Cavigal Nice Sports had been looking for a center since the injury of Butler; Mendisa Stevenson, who was on trial for a month, was not the right player that the club from Nice was searching for.
Indeed, as the American is more of a high post player, Serge Provillard wanted a true center. With the budget of Nice not being flexible and the market very restricted or very expensive, the Nice directors led by their president Louis Bacchialoni opted for the arrival of a young Lithuanian, Kristina Cesnaviciute. A tall center at 2.03 meters, the 22-year-old from Kaunas is having her first professional experience in a European club.
She comes from the American collegiate system of the NCAA where she played for Virginia Commonwealth University as a “Freshman” in 2001/2002, then as a “Sophomore” the following season, and a “Junior” for the 2004-2005 season where she averaged 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in 18 minutes of game time per match.
She participated as a member of the Lithuanian junior team in the European Junior Championship in 2000 and the Junior World Championship in 2001 where she played against Clรฉmence Beikes as well as at the Universiade in Izmir, Turkey.
Kristina Cesnaviciute becomes the tallest player in the Women’s Basketball League (LFB) at 2.03 meters, positioning Cavigal Nice with the unique feature of having both the shortest player (Johanna Martinez at 1.57 meters) and the tallest player in the LFB.
She will debut in the next game in Nice, on Saturday, October 29, against Strasbourg.
