Former Lakeside HS, WWCC Standout to Play for Central Washington - NBC Right Now/KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |

Former Lakeside High School and Walla Walla Community College point guard Leslie Stillar has decided to play basketball at Central Washington next season.

Stillar was one of seven recruits named Tuesday by the CWU. She was a NWAACC all-Eastern Region player as a sophomore last season, averaging 13.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. She also had 3.1 assists per game and was added to the all-region defensive team.

Here is the news release from CWU:

ELLENSBURG, Wash. (July 31) -- A total of seven players, including four recent high school graduates, will join the Central Washington University women's basketball team for the upcoming 2012-13 season.

Second-year head coach Shawn Nelson announced the addition of the seven players to this year's recruiting class, and they are expected to join 10 returning players from last year's squad.

"We have a nice mix of impact players and youth that will be the foundation for the future," Nelson explained. "We are very pleased with the talent, work ethic, and enthusiasm each student-athlete brings to our program. [These newcomers] will fit in nicely with the returning players in the program, as [our returnees] have embraced them and what each one brings to the table."

All four recent high school graduates are from the state of Washington, and each signed National Letters of Intent with the Wildcats. Also signing a National Letter of Intent was junior guard Leslie Stillar (Nine Mile Falls, Wash./Lakeside HS), who spent the past two seasons starring at Walla Walla Community College.

Two four-year transfers -- senior guard Shayla Ball (Hillsboro, Ore.) and junior point guard Ally Schmitt (Snohomish, Wash.) -- have both accepted offers of admission from CWU. Both will join the Wildcat squad following stints at the NCAA Division I level. Ball played last season at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Fla., while Schmitt most recently played at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont., during the 2010-11 season.

Stillar, a 5-foot-6 point guard who prepped at Lakeside High School before attending WWCC, was named to the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges' (NWAACC) all-Eastern Region team as a sophomore this past season. She averaged 13.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, also dishing out 3.1 assists per contest. Stillar, who added all-region defensive team honors in 2011-12, had been a second-team all-region selection for the Warriors as a freshman in 2010-11.

Ball is a 5-foot-11 guard who played both at FGCU and previously at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, Ore. With the Eagles, who won the Atlantic Sun Conference title and qualified for the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship tournament in 2011-12, Ball appeared in 19 games as a junior reserve last season. At CCC, she was the NWAACC Southern Region Most Valuable Player as a sophomore, when she averaged 21.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for the Cougars. Ball attended Hillsboro High School, where she was a four-year starter for the Spartans.

The 5-foot-8 Schmitt, who will have two seasons of eligibility remaining at CWU, spent parts of two seasons playing at Montana State in the Big Sky Conference. Over her two years in Bozeman, she appeared in 42 games, starting 19, and was averaging 5.3 assists per game as a sophomore in 2009-10 before leaving the Bobcat program. A graduate of Snohomish High School, Schmitt was a two-year letter winner who helped the Panthers advance to the WIAA Class 4A state championship game as a senior in 2008-09.

Jasmine' Parker, a 6-foot-2 forward/center, began her prep career at Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup, Wash., before completing her career at Mead High School in Spokane this past year. As a senior, she averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Panthers, who compete in the Greater Spokane League (Class 4A).

Nina Caldwell, a 5-foot-10 forward, was a three-year letter winner at Wilson High School in Tacoma, Wash. She averaged 10 points and six rebounds per game as a senior for the Rams, earning second-team all-Narrows League honors during her final campaign. She played her final three seasons at Wilson after beginning her career at Bellarmine Preparatory School as a freshman in 2008-09.

India Matheson, a 6-foot-1 center, averaged a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds per game during her senior season at Shorecrest High School. A multi-sport athlete who also competed in track and field, volleyball, and water polo, Matheson was a team captain and Most Valuable Player for the Scots.

Purshall Artison is a 5-foot-5 point guard who played high school basketball at Seattle Preparatory School. A two-time second-team all-Metro League selection, Artison averaged 10.8 points and 5.8 assists per game as a senior for the Panthers.

"Our returning student-athletes had an incredible spring and are moving the program in the right direction," Nelson said. "Our student-athletes should be proud of their progress, and they will be great mentors for the newcomers."

In Nelson's first season at CWU, the Wildcats posted a 9-17 overall record and a 5-13 mark in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, with six of their losses in 2011-12 by four points or less. Among the 10 projected returnees in 2012-13 are two starters -- sophomore Courtney Johnson (Kent, Wash./Kentwood HS) and junior Jessica VanDyke (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS).