Former Boyd County and Lafayette stars among Kentuckians to watch in women’s NCAA tourney
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Louisville, without a Kentuckian on its roster, is the Bluegrass State’s lone representative in the women’s NCAA Tournament’s field of 68 this year, but there are still several players with Kentucky ties to watch in this year’s edition of March Madness.
Starting five
Savannah Wheeler, Middle Tennessee State: The 5-foot-6 senior guard was the 2019 Miss Kentucky Basketball winner at Boyd County after averaging 31.1 points her senior year. She scored 3,621 points in her high school career. Wheeler played her first three seasons at Marshall and led the Thundering Herd in scoring twice. Now in her second season with MTSU, the Conference USA Player of the Year is averaging 17.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists while playing 38.0 minutes per game. She scored 15 points and had nine assists and three steals in the Blue Raiders’ C-USA Tournament championship game victory against Liberty and was named the tourney’s MVP. Wheeler and MTSU will face Louisville in the opening round.
Anaya Brown, UT Martin: The 6-1 sophomore guard starred in high school at Lafayette. She was named first-team All-OVC and is averaging 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Skyhawks. Brown (rest) sat out of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game, which UT Martin lost, but the Skyhawks still got the league’s automatic bid since Southern Indiana is still in the process of reclassifying to Division I.
Jada Walker, Baylor: The 5-7 junior guard played two seasons Kentucky before joining the Bears ahead of this season. She has started all 31 games and is averaging 7.5 points, 3.2 assists and 24.6 minutes.
Dre’Una Edwards, Baylor: The 6-0 graduate forward played two seasons at Kentucky, including hitting the game-winning 3-pointer in the Wildcats’ SEC Tournament title game victory against eventual national champion South Carolina in 2022. She has started 24 of the Bears’ 31 games and is their leading scorer (12.0 points) and third-leading rebounder (6.4).
Hailey Van Lith, LSU: The 5-7 graduate guard scored 1,553 points in three seasons for Louisville before joining the Tigers ahead of this season. She’s averaging 12.3 points and 3.7 assists. Van Lith scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in LSU’s SEC Tournament finals loss to South Carolina.
Sixth woman
Payton Verhulst, Oklahoma: The 6-1 junior guard played two seasons at Louisville before joining the Sooners. She has started all 30 of Oklahoma’s games and is averaging 12.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 28.8 minutes.
In the rotation
Imani Lester, Kansas State: The 6-4 freshman forward was on Louisville’s roster last season but did not play. She has averaged 1.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 6.1 minutes in 19 games played.
Love Mays, UT Martin: The 5-8 freshman guard starred in high school at Danville. She has started nine of 31 games and is averaging 4.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 20.5 minutes.
Zyanna Walker, Kansas State: The 5-8 freshman guard played in five games last season for Louisville. She’s averaging 7.0 points and 3.7 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game for the Wildcats.
Reserves
Kennedy Cambridge, Ohio State: The 5-8 sophomore guard spent her freshman season at Kentucky, averaging 2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds. She hasn’t played this season for the Buckeyes.
Ally Collett, UT Martin: The 5-7 junior guard out of South Laurel previously played at Western Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky. She hasn’t played for the Skyhawks this season.
Tionna Herron, Texas: The 6-4 freshman center was on Kentucky’s roster last year, but did not play after undergoing successful open-heart surgery before the season. She has played in 11 games for the Longhorns, most recently on Jan. 27, and has averaged 1.5 points, 0.7 rebounds and 3.5 minutes.
Timberlynn Yeast, Marshall: The 5-9 freshman forward/guard scored more than 2,100 points in high school at Mercer County. She hasn’t played for the Thundering Herd this season.
This story was originally published March 18, 2024 at 7:15 AM.
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