Anita Ortega is an Afro-Puerto Rican former collegiate basketball player at UCLA. She was an All-American. The team went on to defeat the University of Maryland, College Park in 1978 to take the Division I collegiate title (National Champions). In 1979, she played in the 1979 Pan American Games, representing Puerto Rico. Her father was born in Bayamón. Ortega played in the Women's Basketball League (WBL) from 1979 to 1981. She was an all-star for the San Francisco Pioneers. In 1982, Ortega returned to her alma mater as an assistant basketball coach.