Winona State University Athletics

WINONA, MN -- Winona State University head women’s basketball coach Scott Ballard has announced that four players are early signees of national letters of intent to play at Winona State for the 2010-2011 season.

Signed by Ballard are, post, Catie Zepczyk (6-2) of Ashland, WI, point guard, Tessa Wells (5-7) of River Falls, WI, guard, Kelsey Andrist (5-10) of Menomonie, WI and, guard, Darcey Rice (5-7) of Apple Valley, MN.

"We are very excited about this recruiting class and for the future of our program," praised Ballard. "Each one of them is an exceptional student-athlete with a selfless attitude and a great work ethic to be their best on and off the basketball floor."

"We have high expectations for them during their careers at Winona State and know that each of them will fit in well with our personalities and style of play," added Ballard

The Warrior recruits have been very successful in their prep careers. Wells is the top scorer of the incoming recruits with a 17-point-per-game average from last year. She also averaged three rebounds, assists and steals per game, while Zepczyk posted a double-double average a season ago with 14 points and rebounds each per game. Andrist, who is the daughter of University of Wisconsin-Stout men’s head basketball coach Eddie Andrist, who received his masters degree from Winona State, is very versatile on the court, averaging 13 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals per game. Rice rounds out the recruiting class with an average of 11 points and 2 rebounds a year ago.

Ballard has the following to say about each player:

ZEPCZYK: "Catie is an outstanding athlete who runs the floor extremely well, crashes the boards and defends well. She has great hands, finishes well around the basket and can score on the perimeter. However, it is her work ethic and toughness that will set her apart from the other post players in our league."

WELLS: Tessa has a chance to be an impact player immediately because of her ability to drive to the basket and defend baseline to baseline. She is tenacious on defense and great at creating shots for herself and her teammates. She plays with a passion that is infectious to her teammates and she knows how to win."

ANDRIST: Kelsey is a coach’s kid who is versatile and can play multiple guard positions with a high basketball IQ. She can score in a variety of ways and defends well. Her size will help strengthen our ability to rebound and improve our guard depth."

RICE: Darecy is an excellent three-point field goal shooting guard with good ball skills. She comes from a very successful high school program and knows what it takes to win. She has good fundamentals with a great work ethic and will provide us with quality depth at the shooting-guard position."

Winona State University is a member of NCAA Division II and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. In the 2008-09 season Winona State set a school record for wins a 24-7 record, posted it best ever record in conference play and advanced to its first ever NCAA Division II region playoffs, where it reached the semifinals and the Sweet 16 in the national tournament.

Here is a capsule look at the early signees: