Eleanna Christinaki

Greek-Cypriot basketball player

Eleanna Christinaki
No. 21 – Olympiacos
Position	Small forward
League	Greek League
Personal information
Born	(1996-12-16) 16 December 1996 (age 27) Paralimni, Cyprus
Nationality	Cypriot / Greek
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	162 lb (73 kg)
Career information
College	Florida (2015–2017) Maryland (2017–2018)
Playing career	2011–present
Career history
2011–2014	Panathinaikos
2014–2015	Athinaikos
2018–2019	Gernika- Eurocup
2019	BC Castors Braine
2020	Nadezhda Orenburg
2020–2021	Al-Qazeres
2021–2022	Araski
2022	Schio
2022	Valencia
2023	Panathinaikos
2023–present	Olympiacos

Eleanna Christinaki (Greek: Ελεάννα Χριστινάκη; born 16 December 1996) is a Greek-Cypriot professional basketball player. She has been selected for the women's senior national team ever since she was 17 years old and, since then she has acquired 38 caps for her country (currently 23 years old). She is the second-youngest member to ever be selected for the women's senior national team. It is also notable to mention that she has captained the U-20 national team as well. On club level she competes for Olympiacos.

Club career

Christinaki moved at Panathinaikos, in 2011. She stayed three years at the greens, and she won the Greek Women's Basketball League during the 2012–13 season. She was invited at age of 17 to the senior Greek national team. She is the second-youngest player ever to the national team. In 2013 2014 and 2015 she got the award for the best young player in Greece. She has been in the best five valuable young players in Greece three times. Christinaki, also played with Athinaikos which have won Eurocup, during the 2014–15 season.^[1] Christinaki playing with Athinaikos women's basketball, was MVP at Greek Basketball Championship for junior women.^[2] In her Athinaikos career she averaged 15 points per game and 5 rebounds per game. On 1 November she signed with Gernika KESB.^[3]

On 2 January 2023 she returned to Panathinaikos.^[4]

College career

In 2015 Christinaki began her college career as a member of the Florida Gators women's basketball team. During her first season, she scored 10,4 points per game in 31 games. She has also scored in double-figures 17 times and recorded 2 double-doubles. She has been voted to the best freshman team in SEC and preseason first team in SEC conference.^[5] In her sophomore season, Christinaki played 9 games for the Gators where she averaged 17,6 points per game. In December 2016 she announced she would be leaving the Gators.^[6] In January 2017 Christinaki announced she would become a member of the Maryland Terrapins women's basketball team which at that time they were ranked 3 in the nation.^[7]

In her lone season with the Maryland Terrapins, Christinaki averaged 11,8 points and 4,6 rebound in 22 games. In her first game, Christinaki scored 32 points off the bench in a 113–49 victory over Coppin State and she is the first Maryland player to score 23 points in a debut.^[8] She also scored 26 points against conference rival Ohio state in a 99–69 home victory.^[9] On 23 June 2018 Christinaki announced she would be forgoing her senior season to play professionally such as she was always going back and forth with responsibilities with the Greek national team.

Florida and Maryland statistics

Source^[10]

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2015-16	Florida	31	323	42.9%	30.0%	70.8%	3.2	3.4	1.3	0.1	10.4
2016-17	Florida	9	158	44.2%	28.6%	77.4%	4.7	3.0	0.8	-	17.6
2017-18	Maryland	22	260	36.6%	32.3%	73.9%	4.6	1.5	0.8	-	11.8
Career		62	741	40.7%	30.8%	72.9%	3.9	2.7	1.1	0.1	12.0

National team career

Christinaki is a member of Greece women's national basketball team, and she played at EuroBasket Women 2015, EuroBasket Women 2017 and World Cup 2018. She won 4th place with the Greek team, EuroBasket Women 2017. She won 9th place with the Greek team at the World Championship games in Tenerife. Christinaki played 2015 FIBA Europe UNder-20 DiVision B and she was in the best five valuable players of the tournament averaging 19.7 points per game. Christinaki also played at 2016 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women averaging 15.8 points per game, with the Greek basketball team. She also has caps with the Cyprus U16 basketball team, from 2010 to 2011.

2018 she was a part of the world championship games and with the Greek national team, they finished 9th in the world.^[11]

References

^ "Έντονο φλερτ με Αθηναϊκό η Ελεάνα Χριστινάκη". sportshero.gr. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^ "Πολυτιμότερη η Χριστινάκη". ebasket.gr. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^ "Στην Ισπανία η Χριστινάκη". www.gazzetta.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2021-05-22.
^ Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος (2 January 2023). ""Πράσινη" και πάλι η Χριστινάκη!" (in Greek). Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
^ "WOMEN'S BASKETBALL". floridagators.com. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^ "Florida Gators Basketball: Eleanna Christinaki Quits Team". Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^ "Maryland women's basketball adds transfer Eleanna Christinaki from Florida". washingtonpost.com. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^ "Maryland's Eleanna Christinaki to skip a senior season, play pro basketball in Europe". baltimoresun.com. 22 June 2018. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
^ "Maryland women's basketball crushes Ohio State, 99–69". testudotimes.com. 22 January 2018.
^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
^ "Maryland's Eleanna Christinaki to skip senior season, play pro basketball in Europe". baltimoresun.com. 22 June 2018. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.