Missouri Western women’s basketball coach Rob Edmisson has announced the signing of five student athletes to the National Letter of Intent for the 2012-2013 season. The Griffons welcome junior college transfers Tiffanie Abrams of Detroit, Mich. (Connors State College), JaQuitta Dever of Tulsa, Okla. (Seminole State College), sisters Sharniece Lewis of Warrensburg, Mo. (Highland CC) and Jallisa Lewis of Warrensburg, Mo. (State Fair CC) and four year transfer Heather Howard of Shawnee Mission, Kan. (Oklahoma State University) to next year’s squad.
Abrams, a 5-10, forward from Detroit, Mich. transfers to Western from Connors State College. She played her high school basketball at Alan Academy. Last season, Abrams played in 29 games leading her team with 15.7 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. She is a good shooter making 48-percent (151-314) from the field, 42.4-percent (64-151) from long range and 68.5-percent (89-130) from the charity stripe. She also dished out 32 assists and had 49 steals. She helped her team to a 17-13 overall record last season.
Dever, a 5-5, point guard from Tulsa, Okla. transfers to Western from Seminole State College. She played her high school basketball at Thomas Edison in Tulsa. She helped her team to a 19-9 overall record a season ago. Dever played in 28 games while leading her team with 14.1 points per game. She also averaged 3.4 rebounds per game to go along with 2.4 assists and 2.8 steals per game. She led her team with 135 field goals made and was second on the squad with 27 three pointers. She is also a solid free throw shooter making 70-percent (98-140) of her attempts. She plans on majoring in sports management at Western.
Sharniece Lewis, a 5-10, guard from Warrensburg, Mo. transfers to Western from Highland Community College. She played her high school basketball at Warrensburg high school. Last season, Lewis played in 32 games helping her team to a 28-4 record. She averaged almost 16 points per game while shooting 34.7-percent (79-228) from long range. She was second on her team with 200 field goals made and led her team snaring 6.7 rebounds per game. She averaged 1.1 assists per game and 1.8 steal per game. She was a First Team all-Region selection this past season at Highland CC. She plans on majoring in athletic training at Western.
Jallissa Lewis, a 5-10, forward from Warrensburg, Mo. transfers to Western from State Fair Community College. She helped her team to an 18-12 overall record a season ago. She played in 30 games averaging 5.1 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game. She made 32-of-52 free throw attempts and 79-of-228 long range attempts. As a freshman she averaged 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per contest while starting eight games. She played a key role in the Lady Roadrunners Region XVI Championship. She played her high school basketball at Warrensburg high school, where she averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds per contest.
Howard, a 6-3, forward from Shawnee Mission, Kan. transfers to Western from Oklahoma State University. She played her high school basketball at Shawnee Mission West high school. Last season, Howard played in 18 games averaging 7.6 minutes of action. She snared 11 offensive rebounds and blocked two shots. As a sophomore she played in 31 games making two starts which included the Big 12 Championship against Texas Tech. During her freshman season she saw action in 20 games which included against Kansas in the Big 12 Championship and against Chattanooga in the NCAA Tournament. Howard plans on majoring in sports management at Western.
“We are excited to add this group to the Missouri Western basketball family,” commented coach Edmisson. “We believe we have added a group of young ladies who will add athleticism and size to all of our positions. We felt like we needed to add a level of experience to our roster and this group brings a lot of floor experience to our program. I believe all of these players will add to the level of excitement that our program needs to improve our chances of success. We are excited about what this group will bring on and off the floor as they are the type of student athlete we were looking for. We will be looking to add several more players in the near future to round out our 2012 class,” stated Edmisson.
— MWSU Sports Information —