Natasha Cloud
![]() Cloud with the Washington Mystics in 2019 | |
No. 0 – Phoenix Mercury | |
---|---|
Position | Guard |
League | WNBA |
Personal information | |
Born | Broomall, Pennsylvania, U.S. | February 22, 1992
Listed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
Listed weight | 160 lb (73 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Cardinal O'Hara (Springfield, Pennsylvania) |
College |
|
WNBA draft | 2015: 2nd round, 15th overall pick |
Selected by the Washington Mystics | |
Playing career | 2015–present |
Career history | |
2015–2019 | Washington Mystics |
2015–2016 | Beşiktaş |
2016–2017 | Townsville Fire |
2021–2023 | Washington Mystics |
2024–present | Phoenix Mercury |
Career highlights and awards | |
|
Natasha “Tasha” Cloud (born February 22, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
High school
[edit]Natasha Cloud gained recognition while being named AAAA First Team All-State as a senior. During this season she averaged 12.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 4.0 steals per game.[1] She led Cardinal O'Hara to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AAAA state finals two years in a row, as a junior and then to the second round as a senior. Both her junior and senior year she earned First Team All-Delco honors. As a junior, earned a Pennsylvania AAAA Third Team All-State selection. Earned the Michael Menichini Award in 2009.[1]
College
[edit]University of Maryland
[edit]2010–2011: Following a very successful high school career, Natasha Cloud, received a scholarship to play at the University of Maryland as a Terp. Cloud saw action in 31 of 32 games of her freshman year, and of those started games four through nine.[2]
Her freshman year she led the team in assists twice and in blocks three times while also being named a teams Scholar Athlete.[2]
Her coach, Brenda Frese, stated that:
Natasha is a very athletic and unselfish player who will do whatever her team needs to help us win. She's a strong defensive player, who can play either guard spot and is a terrific passer. Natasha has a ton of personality, is a good student and fits right in with our team.[2]
Saint Joseph's University
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/Natasha_Cloud_Basketball.jpg/220px-Natasha_Cloud_Basketball.jpg)
2011–2012: Due to NCAA transfer rules, Cloud sat out the 2011–2012 season, after transferring from Maryland. She was honored as member of the SJU Director's Honor Roll this season.[1]
2012–2013: Cloud earned Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, along with earning a spot on the A10 all defensive team.[1] In preseason, Cloud was named A10 Preseason All-Conference Second Team and Preseason All-Defensive Team. With an impressive All- Big 5 First Team, Cloud was also named Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team.[1] Earned SJU's Best Defensive Player Award and was twice named A10 Player of the Week and one time Big 5 Player of the week. Cloud was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List for the top point guard in the nation. Cloud was named Co-Captain to the team. Ranked second nationally in assists per game (7.6), also set the SJU single-season record for assists (243). Averaged 11.5 points and (team best) 6.6 rebounds per game.<[1] Led the A10 in assists and assists to turnover ratio. Scored 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, two blocked shots and 2 steals in NCAA First Round win over Georgia. She had 6 assists and added 10 points, a blocked shot and a steal in NCAA Second Round game against Connecticut, who ended up winning the National Championship.[1]
2014–2015: Cloud averaged 12.9 points a game and led the Atlantic 10 in averaged minutes (37.6).[1] Cloud was named Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team and All- Defensive Team selection. Cloud was a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List and Naismith Trophy Watch List nominee. Named Big 5 Player of the Week three times.[1] Cloud was named Hawk Classic All-Tournament Team member and Seton Hall Thanksgiving Invitational All-Tournament team honoree. Cloud was also Preseason A10 All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team selection.[1] With an impressive 187 assists, Cloud led the A10 in assists in a single season and finished her career with 163 rebounds and 50 steals. Cloud also finished with 26 three-pointers, a career best. Scored career-high 29 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot at Liberty.[1]
Maryland and Saint Joseph's statistics
[edit]Source[3]
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010–11 | Maryland | 31 | 76 | 37.9% | 26.3% | 69.2% | 1.5 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.5 |
2011–12 | Saint Joseph's | redshirt | |||||||||
2012–13 | Saint Joseph's | 32 | 293 | 38.9% | 14.8% | 73.6% | 4.6 | 4.4 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 9.2 |
2013–14 | Saint Joseph's | 32 | 368 | 39.2% | 27.4% | 71.7% | 6.6 | 7.6 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 11.5 |
2014–15 | Saint Joseph's | 30 | 388 | 36.8% | 35.1% | 79.1% | 5.9 | 6.6 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 12.9 |
Career | 125 | 1125 | 38.2% | 28.6% | 74.4% | 4.6 | 5.2 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 9.0 |
Professional career
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Augustus-Cloud-20170914.jpg/220px-Augustus-Cloud-20170914.jpg)
WNBA
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Cloud_catch-20170914.jpg/130px-Cloud_catch-20170914.jpg)
Cloud was drafted in the 2015 WNBA draft, second round, 15th overall.[4] Cloud was drafted to play for the Washington Mystics under Coach Mike Thibault. During Cloud's 2015 Rookie season, she averaged 3.6 points per game finishing the season with a total of 123.[4] Just as a rookie, Cloud started in a handful of their season games and played a total of 657 minutes, averaging 19.3 minutes per game.[4] Cloud averaged 2.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists per game.[4]
Cloud scored 11 points in an 84–67 win against San Antonio Stars on June 29, 2016. However, the Mystics have been inconsistent in the 2016 season.[5]
She suffered a left hip injury during practice at the Verizon Center.[6]
On October 10, 2019, Cloud won her first WNBA championship.[7]
In June 2020, Cloud announced that she would forgo the 2020 WNBA season due to concerns of racism and the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] She wanted to be on the front lines and focus on social reform.
Beskitas CT
[edit]Cloud played in Istanbul, Turkey for an organization called Besiktas CT Istanbul. Cloud was involved with the organization for a few months (participating in a handful of games) before getting hurt and returning to the United States to get healthy for the 2016 WNBA season.
International career
[edit]Cloud represented Jordan at the 2021 FIBA Women's Asia Cup in Amman, Jordan.[9] She helped her team to reach the promotion playoff final, before losing to Lebanon and missing promotion to Division A.[10]
Career statistics
[edit]GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
† | Denotes season(s) in which Cloud won a WNBA championship |
WNBA
[edit]Regular season
[edit]Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Washington | 34 | 22 | 19.3 | .320 | .237 | .681 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 3.6 |
2016 | Washington | 31 | 28 | 24.3 | .348 | .338 | .754 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 5.7 |
2017 | Washington | 24 | 0 | 18.7 | .314 | .235 | .741 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 4.4 |
2018 | Washington | 27 | 22 | 26.5 | .436 | .386 | .778 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 8.6 |
2019† | Washington | 34 | 34 | 32.1 | .394 | .326 | .683 | 2.5 | 5.6 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 9.0 |
2021 | Washington | 27 | 27 | 31.6 | .389 | .274 | .836 | 3.6 | 6.4 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 8.7 |
2022 | Washington | 34 | 34 | 31.3 | .399 | .319 | .824 | 3.6 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 10.7 |
2023 | Washington | 37 | 37 | 32.4 | .377 | .298 | .900 | 3.7 | 6.2 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 12.7 |
Career | 8 years, 1 team | 248 | 204 | 27.3 | .381 | .310 | .802 | 3.1 | 5.1 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 8.1 |
Playoffs
[edit]Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Washington | 3 | 2 | 14.0 | .429 | .333 | .000 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 2.3 |
2017 | Washington | 5 | 0 | 17.4 | .333 | .333 | .750 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 4.8 |
2018 | Washington | 9 | 9 | 25.7 | .400 | .414 | .769 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 8.2 |
2019† | Washington | 9 | 9 | 34.2 | .442 | .378 | .850 | 3.4 | 6.2 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 13.1 |
2022 | Washington | 2 | 2 | 35.5 | .500 | .700 | 1.000 | 6.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 18.5 |
2023 | Washington | 2 | 2 | 37.0 | .433 | .500 | 1.000 | 7.0 | 8.5 | 2.0° | 0.0 | 1.5 | 18.5 |
Career | 5 years, 1 team | 30 | 24 | 27.1 | .424 | .425 | .851 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 9.9 |
Off the court
[edit]Personal life
[edit]Cloud was married to professional softball player, Aleshia Ocasio. They separated in 2022.[11][12]
In popular culture
[edit]In December 2020, Cloud was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 alongside fellow WNBA players, A'ja Wilson and Chiney Ogwumike.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Natasha Cloud Biography". sjuhawks.com. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Natasha Cloud Biography". umterps.com. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Natasha Cloud - WNBA". WNBA. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
- ^ "Cloud scores 11 points in a 84-67 win against San Antonio Stars". WNBA.com. June 29, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
- ^ Lee, Albert (July 20, 2016). "Natasha Cloud injures knee". Retrieved July 22, 2016.
- ^ "2019 Season Review: Washington Mystics". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- ^ "WNBA 2020 season: Jonquel Jones, Liz Cambage, Tina Charles among players sitting out". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
- ^ "Team Roster: Jordan". FIBA.
- ^ "Lebanon 80–40 Jordan". FIBA. November 13, 2021.
- ^ "Natasha Cloud is engaged!". SBNation. July 28, 2019.
- ^ Reimer, Alex (March 11, 2021). "Natasha Cloud and Aleshia Ocasio got married". outsports.com. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
- ^ Ariail, Cat (December 2, 2020). "Natasha Cloud, Chiney Ogwumike and A'ja Wilson named to the 'Forbes 30 Under 30 List'". Swish Appeal. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- St. Joseph's bio
- 1992 births
- Living people
- American expatriate basketball people in Turkey
- American lesbian sportswomen
- American women's basketball players
- Beşiktaş women's basketball players
- Guards (basketball)
- LGBT basketball players
- LGBT people from Pennsylvania
- Maryland Terrapins women's basketball players
- People from Marple Township, Pennsylvania
- Phoenix Mercury players
- Basketball players from Delaware County, Pennsylvania
- Saint Joseph's Hawks women's basketball players
- Washington Mystics draft picks
- Washington Mystics players
- Naturalized citizens of Jordan
- 21st-century American sportswomen