Yvonne Anderson

Yvonne Marche Anderson (born March 8, 1990 in Springdale, Arkansas) is a professional basketball player for Reyer Venezia in Venice, Italy and a member of the Serbia national women's basketball team.

Yvonne is the daughter of former UAB Blazer's basketball coach Mike Anderson. She was a standout high school player and was named the 2006 "6A Player of the Year" by the Alabama High School Athletics Association as a sophomore for the Hoover High School Lady Bucs. Mike Anderson was hired by the University of Missouri that same year, and Yvonne transferred to Hickman High School in Colombia, Missouri. During her senior season, she averaged 23.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.4 steals per game for the Kewpies. She was named to the Missouri All-State team and was recognized as a 2008 All-American by Parade magazine.

Anderson accepted a scholarship to the University of Texas in Austin. She played all 33 games as a reserve during her freshman season. She earned her first start during her sophomore year and posted a career-best 17 points in a game against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Lady Lions. As a junior, Anderson averaged 11.8 points and 3.2 assists per game and earned All-State Academic honors. In her senior season she started all 31 games for the Longhorns and averaged 11.7 points, 5.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

Anderson was not selected in the 2012 WNBA draft. She began her professional career with the Swinburne Lady Cobras of the South East Australian Basketball League and also played for the Visby Ladies of Visby, Sweden in the Swedish Basketball Federation. In 2014 she joined B.B.C. Amicale Steesel of the Luxembourgish Total League and was named the league's Player of the Year by Eurobasket.com. In 2015 she played for Pallacanestro Torino of the Italian Lega Basket Femminile.

In 2016–2017 Anderson played for Galatasaray Spor Kulübü in the Turkish Super League (KBSL). The next season she deputed with Olympiacos CFB of Greece's A1 women's basketball league, then returned to Turkey's KBSL, playing for Bellona Kayseri Basketbol, averaging 17.8 points per game. In 2019 Anderson joined KBSL rival Mersin Buyuksehir Belediye before signing with Beşiktaş in October. She joined Reyer Venezia in 2020.

Marina Maljković, Anderson's former coach at Galatasaray, offered her an opportunity to compete internationally with her Serbian national team. Anderson began applying for dual citizenship in January 2020 and was approved to join the team for their gold medal-winning appearance at the Eurobasket 2021 tournament in Valencia, Spain. She remained with the team which represented Serbia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in July–August 2021. Despite 15 points off the bench for Anderson, the Serbian team was eliminated 79-59 by the gold medal-winning United States team in the semifinal round.

References

• Walker, Teresa M. (July 31, 2021) "Former Alabama high school player of the year playing basketball for Serbia in Olympics." Associated Press/The Birmingham News