Anderson women’s basketball player wins gold for native country of Azerbaijan

Anderson University women’s basketball player Alexy Mollenhauer has won gold for her native country of Azerbaijan in the Islamic Solidarity Games, a multinational, multi-sport event involving elite athletes from the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Mollenhauer, a freshman at Anderson, was chosen by Azerbaijan coach Tatayana Slojenitsina to represent the country in 3-on-3 basketball. Mollenhauer and teammates competed against teams from Turkmenistan, Algeria, Mali and Afghanistan in a half-court setting in an arena with a capacity for 1,500 spectators.

Mollenhauer collected four points and three rebounds in a 13-7 win over Mali in the gold-medal game. She scored a total of 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds leading up to the gold-medal contest.

During her freshman season at Anderson, Mollenhauer excelled on the court and in the classroom. The Trojan guard earned South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year honors while carrying a 4.0 grade-point-average for the academic year while studying secondary English education.

The Islamic Solidarity Games is organized by the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation. The 10-day event, which was in its fourth edition, brought together the 57 members of the ISSF with this year’s event taking place in the Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan.