BATON ROUGE — LSU women’s basketball head coach Van Chancellor has announced the signing of junior college point guard Taylor Booze of Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas.
Booze, a native of Dallas, averaged 10.1 points, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game last season for the Lady Cards. She earned honorable mention all-conference honors while shooting over 40 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3-point range. The 5-6 guard prepped at Duncanville High School and will be a junior for LSU in 2009-10.
“We always want to have three point guards on our team,” Chancellor said. “She gives us somebody who can shoot ball outside and penetrate. Taylor is an outstanding player, and we are excited about her joining our team. She comes from a Trinity Valley program that has been very successful under coach Michael Landers.”
Booze joins fellow Trinity Valley teammate Jasmine Nelson, who signed a National Letter of Intent with LSU during the fall early signing period. Nelson is coming off a season where she was named a 2009 State Farm/Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association All-American after averaging 12.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per contest.
Nelson also earned NJCAA All-America honors, the Region 14 Player of the Year award, and she was a member of the all-region and all-conference team. Nelson shot nearly 48 percent from the field and was better than 41 percent from beyond 3-point range. She enrolled at Trinity Valley after her senior season at McDonogh 35 in New Orleans.
Both Booze and Nelson were coached by Michael Landers at Trinity Valley, the husband of current LSU Lady Tiger assistant coach Kenya Larkin-Landers. Nelson will have two years of remaining eligibility when she joins the squad this fall.
Adrienne Webb of Madison, Ala., Bianca Lutley of Plantation, Fla., and Erica Williams of Gonzales, La., make up the remainder of the signing class. All three student-athletes made that official during the early signing period in November.
Webb capped her senior season as the Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year at Sparkman High School. She averaged 17.1 points and 5.2 rebounds for a team that posted a 31-2 overall record.
Lutley guided American Heritage High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to a Class 3A Finals appearance. The 6-0 guard was named the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year while averaging 17 points and seven rebounds as a senior.
Williams enrolled at LSU last fall after playing one season at Southern Miss. She averaged 4.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game in 2007-08. Williams was a four-year letterwinner at Dutchtown High School.