Georgia Anderson (née Jones), a name synonymous with Basketball in the city of Manchester, stamped her name in the history books this weekend as she became the all time leading scorer in the top flight league. Scoring a basket late in the third quarter of Manchester’s Championship game against Leicester she recorded 2,435 points surpassing Cat Carr’s record of 2,433.

Anderson tied Carr’s record when she put up 10 points against the Nottingham Wildcats earlier this month and entered the weekend needing one point to put her into historic territory. In a full circle moment that basket would come against the team she started her career in the top flight league with: the Leicester Riders. To celebrate Anderson’s incredible achievement we take a look back on her illustrious career to date.

Growing up in Manchester she started playing for the Mystics at 8 years old, representing England, and Great Britain throughout the junior age groups. It was here where Anderson would first share the court with Dominique Allen, setting up a connection as teammates that would span multiple years. Anderson made her senior National Team debut at just 16 and would play for the team at Eurobasket 2007 in Division B, dishing out a team high 5 assists in a win against the Netherlands as the team achieved promotion to Division A. Four years at Oral Roberts university in Oklahoma followed, where she would reunite with her England U18s teammate Allen. Anderson was named “Newcomer of the Year” in her first season for Oral Roberts, after a 20 point game in her debut against Marquette and a 16 assist game in a win against Houston Christian. She would win 2 regular season championships and end her career with 220 made three-pointers, the second-most in programme history at the time and was part of the 1,000-point club.

Anderson headed back to the UK to play for Barking Abbey then spent some time in Romania before signing with the Leicester Riders for the inaugural 2014/15 WBBL (Women’s British Basketball League) season where she spent two seasons and would play with future Manchester Mystics (Rheanne Bailey) and current Manchester Basketball (Maaja Bratka) teammates. In their first game of the season the Riders came out on top against the Brixton Topcats with a 56-47 win and Anderson finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Averaging 11.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg and 3.9 apg, in her first year she set the tone for her career, an all round player who would set up her teammates and could score from anywhere on court. She finished the season 4th in assists per game, 5th in steals and 5th in made three pointers.

After a second season with the Riders, Anderson made the move back to Manchester to play for the Mystics in 2016/17, the city where she would play her next 9 seasons. Teaming back up with Allen and Bailey alongside Lauren Thomas-Johnson, and coached by her dad Jeff Jones, the club reached the final of the inaugural WBBL Cup. Against the Nottingham Wildcats at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham. Anderson would captain the squad to their first piece of silverware with a 71-60 win against the Wildcats as she finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, Allen was named MVP after putting up 21 points and 11 rebounds. In the same season Anderson averaged a career high 17.8 ppg and led the WBBL in assists (6.8) and made three pointers (50).

Further history would be made in the 2018 offseason as Anderson was named to the England team who competed at the Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast. Alongside her were Allen, her England U16s teammate Hannah Shaw and future Manchester player Nicolette Fairley. Finishing 3rd in group qualifying, England beat Jamaica in the quarter final and faced a Canadian team ranked 5th in the world, in the semis. In a game for the ages, England upset the higher ranked team who had beaten them 80-54 in the group stages, 65-53 booking their place in the final against Australia. Whilst Australia would secure the Gold medal at home, England finished with Silver.

A top tier facilitator, Anderson’s connections with her teammates and court vision is on display whenever she steps on the court. Over the course of her career, Anderson led the WBBL in assists 3 times, finishing in the top 4 in each of her first 8 seasons. In 2018/19 she led the league with a career high 8.1 assists, a figure that only 2 other players have achieved since – Kennedy Leonard (11.3 in 2020/21 and 8.3 in 2021/22) and Lauren Saiki (8.5 in 2022/23). At the time of writing, in her 11th season, Anderson is currently 9th in the SLB with 4 assists a game.

Following the 2018/19 season Anderson was named to the GB team playing in her 4th Eurobasket tournament, where the team achieved a historic fourth place finish and booked their place at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Tokyo 2020. She would dish out 3 assists in the 3rd placed game against hosts Serbia.

A COVID shortened 2019/20 season followed as the league was suspended in March 2020 as the Mystics sat in 6th place in the standings with 10 wins and 5 losses and Anderson once again leading the league in assists (7.1 per game). As the 2020/21 season got underway, the Mystics reunited Anderson and Allen with their Commonwealth Games teammates Shaw and Fairley. Finishing with a 10-10 record in 5th place the Mystics would reach the playoffs but fall short against Nottingham. Anderson ended the season averaging 17.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg 5.3 apg and led the league for the third time in 3 pointers made with 63.

In the 2021/22 season Anderson averaged 7 assists a game (joint 3rd in the SLB) along with 13.8 points and 4.3 rebounds. She notched up a career high 18 assists against Newcastle and in a testament to her connection on court with Allen, 31% of Anderson’s assists this season came from makes at the basket by Allen for the Mystics. The Mystics would miss the playoffs after a 9th place finish.

Following a season away from the game to start a family, Anderson returned to the court with the rebranded Manchester Giants for 2023/24 season reuniting with Shaw and Thomas-Johnson alongside Bailey who stepped into the Assistant Coach role on the team. In another first, Anderson was voted to Captain the North All Star Team against the South.

Over the course of her career, Anderson has hit milestone after milestone, setting and breaking records. in 2024/25 playing for the newly formed Manchester Basketball franchise, Anderson became the only player ever to reach 1000 assists in top flight play, reaching the achievement in a game against the Cardiff Met Archers where she dished out a season high 7 assists.

Across the Manchester WBBL franchises she has played for (both the Mystics and Giants), Anderson is the all time leader in points, assists, steals, 3 pointers, free throws and field goals made (Dominique Allen takes the rebounding top spots). She has recorded the most 30+ point games (4) and the most games with 10+ assists (18), a testament to her consistency, elite performance and dedication to the game.

Entering her 11th season in top flight play this year as the second all time leading scorer with 2,420 points it would take 3 games into the season for Anderson to etch her name in the history books once again, setting a record that would appear insurmountable. Her 2020/21 teammate Helen Naylor takes 3rd place on the list with 2,320 points and the next active player is Manchester’s Nicolette Fairley, in 5th, who entered the season 755 points away from Carr’s original record while Sheffield Hatter’s Georgia Gayle is in 8th. As Anderson herself once said (when Kennedy Leonard passed her single game assist record), “Records are made to be broken”. Only time will tell if this is one that will be but as it stands, Georgia Anderson, the all-time leading scorer in top flight basketball in the UK, is in a league of her own.

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Words by Caz Bullock of Focus Hoops