Raina Perez (born July 30, 1998) is an American former 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 and current coach, who is an assistant coach for the UC Riverside Highlanders women's basketball team. She played college basketball at

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

, and

Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the ...

College career

Northern Arizona

During her freshman season, Perez was one of four players on the team to appear in every game. She averaged 10.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. At the end of the year, Perez was the top scoring freshman in the conference. Following her freshman season, Perez decided to transfer to Cal State Fullerton.

Cal State Fullerton

Perez spent three years at Cal State Fullerton. She redshirted during the 2017–2018 season due to NCAA Transfer rules. During the 2018–2019 season, Perez was named to the All-Big West Honorable Mention Team. She tied for the team lead in scoring at 13.0 points, while also adding in 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals. During her junior season, Perez was a dominant player for the Titans. She increased her averages to 19.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. Her play was recognized by the Big West, as she was named the Big West Player of the Year and to the Big West First Team. She was the first Titan player to win the Player of the Year Award since the 1990–91 season. After the season, Perez transferred to NC State.

NC State

During her first season as a member of the Wolfpack, Perez was named to the All-ACC Honorable Mention Team. She averaged 9.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.7 assists, while starting in 23 of the games. She was also a Top 10 Finalist for the

Nancy Lieberman Award The Nancy Lieberman Award, named for Basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman is given to the nation's top collegiate point guard in women's Division I basketball. Sue Bird won the inaugural award in 2000, making her the first of only thre ...

, which honors the nation's best point guard. She hit the game-winning shot in the ACC Tournament Final to help NC State win their second straight ACC Title. Perez came back for an extra year due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and helped guide the Wolfpack to the NCAA Elite Eight. She averaged 8.6 points, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 steals, while starting all 36 games. Perez also once again was clutch in late-game situations - this time in the NCAA Tournament. Perez got a steal and layup with 14 seconds left against Notre Dame in the Sweet Sixteen to put NC State up in the last seconds.

College statistics

Professional career

Seattle Storm

Perez went undrafted in the

2022 WNBA draft The 2022 WNBA Draft, the WNBA's draft for the 2022 WNBA season, was held on April 11, 2022, in New York City and aired live on WNBA on ESPN, ESPN in the United States and on The Sports Network, TSN1/4 in Canada at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, EDT ...

, but signed a training camp contract with the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

. She was waived on May 2, 2022, during camp. Perez was brought back on May 11, 2022, as a hardship contract with the Storm.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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References

External links

WNBA bioNC State bioCal State Fullerton bioNorthern Arizona bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Raina 1998 births Living people American women's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Arizona Guards (basketball) NC State Wolfpack women's basketball players Cal State Fullerton Titans women's basketball players Northern Arizona Lumberjacks women's basketball players Seattle Storm players Basketball players from Maricopa County, Arizona 21st-century American sportswomen UC Riverside Highlanders women's basketball coaches