Achonwa attended Centennial Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Guelph, Ontario for grade 9 before moving to Hamilton, Ontario to play with Canada Basketball's NEDA program at St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School.
College career
Achonwa was recruited as the first ever international player on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team. In 2011, Achonwa was named to the Big East All-Freshman Team along with being selected Big East Freshman of the Week in her freshman season. In 2012, she was named to the NCAA Raleigh Regional All-Tournament Team. In her junior season, she was named as an Honorable Mention for the Associated Press All-America Team. Since her freshman season, she and her team have had four Final Four appearances and three National Championship appearances. In what ended up being her final home game, the six-foot-three forward suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament with about five minutes left in Notre Dame's 19-point victory over Baylor on March 31, 2014. This win helped push the Irish into the NCAA Final Four. In 2015, Achonwa was selected as the Notre Dame Representative in the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Legends Class.
Achonwa was a member of the Canada women's national basketball team which participated in basketball at the 2015 Pan American Games held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 10 to 26, 2015. Canada opened the preliminary rounds with an easy 101–38 win over Venezuela. The following day they beat Argentina 73–58. The final preliminary game was against Cuba; both teams were 2–0, so the winner would win the group. The game went down to the wire with Canada eking out a 71–68 win. Canada would face Brazil in the semifinal. Canada opened the game with an 11–2 run on seven consecutive points by Miranda Ayim. Miah-Marie Langlois contributed five assists. In the third quarter Canada strongly out rebounded Brazil and hit 69% of their field goals to score 33 points in the quarter. Lizanne Murphy and Nirra Fields hit three-pointers to help extend the lead to 68–39 at the end of three quarters. Canada continued to dominate in the fourth quarter with three-pointers by Kia Nurse and Kim Gaucher. Canada went on to win the game 91–63 to earn a spot in the gold-medal game against the USA. The gold-medal game matched up the host team Canada against USA, in a sold out arena dominated by fans in red and white and waving the Canadian flag. The Canadian team, arm in arm, sang "Oh Canada" as the respective national anthems were played. After trading baskets early the US edged out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter. However, the Canadians, spurred on by the home crowd cheering, fought back and tied up the game at halftime. In the third quarter, it was Canada's time to shine as they outscore the US 26–15. The lead would reach as high as 18 points. The USA fought back, but not all the way, and Canada won the game and the gold medal 81–73. It was Canada's first gold-medal in basketball in the Pan Am games. Nurse was the star for Canada with 33 points, hitting 11 of her 12 free-throw attempts in 10 of her 17 field-goal attempts including two of three three-pointers. Achonwa contributed two rebounds and 13 points.
Professional career
WNBA
Achonwa was drafted ninth overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2014 WNBA draft. She sat out the entire 2014 WNBA season, due to a left knee injury she suffered during her senior year at Notre Dame in the NCAA playoffs. In the fall of 2014, while continuing her rehab, Achonwa took a job as the interim Director of Operations for the Notre Dame women's basketball program. She was filling in for the incumbent Katie Schwab, who was hospitalized with a life-threatening illness. Achonwa did not sign her rookie contract with the Fever until February 2015 once she recovered from her injury. She returned to the court in time for the 2015 WNBA season. In her rookie season, she was a back-up center on the Fever roster, averaging 8 ppg and 3.5 rpg in 28 games with 17 starts. The Fever finished third place in the East with a 20–14 record. By the end of the season, Achonwa was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team. Lead by their two all-stars Tamika Catchings and Marissa Coleman, the Fever advanced all the way to the Finals facing off against the Minnesota Lynx but lost the series 3–2. In the 2016 WNBA season, Achonwa had a reduced role on the Fever's roster playing 24 games while coming off the bench with limited minutes. The Fever made it to the playoffs once again but were eliminated in the first round elimination game by the Phoenix Mercury. During the 2017 season, Achonwa played a full 34 games for the first time in her career while starting in 17 of those games, averaging 7.1 ppg and 3.7 rpg. However, the Fever finished as the second worst team in the league with a 9–25 record.
Overseas
In the 2015–16 off-season, Achonwa played in Italy for Dike Napoli. As of November 2016, Achonwa signed with Bucheon KEB Hana Bank, a South Korean club for the 2016–17 off-season. In 2017, Achonwa signed with Asan Woori Bank Wibee of the South Korean league for the 2017–18 WNBA off-season.
WNBA career statistics
Regular season
Postseason
Personal life
Achonwa's father immigrated from Nigeria to Canada when he was twelve.
