Mary-Anna Asare dribbles the ball in her right hand while motioning with her left hand while looking down the court.
VCU junior guard Mary-Anna Asare (11) brings the ball up the court during a game against Temple at the Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, Va. on Nov. 15, 2024. (Photo credit: VCU Athletics)

VCU junior guard Mary-Anna Asare represented Canada at the youth national team level at the 2022 FIBA U18 Women’s Americas Championship and in 2023 at the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup. After finishing up her classes in the spring of 2024, Asare returned home to Canada and was working out with the national team in preparation for VCU’s summer session. In June 2024, she was one of 15 players who attended Canada Basketball’s senior women’s national team training camp in Victoria ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“Mary, just being Mary, they created a spot for her, a roster spot, so that … she could keep that intensity up and help them,” VCU head coach Beth O’Boyle told The Next. “And when you get to play for your national team, it’s so amazing. And so they created her a spot. I think that says a lot about her. And then when she got to come back, it wasn’t just about Mary’s experience, it was about how could she share that with our team?” 


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Natalie Heavren has been a contributor to The IX Basketball since February 2019 and currently writes about the Atlantic 10 conference, the WNBA and the WBL.