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Kyla McMakin

Women's Basketball

Women’s Basketball Adds Kyla McMakin to Roster

Saint Louis head women's basketball coach Rebecca Tillett has announced that 5-foot-11 guard Kyla McMakin (Virginia Beach, Va.) will transfer to the University and play for the Billikens beginning next fall.

McMakin was a three-time Big South All-Conference first team member at Longwood University where she recorded more than 1,600 points in three seasons, helped the Lancers to an NCAA Tournament victory and led the conference in scoring in back-to-back seasons.

"Kyla is both an elite and benevolent scorer," Tillett said. "She is a fierce competitor who thrives in big game environments and high pressure moments. She always wants to make the best play and is team first through and through. She has been leading programs since she was a freshman and the expectations will remain high for her to lead again. Challenge her to any game and watch her competitive fire rise. I am grateful she chose SLU."

McMakin's 1,629 career points are fifth best among juniors in the NCAA, while her career average of 18.3 points is sixth. The guard joined the 1,000-point club just 54 games into her career. In only three years, including a 2020-21 COVID-abbreviated season, McMakin wraps up her Big South career ranked 17th all-time in scoring in the league.

The guard tallied a historic season in 2021-22, helping guide the Lancers to victories in 15 of their final 17 games and turning in their best overall and league records since joining the Big South almost 10 years ago, finishing 22-12 overall and 15-3 in the conference. The Lancers defeated Mount St. Mary's in their March Madness debut in the NCAA's inaugural women's basketball First Four.

McMakin finished the year ranked 23rd nationally with 619 points, a number that would hold the top spot in the record book in a single season for the Billikens. Her 235 made field goals were 20th in the NCAA, while her 18.2 points per game were 53rd. McMakin also sunk 71 three-pointers, good enough for 61st nationally.

The Virginia Beach, Va., native averaged 18.8, 17.9 and 18.3 points, respectively, across her first three collegiate seasons. It's been 13 years since a Billiken has topped any of those numbers. Theresa Lisch is the most recent and just one-of-six Billikens to do so with a 19.1 scoring average in the 2008-09 season.

As a sophomore in 2020-21, McMakin led the Big South in scoring for a second straight season and helped the Lancers earn a berth in the Women's Basketball Invitational.

McMakin prepped at Ocean Lakes High School where she recorded 1,990 points and 1,055 rebounds, with averages of 25.7 points and 18.0 rebounds. She became the first player at Ocean Lakes to secure 1,000 rebounds in her illustrious career. She was named the 2019 Regional Player of the Year and Virginia Beach 2019 Player of the Year and earned a spot on the 2019 first-team All-Region team.

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