You're reading: Another first: Ukrainian basketball player to compete in WNBA

Ukrainian Alina Iagupova, 27, has signed for Los Angeles Sparks and is moving to the United States to play in the women’s professional basketball league there, the WNBA.

Sparks’ executive Penny Toler announced that the team had signed the 1.86-meter-tall Ukrainian on Feb. 20.

“I’m excited to sign Alina Iagupova,” Toler said in a news release. “Alina has played at a high level overseas for several years and can contribute on both ends of the floor. I’m really happy she’s decided to bring her talents to the Sparks and the WNBA.”

Born in Dnipro, Iagupova is a captain of Ukrainian national women’s basketball team. She has played for a Turkish club, Cukurova Basketbol, since 2017. On average, Iagupova scores 20.1 points and makes assists 6.4 per game. Before playing in Turkey, she played for French club Villeneuve-d’Ascq.

Iagupova will start to play for the U.S. team in May form the start of the next season of the WNBA. She will be the first player from Ukraine to compete in the league.

The Los Angeles Sparks team is based in Los Angeles, California, and it plays in the Western Conference in the Women’s National Basketball Association, where it finished third in 2018.