Wake Forest Athletics
Hamby Set For Second Season in WNBA
5/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeWBB)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dearica Hamby, the all-time career leader for points and rebounds in Wake Forest women's basketball history, is set to begin her second season in the WNBA on Saturday night, May 14, when the San Antonio Stars take on the Atlanta Dream.
In three preseason games this month, Hamby started each contest while scoring 12 points per game in averaging 22.3 minutes per outing. The former Deacon led the Stars in their first preseason game with 18 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes of action, which led to a 74-67 victory over the Dream. In San Antonio's final preseason tune-up on May 9, Hamby was among the team's top scorers with 14 points in 27 minutes against the Los Angeles Sparks.
Hamby is coming off a very successful rookie campaign, in which she appeared in 31 of the team's 34 games while making 16 starts, missing three due to injury. Throughout the season, Hamby averaged 6.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest in 17.4 minutes. She shot 35.4 percent from the floor, which included shooting 35.3 percent from long range. Hamby scored a career-high 19 points against the Sparks on July 2, 2015, and pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds against the Phoenix Mercury on June 25. But her best overall game came on June 11 against the Dream, when she recorded 17 points, six rebounds and two assists in 31 minutes.
At Wake Forest, Hamby rewrote the women's basketball record book in becoming the program's all-time leading scorer (1,801 points) and rebounder (1,021 rebounds). Last April, she became the first Demon Deacon in program history taken in the WNBA Draft. Throughout her career, Hamby also became the first Wake Forest player to be named first team All-ACC twice in her career. She also earned All-America honorable mention from both the WBCA and Associated Press as a senior.
