Anita Ortega
Personal information
NationalityAmerican / Puerto Rican
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Career information
High schoolLos Angeles High School
(Los Angeles, California)
CollegeUCLA (1975–1979)
PositionGuard
Career history
As player:
1979–1981San Francisco Pioneers
1981Minnesota Fillies
As coach:
1981–1983UCLA (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
  • WBL All-Star (1980)
  • WBL All-Pro (1980)
  • AIAW national champion (1978)

Anita Ortega is an American-Puerto Rican former basketball player and law enforcement officer. She played college basketball at UCLA[1] where she won the 1978 AIAW championship. She later played professionally in the Women's Professional Basketball League before starting a career as a law enforcement officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Basketball career

College career

Ortega was a four year starter at UCLA from 1975 to 1979. During her junior year, she won the 1978 AIAW championship.[2]

Professional career

Ortega played in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL), the first women's professional basketball league in the United States, from 1979 to 1981. During her first season with the San Francisco Pioneers, she averaged 24.1 points 5.2 assists per game and was selected both to the All-Pro team and to the 1980 WBL All-Star Game. In 1981, she was traded to the Minnesota Fillies.[2][3]

National team career

In 1979, she played in the Pan American Games, representing Puerto Rico.

Later life

After the WBL folded in 1981, Ortega returned to the UCLA as an assistant coach. She left coaching to attend the police academy and later served in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1984 until her retirement in 2016.[2][4]

Personal life

Her father was born in Bayamón.

Statistics

College statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1978-79 UCLA 34 548 43.3% 69.4% 5.0 3.8 2.5 0.8 16.1
1977-78 UCLA 29 535 49.9% 61.3% 4.4 3.7 2.2 0.3 18.4
1976-77 UCLA 23 340 45.4% 61.7% 5.8 1.7 2.0 0.1 14.8
1975-76 UCLA 23 328 44.7% 61.8% 5.6 1.8 2.0 0.3 14.3
Career UCLA 109 1751 45.9% 64.1% 5.1 2.9 2.2 0.4 16.1

Source[5]

References

  1. ↑ "'Be relentless,' new UCLA graduates are told". UCLA.
  2. 1 2 3 Natalie Heavren (25 September 2022). "Anita Ortega: A Pioneer in more ways than one". thenexthoops.com. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  3. ↑ Scott Ostler (28 November 2022). "How S.F. Pioneers fought for pay, broke stereotypes and played to epic end". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Eric Sondheimer (13 November 2014). "Former L.A. High and UCLA standout Anita Ortega to retire from LAPD". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "UCLA Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-09-05.
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