SPOKANE, Wash. -- Recent Gonzaga women's basketball graduate, Keani Albanez, has signed with Panathinaikos in the Greek First Division.

After playing for the USA Women's All-Star Basketball team in China over the summer, Albanez signed with the Greek pro club. Panathinaikos AC Women's Basketball is the women's basketball department of the major Greek multi-sport club Panathinaikos A.O. The department was founded in 1937 creating the first and oldest women's basketball team in the country.

"I would like to say I had more to do with the process but my agent is great and handled everything smoothly," Albanez said. "My job was to just stay ready and in shape. I got the call that I was going to Greece. I had five days to get to there for practice. So, I packed up and on my birthday jumped on a 15-hour flight."

Panathinaikos opened the season with a pair of victories in its first two games. Albanez started in the season-opener and scored a game-high 16 points. She began her pro career making seven of her 10 shots from the field in 28 minutes.

"Panathinaikos has a huge fan base, because they have been around the longest," Albanez said. "The fans are very loyal to their team and are very passionate. They yell and chant songs all game long. It is a very unique atmosphere to play in, but I love it. There are no fans like our Zag fans, and I definitely miss them, but this new bunch is something quite different."

While at GU, Albanez played in four NCAA Tournaments, won four West Coast Conference titles, and was a part of 110 victories.

"The best memory I had at Gonzaga was going all the way to the Sweet 16 my senior year with the best teammates a girl could ask for," Albanez said. "Being able to play in the Spokane Arena in front of all of those Zag fans for my last game was amazing. I still get goosebumps today just thinking about that atmosphere and the way the Spokane community embraced us."

In her four years as a Zag, Albanez appeared in 132 games, which is sixth all-time in program history. She started 68 consecutive games. She tallied 1,038 points during her GU career, which is 20th all-time in program history. She averaged a career-best 13.1 points per game in 2014-15.

Albanez was named All-West Coast Conference second team last season. In her GU career, she had seven 20-point games, with six coming in 2014-15. The Santa Barbara, Calif. native is fifth all-time in program history with a career 80.6 free-throw percentage. She is fourth all-time at GU with 164 made three-pointers in her career.

Proving she was a defensive threat as well, Albanez totaled 180 steals in her career, which is eighth on the Gonzaga all-time list. She finished second in the conference last season averaging 2.4 steals per contest.

"Overseas basketball is very different from the states," Albanez said. "I would say it's a lot more tactical. My team is known for a fast-pace transition game, which is the way Gonzaga has played for years. Playing for Gonzaga you learn great fundamentals and how to play hard, but most importantly, how to play smart. The skills that I learned at Gonzaga I am definitely putting to use over here. My Pana coaches believe very much in film and scouting to exploit each individual player. This is something that the Gonzaga coaching staff does a great job of and is a great deal of why we have been so successful on the defensive side.

"Gonzaga has helped mold me to be a more mature, strong, independent woman. I was taught a lot of life lessons over the four years that I was there. I think that it helped make me a well-rounded person. I was lost like any other kid who graduates from high school, but in May of 2015, I can honestly say that I found myself, my purpose and who I wanted to be. Gonzaga has given me so much more than just an education and I am forever grateful. I can't wait to get back on campus as an alum."

Albanez has earned the opportunity to play professionally, but being in Athens, Greece, has its perks.

"I've lived here just over a month now, so I'm just getting settled into my place and meeting new people and making friends," Albanez said. "My team is full of nice young women with experience. So, I am learning a lot and trying to soak everything in as much as I can. Unfortunately I haven't got to see much of Athens yet. But I see Acropolis almost every day because it looks over the city. This is the perfect place to start out my overseas career because it's a nice place, very busy, and mostly everyone can speak at least a little bit of English. So it helps make the transition a little easier."

Panathinaikos plays Olympiacos Pireus in its next game Saturday. The team's 18-game regular season stretches to mid-March.