The Arizona women’s basketball team dipped into its Spanish pipeline again on Thursday, landing a commitment from Gisela Sanchez.
A 6-foot-3 forward, Sanchez stars for Segle XXI, the same club that Helena Pueyo and Marta Garcia played for before joining the Wildcats.
#NCAA Class of 2021:
— Baloncesto Base (@Cantera_Basket) February 11, 2021
⛹️♀️ Gisela Sánchez
Segle XXI (@FCBQtecnic)
✈️ Arizona (@ArizonaWBB)
¡Enhorabuena! pic.twitter.com/kwlFwVSHu5
This season, Sanchez is averaging 9.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.9 steals in 24.6 minutes. She is shooting 42 percent from the field, 7 for 41 from 3 and 66 percent from the free throw line.
According to Blue Star Media, Sanchez is long, thin, mobile and talented.
“She adds herself to the long tradition of Spanish small forwards going from world star Alba Torrens to rising star Maria Conde,” the site says. “Sanchez is capable to run the floor, to shoot from the perimeter, to attack the basket, to finish in transition, to rebound thanks to her size. She is the archetype of the modern SF in the making. Much will depend on how she copes with getting stronger in order to stand contact and be fully efficient on the boards. One year younger than the rest of the group, she nevertheless already joined Spain’s elite youth program based in Cataluna “Segle XXI” (alongside Pueyo, Dembele, Puiggros, Garcia, Hermosa) where she is learning the tricks of senior basketball playing in the Spanish second division.”
Sanchez will join the Wildcats in the 2021-22 season. She is likely the last piece to the 2021 recruiting class as head coach Adia Barnes said in January that the Wildcats were considering adding one more player.
The 2021 class also consists of post Aaronette Vonleh, combo guard Anna Gret Asi and shooting guard Madi Conner, who already joined the Wildcats as a midyear enrollee.