Monday, May 15, 2017
by Simon Fraser Athletics Communications

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Former Simon Fraser University women's basketball star Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe was named to the New York Liberty's 12-player roster for the tipoff of the 2017 WNBA season, NY president Isiah Thomas announced on May 12. She will wear jersey No. 4.
 
Raincock-Ekunwe last played for Simon Fraser in the 2012-13 season when she was Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year and NCAA All-America First Team after averaging 16.8 points and 12.4 rebounds her senior season. Simon Fraser advanced to the NCAA West Region final that year.
 
After leaving Simon Fraser, Raincock-Ekunwe played professionally in Switzerland in 2013-14 before moving to Germany (2014-16) and then onto Australia and France in 2016. She competed for Canada at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, where she ranked third on the team in scoring, averaging 7.7 points per game and tied for the lead in total rebounds with 36. In 2015, she represented Canada at the Pan American Games in Toronto, as well as at the FIBA Americas Championship, winning a pair of gold medals.
 
Raincock-Ekunwe averaged 17.1 points per game and 10.4 rebounds over her collegiate career, finishing among the Clan all-time leaders in both categories. As a university freshman, Raincock-Ekunwe helped Simon Fraser win the CIS national title in 2009-10, the last year before SFU joined the NCAA.
 
After Raincock-Ekunwe concluded her collegiate career, her jersey from the 2012-13 season, when she led SFU to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16, was hung in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee.
 
Raincock-Ekunwe holds several GNAC all-time records, including most rebounds in a game (24), season (385), and season rebounding average (13.3) as well as field goal percent in a season (65.1 percent), and career double-doubles (63).
 
The Liberty is coming off back-to-back 20-plus win seasons. Last year, New York finished 21-13 overall, posting the best record in the Eastern Conference for the 2nd year in a row. Head coach Bill Laimbeer returns for his 5th season in New York. Over the past two years, Laimbeer has guided the Liberty to a 44-24 (.647) record.
 
The Liberty's 2017 Home Opener will be on Saturday, May 13, as New York hosts the San Antonio Stars at Madison Square Garden.