Wisconsin Women’s Basketball Adds Sharpshooter in the Transfer Portal

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!

Wisconsin Women’s Basketball Lands Tess Myers Via the Portal

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

• 27th in career points, 1,089
• Tied-1st in career 3PM, 279
• 2nd in career 3PA, 735
• 3rd in career 3P%, 37.8
• 7th in career FT%, 80.7
• Tied 2nd (with herself lol) in single season 3PM, 90
• 2nd in single season 3PA, 237; 3rd in single season 3PA, 230; 8th in single season 3PA, 205
• Tied-12th in single-game scoring, 35 points
• 1st in single-game 3PM, 11; 5th in single-game 3PM, 7; 7th in single-game 3PM, 6 (seven times)
• Atlantic 10 POTW (12/18/23)
• Atlantic 10 3PM in single-season (2022)
• Her dad played basketball at Duquesne too, scoring 831 career points and getting drafted by the New Jersey Nets in 1983.

What Will Tess Myers Bring to the Badgers?

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.

I do wish her release was a touch quicker, as she has a little bit of a looping motion to start her shot, but I don’t think it’s anything to tinker with since her numbers have been so impressive from long range during her career. I couldn’t find a ton of highlights on Myers, but her shooting preferences seem to be “spot up” and “catch and shoot.” In the game where she set the school record I didn’t see her running off any screens or dribbling herself into any shots. She does score off a screen to surpass 1,000 career points, though, so it’s not like she is unable to do it.

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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