These former Washington high school basketball standouts are on women’s NCAA Tournament rosters
There are 16 players with ties to Washington high schools who play for Division I women’s basketball programs that have qualified for the NCAA Tournament, which begins Wednesday.
BYU
G Paisley Harding, sr. (Glacier Peak) — A key contributor at BYU throughout her career, Harding has started each of the program’s 29 games this season, and is averaging 17 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists. She has appeared in 145 games for the Cougars during her five-year career, including making 89 starts, and has scored 1,917 points. She is a three-time WCC first-team selection. Her final season at Glacier Peak in 2017, she led the Grizzlies to a program-best runner-up finish at the 4A state tournament, and left high school with the program’s season and career records for both points and steals.
F Kyra Beckman, R-fr. (Snohomish) — Beckman has not appeared in a game this season, but played in 13 for the Cougars last winter, averaging 4.4 minutes. During her high school career, Beckman helped Snohomish to three state trophies, including a runner-up finish in 4A her freshman season, a third-place finish in 3A when she was a junior and fourth-place finish as a senior.
CENTRAL FLORIDA
G Ahna Burney, jr. (Evergreen of Vancouver, DME Sports Academy (Fla.)) — Averaging 2.5 points for Central Florida this season. Scored a season-high 16 points against Duquesne on Nov. 9. Originally from Vancouver, Wash., Burney averaged 12.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals during her senior season with DME Sports Academy in Florida.
COLORADO
F Quay Miller, jr. (Kentridge, Washington) — A key player for the Buffs, Miller is averaging 10.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game this season and has appeared in 30 games. The 6-foot-3 center scored a season-high 20 points against SMU on Dec. 17. In her sophomore season at UW, Miller started all 21 games and was third in the team in scoring (9.9 ppg) and led the team in rebounding (six). At Kentridge, Miller averaged a double-double with 16.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game as a senior, finishing her career with 1,258 points and 1,037 rebounds. First-team selection to The News Tribune’s All-Area team as a senior.
GONZAGA
G Kylee Griffen, sr. (Lake Stevens) — Has not appeared in game action for the Bulldogs this year. At Lake Stevens, Griffen was a four-time first-team All-Wesco selection and was ranked No. 79 overall in her class by ESPN. In her senior year, she had 13 double-doubles and averaged 20.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and three assists, scoring over 1,300 career points.
HAWAII
G Meilani McBee, fr. (Kennewick) — McBee has appeared in 27 games, including 11 starts, for Hawaii this season, averaging 3.7 points in 18.8 minutes. Played in 16 games last season, averaging 3.9 points in 15.1 minutes per game. Helped Kennewick reach the 3A state tournament as a senior in 2020 — the program’s first state tournament appearance since 2003.
F Kallin Spiller, gr. (Lakeside of Seattle, Seattle U, Columbia) — In 24 games for the Big West champions this season, including 16 starts, Spiller is averaging 7.2 points, 5 rebounds and a team-leading 0.9 blocks as a graduate student at Hawaii. She appeared in 32 games at Seattle U during the 2017-18 season, averaging 9.2 points and 6.5 rebounds in 24.6 minutes and was the WAC Freshman of the Year. At Columbia during the 2019-20 season, she appeared in 11 games, averaging 1.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 8.2 minutes. Left Lakeside as the only player in school history to collect 1,000-plus points and rebounds with 1,245 career points and 1,203 boards.
KANSAS
F Nadira Eltayeb, soph. (Thomas Jefferson) — The 6-foot-4 center has appeared in 23 games for the Jayhawks, averaging 1.3 points per game off the bench. Scored a season-high nine points against TCU on Jan. 10 and has 45 rebounds on the season. In high school, Eltayeb broke Thomas Jefferson’s rebounding record with 23 rebounds in a game.
LOUISVILLE
G Hailey Van Lith, soph. (Cashmere) — Highly decorated coming out of high school, Van Lith has lived up to the hype at Louisville. She was named to the All-ACC first team this season, sixth in the league with 15.4 points per game, while shooting 45.7 percent from the floor, which ranked eighth in the conference. Had a season and career-high 34 points against Clemson on Feb. 3 and reached double figures in 14 of the team’s 17 ACC games, including four 20-plus point performances. In high school, she was a McDonald’s All-American and a consensus top-10 player nationally. She averaged 33.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists in her senior year.
PRINCETON
F Katie Thiers, fr. (Roosevelt) — In her first college season, Thiers has appeared in 14 games for Princeton and averages 4.1 minutes. She averaged a double-double last spring in her final high school season at Roosevelt.
STANFORD
G Lacie Hull, sr. (Central Valley) — Hull has appeared in all 31 games for Stanford this season, including starting 30, and is averaging 4.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists. She has played in 130 games, including 68 starts, during her four-season career and scored 539 points. Stanford has won back-to-back Pac-12 titles, and is the defending national champion. A former all-state selection at Central Valley, Hull helped the Bears to a pair of 4A state titles in 2016 and 2018 and a national title as a senior.
G Lexie Hull, sr. (Central Valley) — A three-time Pac-12 first-teamer, Hull has started 30 games for the Cardinal this season and is averaging 11.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and a team-leading 2.1 steals this season. She has played 122 games, starting 96, in her four-year career and collected 1,312 points and 643 rebounds. Stanford has won back-to-back Pac-12 titles, and is the defending national champion. Behind Hull — who left Central Valley as the program’s all-time leading scorer (1,883 points) and broke the single-season record (607) as a senior — the Bears won a pair of 4A state titles in 2016 and 2018 and a national title her senior year. She earned multiple 4A state player of the year honors during her impressive high school career and was the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year both her junior and senior seasons.
G Anna Wilson, sr. (Bellevue) — A two-time Pac-12 All-Defensive Team pick, Wilson has started each of the 30 games she’s appeared in this season and is averaging 5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the Cardinal. She’s appeared in 155 games, including 59 starts, during her six-season career and scored 559 points. Stanford has won back-to-back Pac-12 titles, and four tournament championships during Wilson’s career, and is the defending national champion. Wilson earned all-state honors her senior season at Bellevue when she helped pace the program to a 3A state title in 2016.
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
G Tyler McCliment-Call, soph. (Post Falls (Idaho), University, Portland) — Averaging 3.6 points per game for the Ladyjacks. Scored a season-high 14 points against Arlington Baptist on Nov. 20. Transferred from Portland after her freshman year, where she appeared in 25 games for the Pilots. In high school, McCliment-Call was a first-team selection to the All-Greater Spokane League team, averaging 18 points per game for University. Prior to playing in Washington, she played for Post Falls High Schools in Idaho, leading Post Falls to the 2018 Idaho 5A state championship and averaging 23 points in the state tournament. Her mom, Regan, played basketball at Gonzaga and her dad, Pat, played baseball at Eastern Washington.
UTAH
G Brynna Maxwell, jr. (Gig Harbor) — The News Tribune’s 2019 All-Area girls basketball player of the year is averaging 10.9 points per game for the Utes in her junior year. She scored a season-high 24 points against Lipscomb on Nov. 10 and scored 16 in the Pac-12 tournament championship game loss to Stanford on March 6. In high school, Maxwell rewrote the record book at Gig Harbor, leading the Tides to the program’s first state championship in 2018. Maxwell scored 1,968 career points and owns most of the program’s records — including points in a season (671 in 2019) and a single-game (48 on Feb. 13 against Hudson’s Bay). She averaged 26.8 points per game, shot 50 percent from the field — including 43 percent from 3-point range — and made 91 percent of her free throws. She also averaged 9 rebounds, 3.9 steals and 3 assists per game.
WASHINGTON STATE
G Grace Sarver, jr. (West Seattle) — Averaging 1.8 points per game for the Cougars, appearing in 29 games. In high school, Sarver led West Seattle to a third-place finish in the 3A state tournament in her senior year.
This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 6:21 PM with the headline "These former Washington high school basketball standouts are on women’s NCAA Tournament rosters."
