2023’s Miss Basketball, six ex-Cats among Kentuckians to watch in women’s NCAA Tournament

The 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament field has several former Kentucky high school basketball stars, including the 2023 Miss Basketball winner, in its field of 68 teams that includes UK, Louisville and Murray State.

And yet it’s the abundance of transfer players with ties to the Bluegrass State that might stand out. That includes six players who previously spent time at Kentucky and four more who were at Louisville.

Here’s a look at players with ties to Kentucky who’ll get a chance to star in this year’s edition of NCAA March Madness.

Starting five

Haven Ford, Murray State: A 5-foot-6 sophomore guard, Ford was Kentucky’s Miss Basketball winner in 2023 after starring for Rowan County. She’s averaging 15.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists for the Racers (25-7, 16-4), the Missouri Valley Conference’s regular season and tournament champions and was named second-team all-conference. She scored five points to go with 12 rebounds and nine assists in Murray State’s league title-game victory against Belmont. … Ford was named to the MVC All-Freshman Team after averaging 9.9 points, 3.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds in 2023-24. … She’s Rowan County’s all-time leading scorer (3,326 points) and assists leader (783).

Ajae Petty, Ohio State: This is the third college stop for the 6-foot-3 graduate forward from Baltimore. She played for LSU as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to Kentucky for her junior and senior seasons. She has started all 31 games and is averaging 9.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 17 assists for the Buckeyes (25-6, 13-5 Big Ten). … Petty made all 32 starts as a senior at UK, averaging 14.2 points and 10.6 rebounds.

Hailey Van Lith, TCU: A 5-foot-9 graduate guard out of Wenatchee, Washington, Van Lith played three seasons at Louisville and one at LSU before joining the Horned Frogs (31-3, 16-2 Big 12). She is averaging 17.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists for the Big 12’s regular season and tournament champions and was named the Big 12’s player and newcomer of the year. Van Lith scored 20 points and had three assists in TCU’s Big 12 title-game victory against Baylor.

Payton Verhulst, Oklahoma: A 6-foot-1 senior guard from De Soto, Kansas, who began her college career at Louisville, Verhulst was named second-team All-SEC after averaging 14.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists for the Sooners (25-7, 11-5). Last season, when Oklahoma was still in the Big 12, she was the league’s newcomer of the year and a first-team All-Big 12 selection after averaging 12.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists. … Verhulst, an ACC All-Freshman selection with the Cardinals, played in eight games as a sophomore for Louisville before transferring to Oklahoma midseason.

Jada Walker, Baylor: The 5-foot-7 senior guard from Richmond, Virginia, played at Kentucky for two seasons before transferring to Baylor two years ago. She’s averaging 11.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists for the Bears (27-7, 15-3 Big 12). … Walker started in all 31 games for Kentucky as a sophomore in 2022-23, averaging 12.9 points and 3.1 rebounds.

Sixth women

Eniya Russell, Mississippi State: The 6-foot graduate guard/forward from Baltimore spent two seasons at South Carolina, then two at Kentucky before transferring to play for the Bulldogs (21-11, 7-9 SEC). Russell has started 21 of 32 games this season, averaging 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists. She had 13 points and six rebounds in a loss to Kentucky on Jan. 2. … Russell averaged 10.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists as a senior at UK.

Marie Kiefer, Ball State: A 6-foot-2 senior forward, Kiefer played in high school at Bishop Brossart and has started all 33 games she has played in. She averages 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 29.5 minutes for the Cardinals (27-7, 16-2), the MAC’s regular season and tournament champions. Kiefer had seven points and five rebounds against Toledo in the tournament’s championship game.

In the rotation

Kennedy Cambridge, Ohio State: The 5-foot-8 sophomore guard from Nashville, Tennessee, redshirted last season after playing her freshman year at Kentucky, where she averaged 2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds. Cambridge averages 5.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists this season for the Buckeyes (25-6, 13-5 Big Ten). … Her sister, Jaloni Cambridge, also plays for Ohio State and averages 15.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists.

Imani Lester, Kansas State: The 6-foot-4 sophomore forward from Raleigh, North Carolina, transferred to Kansas State after sitting out her lone season at Louisville. She’s averaging 2.6 points and 2.8 rebounds for the Wildcats (26-7, 13-5 Big 12).

Whitney Lind, Lehigh: The 6-foot-2 sophomore forward, who starred in high school at Cooper, averages 5.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.6 assists as a reserve for the Mountain Hawks (27-6, 15-3), the Patriot League’s regular season and tournament champions. … She contributed 4.5 points and 2.7 rebounds as a freshman. … Lind scored 2,257 points and grabbed 1,000 rebounds during her high school career.

Deasia Merrill, TCU: The 6-foot-1 graduate guard, who previously played four seasons at Georgia State and sat out one season at Kentucky with an injury, is from Villa Rica, Georgia. She’s averaging 4.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 6.0 minutes in 20 games for the Horned Frogs, the Big 12’s regular season and tournament champions. Merrill did not play in TCU’s conference title-game victory.

Khamari Mitchell-Steen, Florida Gulf Coast: The 5-foot-7 senior guard from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, played three seasons at Northern Kentucky before joining the Eagles (30-3, 18-0), the ASUN Conference’s regular season and tournament champions. She has started 29 of 33 games this season, averaging 9.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists. … Mitchell-Steen averaged 13.7 points and 5.0 rebounds as a junior at NKU.

Cassidy Rowe, Kentucky: The 5-foot-5 junior guard from Virgie committed to Kentucky (22-7, 11-5 SEC) as a freshman at Shelby Valley High School. She has averaged 0.9 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 11.4 minutes across 16 games played this season. … As a sophomore, she contributed 2.6 points and 1.3 assists in 17.4 minutes for the Wildcats.

Zyanna Walker, Kansas State: The 5-foot-11 sophomore guard from Wichita, Kansas, started her college career at Louisville and played in five games in her lone season with the Cardinals (2022-23). This season, she’s averaging 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 steals for the Wildcats (26-7, 13-5 Big 12). She was an All-Big 12 Defensive Team selection.

Malea Williams, Florida State: The 6-foot-4 former Scott County star spent one season at Louisville and three at Cincinnati before joining the Seminoles (23-8, 13-5 ACC) ahead of this season as a graduate transfer. Williams is averaging 4.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 0.8 blocks, 0.6 assists and 0.6 steals in 17.8 minutes in 22 games played. She had seven points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in 21 minutes in Florida State’s loss to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. … She shot 36.8% from long range and averaged 8.3 points and 5.9 rebounds last season for the Bearcats.

Reserves

Maleah Alexander, Liberty: The 5-foot-7 freshman guard out of Cooper High School is redshirting this season for the Flames (26-6, 16-2 C-USA). … Shaun Alexander, her uncle, was Kentucky’s Mr. Football in 1994 (Boone County) and went on to play for Alabama in college and for nine years in the NFL, primarily for the Seattle Seahawks. He was the NFL MVP in 2005.

Reagan Bender, Louisville: The 5-foot-10 freshman guard won four Girls’ Sweet 16 state championships with Sacred Heart. In four seasons, all as a starter, Bender totaled 1,818 points, 477 rebounds and 212 3-pointers; the Valkyries compiled a 128-20 record during that span. … Bender has appeared in nine games for the Cardinals (21-10, 13-5 ACC), averaging 1.4 points and 0.4 rebounds in 8.1 minutes. … Her grandfather, Bob Bender Sr., played football and baseball for the Cardinals in the early 1950s, and he was inducted into the University of Louisville Hall of Fame in 1992.

Maddie Scherr, TCU: The former Ryle High School and University of Kentucky star, a 5-10 graduate guard, is taking a medical redshirt due to a back injury. She played two seasons at Oregon and two at UK before transferring to TCU (31-3, 16-2 Big 12). Scherr intends to return to TCU and play her final college season in 2025-26. … Scherr averaged 12.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists last season at Kentucky. … She was the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020, and was named Kentucky Miss Basketball in 2020. Scherr was the Girls’ Sweet 16 MVP in 2019 when Ryle won the state championship.

Destiny Thomas, Murray State: The 5-foot-10 sophomore guard/forward out of McCracken County hasn’t played since Jan. 24 after being sidelined by a season-ending knee injury. She was averaging 3.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists for the Racers (25-7, 16-4 MVC). … She totaled 2,559 points and 1,045 rebounds during her high school career. … Her brother Rod Thomas played men’s basketball at Murray State.

Jenna Walker, Murray State: The 5-foot-8 senior guard from Priceville, Alabama, has been sidelined all season by a knee injury. She averaged 2.2 points as a junior. … Walker played her first collegiate season at Western Kentucky (2021-22).

This story was originally published March 17, 2025 at 3:25 PM.

Dennis Varney

Lexington Herald-Leader

Dennis Varney is a former journalist for the Herald-Leader