Pensacola State College women's basketball standout Kaiya Burnett has signed a national letter of intent with Jacksonville State University.
Burnett is a 5'7 guard from Trenton, New Jersey who made an immediate impact for the Lady Pirates as soon as she stepped foot on campus.
In her freshman campaign Burnett earned All-Panhandle Conference Second-Team honors while averaging 12.8 points, 3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. She was also named a Top 40 JUCO freshman and participated in the NJCAA Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-Star weekend.
As a sophomore, Burnett led the team in scoring averaging 16.2 points while pulling down 4 rebounds per game and dishing out 2.6 assists per game. She broke the program's single game scoring record, previously held by Nia Johnson (30 pts), with 33 points while shooting 37.5% from 3-point range and grabbing 6 rebounds against Tyler Junior College. This season Burnett was named to the All-Panhandle Conference First-Team.
Located in Jacksonville, Alabama, the NCAA Division I Gamecocks compete in the Ohio Valley Conference. Rick Pietri has been the head coach at JSU since 2013 and has a history of turning programs around. He ranks among the winningest collegiate women's head coaches in the state of Alabama history.
Burnett is sure to make an immediate impact for the Gamecocks with her high basketball IQ and her renowned scoring ability, especially from behind the arc.
ZaMaria Polk, a 6'3 forward, has signed her national letter of intent to play for the Vikings of Cleveland State University under Coach Chris Kielsmeier.
PSC Head Coach Clenita "Penny" Belford added Polk to the roster in 2018-19 season and she brought a huge presence to the paint. She was named a Top 40 JUCO freshman and participated in the NJCAA Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-Star weekend.
By averaging 11.3 points a game this season and 9 rebounds Polk more than doubled her scoring and rebounding output from her freshman campaign. In Panhandle play she averaged a double-double with 10.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.
Polk's highlights from this season include scoring a career high 24 points against Coastal Alabama-Monroeville and securing 23 rebounds versus Tallahassee Community College. The 23 rebounds set a new game record for the Penny Belford era. The previous season total rebounding record was 218 and Polk shattered that with 255 this year. All these efforts helped earn her All-Panhandle Conference Second-Team honors.
Kielsmeier completed his second season as head coach for the Vikings with a 21-11 record. Under his guidance, Savanna Crockett was named the 2018-19 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, while Mariah Miller was named First-Team All-League and Mariah White earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team.
Polk, a Detroit native, will be sure to make an immediate impact inside for CSU.
Lenaejha Evans, a 5'8 combo guard, has signed to play for Rider University located in New Jersey.
Prior to becoming a PSC Pirate, Evans played at Kansas City Community College where she averaged 11.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists. She helped lead the Blue Devils to the NJCAA Division 2 National Championship and was named a TOP 40 JUCO freshman. Evans received Honorable Mention All-Jayhawk Conference honors.
In her sophomore season for Pensacola, Evans averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. She utilized her athleticism and grit to score a personal best 26 points and grab 7 rebounds against Coastal Alabama-Monroeville. Evans was a spark for the Lady Pirates on the defensive end and always had the assignment of guarding the better scorers on opposing teams.
She missed the majority of Panhandle play with a fractured hand, but still managed to score in double figures in three of the four games she played. A highlight for her was leading the team in scoring (16 points) during thrilling double overtime win versus Tallahassee.
The program at Rider is run by Head Coach Lynn Milligan, who completed her 13th season with the Broncs earning a 26-4 (18-2) record this past season. The Broncs won the regular season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship this year. Under the reigns of Coach Milligan three Rider players earned All-MAAC honors and standout Stella Johnson earned Player of the Year honors. Johnson finished the year as the leading scorer in NCAA Division I with 24.8 points per game. This week Johnson became the first ever Rider player to be drafted into the WNBA when the Phoenix Mercury selected her 29th overall.