Matilde Villa
{{Short description|Italian basketball player (born 2004)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Matilde Villa
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|2004|12|09}}
| birth_place = Lissone, Carate Brianza, Lombardy, Italy
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 7
| height_cm = 170
| draft_year = 2024
| draft_round = 3
| draft_pick = 32
| draft_team =
| draft_league = WNBA
| career_start = 2022
| team = Umana Reyer Venezia
| position = Shooting guard
| league = Lega Basket Femminile
| number = 6
| years1 = 2022–present
| team1 = Umana Reyer Venezia
| wnba_profile = matilde-villa
| medal_templates = {{MedalSport|Women's basketball}}
{{MedalCountry|{{bkwu|20|ITA}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|FIBA U20 Women's EuroBasket}}
{{MedalBronze|2024 Lithuania|Team}}
}}
Matilde Villa (born 9 December 2004) is an Italian basketball player for Umana Reyer Venezia of the Lega Basket Femminile. She was drafted by the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) with the 32nd pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.{{Cite web |last=Sport |first=Sky |date=2024-04-16 |title=Matilde Villa scelta al Draft della WNBA |url=https://sport.sky.it/nba/2024/04/16/matilde-villa-draft-wnba-chi-e |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=Sky Sport |language=it}}
Professional career
At age 14, she debuted in Serie A1 with the Costa Masnaga sports club first team in the position of point guard. In 2020, she scored 36 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in a match against Dinamo Sassari.{{Cite web |last=Sanaldi |first=Stefano |date=2024-04-16 |title=Matilde Villa: who is the new blue star in the WNBA? |url=https://www.backdoorpodcast.com/en/matilde-villa-chi-e-la-nuova-stella-azzurra-in-wnba/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=Backdoorpodcast.com {{!}} Podcast e news su Nba, Eurolega e Basket Serie A |language=en}} Her Serie A record is 20 wins and 3 losses.{{Cite web |date=2024-04-22 |title=Chi è Matilde Villa, la giocatrice di basket italiana che giocherà nella Nba femminile |url=https://www.elle.com/it/magazine/storie-di-donne/a60533488/matilde-villa-giocatrice-basket-wnba-atlanta-dream/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=ELLE |language=it-IT}}
Villa has played for Umana Reyer Venezia in Venice, Italy since 2022. In the 2023–2024 season, she led the Italian Serie A with a per-game average of 10 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3 assists. She had a 52% shot rate from two points, 36% from three, and 78% from the free throw line.
She was selected in the third round, 32nd overall, by the Atlanta Dream in the 2024 WNBA draft. She was the fourth Italian player to be selected in the WNBA, and joined fellow Italian Lorela Cubaj on the team. Villa remained overseas for the 2024 WNBA season.{{Cite web |last=Cruse |first=Hunter |date=2024-04-16 |title=Atlanta Dream add international talent in the 2024 WNBA Draft |url=https://www.thenexthoops.com/features/international-talent-2024-wnba-draft-nyadiew-puoch/ |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=The Next |language=en-US}}
International career
At the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship in 2023, Villa was named a stand-out player by FIBA. She accumulated an average of 18.9 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, 4.9 assists per game, and 2.6 steals per game.{{Cite web |title=Eight standout players of #FIBAU20Europe |url=https://www.fiba.basketball/europe/u20women/2023/news/eight-standout-players-of-fibau20europe |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=FIBA.basketball |language=en}}
Personal life
Matilde was born in Lissone, Carate Brianza, Lombardy, Italy. Her older brother Edoardo{{Cite web |date=2024-04-17 |title=Chi è Matilde Villa, l'italiana scelta dalla Nba femminile |url=https://www.vanityfair.it/article/chi-e-matilde-villa-italiana-scelta-dalla-nba-femminile |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=Vanity Fair Italia |language=it-IT}} and her twin sister Elonora are both basketball players, with Eleonora currently playing in the NCAA with the Washington State Cougars. Her and her sister Eleonora wanted to be professional dancers growing up, but were discouraged by her dance teacher and advised to change to basketball.{{Cite web |last=Vanetti |first=Flavio |date=2024-04-16 |title=Brianzola, 19 anni, predestinata: chi è Matilde Villa scelta per giocare in Wnba |url=https://www.corriere.it/sport/24_aprile_16/matilde-villa-basket-draft-wnba-atlanta-dream-1d8e0f5e-fbdc-11ee-bd7d-ba8cac63572b.shtml |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=Corriere della Sera |language=it-IT}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Sister project links|wikt=no|c=no|n=no|q=no|s=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|iw=no|d=Q103831237|m=no|mw=no|f=no}}
{{Atlanta Dream current roster}}
- [https://www.fiba.basketball/europe/u20women/2023/player/Matilde-Villa Matilde Villa – FIBA]
- [https://www.espn.com/wnba/player/_/id/5209602/matilde-villa Matilde Villa – ESPN]
- {{instagram|matilde.villa57}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villa, Matilde}}
Category:Reyer Venezia players
Category:Italian basketball players
Category:Atlanta Dream draft picks
Category:Sportspeople from Lombardy
Category:Italian expatriate baseball people in the United States