STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford All-American Alanna Smith was named to the Australian Olympic Team for the Paris Games, Basketball Australia and the Australian Olympic Commission announced on Saturday.
A veteran of the Tokyo Olympics, Smith will be making her second Olympic appearance in Paris for the Opals, which are grouped in Pool B. The world’s No. 3-ranked squad, Australia will play host and No. 7 France, No. 5 Canada and No. 12 Nigeria. The Opals’ tournament begins on Monday, July 29, with group play concluding on Sunday, Aug. 4. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Wednesday, August 7, the semifinals Friday, August 9 and the gold-medal game on Sunday, August 11.
All 5-on-5 Olympic basketball group-stage games will take place at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France and the advancing countries will head to Paris for knockout and medal rounds.
Smith helped Australia secure its 10th Olympic appearance during the 2024 FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Brazil, where it finished 3-0 in February. She saw action in all three outings and averaged 3.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 11.2 minutes per game. Now in her sixth professional season, the 6-foot-4 forward is having a standout season with the Minnesota Lynx, averaging career-highs in scoring (11.8), assists (3.1) and blocks (2.0), to go with 5.1 rebounds in 28.0 minutes per game. She is currently third in the league in three-point shooting, hitting a career-high 45.6 percent (31-of-68), and fourth in blocks (2.0).
A 2019 All-American, Smith had a superb senior season in which she shot 51.5 percent from the field, 39.7 percent from behind the arc and averaged a team-high 19.4 points per game to go with 8.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. She was one of two players in the country to average 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game that season and her numbers were even better in conference. She put up 20.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 18 Pac-12 games and was one of just two nationally to have those averages in league action.
Smith is currently 12th in school history in career scoring (1,703), third in blocks (225), and made 155 career 3-pointers. She remains one of just four DI players since 1999-2000 to put together a career of 1,700 points, 150 made triples and 200 blocks, along with Elena Delle Donne (3,039 points; 206 3-pointers; 273 blocks), Maya Moore (3,036 points; 311 3-pointers; 204 blocks) and Breanna Stewart (2,676 points; 152 3-pointers; 414 blocks).
Smith, who had 81 triples, 78 blocks and 699 points as a senior in 2018-19, is the only DI player since 1999-2000 to accumulate 70 3-pointers, 70 blocks and 600 points in a season. It has been done once on the men’s side during that span, by Shane Battier for Duke in 2000-01 (124 3-pointers; 88 blocks; 778 points).
Stanford has had six alumnae compete in the Olympics in addition to Hall of Fame head coach Tara VanDerveer, who guided Team USA to a 52-0 exhibition record and then to Olympic gold with a perfect 8-0 run at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Jennifer Azzi and Katy Steding won gold with that United States team in 1996, Jillian Harmon and Clare Bodensteiner represented New Zealand in Beijing in 2008, Sebnem Kimyacioglu helped Turkey advance to the quarterfinals in Rio in 2016, and Smith made the quarterfinals with Australia in Tokyo in 2021.