PROVO — BYU women’s basketball announced the signings of Kayla Belles and Tegan Graham on Wednesday with both anticipated to add depth to the 2020-21 team.
Belles is a 6-foot-3 forward from Ithaca, Michigan, who has been playing at Michigan State for the last two years.
Graham is a 6-foot guard from Wellington, New Zealand, who played the last four years at Colgate University. She has one more year of eligibility and will play one season for the Cougars.
Belles played in 49 games starting in 17 in her two seasons with Michigan State. She averaged 5.4 points and 3.5 rebounds while tallying a total of 267 points, 170 rebounds, 12 assists, 29 steals and 39 blocks. She shot 45.4% from the field and 56.7% from the free-throw line. Belles averaged 16 minutes of playing time during the 2019-20 campaign.
While at Ithaca High School, she led the team to a 65-10 record over her three seasons and finished her junior season averaging 19 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots per game. She missed her senior season due to an injury.
The Cougars are hoping Belles can help replace graduating seniors Jasmine Moody and Shalae Salmon in adding depth to the frontcourt.
“We’re excited to have Kayla,” said BYU coach Jeff Judkins. “We recruited her when she was in high school so we’re happy to get her here. She’s physical and her size and inside presence will be a great help for us. She got to play in a big conference for two years and that experience will be an added plus for us.”
Graham ranks sixth all time in 3-point field goal percentage, 12th in blocked shots and 14th in field goal percentage at Colgate. She was on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll for three seasons and was on the Colgate Raider Academic Honor Roll four times and was also a two-time team captain.
Prior to joining the women’s basketball team at Colgate, she prepped at Wellington Girls College where she served as captain from 2013-15.
“Tegan is a good, solid player that can play either the 3 or 4 positions,” Judkins said. “She’s really good at moving with the ball. She’ll bring a lot of experience with her. She’s a versatile player that will give us depth.”
Other new faces to the court next season include Salt Lake Community College transfer Lauren Gustin (6-foot-1 forward), who sat out all of last season due to transfer restrictions, along with Tahlia White. White is a 6-foot forward from Mountain View High School who recently returned home from mission service in Spokane, Washington for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.