HAREN, Netherlands (Aug. 10, 2021) – Former Oklahoma Christian teammates Carolyne Lawley and Addy Clift will play basketball together once again, this time in the professional ranks.
Martini Sparks, a Dutch women's club that plays in the Vrouwen Basketball League – the highest level in that European nation – has announced the signing of both Clift and Lawley. Both will be entering their second pro seasons – Lawley will move to The Netherlands from Portugal, while Clift played last season for the Oklahoma Ravens of the Women's Universal Basketball Association.
Lawley, a 6-foot-2 center-forward from Tishomingo, Okla., played in 2020-21 for Esgueira of Portugal's Liga Feminina de Basquetebol 1st Division, averaging 9 points and 5 rebounds per game.
She played the last three seasons with the Lady Eagles after transferring from Murray State College in her hometown, starting 58 games. As a senior in 2019-20, she averaged 6.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 35.7 percent from the field and 71.2 percent from the free-throw line.
"I am grateful for another opportunity to play this game," Lawley said, "and with one of my closest friends on top of that! Thank you to my family, my agent and everyone who helped make this possible and for believing in me. We're going to Holland!"
Robert Tinga, the coach of Martini Sparks, likes Lawley's versatility.
′′Carolyne is a good inside player for our team," Tinga said. "She's a player who works hard and defends hard. Offensively she plays (forward and center) and is someone who can play basketball with their back (to the basket), but also has a good midrange shot."
Clift, a 5-foot-6 guard from Kiowa, Okla., ranks among the best players ever to wear an OC uniform. She earned NCAA Division II All-America honors as both a junior and senior. The latter season, 2018-19, she led Division II in scoring at 26.4 points per game and was named as the Heartland Conference's player of the year.
She holds most of the Heartland's career, season and single-game scoring records as well as numerous OC scoring marks. She ranks fifth in career scoring (tops among guards) in OC history with 2,104 points. During the 2019-20 academic year, she remained at OC and competed on the Eagles' cross country and indoor track and field teams.
"I'm just very grateful for this opportunity! After playing in the semi pro league here in Oklahoma, I thought I was done," Clift said. "Not many coaches wanted to sign me because of my size, on top of the uncertainty with Covid. I'm glad that it has happened in this way though, especially since I get to go play with Carolyne again! God's timing has been perfect! My family and I are overwhelmed, but in a great way. I know that God will be with us wherever we go and that none of this would have happened without Him."
Clift led the WUBA in scoring last season at 24.3 points per game and has a reputation as a long-distance sharpshooter.
′′Addy is a player with a lot of scoring capabilities (who) should give us offensively many extra opportunities," Tinga said. "In addition, she is someone who works hard and fits well within the philosophy of the game we want to see."
