Melva Claire Saunders (, 9 May 1931 – 29 May 2021) was an Australian women's

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.

Biography

Hancock played for the

Australia women's national basketball team 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

1957 FIBA World Championship for Women The 1957 FIBA World Championship for Women (Portuguese:Campeonato Mundial Feminino da Fiba de 1957) was the second FIBA World Championship for Women basketball championship held by FIBA. It was held in Brazil between 13 October and 26 October 195 ...

, hosted by Brazil. Hancock commenced playing basketball as a junior in 1949 and represented

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(NSW) at the Australian Championships in 1955, 1956, 1960 and 1962.Basketball NSW
''Melva Hancock (nee Saunders)''
Retrieved 2017-11-15. She was a key member of the Newcastle team that won eight straight NSW Country and NSW State championships.Keeble, Brett (July 4, 2013)
''Basketball stalwarts honoured''
Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 2017-11-15. For her participation as a player, manager and administrator of the game from 1949 to 1978, Hancock was inducted into the Basketball NSW Hall of Fame in 2013. Her married name is Melva Hancock.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Melva 1931 births 2021 deaths Australian women's basketball players Basketball players from Newcastle, New South Wales Sportswomen from New South Wales 20th-century Australian sportswomen