Kitija Laksa

Kitija Laksa (born 21 May 1996) is a Latvian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. She previously played for Fenerbahçe of the Women's Basketball Super League, EuroLeague Women and the Latvian national team.

Laksa played for the American collegiate team South Florida Bulls. She suffered a knee injury in November 2018 and missed the rest of her senior season.[1] Instead of returning for a fifth year, Laksa signed with Latvian professional team TTT Riga in July 2019.[2]

Laksa was drafted in the first round, 11th overall, by the Seattle Storm in the 2020 WNBA draft. She signed a contract with the Storm on 25 April 2020, but did not play at all during the 2020 season and she was waived by the team on 13 May 2021.[3]

Two years later on 28 February 2023, Laksa signed a contract with a Dallas Wings but was waived on May 10 before playing a game for them.

On 12 February 2025, she signed a contract with the Phoenix Mercury.[4]

On 21 May 2025, five years after being drafted, Laksa finally made her WNBA debut in a 89 - 86 win over the Los Angeles Sparks where she recorded 9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in 23 minutes off the bench.[5]

South Florida statistics

Source[6]

Ratios
YEAR Team GP FG% 3P% FT% RBG APG BPG SPG PPG
2015-16 South Florida 29 39.7% 42.0% 86.5% 2.35 0.69 0.48 0.35 12.55
2016-17 South Florida 33 40.3% 38.8% 84.5% 3.52 0.82 0.18 0.64 19.21
2017-18 South Florida 34 39.9% 38.2% 96.5% 3.38 1.29 0.41 0.65 21.09
2018-19 South Florida 3 34.0% 33.3% 71.4% 4.33 2.00 - 0.33 16.33
Career 99 39.8% 39.1% 89.6% 3.15 0.98 0.34 0.55 17.82
Totals
YEAR Team GP FG FGA 3P 3PA FT FTA REB A BK ST PTS
2015-16 South Florida 29 129 325 74 176 32 37 68 20 14 10 364
2016-17 South Florida 33 231 573 101 260 71 84 116 27 6 21 634
2017-18 South Florida 34 240 602 126 330 111 115 115 44 14 22 717
2018-19 South Florida 3 16 47 7 21 10 14 13 6 0 1 49
Career 99 616 1547 308 787 224 250 312 97 34 54 1764

References

  1. ^ "ALL-AMERICA CANDIDATE LAKSA TO MISS THE REMAINDER OF THE 2018-19 SEASON WITH INJURY". USF Bulls. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Former USF hoops star Kitija Laksa turns pro". Tampa Bay Times. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Kitija Laksa WNBA Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  4. ^ "PHOENIX MERCURY SIGN FORWARD KITIJA LAKSA". mercury.wnba.com. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  5. ^ https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/202505210PHO.html
  6. ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
Sporting positions
Preceded by AAC Freshman of the year
2016 		Succeeded by