Morenike Olayinka Atunrase (born April 14, 1986) is an American basketball player who played for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars during the 2008 season. She was drafted in 2008 out of Texas A&M, where she played from 2004–08.[1]
Early years
Atunrase attended Southwood High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she played basketball all four years. As a freshman and sophomore, she was named to the all-state second team. As a junior and senior, she garnered Louisiana's Most Valuable Player honor. She helped her team win the state championship both her sophomore and junior years. As a senior, she was also named Player of the Year by the Shreveport Times. She also picked up honorable mention All-America honors by Street & Smith's. Over her high school career, Atunrase averaged 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.[2][3]
Texas A&M
As a freshman in the 2004–05 season, Atunrase was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week three times, and became the Big 12 Freshman of the Year after the regular season.[4]
As a sophomore, she was Big 12 Player of the Week for one week.[5] She was also named to the All-Big 12 First Team.[6]
In her junior year, she was named to the preseason All-Big 12 team,[7] and became a preseason Naismith Trophy candidate.[8] She also guided the team to their first-ever regular season conference championship.
Atunrase had to get surgery in October 2007 to correct a non-healing stress fracture in her tibia, causing her to miss the first nine games. She received the Big 12 Sixth Man Award her senior season.[9] In the 2008 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament, she guided the team to their first Elite Eight appearance in program history.
She became the Aggies' all-time leading shot blocker with her 175 blocks.
Atunrase became the only rookie or free agent to become a part of the Star's team roster.[12] In her rookie season, she participated in 33 games, averaging 10.5 minutes per game. She scored a season-high of nine points against the Houston Comets on June 24, 2008. In the 2008 WNBA Playoffs, she averaged 1.3 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.1 steals, and 0.1 blocks. Her team ended up losing to the Detroit Shock in the Finals.[13]
