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Ryneldi Becenti facts for kids

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Ryneldi Becenti
Personal information
Born (1971-08-11) August 11, 1971 (age 53)
Fort Defiance, Arizona, U.S.
High school Window Rock
(Fort Defiance, Arizona)
Career information
College
  • Scottsdale CC (1990–1991)
  • Arizona State (1991–1993)
Career history
1997 Phoenix Mercury
Career highlights and awards
  • 2x All Pac-10 (1992, 1993)
  • No. 21 retired by Arizona State Sun Devils
Medals
Women's Basketball
Representing USA
World University Games
Bronze 1993 New York Team Competition

Ryneldi Becenti (born August 11, 1971) is a retired American professional basketball player. She became the first Native American to play in the WNBA when she played for the Phoenix Mercury in 1997.

High school

Becenti attended Window Rock High School in Fort Defiance, Arizona, and in 1989, Scottsdale Community College in Phoenix. She was the country's top junior college point guard in 1990–91, and left Scottsdale a two-time NJCAA All-American.

College

Becenti was an All-Pac 10 First Team selection in both her seasons at Arizona State University, and a two-time honorable mention All-America honoree. She also turned out for the US at the 1993 World University Games in Buffalo, New York, where her team won the bronze medal.

Professional career

In 1995, Becenti was playing professional basketball in Sweden. She also played in Greece and, briefly, Turkey. She was the first Native American woman to play professional basketball for a foreign nation. In 1997, she signed with the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA as a free agent and played in their inaugural season. In 1998, she was drafted by the Chicago Condors in the American Basketball League.

Honors

In 1996, she became the first and only female basketball player to be inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.

in 2013, she was the first women's basketball player to have her jersey (No. 21) retired by ASU.

Career statistics

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

WNBA

Source

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1997 Phoenix 1 0 8.0 .0 .0 1.0 .0 1.0 .0

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1991–92 Arizona State 29 - - 36.6 28.1 68.9 4.6 6.9 2.9 0.2 - 13.2
1992–93 Arizona State 27 - - 37.9 34.0 72.9 3.5 7.2 2.6 0.1 - 14.0
Career 56 - - 37.3 31.3 70.3 4.1 7.1 2.8 0.2 - 13.6
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.
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