Nirra Fields

Canadian basketball player
Nirra Fields
Fields in 2016
No. 21 – İzmit Belediyespor
PositionPoint guard
LeagueWomen's Basketball Super League
Personal information
Born (1993-12-03) December 3, 1993 (age 30)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Listed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight126 lb (57 kg)
Career information
High schoolMater Dei (Santa Ana, California)
CollegeUCLA (2012–2016)
WNBA draft2016: 3rd round, 32nd overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016Phoenix Mercury
2016Edremit Belediyesi Gürespor
2017–2018UNI Győr
2018–2019Energa Toruń
2020–2021Antalya 07 Basketbol
2021–presentİzmit Belediyespor
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing  Canada
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Toronto Team
FIBA Women's AmeriCup
Gold medal – first place 2017 Buenos Aires
Bronze medal – third place 2023 León

Nirra Fields (born December 3, 1993) is a Canadian professional basketball player for İzmit Belediyespor of the Women's Basketball Super League. She played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. After a successful career with the Bruins, Fields was drafted with the thirty-second pick in the 2016 WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury.

Fields represents the Canadian national team internationally, where she participated at the 2014 FIBA World Championship.[1]

High school

Fields started high school at Lakeside Academy in Montreal in 2007, followed by Lower Canada College for a year.[2] The following year she spent at Regina High School in South Euclid, Ohio. She spent her junior year at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, where she averaged 26.5 points per game.[2] She transferred to Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California for her senior year.[3] Although she only played for Mater Dei for one year, she made enough of an impact that the school retired her jersey at the end of the year. During the year, she averaged just over 22 points a game to help the team to a 34–3 record and a CIF SS Division 1AA state championship. She was named a McDonald's All-American and eligible to play in the McDonald's All-American game, the first female Canadian to earn such an honour.[4]

National team career

Fields played for Canada in the 2010 FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women held in Toulouse and Rodez, France from July 16–25, 2010. She averaged 22.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.[5] She scored 30 points against France and 36 against Japan. The following year, she played for the Canadian team in the 2011 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women held in Puerto Montt, Chile. She helped the team to a fifth-place finish with an 8–1 record. She averaged 15.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.[6]

In 2014, she played for the senior women's national team at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women held in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, from September 27 to October 5, 2014. She helped the team to a fifth-place finish with an overall record of 4–3. She averaged 5.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.[7]

Fields was a member of the Canada women's national basketball team, which participated in basketball at the 2015 Pan American Games held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 10 to 26, 2015. Canada opened the preliminary rounds with an easy 101–38 win over Venezuela. The following day they beat Argentina 73–58. The final preliminary game was against Cuba; both teams were 2–0, so the winner would win the group. The game went down to the wire, with Canada eking out a 71–68 win.[8] Canada would face Brazil in the semifinal.

Everything seemed to go right in the semifinal game. Canada opened the game with an 11–2 run on seven consecutive points by Miranda Ayim. Miah-Marie Langlois contributed five assists. In the third quarter, Canada strongly outrebounded Brazil and hit 69% of their field goals to score 33 points in the quarter. Lizanne Murphy and Fields hit three-pointers to help extend the lead to 68–39 at the end of three quarters. Canada continued to dominate in the fourth quarter with three-pointers by Kia Nurse and Kim Gaucher. Canada went on to win the game 91–63 to earn a spot in the gold-medal game against the USA.[9]

The gold-medal game matched the host team Canada against the USA in a sold-out arena dominated by fans in red and white and waving the Canadian flag. The Canadian team, arm in arm, sang Oh Canada as the respective national anthems were played.

After trading baskets early, the US edged out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter. However, the Canadians, spurred on by the home crowd cheering, fought back and tied up the game at halftime. It was Canada's time to shine in the third quarter as they outscored the US 26–15. The lead would reach as high as 18 points. The USA would fight back, but not all the way, and Canada won the game and the gold-medal 81–73. It was Canada's first gold medal in basketball in the Pan Am games. Nurse was the star for Canada with 33 points, hitting 11 of her 12 free-throw attempts in 10 of her 17 field-goal attempts, including two of three three-pointers. Fields contributed seven rebounds to lead the team and nine points.[10][11][12][13]

Career statistics

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

College

Year[14] Team GP FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 UCLA 33 37.3 36.2 61.2 3.5 1.0 1.2 0.4 7.8
2013–14 UCLA 31 38.9 30.3 69.4 6.3 2.3 2.2 0.6 17.6
2014–15 UCLA 36 38.8 27.2 62.5 5.4 1.8 2.3 0.3 15.0
2015–16 UCLA 34 41.5 33.0 62.7 5.4 1.9 2.1 0.6 15.3
Career 134 39.3 30.7 64.6 5.1 1.7 2.0 0.5 13.9

References

  1. ^ "FIBA profile". fiba.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Fields of dreams". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  3. ^ "NIRRA FIELDS Bio" (PDF). CANADA BASKETBALL. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  4. ^ "#21 Nirra Fields". UCLA Bruins. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  5. ^ "8 – Nirra Fields". Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  6. ^ "Nirra Fields". FIBA. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  7. ^ "Nirra Fields". FIBA. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  8. ^ "2015 Women's Pan American Games Schedule". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  9. ^ "WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM TOPS BRAZIL 91–63 TO MOVE ON TO TORONTO 2015 FINAL". CANADA BASKETBALL. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  10. ^ "U.S. Women Collect Silver At Pan American Games After Falling To Host Canada 81–73". USA Basketball. Jul 20, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2015.[dead link]
  11. ^ "U.S. Women Collect Silver At Pan American Games After Falling To Host Canada 81–73". USA Basketball. Jul 20, 2015. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  12. ^ Caple, Jim. "Battle of UConn Hoops Stars Goes To Canada in Pan Am Final". ESPN. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  13. ^ Smith, Doug (Jul 20, 2015). "Canada wins historic Pan Am women's basketball gold". Toronto Star. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  14. ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved April 15, 2016.

External links

  • v
  • t
  • e
Canada squad – 2015 Pan American Games – gold medal
Canada