The UCSB women’s basketball team has signed forward Alexis Whitfield to a National Letter of Intent, Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson announced on Friday.
“Alexis adds tremendous value to our team on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor,” Henrickson said. “Her size and ability to impact the game in every way is what caught our attention and set her apart in our recruiting search this spring.”
Whitfield joins the Gauchos after two seasons at Washington, where she averaged 3.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 13.4 minutes per game on an efficient 42.6 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three.
The West Hills, Calif., native missed significant action due to injury during her freshman season, playing in 12 games off the bench. She would post career-highs across the board in 21 games as a sophomore, ranking fourth on the team in shooting percentage (.438) and second in blocks (6).
She scored in double-figures twice for the Huskies, setting a career-high with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 2-of-3 from deep in her second career game against BYU. This past season, she put up a season-high 10 points on 5-of-9 from the field against Louisville on Nov. 20, 2021.
Whitfield was ranked No. 61 overall and the No. 15 forward in the 2020 class ESPN coming out of Chaminade Prep. She was a three-time All-CIF Southern Section First-Team selection, 2019 Southern Section Player of the Year and a four-time All-Mission League Selection. As a junior, she earned Mission League MVP honors and was the Wooden Award CIF Division 1 Southern Section Player of the year after averaging 16.7 points, 14 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.1 steals per game.
In her senior year, Whitfield averaged 21 points, 12 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2 blocks per game, which earned her both CIF Southern Section Division 1 and Los Angeles Daily News First Team honors. She finished her high school career with both over 1,500-points and over 1,200-rebounds.
Michael Jorgenson writes about sports for UCSB.
email: sports@newspress.com
