Lindsey Harding

Lindsey Harding
Information about the player
Full name	Lindsey Marcie Harding
birthday	June 12, 1984
place of birth	Mobile , Alabama , USA
size	173 cm
position	Guard
college	Duke University
WNBA Draft	2007 , 1st pick, Phoenix Mercury
Jersey number	10
Clubs as active
2009-2010	TEO Vilnius
2010-2011	Dynamo Kursk
2012-2013	Galatasaray Istanbul
2015-2016	Dynamo Kursk
WNBA clubs as active
2007-2008	Minnesota Lynx
2009-2010	Washington Mystics
2011–2012	Atlanta Dream
2013-2014	Los Angeles Sparks
2016	New York Liberty
2016	Phoenix Mercury
1 As of February 19, 2018

Lindsey Marcie Harding (born June 12, 1984 in Mobile , Alabama ) is an American - Belarusian basketball player . In 2016 she played for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for the Russian club Dynamo Kursk . The 1.73 meter tall Harding is mainly used in the position of point guard .

After she was not considered in the US national team , she accepted the offer of the Belarusian association and played for the Belarusian team since 2015 . For this she took the Belarusian citizenship in advance.

Career

college

After receiving several awards during her high school years, Lindsey Harding played for the Blue Devils, the women's basketball team at Duke University, from 2002 to 2007 . In her first season for the Blue Devils, she averaged 6.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game. This first good season also earned her a nomination for the All-ACC Freshman Team. In the 2003/04 college season, she already achieved 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2 steals per game. The college season 2004/05 she had to suspend after a violation of the internal team rules and returned in the following season back to the team. In her third season she already scored 10.7 points, 4.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. Since she was also able to convince on the defensive, she was voted ACC Defensive Player of the Year. She was also elected Duke Classic MVP. The 2006-07 college season was her final season for Duke University. In her last season she received countless awards, despite her strong performances, she was never able to win a title with the Blue Devils.

Their last game for the Blue Devils ended very bitterly for Harding. On March 24, 2007 she met the Blue Devils in the Sweet Sixteen round at the NCAA Tournament on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. 0.1 seconds before the end, the Blue Devils were one point behind, but Harding was on the free throw line and had 2 free throws available. She couldn't use a single free throw. So the Blue Devils eventually lost that game by one point.

On January 20, 2008, their jersey number (10) was withdrawn in honor of Harding's achievements for Duke University.

WNBA

Harding was selected first in the 2007 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury . Immediately after the draft, Harding was transferred to the Minnesota Lynx for Tangela Smith . So she played her first WNBA season for the Lynx in Minnesota. After she still played a strong rookie season in 2007 and was therefore also elected to the all-rookie team, the operating times decreased in 2008 and, as a result, the statistical values. On January 30, 2009 she was transferred to the Washington Mystics for a first and second round draft pick . In Washington, Harding was part of the starting line-up in all of the team's games and played their part in ensuring that the Mystics reached the WNBA playoffs twice, even if they ended in the first round. After two years in Washington, DC , she was transferred to the Atlanta Dream on April 11, 2011, with whom she made it into the WNBA finals for the first time in 2011 . In the finals she finally failed with the Dream with 0: 3 games at the Minnesota Lynx. In 2012 , she played an even more successful regular season with the Atlanta team, but the season ended prematurely in the first playoff round with a loss against the Chicago Sky . In the two seasons for the Dream, Harding was still regularly in the team's starting line-up and was one of the pillars of the team. From the 2013 season she went to the field for the Los Angeles Sparks . After a strong premiere season, Harding was mostly only used as a supplementary player in 2014 . Both seasons in Los Angeles ended for them again in the first playoff round. After she was not active in the WNBA in 2015, she was under contract with the New York Liberty at the beginning of the 2016 season . After only five missions, she switched to the Phoenix Mercury during the season. Here, too, she was only used as a supplementary player.

After the 2016 season , Harding did not play any more games in the WNBA for the time being. Up to this point, she played in 9 WNBA seasons in the regular season 270 games, she was 210 times in the starting lineup and scored 2647 points, 779 rebounds and 1090 assists. In 25 playoff games (18 of them in the starting line-up) she scored 270 points, 60 rebounds and 98 assists.

Europe

Like many WNBA players, Harding plays regularly in Europe during the WNBA season break. Since 2009 she has been on the field for teams from Lithuania, Russia and Turkey. In the 2015/16 season she played for the Russian club Dynamo Kursk .

National team

After she was not considered in the US national team , she accepted the offer of the Belarusian federation and has been playing for the Belarusian team since 2015 . For this she took the Belarusian citizenship in advance. Harding's first appearance in a major tournament was the 2015 European Women's Basketball Championship , which ended with the team in fourth place. In 2016, she played her part in helping the Belarusian team qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. There she took 9th place with the team.

Awards

college

• Naismith National Player of the Year 2007
• ESPN.com National Player of the Year 2007
• WBCA National Defensive Player 2007
• John R. Wooden Award All-American 2007
• USBWA All-American 2007
• Associated Press First Team All-American 2007
• ACC Player of the Year 2007
• ACC Defensive Player of the Year 2006, 2007
• Frances Pomeroy Award 2007
• Duke Offensive Player of the Year 2007
• Duke Practice Player of the Year 2007
• Duke Heart and Hustle Award 2007
• Duke Classic MVP 2006
• ACC Rookie of the year 2003
• All ACC First Team 2007

Web links

• WNBA player profile
• Statistics about the player on basketball-reference.com (engl.)
• FIBA overview of participation in international tournaments
• FIBA Europe overview of participation in European tournaments