Kierstan Bell (born March 16, 2000) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Las Vegas Aces in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Florida Gulf Coast and Ohio State.
| No. 1 – Las Vegas Aces | |
|---|---|
| Position | Guard |
| League | WNBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | March 16, 2000 Alliance, Ohio, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 176 lb (80 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Canton McKinley (Canton, Ohio) |
| College |
|
| WNBA draft | 2022: 1st round, 11th overall pick |
| Selected by the Las Vegas Aces | |
| Playing career | 2022–present |
| Career history | |
| 2022–present | Las Vegas Aces |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
College career
editOhio State
editBell was rated as the 8th-best overall recruit in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz[1] and the 18th overall by ProspectsNation.com in 2019.[2] Bell signed to play with Ohio State out of high school.[3] Bell had an outstanding freshman season for the Buckeyes, being named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, Honorable Mention All-Big Ten Team, and three-time Big Ten Player of the Week.[4][5]
Following her freshman season, Bell announced that she was entering the transfer portal and leaving Ohio State.[6]
Florida Gulf Coast University
editOn May 5, 2020, Bell signed to continue her collegiate basketball career with Florida Gulf Coast.[7]
During her sophomore campaign, Bell produced the best season in program history for the Eagles. She averaged 24.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 2.3 blocks. She was named the ASUN Player of the Week 6 different times and named the ASUN Newcomer of the Week a record ten times.[8] Bell was also named the ASUN Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year, WBCA Honorable Mention All-American, AP Honorable Mention All-American, and USBWA Honorable Mention All-American.[9][10]
Prior to her junior year, ESPN named Bell the 16th-best women's college basketball player for the 2021–22 season.[11] Bell averaged 22.8 points and 7.3 rebounds during the year, but also missed time due to a partial torn meniscus.[12] Bell also set a new ASUN record for the number of Player of the Week Honors during the season. On January 18, 2022, Bell was awarded the 11th Player of the Week honor of career.[13]
In January 2022, Bell announced she would be declaring early for the WNBA draft.[14][15] Bell was projected to go in the first round by multiple mock drafts.[16]
College statistics
edit| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State(Big Ten Conference) | |||||||||||
| 2019–20 | Ohio State | 30 | 326 | .394 | .318 | .667 | 4.4 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 10.9 |
| Florida Gulf Coast (ASUN Conference) | |||||||||||
| 2020–21 | FGCU | 26 | 632 | .527 | .358 | .753 | 10.6 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 24.3 |
| 2021–22 | FGCU | 24 | 547 | .471 | .286 | .702 | 7.3 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 22.8 |
| Career | 80 | 1505 | .473 | .321 | .717 | 7.3 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 18.8 | |
Professional career
editLas Vegas Aces
editIn the 2022 WNBA draft, Bell was taken 11th overall by the Las Vegas Aces.[17]
Adelaide Lightning
editBell signed with the Adelaide Lightning for the 2022/2023 Australian WNBL season; however, she was cut by the team in December 2022.
WNBA career statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
| † | Denotes seasons in which Bell won a WNBA championship |
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022† | Las Vegas | 21 | 1 | 5.8 | .303 | .136 | 1.000 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.3 |
| 2023† | Las Vegas | 36 | 0 | 11.8 | .346 | .244 | .600 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 3.7 |
| 2024 | Las Vegas | 0 | 0 | .0 | – | – | – | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| Career | 3 years, 1 team | 57 | 1 | 9.6 | .339 | .221 | .714 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2.8 |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022† | Las Vegas | 4 | 0 | 4.8 | .667 | .600 | .000 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.8 |
| 2023† | Las Vegas | 8 | 0 | 6.3 | .167 | .000 | 1.000 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| Career | 1 year, 1 team | 12 | 0 | 5.8 | .292 | .188 | .800 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.8 |
References
edit- ^ "2019 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings - espnW 100". ESPN. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "2019 Players". ProspectsNation. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Olson, Dan (August 25, 2018). "No. 5 prospect Kierstan Bell commits to Ohio State". ESPN. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "2019-20 Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced On BTN". Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "KIERSTAN BELL". Ohio State Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Harrison, Phil (March 25, 2020). "Kierstan Bell to enter transfer portal, leave Ohio State women's basketball program". USA Today Sports. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Huenefeld, Nicholas (May 13, 2020). "Bell Signs With Women's Basketball Program, Adds To Special Recruiting Class". FGCU Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "KIERSTAN BELL". FGCU Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "Bell Takes Top @ASUNWBB Honor; 2020-21 Postseason Awards Announced". PrestoSports. March 3, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2022.[dead link]
- ^ "College basketball: FGCU's Kierstan Bell named Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of Year". Naples Daily News. March 31, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Creme, Charlie (April 29, 2021). "Women's college basketball: Top 25 players for 2021-22". ESPN. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Barie, Sean (January 24, 2022). "FGCU star basketball player to miss time with knee injury". Waterman Broadcasting of Florida LLC. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "Kierstan Bell Sets ASUN Record with 11th Career Player of the Week Honor". FGCU Athletics. January 18, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Nemchock, Eric (February 26, 2022). "2022 WNBA Draft Watch: Early entry Kierstan Bell shaking up draft boards". Vox Media. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Voepel, Mechelle (January 19, 2022). "Florida Gulf Coast junior guard Kierstan Bell says she will enter WNBA draft". ESPN. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Hardwig, Greg (April 10, 2022). "WNBA Draft: The next stop on Kierstan Bell's basketball journey will be in New York Monday". News-Press. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "Former Ohio State Buckeye Kierstan Bell taken in WNBA draft's first round by Las Vegas Aces". The Columbus Dispatch. April 12, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
External links
edit- Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- FGCU Eagles bio
- Ohio State Buckeyes bio
