Laeticia Amihere made history as the first person of Ghanaian heritage in the WNBA, towering at 6’3” as a forward for the Atlanta Dream. Born in Canada, she was drafted into the WNBA in 2023, and also represented Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where she was part of Canada’s ninth-place finish. She was also part of Canada’s successful appearances at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
Amihere was Canada’s leading scorer at the 2021 AmeriCup with 78 points, averaging 13 per game, as Canada finished fourth following an overtime loss to Brazil in the bronze medal match. The following year she helped Canada to another fourth-place result, this time at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, which marked the country’s best finish at the tournament since 1986.
RELATED STORIES
She first played with the senior national team during an exhibition series in Europe in 2017. She also made her final appearance with the junior program that year, leading Canada to bronze at the U19 FIBA World Cup. She was named to the tournament All-Star Team after averaging 11.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
Amihere debuted for Canada in 2015 with the cadet national team, winning Canada’s first ever gold at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship. With the junior program in 2016, she competed in an exhibition series in Spain where she averaged more than 8 points and 10 rebounds per game. That led into her outstanding performance at the 2016 U17 World Championship, where she led the tournament in blocks and rebounds and was the top Canadian in points per game, as the team finished seventh.
Amihere played collegiately for the University of South Carolina, winning the NCAA Championship in 2022. She led the Gamecocks to three SEC regular season and tournament titles, as well as four NCAA Final Four appearances. As a freshman in 2020 she was part of the first team in school history to end the season ranked number one in the nation. Selected eighth overall by Atlanta in the 2023 WNBA draft, she debuted with the Dream that season.
Amihere is on record as the first Canadian woman to dunk in a game when she threw one down at the age of 15. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2022 with a degree in Sports and Entertainment Management; pursuing a Masters in the field.
Since her journey with the team, she has achieved a significant number of feats, such as being a steady contributor all four years of her career, helping team to three SEC Regular-Season championships, three SEC Tournament titles and three NCAA Final Four showings, including the 2022 National Championship.
In 2021-22 season, she was part of first team in program history to be ranked No 1 in both the AP and the USA Today Coaches’ Polls every week of the season. The group went on to become just third program to hold No. 1 spot in the AP Poll every week in back-to-back seasons
She was also the first Gamecock women’s basketball player to compete in an Olympics during her college career. Amihere dominated in 2023 SEC Tournament, averaging 12.3 points on 60.0 percent shooting and handed out 3.0 assists per game to help lead Gamecocks to the title.
