#Woof: WBB Adds Pair of Frontcourt Transfers
#Woof: WBB Adds Pair of Frontcourt Transfers
Washington Women’s Basketball made their first two additions in the transfer portal this cycle as Eastern Michigan Center Tayra Eke and Yale forward Brenna McDonald have committed to the Huskies. Eke averaged career highs last season of 9.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game while being named to the All-MAC Defensive Team and committed last week. McDonald averaged 10.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game and announced this afternoon. Both Eke and McDonald have one year of eligibility remaining.
The 6’3 Eke is a native of Madrid, Spain and started her college career at Long Island University where she played 14 minutes per game coming off the bench but still blocked 1.7 shots per game. She transferred to Eastern Michigan before her sophomore year and started 18 games for the Eagles averaging 8.8 pts, 7.0 reb, and 1.7 blocks per game. As a junior this past season Eke started every game and saw her playing time and her counting stats go up marginally across the board.
Eke definitely qualifies as a traditional center. She has attempted just 6 three-pointers in her career (and made one) so she isn’t going to stretch the floor on offense. She has made between 48-50% of her shots in the MAC each season while playing almost exclusively in the paint and so she isn’t a premium scorer by any stretch. However, she made a career high 75.4% of her free throws this season so she can score when she goes to the line.
Defense is Eke’s calling card and she is at her best operating as a rim protector. She ranked 31st in the country last season in blocks per game while only playing 27 minutes. Eke isn’t likely to lead the Big Ten in blocked shots but there’s every indication that that part of her game will translate moving up a level. This season she had 4 blocks against Michigan in EMU’s only game against a power conference opponent.
McDonald was a part of the class of 2020 coming out of Natick HS in Massachusetts but the Ivy League did not play that season due to the pandemic so she took a redshirt. She didn’t become a regular part of the rotation until her sophomore season when she came off the bench to score 3.1 points per game. This past year though McDonald made a major leap more than doubling her minutes played and setting career highs in every category.
Similar to Eke, McDonald isn’t a premier scoring threat. She doesn’t take outside shots but made 53.9% of her 2-point attempts which was by far the best on Yale’s team. McDonald is good at the free throw line having made 71.2% of her foul shots. She finished 3rd on the Bulldogs in scoring and 2nd in rebounding this past season while contributing almost half of the team’s blocks. Yale played 3 games against power conference teams this past season and McDonald averaged 9.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game in those contests.
Washington really could’ve used either Eke or McDonald last season but will be happy to have them this year. The Huskies had almost no depth at the center position behind starter Dalayah Daniels who averaged 11.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game last season. When she got in foul trouble though, Washington often went small ball and essentially played 5’11 Lauren Schwartz at center. 6’6 true freshman Olivia Anderson showed flashes but wasn’t ready for extended minutes early in the year.
The Huskies this offseason lost Schwartz to graduation and 5’11 Jayda Noble plus 6’0 Ari Long to the transfer portal (Long committed to Oregon last week). Washington is bringing in highly anticipated 6’4 German star Annika Soltau as another piece to the frontcourt puzzle. It seems likely that Daniels and Soltau will start at the 4/5 with the combo of Eke and McDonald backing them up. Having all four on the roster should ensure the Huskies have a rim protector on the court at all times and be able to withstand foul trouble or an injury for a few weeks.
This is likely a make or break season for Tina Langley as Washington returns the core of their team for the 2nd straight offseason and are looking to finally break through to the NCAA tournament as they move to the Big Ten.