| WNBA's Washington Mystics – No. 20 | |||||||||||||
| Guard/Forward | |||||||||||||
| Born | May 11, 1982 Shreveport, Louisiana |
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| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 160 lb (73 kg) | ||||||||||||
| College | Duke | ||||||||||||
| Draft | 2nd overall, 2004 Washington Mystics |
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| Profile | WNBA Info Page | ||||||||||||
| WNBA Teams | |||||||||||||
| Washington Mystics (2004–present) | |||||||||||||
| Awards and Honors | |||||||||||||
| 4× WNBA All-Star (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) | |||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Alana Monique Beard (born May 14, 1982 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is an American professional women's basketball player with the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. She was the first Duke women's basketball player to have her jersey number (20) retired.[1] She resides in the Washington, DC area, where she is founder and President of the Alana Beard Foundation. The foundation currently sponsors 7 AAU teams. Six teams are located in Maryland called Alana Beard's Future and one team in Shreveport, Louisiana called the Southern Mystics.
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Beard was born on May 14, 1982 to LeRoy and Marie Beard.[2]
Beard played for Southwood High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she led her team to four consecutive state titles. The team compiled a record of 144–6 while she was on the team.[2] She scored 2,646 points during her four years, and finished her high school career with 53 consecutive victories.[2] Beard was named a WBCA All-American.[3] She participated in the 2000 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored fifteen points.[4]
Coach Gail Goestenkors, then at Duke University, successfully recruited Beard. During her four years, she set a school scoring record of 2,687 points. Beard is the first NCAA basketball player to amass over 2,600 points, 500 assist and 400 steals.[2] During the four years Beard played for Duke, the team won four regular season and tournaments championships. Beard helped Duke reach the Final Four twice in her career.[2] In her senior year, the team achieved the first ever number one ranking in the final AP poll of the year.[2]
Beard was drafted in 2004 with the 2nd overall pick.[1] In her rookie season, she led the Mystics to the playoffs, despite the loss of star Chamique Holdsclaw halfway through the season. They lost to the Connecticut Sun in the first round of the playoffs.
At present she is recovering from an ankle tendon, Achilles, injury. http://www.wnba.com/mystics/news/alana_beards_road_recovery_2010_05_07.html
Beard was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009.[5] The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.[5]
Beard was one of twenty players named to the national team pool. Twelve of this group will be chosen to represent the USA in the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics.[6]
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