West season.

National team career

Sharp made her international debut with the Sapphires at the 2013 FIBA Under-16 Oceania Championship in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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 inaugural tournament was in July 2010, and is ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

the following year. Sharp then made her debut with the Gems 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 t ...

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

Australian Opals The Australia women's national basketball team, nicknamed the Opals after the brightly coloured gemstone common to the country, represents Australia in international basketball. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive ...

at the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup. In April 2025, Sharp was named in the Opals squad for a trans-Tasman series against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in May.

References

External links

NBL1 profile2021 FIBA Asia Cup profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Alexandra 1997 births Living people Australian expatriate basketball people in Spain Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian women's basketball players Basketball players from Melbourne Geelong United WNBL players Guards (basketball) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2019 Summer Universiade Perth Lynx players Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Summer World University Games medalists in basketball Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's basketball players 21st-century Australian sportswomen