The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team continued their hot streak in the transfer portal with the addition of grad transfer guard Tess Myers from Duquesne. Myers is the second addition this week, joining former Northern Kentucky forward Carter McCray, and could potentially slot right in to UW’s starting five.
Badger fammm pic.twitter.com/8KwLYGNtIz
— Tess Myers (@tessmyers24) April 26, 2024
Let’s take a look at Myers’ game!
Player Bio
Name: Tess Myers
Height: 5-foot-9
Position: Shooting guard
Hometown: Lower Burrell, Pa.
Previous school(s): North Catholic High School; Duquesne Dukes
Year: Senior
Other schools considered: I don’t know! Someone tweeted a list when McCray committed.
2023-2024 Player Stats (all stats via Her Hoops Stats)
Games: 33 played/32 started
Minutes: 30.3 per game
Points: 7.9
Rebounds: 3.4
Assists: 1.5
Steals: 0.7
Blocks: 0.2
Turnovers: 1.3
FG%: 36.8% (91-of-247)
3P%: 36.1% (74-of-205)
3P rate: 82.0% (yikes that’s high; 99th percentile)
FT%: 85.7% (6-of-7)
FT rate: 6.7% (yikes that’s low; 5th percentile)
eFG%: 51.8%
PER: 12.0 (1,996th)
Win shares: 1.1 (1,229th)
Off. win shares: 1.0 (918th)
Def. win shares: 0.1 (2,445th)
Usage: 14.6% (2,623rd)
Points per play: 0.89 (748th)
All-Time Duquesne Career Rankings
If you even glanced at the stats above you’ll know what we are going to talk about first. Tess Myers can shoot the cover off the ball. The highlight clip below is from a game in December last year when Myers set the school record for three-pointers made (11) in one game. She has a smooth shooting stroke, a high release, and doesn’t get flustered when defenders fly in her face.
With this last triple, junior Tess Myers has surpassed 1,000 career points‼️
Congrats Tess #GoDukes | @tessmyers24 | @A10WBB pic.twitter.com/qVsJxrgdrv
— Duquesne Women’s Basketball (@DuqWBB) January 21, 2024
Other than her three-point shooting, Myers doesn’t bring a ton to the table. She is an average defensive rebounder, she rarely fouls, and her turnover rate is solid (especially when compared to the Badgers who turn the ball over a ton) but that’s kind of it.
On the other side of it, there are a number of concerns I have with her game. For one, she played 1,001 minutes last year (94th percentile) and attempted seven free throws. SEVEN! Now, to be fair, she shot 50 free throws the year before and 44 the year before that, but it is wild to see that number crater to seven. She also only attempted 42 two-pointers last season, meaning she pretty much just camped out beyond the arc and waited for the ball to be swung to her.
I also have some questions about her three-point percentage has steadily gone down all four years she has played in college while her usage has also gone down each year too. However, she had her highest eFG% of her career last year so it’s kind of a confusing mixed-bag situation. Her defense is a bit of an unknown too. She didn’t have very good steal or block percentages but she also played over 30 minutes per game in her last three seasons. If she was really a turnstile on defense I can’t imagine that she’d be playing so many minutes.
All of that being said, Myers is an important addition to this team because the Badgers really didn’t have anyone who could shoot the three at volume like she can. D’Yanis Jimenez will almost assuredly improve her three-point numbers as a sophomore and Ronnie Porter could improve too, especially if she doesn’t have to attempt as many now that Myers is on the team.
I really like what Marisa Moseley has done in the transfer portal so far this offseason. She has addressed two of Wisconsin’s biggest needs (a productive big and shooting) in one week. If she can wrangle in another player or two to fill out the rotation this will have been an A+ offseason despite some of the losses they suffered.
Here is what Moseley had to say about Myers:
“I am thrilled to welcome Tess Myers to Madison and our Badger family. Tess is a multi-level scorer hailing from Lower Burrell, PA. A 1,000 point scorer at the collegiate level, she is a dedicated student-athlete who adds a proven shooting touch from deep to our team. She finished in the top 85 nationally in individual three point percentage and total three pointers made this season showcasing her long range ability.” said Moseley. “Tess has a great personality and enjoys having fun while being a true competitor on the court. We cannot wait for Badger nation to be introduced to Tess and the entire Myers family”.
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