Amber Ramirez

Amber Ramirez
No. 23 – Arkansas
PositionPoint guard
LeagueNCAA
Personal information
Born (1998-02-24) February 24, 1998 (age 26)
San Antonio, Texas
Listed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Career information
High schoolWagner
(San Antonio, Texas)
College
Medals
Representing the USA
U18 and U19
Gold medal – first place 2016 U18 Chile Team Competition
3x3
Silver medal – second place 2016 Kazakhstan Team Competition

Amber Ramirez (born February 24, 1998)[1][2] is an American basketball player with the Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball team. She played her freshman and sophomore season with TCU In 2016 and 2017, then transferred to Arkansas. She sat out the 2018–19 season due to transfer rules, then played for Arkansas during her junior and senior years. Due to Covid rules, all active players were granted an additional year of eligibility, so she is playing in the 2021–22 season as a redshirt senior.

High school

Ramirez attended Karen Wagner High School in San Antonio, Texas, where she played basketball. In her junior year, she was selected to be a member of the 2015 Express-News All-Area basketball team and was named the player of the year.[3] She helped lead the team to the state tournament appearance for the second year in a row, scoring 26.9 points per game, and hitting over 40% of her three-point attempts. During the state tournament, she hit eight three-pointers in one game to set the state tournament record. ESPN graded her as a five star recruit, their highest ranking.[4] She initially decided to attend Oklahoma State, but then decided to reopen her recruitment and ended up signing with TCU.[5] Ramirez was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game in 2016. She also participated in the three-point shootout, winning the contest. She was also included in the Legends and Stars Shootout, paired with Candice Wiggins and Jayson Tatum who would go on to play for the Boston Celtics. Ramirez hit a half-court shot which resulted in a win for her team.[6] Ramirez ended her high school career with 2,769 points, the second highest point total in the city of San Antonio history.[7]

USA Basketball

2016 3x3 U18 Astana, Kazakhstan

Ramirez was selected for the under 18 3x3 basketball team which played in the world championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. She helped the team win the silver metal in the tournament.[8]

2016 U18 Valdivia, Chile

A month after competing in the 3x3 tournament in Kazakhstan, Ramirez was selected to be a member of the USA under 18 team to compete in the Americas championship for women in 2016. Ramirez started all five games, averaging 10.8 points per game third-best on the team and help the USA when all five games in the gold medal at the tournament in Valdivia, Chile.[9]

College career

2016–17 TCU

As a freshman, Ramirez played in 23 of the team's 30 games, missing seven due to a midseason injury. She averaged 8.3 points per game good enough for third place among all conference freshmen. In her game against Butler she scored 19 points, hitting five of eight three-pointers which earned her the Big 12 Freshman of the Week award. She hit 85% of her free throws for the season.[5]

2017–18 TCU

As a sophomore, Ramirez played in all 36 games, starting 23 of them. She averaged 10.4 points per game. In the game against southeastern Louisiana she made 11 of her three-point attempts setting a single-game record for both TCU and the Big 12. She helped her team earn an invitation to the 2018 Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they won their first four games, and lost to the eventual champion, Indiana in the semi-finals.[10]

2018–19 Arkansas

Ramirez transferred to Arkansas, but sat out the season due to NCAA transfer rules. 8[7]

2019–20 Arkansas

In her junior year, she averaged 14.7 points per game, hitting 44.7% of her three-point attempts. This set the single-season record for the Arkansas program. She had 106 three-pointers over the course of the season which placed her second in the NCAA for the season, and set a single-season record for Arkansas. She recorded her 1000th career point in the SEC tournament.[7]

2020–21 Arkansas

Ramirez had one of her best career performances on senior day against Alabama, scoring 35 points for a career-high. She hit eight three-pointers helping the team to record 19 threes which is a single-game SEC record.[11][12] This was a challenging season due to Covid causing cancellation of many games. For example, UConn's originally scheduled games against Louisville, Baylor and Providence, all of which were canceled.[13] UConn wanted to add a game, an unusual occurrence during most seasons.[14] Arkansas had also lost a game due to Vanderbilt's decision to end their season, so the two teams decided to meet on January 28, 2021. UConn was undefeated and ranked number three in the AP poll while Arkansas was 11–5 and ranked number 19 on the day of the game. Arkansas beat UConn 90–87, with Ramirez scoring 22 points.

TCU and Arkansas statistics

Source[15]

Ratios
YEAR Team GP FG% 3P% FT% RBG APG BPG SPG PPG
2016–17 TCU 23 34.2% 36.8% 85.0% 2.00 1.39 0.48 0.65 8.26
2017–18 TCU 36 42.1% 39.2% 85.7% 1.89 2.89 0.11 0.83 10.42
2018–19 Arkansas Redshirt per NCAA rules
2019–20 Arkansas 32 44.2% 44.7% 92.3% 3.16 1.88 0.31 1.13 14.69
2020–21 Arkansas 27 43.0% 43.5% 80.8% 2.89 1.52 0.19 1.11 13.52
Career 118 41.7% 41.8% 85.6% 2.48 2.01 0.25 0.94 11.86
Totals
YEAR Team GP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA REB A BK ST PTS
2016–17 TCU 23 67 196 39 106 17 20 46 32 11 15 190
2017–18 TCU 36 131 311 65 166 48 56 68 104 4 30 375
2018–19 Arkansas Redshirt per NCAA rules
2019–20 Arkansas 32 164 371 106 237 36 39 101 60 10 36 470
2020–21 Arkansas 27 123 286 77 177 42 52 78 41 5 30 365
Career 118 485 1164 287 686 143 167 293 237 30 111 1400

References

  1. ^ "Twitter USAB". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  2. ^ "Amber Ramirez". www.usab.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2016. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  3. ^ Hinojosa, David (2015-04-05). "Girls basketball: Wagner's Ramirez takes E-N Player of the Year". mySA. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  4. ^ "amber-ramirez". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  5. ^ a b "Amber Ramirez – Women's Basketball". TCU Athletics. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  6. ^ "TCU-bound Amber Ramirez takes home two trophies from JamFest at McDonald's All American Game". USA TODAY High School Sports. 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  7. ^ a b c "Amber Ramirez". Arkansas Razorbacks. 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  8. ^ "FIBA.BASKETBALL". play.fiba3x3.com. Archived from the original on 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  9. ^ "2016 Women's U18 History". www.usab.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  10. ^ "TCU 58 – 71 Indiana: Final | 2018-03-28 | College Women's Basketball | Yahoo! Sports". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  11. ^ "Alabama vs. Arkansas – Box Score – February 28, 2021 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  12. ^ "Ramirez Finds The Range, Arkansas Beats Alabama, 94–76". Arkansas Razorbacks. 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  13. ^ "2020–21 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Connecticut Athletics. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  14. ^ "No. 3 UConn adds game at No. 15 Arkansas". ESPN.com. 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  15. ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-11-11.