_(cropped).jpg) Dangerfield with theDallas Wings in 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Free agent | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Point guard | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1998-05-11)May 11, 1998 (age 27) Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 130 lb (59 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| High school | Blackman (Murfreesboro) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| College | UConn (2016–2020) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| WNBA draft | 2020: 2nd round, 16th overall pick | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drafted by | Minnesota Lynx | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2020–present | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Minnesota Lynx | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Elitzur Ramla | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Indiana Fever | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | New York Liberty | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Dallas Wings | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Atlanta Dream | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Los Angeles Sparks | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Kayseri Basketbol | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stats atBasketball Reference  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Crystal Simone Dangerfield (born May 11, 1998) is an American professionalbasketball player who is currently a free agent. After a high school career that made her the nation's top-ranked point guard,[1] she played college basketball for theUConn Huskies.[2] Dangerfield was drafted in the second round of the2020 WNBA draft by Minnesota, where she was namedWNBA Rookie of the Year after leading the team in scoring.[3] At 5'5", for the 2024 season, she is the shortest player in the WNBA (together withOlivia Époupa).
Dangerfield is the youngest daughter of Christopher and Davonna Dangerfield ofMurfreesboro, Tennessee. She has an older brother, Komar, and one sister, Brooke.[4] Both parents served in theU.S. Army.[5] She started playing basketball at the age of 5.[5]
Dangerfield attendedBlackman High School where she belonged to the collegiate academy and was an honor roll student for four years.[5] She was Blackman's starting point guard for four years[4] when the school won state titles in 2015 and 2016.[6]
Dangerfield playedUSA Basketball, winning a gold medal in 2013 and 2015.[4] She was named Miss Basketball Tennessee in her junior and senior years,[7] was three times the TennesseeGatorade Player of the Year, and wasThe Tennessean girls basketball player of the year in three consecutive years.[4] Dangerfield was a finalist for theNaismith Prep Player of the Year Award and Gatorade national awards.[4] In 2016, she was aMcDonald's andJordan Brand Classic[6] All-American, andMorgan Wootten National Player of the Year.[4]
Among the women's class of 2016,ESPNW ranked Dangerfield as the best point guard[8] and third overall of 100 women players (behindLauren Cox and ahead ofSabrina Ionescu).[9]
Dangerfield was recruited by theUConn Huskies, and she studied business and majored in communication.[10][11] When Dangerfield arrived, the Huskies had won a record 11 total and 4 straightNCAA championships, but during the period she played for them they were to lose three and have one canceled due toCOVID-19.[12]
Dangerfield had offseason hip surgeries in 2016 and 2019.[7] In 2018, she said herquads had gotten too big and she was bothered byshin splints during 2017, her sophomore year.[13] After surgery in 2019, she experienced backspasms and at one point her team had only eight healthy players.[14] The Associated Press said in her senior year at UConn that she was "expected to be the team's leader."[15]
Following the 2019–20 season, Dangerfield was named an Honorable MentionAll-American by theAssociated Press. She was selected for theAmerican Athletic Conference 2017 All-Freshman Team, 2018 All-Tournament Team, 2018 Third Team, 2019 All-Tournament Team, 2019 First Team, 2020 All-Tournament Team, and 2020 First Team; and the2019 NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team.[6]
Dangerfield ranks 6th in assists and 9th in three pointers madeall-time among UConn women's basketball players. Her favorite players areKobe Bryant andMaya Moore.[5]
Dangerfield was drafted with the 16th overall pick in the 2nd round of the2020 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx. Lynx coaches had explained to her that her rookie's role would be as a sub to provide relief for a few minutes per game.[7] By midseason, due to multiple WNBA injuries[16] andOdyssey Sims return from maternity leave,[17] Dangerfield was the startingpoint guard, averaging 14.3 points per game,[18] shooting 47.1% from the field, and was considered a candidate for WNBA Rookie of the Year,[19][20][21] the lowest draft pick ever officially considered for the honor.[22]
For August, she gained WNBA's formal recognition with a Rookie of the Month award for her record of 18.1 points per game, 3.5 assists per game and 2.0 rebounds per game.[23] She repeated as Rookie of the Month in September with 17.4 points per game, 5.0 assists per game and 2.0 rebounds per game.[24]
In her rookie season, Dangerfield was named to the 2020 AP All-Rookie team. She won theAssociated Press Rookie of the Year,[25] ESPN Rookie of the Year,[22] andWNBA Rookie of the Year.[3] She was the Lynx leading scorer for the year with 16.2 points per game.[3]
On 3 May 2022, Dangerfield was waived by the Lynx.[26]
On 6 May 2022, Dangerfield signed a hardship exception contract with the Indiana Fever.[27]
On May 21, 2022, Dangerfield signed a hardship exception contract with the Liberty.[28]
On June 7, 2022, the Liberty ended Dangerfield's contract, but signed a second hardship exception contract two days later.,[29] but then she was released on June 26. On July 3, 2022, the Liberty signed Dangerfield to a rest of season contract.
On January 16, 2023, Dangerfield was traded to theDallas Wings as part of a three-team deal.[30]
On May 4, 2024, the Wings traded Dangerfield to theAtlanta Dream in exchange for a 2025 draft pick.[31] After appearing in fifteen games for the Dream, she was waived on June 26, 2024.[32]
On July 4, 2024, Dangerfield signed a 7-day hardship contract with theLos Angeles Sparks.[33] On July 13, 2024, Dangerfield signed a second 7-day hardship contract.
| 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 |
Stats current through end of 2024 season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Minnesota | 21 | 19 | 30.0 | .471 | .333 | .922 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 2.6 | 16.2 |
| 2021 | Minnesota | 31 | 10 | 20.1 | .388 | .359 | .857 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 7.7 |
| 2022 | Indiana | 3 | 0 | 16.3 | .429 | .333 | 1.000 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 6.0 |
| New York | 30 | 27 | 22.1 | .395 | .323 | .700 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 5.4 | |
| 2023 | Dallas | 35 | 32 | 27.8 | .425 | .290 | .815 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 8.2 |
| 2024 | Atlanta | 15 | 0 | 14.1 | .278 | .217 | 1.000 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 3.1 |
| Los Angeles | 18 | 5 | 12.8 | .286 | .308 | .667 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 3.3 | |
| Career | 6 years, 6 teams | 153 | 93 | 22.1 | .407 | .318 | .853 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 7.5 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Minnesota | 4 | 4 | 34.0 | .340 | .250 | .636 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 11.8 |
| 2021 | Minnesota | 1 | 0 | 24.0 | .200 | .000 | — | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| 2022 | New York | 3 | 2 | 9.0 | .273 | .250 | — | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.3 |
| 2022 | Dallas | 5 | 3 | 11.6 | .533 | .333 | 1.000 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 4.6 |
| Career | 4 years, 3 teams | 8 | 6 | 23.4 | .319 | .227 | .636 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 7.0 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | UConn | 31 | 6 | 24.0 | .403 | .317 | .593 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 6.1 |
| 2017–18 | UConn | 35 | 35 | 28.7 | .454 | .449 | .806 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 9.5 |
| 2018–19 | UConn | 38 | 38 | 34.9 | .431 | .352 | .924 | 3.3 | 5.9 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 13.4 |
| 2019–20 | UConn | 30 | 30 | 35.4 | .463 | .410 | .860 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 14.9 |
| Career | 134 | 109 | 30.9 | .441 | .385 | .833 | 2.8 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 11.0 |
Dangerfield has participated in numerous charities such asLet's Move!, the Foundation for Life, Bikes for Kids, andAthletes for Hope, as well asfood banks. In college, she helped Bags of Love, a501(c)(3)nonprofit organization that supports children, teens, and young adults impacted by cancer, to providetoiletries to homeless people inConnecticut.[10]
Dangerfield is alesbian.[36][37]
· Basketball Reference andNCAA.org
Media related toCrystal Dangerfield at Wikimedia Commons
