Blanca Quiñonez Commits to UConn

[From Canada]

Here's a playoff semi-final game from May 4, 5 months ago. I've placed the video as it enters the game. For many you'll recognize the #32 she's defending against at this point, Jessica Shepard (6'4), the former Notre Dame, the same one who had a very good season in 2023 with the Minnesota Lynx (attachment). The Umana Reyer team she was up against won the title in Italy, with 3 straight wins in the final. The other tall player, Awak Sabit Kuier, wearing #34, was also playing in the WNBA in 2023 with the Dallas Wings.

The box score is also attached, and you can click on the players' names to see their 2024 playoff stats. I looked at the box scores for the various playoff games, and there was one 21-points game that I would have liked to see and post for you, but I wasn't able to find it. In this game she lacks finishing, especially close to the basket, but you can see her creating on the perimeter with beautiful passes, and when she picks up a defensive rebound, the counter-attack that follows is impressive. In the second half, she enters the game at 59:42 on the video line.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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Jessica Shepard to Miss 2024 Season

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Lynx today announced that Jessica Shepard will miss the 2024 WNBA season. Shepard plans to remain in Italy to fulfill contract commitments with her Italian club, Umana Reyer Venezia, and as a result is subject to the WNBA’s collectively bargained...

lynx.wnba.com

 

[AmeriConn]

Speaking of correct spelling, here is a quick and dirty lesson in Spanish orthography.

Her name is pronounced Key NYOWN ace. The ñ is like the ny in canyon. Because her last name ends with a “z”, the next to last syllable, the penultimate, requires an acute accent: Blanca Quiñónez.

If it were to end with an “s”, it wouldn't need the accent, and the pronunciation would remain the same. That's because Spanish words ending in a vowel or the letters “n” and “s” have the penultimate syllable accented in speech. Words ending in consonants have the emphasis on the final syllable, unless another syllable has a written accent.

The article posted by @Zarathustra, and originally by @From Canada above, has it written correctly in the headline, but screws it up in the translated text.

“Blanca Quiñónez, la basquetbolista de Milagro que juega en Italia”

So, to answer @donalddoowop's question, her first name is
Blanca. Her last name, with two diacritics, is Quiñónez.

Feel free to copy and paste. ñ ó

Think I'll just call her Key.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Think I'll just call her Key.

We'll have Key and Q!

 

[huskyblooz]

I am not in the program obviously. Just sharing my thoughts as a fan.

This recruitment process reminds me of Inês.

I disagree 100%. Ines was not recruited by high d1 programs. She was a late addition just before the school year began.
It was made to give us some depth.

Blanca, on the other hand, looks like a future starter and a huge playmaker.

 

[oldhusky]

I disagree 100%. Ines was not recruited by high d1 programs. She was a late addition just before the school year began.
It was made to give us some depth.

Blanca, on the other hand, looks like a future starter and a huge playmaker.

Ines was an emergency desperation last second recruit, the best we could get under extremely limited options. We were already thin at guard and then found out Paige would miss the entire season. at that point late in the summer, the high school recruits had already decided, as had the portal prospects. The only option was a foreign player who already had a visa lined up, who could commit without a visit, and be there in about a week.

Under the circumstances she was probably a good pickup, someone who might have to be used if we suffered multiple injuries, which of course we did, and she played relevant minutes the tail end of The Princeton game and most of the Maryland one. The alternative was probably a walk-on, so she was an upgrade compared to that and our choices were exceptionally limited.