Jennifer Crouse (born May 23, 1977) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

retired 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.

Career

College

In college, Crouse attended

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in North Dakota, third-most populous ...

, playing for the Fighting Sioux (It was controversially named Fighting Sioux at the time) in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

. Whilst completing her degree in 2001, Crouse would remain on board as the Assistant Coach of the UND Women's basketball team. Until she decided to pursue her professional career in Australia.

WNBA

After her college career, Crouse was signed by the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

for the

1999 WNBA season The 1999 WNBA season was the Women's National Basketball Association's third season. The 1999 season saw two expansion teams join the league, the Minnesota Lynx and Orlando Miracle. The schedule was increased from 30 to 32 games per team. The se ...

. However, she was waived one month later. The following year, Crouse was invited to the

Miami Sol The Miami Sol were a professional women's basketball team that was based in Miami and entered the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2000. They played their games at American Airlines Arena as the sister team to the Miami Heat of the ...

's training camp before the

2000 WNBA season The 2000 WNBA season was the Women's National Basketball Association's fourth season. The 2000 season saw four expansion teams join the league, the Indiana Fever, Miami Sol, Portland Fire, and Seattle Storm. The season ended with the Houston Comet ...

. Crouse was released before the season began.

Europe

After completing her years with the Fighting Sioux, Crouse then travelled to

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a pop ...

, signing with CB Santa Rosa de Lima for the 1999–2000 Liga Femenina de Baloncesto season. After a season in Australia, Crouse returned to Europe and signed with an Athens side in the A1 Ethiniki Basketball for the 2003–04 season. She would then travel west and sign with Saarlouis Royals for the 2004–05 season of Germany's

Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga The Damen-Basketball-Bundesligen GmbH (DBBL) is a company founded in June 2001, which manages the first and the two second federal leagues of women's basketball in Germany. The shareholders of the GmbH are AG 1. DBBL, AG 2. DBBL and DBB. DBBL is ...

Australia

In 2002, after strong showings with the

Lakeside Lightning Lakeside Lightning 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 owned and managed by Lakeside Baptist Church. The Lightning play their home games at Lakeside R ...

in Western Australia's

State Basketball League NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

, Crouse was signed by 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 ...

for the 2002–03 WNBL season. Averaging 4.2 blocks per game, Crouse currently holds the record for most blocks recorded in one season (88 blocks). In 2005, Crouse was signed by the

Townsville Fire The Townsville Fire are an Australian professional basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The Fire are based in Townsville, Queensland, and play their home games at Townsville Entertainment and Convention Ce ...

. She would remain a strong member of the Fire roster for four seasons. For the

2008–09 WNBL season The 2008–09 WNBL season was the 29th season of competition since its establishment in 1981. A total of 10 teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2008 and March 2009, followed by a post-season involving the top ...

, Crouse was named to the

WNBL All-Star Five The All-WNBL Team is an annual Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) honour bestowed on the best performing players in the league following every WNBL season. From 1988 to 2018–19, the honour was known as the All-Star Five. As of 2020, it is ...

. The Fire narrowly missed out on the Grand Final, losing to

Bulleen Bulleen ( ) is an eastern suburb in Melbourne, Australia, 13 km north-east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Bulleen recorded a population of 11,219 at the 2021 census. ...

in the Preliminary Final. At the conclusion of the season, Crouse shockingly announced her retirement from basketball and that she was returning to America. Crouse ranks highly in several WNBL records for her blocking and rebounding efforts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crouse, Jennifer 1977 births Living people Centers (basketball) American women's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Townsville Fire players Perth Lynx players Sportspeople from Freeport, Illinois University of North Dakota alumni 21st-century American women