- scored 17 points in her WNBA debut on May 20, 2018, against the Chicago Sky.
- During her second season in the league, she was chosen to start the 2019 WNBA All-Star game.
- She was only the third Canadian to play in the All-Star Game thanks to her selection.
- chosen to take part in the WNBA All-Star 3-Point Competition
- tallied a career-high 34 points against the Indiana Fever on June 2, 2018, during her first season.
2020: In her third WNBA season, she played in 21 of the Liberty’s 22 games, beginning in 18… logged a team-high 27.5 minutes per game while averaging a team-best 12.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists… had career-high 21 point, 7 rebound, and 7 assist performances (DAL 9/13), all of which were season highs.
2019: Started each of the Liberty’s 34 games… Averaged 13.7 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 2.3 APG as the team’s second-leading scorer… first-ever selection as a starter for a WNBA All-star game… She was only the third Canadian to play in the All-Star Game thanks to her selection. Additionally chosen to compete in the 3-point competition in the WNBA All-Star game… In her second WNBA season, she surpassed 100 three-pointers made in a career… tallied 26 points against the Phoenix Mercury, 26 points against the Los Angeles Sparks, 26 points against the Minnesota Lynx, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, all season highs… averaged 35.3 percent from outside the arc and 87.2 percent from the free throw line.
2018: Selected in the 10th round of the WNBA Draft…
played in each of the season’s 34 games…
shot field goals at a rate of 40.2%…
87 percent of her free throws were made…
broke the Liberty rookie scoring record for a single game on the road against Indiana with a career-high 34 points (6/2).
At Phoenix (8/19), he recorded a season high by snatching 7 rebounds.
tallied 17 points against the Chicago Sky in her WNBA debut on May 20.
Attended the University of Connecticut and played guard…
commenced all 33 games of the 201617 season…
Average PPG of 12.7… 85% of her free throws were made, which was the highest percentage in the league. double-digit goals in 20 games… Conference Preseason Player of the Year for 201617 won back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016 with UConn. only participant to start each game of the campaign (2015-16)… 12.3 points per game on a 56.4 percent 3 point shooting clip. over 100 assists were earned… as a freshman, participated in all 39 games (2014-15)… She placed 10th among UConn freshmen with a score of 399… She had 55 steals, placing her ninth all-time among freshmen at UConn. Freshman of the Year in the American Athletic Conference for 2015 All-Freshman Team of the American Athletic Conference for 2015
Personal: Kia Nurse, a guard for the New York Liberty, was born on February 22, 1996. At Connecticut, she was a basketball player in college. The Richard and Kathy Nurse’s child Darnell, an older brother, and Tamika, an older sister completed secondary school at St. Thomas More Catholic School… led St. Thomas More to victory in the 2012 and 2013 AAAA OFSAA Championship… During her freshmen and sophomore years, she was chosen as St. Thomas More Athlete of the Year… two National Championship victories for the Ontario squad… won two Basketball Ontario Player of the Year awards… Achieved a second-place result for Team Canada at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship and a place in the 2014 World Championship by averaging 10.0 points per game.
In This Article...
What WNBA team does Kia Nurse represent?
The Phoenix Mercury have re-signed Canadian Kia Nurse, the team announced on Saturday.
The 25-year-old from Hamilton, Ontario, played her first season with Phoenix after being traded from the New York Liberty, where she had spent the previous three seasons, where she averaged 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
According to a press release from Mercury GM Jim Pitman, Kia Nurse had the ideal toughness, shooting, and high basketball IQ we were looking for in a trade for her in 2021. Because of how hard she has worked and rehabilitated this offseason, we are confident that Kia is the kind of person and player we want to keep as a part of the Mercury family and we can’t wait to welcome her back for 2022. Losing her to injury last October undoubtedly hindered our efforts in the Finals, and we know it hurt Kia to be unable to assist her team.
After tearing her ACL in Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces in October, Nurse underwent surgery on her right knee and is now healing. According to the team, the 2019 All-Star wing is anticipated to play again this coming season.
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Is Kia Nurse a WNBA player?
Kia Nurse, a Canadian basketball player with the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association, was born on February 22, 1996. (WNBA). She is a basketball analyst for The Sports Network as well.
Why is Kia Nurse so well-known?
In 2011, Kia Nurse made her Team Canada debut at the U-16 FIBA Americas Championship. She led her team to the bronze medal the next year while serving as team captain at the U-17 FIBA World Championship, averaging 13.6 points per game. She averaged 10 points per game in 2013 during her first season with the senior national team, helping Canada finish second and earn a spot in the 2014 FIBA World Championship. Nurse, the team’s youngest player, participated in all seven games as the Canadian women finished fifth, their best placing since 1986.
Nurse had the chance to represent Canada once more in 2015, winning gold at the FIBA Americas Championship and the Pan American Games in Toronto, which qualified the team for Rio 2016. Nurse led Canada in scoring at the Pan Am Games, averaging 13.6 points per contest for a total of 68 points, including a surreal 33 points against the United States in the gold medal match. She won the position of Canada’s Closing Ceremony flag bearer thanks to her performance. She also held the top spot at the FIBA Americas, scoring 78 points overall on a 13.0 point per game average.
Nurse led Canada in playing time (2:33:20) and scoring (66 points), averaging 11.0 points per game in her Olympic debut at Rio 2016. With an average of 21.1 minutes and 10.5 points per game, Nurse was a major factor in Canada winning the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup. She placed third overall and third in points per game (18.2) at the 2018 FIBA World Cup (109).
Nurse led Canada into a FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2019 by averaging 15.7 points per game while starting each of the three games of the FIBA Olympic Prequalifying Tournament. She contributed to Canada’s third consecutive women’s basketball Olympic berth in February 2020 by averaging 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists as Canada went 3-0 in Belgium. With 39 points and the highest playing time of any team memberan average of 36.1 minutes per gameNurse led Team Canada in scoring at Tokyo 2020.
Nurse made a commitment to play for the University of Connecticut Huskies, the two-time defending NCAA champions, after winning three consecutive Ontario high school championships. She rapidly assumed a starting back court position during her first year at UConn and contributed significantly to the team’s NCAA championship victories in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, she was named ACC Freshman of the Year. In her junior and senior years, she advanced to the final four, and in 2017 and 2018, she was named the ACC Player of the Year and the D1 Defensive Player of the Year.
The New York Liberty selected Nurse with the fifth overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft. Before signing up with the Phoenix Mercury in 2021, she played there for three seasons and was an All-Star in 2019. She competed in the Australian WNBL for two seasons, helping the Canberra Capitals to back-to-back league titles and earning 2020 league MVP honors.
Basketball was her first sport when she was 4 years old, and she played with her sister and parents as a child. Outside Interests: 2018 University of Connecticut graduate… enjoys watching Netflix and hanging around with friends and family… “Respect All, Fear None” is the favorite motto of Odds and Ends. Darnell Nurse, the brother, plays for the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL.
Are Darnell Nurse and Kia Nurse related?
The Nurse family, one of Canada’s most athletic and competitive families, continues its never-ending sports trip.
As a member of Canada’s basketball team, Kia Nurse, the sister of Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse, hopes to increase her bragging rights over her big brother by returning home with an Olympic gold from Rio de Janeiro.
She told Canada’s 570 News that “obviously we have the ambition to go in there and grab a medal. I think need to play extremely hard together and peak at the perfect time. So, in my opinion, the Olympics were where we played our best basketball in the last four years.
Kia is among the finest collegiate basketball players in the United States as well as the Great White North. She assisted in leading the legendary women’s basketball squad of the University of Connecticut to NCAA titles both in 2014 and 2015.
Are Darnell Nurse and Sarah Nurse related?
After Canada’s women’s ice hockey team defeated the USA to reclaim the Olympic crown, an Edmonton Oilers defenseman said that his cousin “deserved everything she’s gotten.”
Has Kia Nurse given up playing basketball?
In The Valley of the Sun, Kia Nurse will run it. On Saturday, the Phoenix Mercury revealed that Nurse had renewed his contract with the team.
How did Kia Nurse fare?
Kia Nurse, a star in women’s basketball for Canada, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, forcing her to miss the rest of the 2021 WNBA season.
In Game 4 of their best-of-five WNBA semifinal series against Las Vegas on Wednesday night, the Phoenix guard was hurt just 39 seconds in.
“can’t control everything. I’ll return eventually, but it will take some time “stated Nurse in a statement on Instagram.
When A’ja Wilson stopped Nurse’s layup attempt, she awkwardly planted. Before being assisted off the court, the 25-year-old from Hamilton gripped her right knee and shouted in agony.
Watch as a nurse from Canada is hurt during Game 4 against Las Vegas:
Canada’s Kia Nurse leaves WNBA playoff game with knee injury
On her layup try, Phoenix Mercury guard Kia Nurse injures her knee. The native of Hamilton quits the match and doesn’t come back.
The degree of Nurse’s injury was identified, according to the team, during an MRI in Phoenix.
The Mercury tweeted on Friday, hours before Phoenix defeated the Las Vegas Aces 87-84 to go to the WNBA Finals, “We’ll have your back Kia.”
Sarah and Kia both work as nurses.
Despite her accomplishment, Sarah’s parents never fully understood her position with Hockey Canada. Sarah attended her first centralization tryout camp with the Canadian national team last year, where the Olympic team was selected.
“Roger Nurse told me that there are some kids who just go throughthey’re the best players, they attend every camp, every occasion, every Four Nations (competition), and every worlds tournament.
For Sarah, it resembled a struggle. It was a fight regardless of how good you thought she was or how well she was doing.
“And, you know, she’s still standing, which is a fantastic monument to her resolve to endure it, he continued.
Being a part of a family with lots of competition contributes to some of that resiliency. Darnell Nurse of the Edmonton Oilers and Kia Nurse of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, both of whom represented Canada in basketball at the 2016 Rio Olympics, are Sarah’s cousins.
Issac Nurse, Sarah’s younger brother, is a right winger with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League.
For the Dundas Blues of the Provincial Junior Hockey League of Canada, left wing Elijah Nurse plays.
Isaac Nurse, Sarah Nurse’s brother, competes in the OHL for the Hamilton Bulldogs (Photo by Aaron Bell/OHL Images).
A well-known Canadian lacrosse player, her father was. The father of Kia and her uncle Richard NurseDarnell was a wide receiver for the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Donovan McNabb, a former quarterback in the National Football League, is related.
Sarah Nurse expressed pride in her family’s athletic heritage to CBC Sports, emphasizing that “I came here to forge my own course.
When giving hockey advise, Roger Nurse occasionally needs to be reminded of it by his kids.
“She would look at me and say, “Dad, you never played a game of NCAA hockey,” when I would mention a game she would play at Wisconsin, according to Roger Nurse. “Furthermore, Isaac used to remark to me, “Dad, you never played a game in the Ontario Hockey League.” taken as true.
Is Kia Nurse related to Nick Nurse, the coach?
More than ever, Canadian basketball talent is sweeping the globe. Let’s get to know the Canadian athletes who compete in the NBA, WNBA, and other leagues abroad! Let’s start with Kia Nurse of Hamilton, Ontario (who is not related to Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, in case you were wondering).
You may now recognize Kia as a player for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA, but we in Canada have supported Kia long before she rose to the status of fan favorite and All-Star. She began her career at a young age, winning two National Championships with Team Ontario in high school, two OFSAA Championships, and contributing to Team Canada’s second-place finish in the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship. Given that Kia’s brother Darnell Nurse plays hockey for the Edmonton Oilers, it would appear that her family has a strong sense of winning.
At the University of Connecticut, where basketball stars like Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, and Diana Taurasi got their start, Kia was courted to play for Coach Geno Auriemma. As a UConn Husky, Kia was the only player to start each game of the 201516 season and finished with more than 100 assists. He also won two NCAA Championships during that time.
Kia’s time at UConn was just the beginning; after being selected by the New York Liberty with the 10th overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft, she participated in all 34 of her team’s contests. She joins Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carleton, both Minnesota Lynx players, as one of just three Canadians playing in the WNBA right now. Kia was selected to the 2019 WNBA All-Star game as a starter for Team Delle-Donne and took part in the 3-point competition. She was just in her second season AND she was the third Canadian player to ever play in the All-Star game. In addition, Kia scored a season-high 26 points three separate times during the 2019 campaign while shooting 35.3 percent from outside the arc. Kia spent two seasons playing with the Canberra Capitals in Australia, where she won two straight titles in 2019 and 2020 and was voted the league’s MVP in 2020.
On the #4-ranked Canadian Women’s National Basketball Team, Nurse is a fan favorite. Kia played a significant role in Canada’s historic gold medal victory over the United States at the 2015 Pan American Games. She finished with 33 points on 10 of 17 shooting, 11 made free throws, two 3-pointers, and was picked to carry the Canadian flag at the closing ceremony. Kia competed for Canada again in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after making her Olympic debut in the 2016 Rio Games.
Nurse was part of a three-team transaction that sent Natasha Howard from Seattle to New York and Megan Walker and Nurse to Phoenix in the offseason before the 2021 WNBA season. Kia joined Diana Taurasi, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Brittney Griner, and Brianna Turner as a regular in Phoenix’s starting lineup. Phoenix had an interesting season, winning 10 games in a row following the Olympic break and making it all the way to the WNBA championships before falling to the Chicago Sky in a four-game series. Kia’s game-winning shot on June 1st against the Sky, which she heaved from half-court to win Phoenix the game, stands out as one of the season’s most memorable moments. A shot so flawless that Chicago undoubtedly heard the shouts from my flat when it went in.
Kia is a player whose team benefits greatly from her persistent defensive vigor, according to Phoenix Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello.
Kia Nurse won’t be playing basketball again for a while, which is unfortunate for Canadian basketball fans. Kia’s right ACL in a fall in Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces caused her to miss the rest of the season. Fans may rewatch any of her prior WNBA and National Team contests until she returns, or they can do what I did and watch the Euro-step buzzer-beater endlessly (seriously it is magical). We hope Kia a quick recovery and are forward to see her back on the court representing Canada.
Kia Nurse has consistently represented Canada Basketball in a way that causes us all to loudly yell, “YEAH, SHE’S CANADIAN!” at everyone who will pay attention. Her influence is felt both on and off the court, abroad and domestically.
In addition to her playing career, Kia also worked as a broadcaster on TSN over the last winter. On March 24, 2020, she participated in the historic Women-led Raptors broadcast as a color commentator. Kia also founded Kia Nurse Elite, an AAU program supported by Nike that allows young women’s basketball players to compete in the United States and catch the eye of college scouts.
Kia Nurse is the ideal first profile for Homegrown Ballers because she is a mentor on and off the court to women of all ages in sports and sports media and someone who immediately comes to mind when you think of “Canadian Basketball Excellence.” We eagerly anticipate Kia’s upcoming comeback to the court!