Gülşah Akkaya

Gülşah Akkaya — Biography

Gülşah Akkaya (born October 6, 1977, in Bornova, İzmir) is a former Turkish national basketball player who competed as a forward. She began playing at age 13, coming up through Deniz Nakliyat and Fenerbahçe before spending two seasons at Lynn University in the United States (1997-1999), where her scoring average in Boca Raton ranked among the best single-season marks in the program's history.

After returning to Turkey she went on to play for Fenerbahçe again, Greece's Panserraikos, Israel's YES Ramat HaSharon and Erdemirspor, won gold with the Turkish national team at the 2005 Mediterranean Games, and led the Turkish Women's Basketball League in scoring in the 2004-05 season. Her career also included spells with Beşiktaş, Mersin B.B., Galatasaray, Spain's El Cadi La Seu d'Urgell, Samsun B.K. and TED Ankara Kolejliler, and she was part of the squad that won silver at EuroBasket Women 2011.

Since retiring as a player, Akkaya has moved into basketball administration, serving as a member of the Turkish Basketball Federation's (TBF) Board of Directors and speaking publicly on the development of women's basketball in Turkey.