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Writer's pictureCanada West

Joanne Sargent (WBB | Student-athlete)



NAME: Joanne Sargent

UNIVERSITY: UBC

CATEGORY: Student-Athlete

SPORT: Women’s Basketball

YEARS ACTIVE: 1968-1973


HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Three-time Canadian university champion (1970, 1972, 1973)

  • Captain of the 1976 Canadian Olympic women’s basketball team

  • Inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame (2019)


BIOGRAPHY:


A tremendous defender and play-maker known for hustle and leadership, Joanne Sargent was a vital cog during the golden age of UBC women’s basketball.


Over Sargent’s five-season career, UBC won four WCIAA/Canada West titles, the 1970 Canadian Senior 'A' championship and three Canadian university titles, including 1973, when the T-Birds outscored their opposition 117-69 in the semifinal and final games in a dominant performance en route to capturing the Bronze Baby.



Sargent played for the Canadian national team from 1970 to 1976, appearing at two Pan American Games, two FIBA World Championships, and serving as its captain at 1976 Summer Games in Montreal, where she recorded 14 assists in a single game to establish an Olympic record that stood until 2000. She is one of only four UBC women’s basketball alumni to compete in the Summer Olympics.


The guard also played on several Canadian Senior' A' national championship teams, including 1981 when she was named MVP while leading her British Columbia squad to the title.


Sargent was born in McBride, B.C. and spent her pre-teen years in Terrace before moving to Salmon Arm as a 12-year-old. She won three consecutive B.C. high school championships between 1965 and 1967 with the Salmon Arm Jewels prior to joining the T-Birds for the 1968-69 season.


After graduating, Sergent pursued a career in television and worked with the CBC, before becoming an associate producer at BCTV in Vancouver.


In 2019, Sargent was inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the UBC Sports Hall of Fame, British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, Basketball B.C. Hall of Fame, and Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame.

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