COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball has signed transfer guard Lauren Aldridge (Marshfield, Mo.), head coach Robin Pingeton announced Wednesday. Aldridge, 5-7, started all 63 games for Kansas over the last two seasons and averaged a team-leading 11.1 points and 2.4 assists for the Jayhawks in 2015-16. Per NCAA transfer regulations, Aldridge will sit out the 2016-17 season and has two years of eligibility remaining.
“We are very excited to have Lauren join our basketball family,” Pingeton said. “She is going to be a great addition. Lauren is such a high-character young lady that embraces hard work. She has had great success on the court and in the classroom. Her natural position is at point guard, but she has the ability to slide over into a shooting guard role as well. She has a high basketball IQ, a motor and she is a fierce competitor.”
During her two seasons in Lawrence, Aldridge averaged 9.6 points, 3.7 assists, 1.9 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 35.1 minutes per game. She holds career shooting totals of 37 percent (190-for-515) from the field, 35 percent (102-for-290) from 3-point range and 85 percent (121-for-143) from the free throw line.
In addition to leading Kansas in scoring and assists this past season, Aldridge played a team-high 35.3 minutes per contest and averaged 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game. She scored in double figures a team-best 20 times as a sophomore, including nine of the first 10 contests and each of the final six games. In 2015-16, she shot 37 percent (116-for-317) from the floor, 36 percent (60-for-169) from beyond the arc and a team-high 83 percent (52-for-63) from the foul line. Aldridge was a first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection and CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree.
As a freshman in 2014-15, Aldridge earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Freshman Team after ranking third in the league with 5.0 assists per game. She averaged 8.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.2 steals and a team-best 35.0 minutes per game. She reached double figures scoring 14 times and finished with five-plus assists in 10 of the last 14 games. Aldridge shot 37 percent (74-for-198) from the field, 35 percent (42-for-121) from distance and 86 percent (69-for-80) from the charity stripe. She was named an Academic All-Big 12 honoree and was a Phillips 66 Big 12 Freshman Player of the Week (Dec. 7, 2014).
Aldridge was a four-time all-state selection and three-time Central Ozark Conference Player of the Year at Marshfield (Mo.) High School. She was a finalist for Miss Show-Me Basketball as a senior when she led her squad to the District 10 title and a third-place finish in the MSHSAA Class 4 championship. During her prep career, Aldridge guided Marshfield to four consecutive conference championships and set school records for single-game assists and career and single-game 3-pointers. She was a teammate of Mizzou forwards Bri Porter and Cierra Porter with the Missouri Phenom on the AAU circuit, a team coached by Aldridge’s father, Steve.
Aldridge is majoring in Sport Management academically. Her father played baseball at Missouri State while her mother, Jennifer, competed in track and field for the Bears.
— Mizzou Athletics —