Paola Ferrari

Paola Andrea Ferrari Yegros (born 16 September 1985) is a Paraguayan basketball player. She currently plays for PB63 Battipaglia in Serie A2 as a shooting guard.

Biography Paola Ferrari began playing basketball at age 7 at the club Deportivo Internacional in her native Asunción.

She played her first South American Championship in Peru, in the cadet category, where she stood out as the top scorer of the tournament. She made her debut in the senior league of Paraguay at age 14, where she played for several teams, including Deportivo Internacional, Deportivo San Jose, UAA. She had outstanding performances in the South American Championships at all levels, being proclaimed the best player, top scorer, and best three-point shooter on several occasions.

After training in the United States in 2003 at Tomahawk High School in Wisconsin, Ferrari played for Union University of Tennessee in 2004. A year later, she played for the University of Quevedo, where the team reached the semifinals. That same season, at age 20, she decided to jump to Spain to play for Alumisan Pio XII of Santiago de Compostela in Liga Femenina 2. After a quick adjustment period, she finished the season as the second-highest scorer in the category. The following season, she played for Joventut Mariana de Sóller in a bid for promotion, but they could not achieve it.

In 2007 she debuted in the Liga Femenina for Baloncesto Rivas, but a lack of minutes made her change teams in December and finish a great season with Burgos. In 2008, after a season with Estudiantes, Ferrari returned to Sóller, where she achieved great numbers over four seasons.

During those years, she also played for the , where she entered the Ecuadorian league in 2011 and played in the South American Championship. In 2012 she suffered a serious injury, a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament of the knee, which kept her off the court until January 2013, when she returned to play for CB Avenida in Spain, winning the Liga Femenina. For the 2013–2014 season, she played for of the Liga Brasileña, where she won two more titles (Liga de Brasil and Liga Paulista). She returned to Spain once again, for CB Avenida, where she won the Supercopa de España and the Copa de la Reina, completing all of the country's national titles. In 2015 Ferrari achieved this feat in her native country, winning the Metropolitan Trophy with Club Sol de América without losing a game, and being elected MVP. After signing for Stadium Casablanca of Zaragoza, she became the season's top scorer. In the 2016–2017 season she played in the playoffs for . In 2017, she returned to Stadium Casablanca.

Ferrari plays internationally for the Paraguay.

Career Club Team League Seasons Deportivo Internacional Mini to Senior 1992-1999 UAA Liga de Paraguay 2000 Deportivo Internacional Liga de Paraguay 2001 Deportivo San Jose Liga de Paraguay 2003 Tomahawk High School High School 2003 Union University of Tennessee WNCAA 2004 University of Quevedo Liga de Paraguay 2005 Vidrogal Alumisán Pío XII Liga Femenina 2 2005–2006 Joventut Mariana de Sóller Liga Femenina 2 2006–2007 Rivas Futura Liga Femenina 2007–2008 Arranz Jopisa Burgos Liga Femenina 2007–2008 CB Estudiantes Liga Femenina 2008–2009 Joventut Mariana de Sóller Liga Femenina 2008–2009 2009 Joventut Mariana de Sóller Liga Femenina 2009–2010 Joventut Mariana de Sóller Liga Femenina 2010–2011 2011 Joventut Mariana de Sóller Liga Femenina 2011–2012 2012 CB Avenida Liga Femenina 2013 Liga Brasileña 2013–2014 Liga Sudamericana 2014 CB Avenida Liga Femenina 2014–2015 Sol de América Liga de Paraguay 2015 Stadium Casablanca Liga Femenina 2015–2016 Liga Femenina 2016–2017 Liga de Paraguay 2017 Stadium Casablanca Liga Femenina Since 2017

International 1999 South American Championship Sub-16 2000 South American Championship Sub-16 2001 South American Championship Sub-18 2005 South American Championship seniors 2006 South American Championship seniors 2010 South American Championship seniors 2013 South American Championship seniors 2017 AmeriCup seniors (pre-world)

Championships Liga Femenina de España (1): 2013 Copa de la Reina (1): 2015 Supercopa de España (1): 2014 (1): 2011 Liga de Brasil (1): 2014 Liga Paulista de Brasil (1): 2014 National Championship of Paraguay (6): 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2015, 2017

Awards Chosen best basketball player of Paraguay (2): 2014, 2015 Chosen one of the two best athletes of the century by the National Sports Secretary of Paraguay (2015) Best South American scorer (4): 2005, 2006, 2010, 2013 Top scorer of the Liga Femenina de España (1): 2016 All-Liga Femenina de España Team (1): 2016 All-AmeriCup Team: 2017 Top scorer of AmeriCup with 87 points (2017)