UCCS adds NJCAA standouts, bolsters 2026-27 women’s basketball class
UCCS made its 10th addition to the 2026-27 women’s basketball class on June 24, and the move says as much about roster construction as it does about talent. The Mountain Lions chose a multi-school guard-forward with a junior-college championship on her résumé, signaling a clear preference for experience, adaptability and players ready to contribute quickly in Division II.
Her NJCAA resume is the anchor point. At New Mexico Junior College in 2023-24, she earned WJCAC All-Conference Honorable Mention and helped the Thunderbirds win the conference title and reach the Elite Eight of the NJCAA National Tournament. She also set two program records, one for three-pointers made in a game and another for three-pointers made in a season, and posted two 27-point performances during that season. For a program trying to compress development time, that kind of production matters as much as upside.
UCCS described the newcomer as part of a class that now includes three freshmen and six transfers, a mix that points to immediate roster usability rather than a long rebuild. That balance is telling in women’s basketball, where veteran transfers often decide whether a team can stabilize its rotation quickly enough for a strong first year together. The Mountain Lions are not just adding bodies. They are layering in players who have already been through multiple systems and have had to adapt at each stop.
Her path has already stretched from McLennan Community College to New Mexico Junior College, then to Morehead State and Metropolitan State University of Denver. She played 29 games at McLennan as a freshman, then later contributed 34 points and nine rebounds across 13 games at Morehead State. At MSU Denver, she produced 20 points, 10 rebounds and four steals in three games, even in a limited sample. That span of stops underscores why junior-college recruits remain so valuable: they bring proof of production, but also the toughness that comes from fitting into new roles on the fly.
For UCCS, the calculus is straightforward. A player with NJCAA title experience, a record-setting shooting season and a history of competing across multiple levels gives the Mountain Lions a more game-ready option for 2026-27 than a longer-term project.