JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Eight transfer players and a high school senior have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Lincoln women's basketball team, head coach Andrea Mize announced on Tuesday (Aug. 3).
Ayreona Carter (Kansas City, Kan./Iowa Western CC), Mercy Gonzalez (Miami, Fla./Colorado-Colorado Springs), Hya Haywood (Evansville, Ind./Three Rivers), Imani Jones (Sarasota, Fla./Northwest Florida State), Bailey Lewis (Sanger, Texas/Coastal Carolina), Le'Yanna McGinnis (Olathe, Kan./Cloud County CC), Kelsey Mitchell (Tipton, Ind./Lincoln Trail), Kimora Pooler (Oxnard, Calif./Ventura) and local high school star Kylie Bernskoetter (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) will each join the Blue Tigers for the upcoming 2021-22 season.
"My staff and I are thrilled to be bringing nine new faces to join an already proven roster of six returning players," Mize said. "Our first year in the MIAA was a learning experience, and allowed us to find the gaps remaining in our roster. My staff worked tirelessly to fill those gaps and bring a group of individuals to Lincoln that not only fit us from a basketball standpoint, but culturally as we work towards continuing our growth within the Jefferson City area community."
Carter, a 6-0 forward, averaged 5.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in her only season at Iowa Western Community College. Carter played in 17 games and helped the Reivers post a 22-3 record, including a 19-1 mark in conference games. Carter played at Piper High, where she earned All-Class 4A honorable mention honors as a senior.
Gonzalez, a 5-11 combination guard and forward, appeared in 14 games last season at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. Gonzalez scored 51 points and tallied 14 steals and 10 blocks in her only season with the Mountain Lions. As a freshman, Gonzalez averaged 5.2 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting .439 from the floor at Eastern Florida State College. During her high school career at John A. Ferguson, Gonzalez led the team to the state final four in both 2016 and 2017, including a state runner-up finish in 2017.
A 5-6 guard, Haywood appeared in 25 games and averaged 11.6 points at Three Rivers College this past season. Haywood, who began her collegiate career at NCAA Division I program Western Kentucky University, helped lead Three Rivers to the final four of the NJCAA national tournament in 2021. Haywood graduated from Montverde Academy in Florida, where she led the program to a 21-4 record. She also averaged 18.6 points, 4.1 boards, 3.1 steals and 2.8 assists as a junior at Evansville Central High.
A 5-10 forward, Jones was a member of a Northwest Florida State College program that won the NJCAA national championship in 2020-21. Jones shot .543 from the field and was a key player off the bench as the Raiders won their first national title in program history. Jones played ball her freshman year at Embry-Riddle, where she averaged 7.0 points and 4.9 rebounds while leading the team in blocks. Jones additionally averaged 8.7 points, 3.8 boards and 1.4 steals during her senior season at Sarasota High.
Lewis, a 6-7 center, spent her freshman season at Coastal Carolina University, an NCAA Division I program, and appeared in 12 contests. A McDonald's All-American nominee in high school, Lewis finished her senior season on the TAPPS 1-6A first team list.
A 6-1 forward, McGinnis earned first team All-KJCCC East and second team All-NJCAA Region VI honors at Cloud County Community College last season. McGinnis led the league with 21.3 points per game finished fourth in the conference with 9.4 rebounds per contest. McGinnis scored in double figures in 19 of the team's 21 games, including pouring in 35 in a single contest, and posted 10 double-doubles on the season. A three-time Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Class 6A All-State honorable mention at Olathe North High, McGinnis helped the program win the 6A Substate Championship as a junior and a senior and led the team to the Kansas 6A State Final Four as a senior.
Mitchell, a 5-7 guard, played in 44 games at Lincoln Trail College over the past two years. During her sophomore season, she averaged 10.7 points and shot .425 from the field and .370 from three-point range. That followed a strong freshman campaign in which she averaged 12.3 points on .405 shooting. Mitchell was a team captain at Tipton High during her senior season, and she averaged 14.4 points and 4.3 rebounds en route to earning first team all-area accolades.
A 6-2 forward, Pooler averaged 6.9 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting .429 in 28 games at Ventura College. Pooler enjoyed a stellar high school career at Pacifica High, averaging a double-double for her career with 10.2 ppg. and 11.4 rpg. Pooler earned three All-Pacific View League honors, two all-county awards and was the school's athlete of the year as a senior. As a sophomore, she led Pacifica to a conference championship, and took the program to the state championship tournament as a junior.
Bernskoetter, a 5-9 guard, earned first team all-conference and Class 5 All-District honors following her senior season at Helias. Bernskoetter set a Crusader single-game record with 37 points against Capital City and led the team to the district tournament in 2020-21.
