Women’s Basketball Adds Three to Class of 2015-16
5/4/2015 11:57:00 AM | Women's Basketball
KENT, Ohio- Three new members will join the Kent State University women's basketball team in 2015-16. Head Coach Danielle O'Banion, who will be in her fourth season, announced the addition of Chelsi Watson (Monroe, La/Tyler Junior College), Keziah Lewis (Hobsonville, New Zealand/Ellsworth Community College) and Zenobia Bess (Gahanna, Ohio/Illinois State).
"We're very excited to add three more young ladies to our program who have shown that they have the ability to positively impact our basketball program, the Kent State University campus and the Kent community," said O'Banion. "Throughout the recruiting process, these three young ladies displayed a passion for basketball and a drive to be successful that will make them all high quality additions to our campus community."
Watson will join the Golden Flashes after coming off two seasons at Tyler JC where she racked up 59 wins against only 11 losses en route to two consecutive NJCAA Division I National Tournaments. The 5-foot-10 power forward is coming off a season where she averaged 8.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
"We're thrilled about the addition of Chelsi to our program and we feel she has an opportunity to immediately impact our program in a lot of ways," said O'Banion. On the court, she will bring a toughness and work ethic to our team that will help replace the loss of Montia (Johnson) and Cici (Shannon). Off the court and in the locker room, her championship experience and leadership ability is something that will greatly benefit our youthful team. We are tremendously excited to have Chelsi as part of the Flash family."
Lewis joins the Golden Flashes after two productive seasons at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa. A 5-foot-10 small forward whom, in two seasons at Ellsworth, scored 771 points and grabbed 328 rebounds. With the ability to score in a number of ways, Lewis knocked down over 40 three-pointers in both of her seasons with the Panthers and averaged over 100 free throw attempts per season. A two-time All-Region selection, Lewis also was a second team honoree as a rookie and a first team selection as a sophomore.
"Keziah is a proven scorer at the college level who can best be described as someone that is 'hard to guard,'" said O'Banion. "She has shown the ability to be effective shooting the ball, driving the ball and scoring it from the free-throw line. Her aggressive, down hill style of basketball will bring a different dimension to our team next season. We're looking forward to adding both Keziah's ability and her experience to our program this summer."
Bess comes to Kent State after two seasons at Illinois State University. A 6-foot-1 power forward with a 6-foot-5 wingspan, Zenobia was one of central Ohio's most sought after recruits when she came out of Gahanna Lincoln High School in 2013. A two-time All-Conference selection at Lincoln, Bess was a four-year starter on a team that earned three District Championships and one runner-up finish in her career. Due to NCAA transfer rules, Zenobia will sit out the 2015-16 season and will begin play as a junior.
"We're tremendously excited about Nobi's addition to our program," said O'Banion. "Her added length and size will immediately impact our front court when she takes the floor in 2016. Also, her experience will benefit our younger frontcourt players both on the court and in the locker room this upcoming season. With her proven work ethic I am confident she will make the most of her red-shirt season and be ready when her time comes."
