Sara Blicavs (Latvian: Sāra Blicava; born 15 February 1993) is an Australian professional basketball player. She currently plays for the Melbourne Boomers in the WNBL.
 Sara Blicavs member of the Australian Institute of Sport WNBL team taken at the AIS Arena on 8 February 2012 game against the Canberra Capitals. | |
| No. 15 – Southside Flyers | |
|---|---|
| Position | Forward |
| League | WNBL |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 15 February 1993 Sunbury, Victoria |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Career information | |
| Playing career | 2009–present |
| Career history | |
| 2009–2012 | Australian Institute of Sport |
| 2012–2013 | Dandenong Rangers |
| 2013–2015 | Bendigo Spirit |
| 2015–2018 | Dandenong Rangers |
| 2019–present | Southside Flyers |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
Medals | |
Blicavs was a member of the Australian Women's basketball team (Opals) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Opals were eliminated after losing to the USA in the quarterfinals.[1]
Career
editBlicavs plays in the guard or forward positions.[2]
WNBL
editBlicavs began her career, playing for the Australian Institute of Sport. After a brief stint with the Dandenong Rangers, Blicavs moved to the Bendigo Spirit. There, she won her first WNBL championship. For the 2015–16 WNBL season, Blicavs returned to the Dandenong Rangers. Blicavs has been re-signed for a third season with the Rangers.[3]
National team
editYouth level
editBlicavs made her international debut with the Under-17 program at the FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship in 2009. She would then go on to represent Australia at the FIBA Under-17 World Championship in France, where Australia placed seventh. She would then go on to represent the Gems at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Chile, where Australia narrowly missed out on bronze, placing fourth.
Senior level
editBlicavs made her debut with the Opals at the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship, where Australia took home Gold and qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics. She also participated in the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro, in January 2016.
Blicavs, like all the other members of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Opals women's basketball team, had a difficult tournament. The Opals lost their first two group stage matches. They looked flat against Belgium and then lost to China in heartbreaking circumstances. In their last group match the Opals needed to beat Puerto Rico by 25 or more in their final match to progress. This they did by 27 in a very exciting match. However, they lost to the United States in their quarterfinal 79 to 55.[4]
Personal life
editBlicavs is from Victoria, Australia.[5][6] She is of Latvian descent through her father and Jersey (Channel Islands) descent through her mother.[7][8] Her parents, Andris Blicavs and Karen Blicavs, both played for Australian national basketball teams,[9] and her brother Mark plays for the Geelong Football Club. Her parents' careers in basketball both ended because of knee injuries.[2][5] She is 188 centimetres (6 ft 2 in) tall.[5]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Basketball BLICAVS Sara Kirsti - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". olympics.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ a b Tuxworth, Jon (18 November 2011). "Caps, AIS to catch Graf's eye — Local News — Sport — Basketball". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ "Sara Blicavs Re-Signs For Rangers". wnbl.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 May 2016.
- ^ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ a b c Basketball By Jon Tuxworth (27 November 2011). "Blicavs just the shot to give AIS a much-needed boost — Local News — Sport — Basketball". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ Ward, Roy (30 January 2012). "WNBL: Rangers hand out a drubbing — Local News — Sport — Basketball". The Greater Dandenong Weekly. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ Raelee Tuckerman (8 November 2013). "Bendigo bucket list". Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ Geelong Cats community camp sees players go to Diversitat
- ^ Basketball By Jon Tuxworth (27 November 2011). "Blicavs just the shot to give AIS a much-needed boost — Local News — Sport — Basketball". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 9 February 2012.