Arica Carter

Arica Derris Carter (born July 19, 1996) is an American professional women's basketball who plays for the Greek women's basketball team Panathinaikos of the Greek Women's Basketball League and, previously, was in Perfumerias Avenidas before she won the championship in Mexico after stints with teams in the Spanish Liga Femenina de Baloncesto and Phoenix Mercury of the United States's Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Early life Carter was born in Los Angeles, California, to parents Derrick Moses and Fern Carter and has six sisters and one brother. She played basketball at Long Beach Poly and was the first player from that school to be drafted and/or play in the WNBA. She later described her mother and sister as role models because "they are three strong women who keep pushing through no matter what the circumstances are".

Carter was a key member of the Long Beach Poly girls basketball team and won tournament MVP by, among the other tournament success, recording 12 points and eight steals in the final of the 2012 Inglewood City of Champions Elite Division. This was followed up with being chosen as Dream Team Player of the Year in 2013, averaging over 11 points per game, as Long Beach Poly won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division 1 championship in a 46–28 win over Berkley including 11 points from Carter. She averaged 10.5 points, 5.1 steals and 4.3 rebounds in her final 2014 season to win her second CIF championship with the Long Beach Jackrabbits; this time finishing champions in the Open Division with Carter scoring five in the 70–52 victory over Salesian.

Long Beach Poly's coach Carl Buggs said of Carter that ""She has a complete game, She has the ability to score, to score in crunch time, to make an assist, and she plays great defense"

College career Carter, known as "AC", played four years, including three as a starter, at Louisville for the Cardinals while studying for a degree in psychology.

In her college career she was known for her team leadership, mentoring of fellow players (including star guard Asia Durr) and quiet, unflashy but effective scoring and point-management in her role as point guard. Her coach Jeff Walz said that Carter was "just a heady, smart basketball player. AC, she just grinds it out"

Career WNBA Carter was selected as the thirty second overall pick of the 2019 WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury. After making the final roster with the Mercury, Carter would play under head coach Sandy Brondello and alongside the likes of Brittney Griner, DeWanna Bonner and Diana Taurasi. Carter played in the Mercury's first two games, totaling eight minutes of play. Carter was then waived to make room for Leilani Mitchell on June 1, 2019. Carter would be picked back up by the Mercury in August on a seven-day contract but left to make way for the return of Diana Taurasi.

WNBA statistics Source 2019 Phoenix 6 0 4.0 .200 .000 – 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.3 0.3

Spanish league

After a year's absence Carter joined Nissan CB Al-Qázeres Extremadura in the Spanish Liga Femenina de Baloncesto for the 2019–20 season and moved to Moviestar Estudiantes in the same league for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 season. In her second season at Estudiantes, they qualified for the 2021–22 EuroCup but were eliminated in play-off round 1 to Flammes Carolo Basket of Belgium by only three points in a two-leg match. Carter was voted best forward of the 2021–22 season of the Endesa Women's League and that year posted her career high 26 points and 8 assists in separate matches.

Mexican league At the conclusion of the 2021–22 season in Spain, Carter switched to Mexican club Astros de Jalisco in the first season of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional Femenil (LNBPF) where she was chosen as MVP of the grand final series for her contribution in winning the Mexican championship for the Astros. They were losing the final series 2-3 when they travelled to the home court of opponents Adelitas of Chihuahua but won the final two games to clinch the championship. Astros were 20 points behind the second last match but Carter posted 31 points and six assists to square the series with a 73–67 victory. Carter took 23 points and 7 assists in her 37 minutes on the court in the final championship match to win the title by 69 points to 64.

Spanish and Mexican statistics

Greek League On June 29, 2022, she was announced by the Greek club Panathinaikos.

Club honors Panathinaikos 1× Greek Cup Winner: 2023