Érika de Souza

Érika de Souza

WNBA's Atlanta Dream  – No. 14
Center
Born	(1982-03-09) 9 March 1982
Nationality	Brazilian
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg)
WNBA career	2002–present
Profile	WNBA player profile
WNBA teams
Los Angeles Sparks (2002) Connecticut Sun (2007) Atlanta Dream (2008–present)
Non-WNBA teams
MiZo Pécs (2002–03) UB-Barça (2003–06) Ros Casares Valencia (2006–10) Perfumerías Avenida (2010–2012) Sport Recife (2013-present)

Érika Cristina de Souza (born 9 March 1982) is a Brazilian professional women's basketball player with the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA in the United States.^[1] Prior to joining the Dream for their inaugural 2008 season, DeSouza was a member of the Los Angeles Sparks in 2002, with whom she played in 11 games. Leaving the WNBA thereafter, DeSouza traveled to Spain, where she won the 2005-2006 MVP of the Spanish women's league while playing with UB-Barça. In 2007, she returned to the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun. With the Sun, she played in 32 games, with 2 starts.^[1]

Biography

Erika de Souza grew up in Rio de Janeiro with a single mother of four. De Souza’s family was part of the 40 percent of Brazilians who live below the poverty line; which meant living on less than one U.S dollar a day.^[2] She began playing basketball at the age of 16, she also played volleyball, handball, and ran track. Erika was recruited at the age of 16 by the top club team in Brazil and met her future teammate Izi Castro Marques. She signed her first pro contract in 2001 with a team in Spain and then helped her sign with the LA Sparks. Following that she won the championship with the Sparks^[3] and the one person she looked up to who is Lisa Leslie. After she won the championship in 2002 she remodel her mother’s home.^[4] In 2004 she made the Brazilian national team in the Athens Olympics. She decided to play in Spain for four seasons in Spain under Carme Lluveras 2004-2008.^[5] Erika purchased a bakery in her home town of Rio de Janeiro for her family to have local income there. Erika's mother passed away in 2008 of a long battle of cancer. In 2008 she was in the expansion draft to the Atlanta Dream. Erika has an uncanny rebounding ability, a physical presence in the pain, and leads the dream in rebounds per game; almost half are offensive boards.^[4] Erika fractured her lower leg May 27, 2008 against the Washington mystics and was out for the rest of the basketball season, the record for the Dream that season with out Erika was 4-30 and in 2009 when she returned the record was 18-16; biggest single-season turn around in WNBA league history and made play offs for the first time.

International competitions

A member of the Brazil women's national basketball team, DeSouza competed at the 2004 Olympic games. She was due to represent her country in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament where Brazil qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics but missed it due to injury and was officially ruled out of playing in the Olympics on 29 July.^[6]

She is currently playing for Perfumerías Avenida Salamaca in Spain during the 2011-12 WNBA off-season.^[7]

Awards and achievements

• 2002 WNBA Championship - 2002 WNBA Finals
• Atlanta’s all-time leader in rebounds (1,034), blocked shots (171) and field goal percentage (.535)
• 2009 WNBA All-Star Selection
• 2009 Ranked first in WNBA in offensive rebounds (119) and total rebounds (309) … Ranked second in WNBA in rebounding percentage (9.1).
• 2010 Recorded a career high in rebounds (20) against Minnesota on July 14
• 2005 & 2006 Spanish MVP

References