Paula begun playing basketball at the age of ten, and in 1974, was invited to join Assis Tênis Clube.

In 1991, Paula and the Brazilian women's national basketball team won the gold medal at that year's Pan American tournament, held in Cuba, being the player which most impressed Cuban president Fidel Castro.

In 1993, Paula went to Associação Atlética Ponte Preta, where she played along with Hortência and won the World Championship for clubs.

In 1996, she won a silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics, and retired from the national team after winning the 1997 FIBA Americas Championship for Women.

After retirement, Paula became an entrepreneur, director of the Centro Olímpico do Ibirapuera, and worked for a while in the Brazilian Ministry of Sports.