NBL1: Ringwood signs three-point stars Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce
Ringwood Hawks have recruited their own version of Golden State’s Splash Brothers, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, with the Splash Sisters to take the court this NBL1 season.
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With the Golden State Warriors’ ‘Splash Brothers’, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, both injured, and probably a little out of the reach of the Ringwood Hawks, the NBL1 club has gone for the next best thing, the Splash Sisters.
The Hawks have announced the signing of two of the greatest three-point shooters in the history of college basketball, the University of Idaho’s Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce.
When a club announces it is bringing-in two of the greatest shooters of all-time, they’d better have the numbers to prove it.
Ferenz and Pierce have numbers that are simply staggering and have them firmly placed in all kinds of record books.
So where do we start?
Since the three-point line was introduced to women’s basketball in 1987, both Pierce and Ferenz sit in the all-time top five of the ‘three-point shots made’ honours board.
Pierce sits in second, with 472 made, while Ferenz is fifth with 415.
Both players have also shot close to 40 per cent accuracy.
The media department at the Idaho Vandals branded the two best friends the Splash Sisters as they set about matching the three-point output of Curry and Thompson.
“If you have a chance to recruit players with this kind of ability, it’s a no-brainer,” Hawks head coach Tim Mottin said.
“And more importantly than that, they are both great people on and off the court, we value that highly.”
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Pierce, in what will be her first professional contract, brings more than a lethal three-point shot to Ringwood. As a senior, she was a first team All-Big Sky Conference selection averaging 19ppg, 3 assists and nearly 4 rebounds.
And do not foul her as she shot at 89 per cent from the foul line.
Pierce also participated in the NCAA Women’s three-point shootout at the Final Four in Minneapolis and she also broke the NCAA record for the most threes in one season: 154, a number that most people would be proud of for a four-year college career.
Ferenz has already started her professional career, currently playing for Contern in Luxembourg and is averaging 24 points per game to go with 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
Back at Idaho, Ferenz was named Big Sky player of the year and was a first team nomination. She averaged 22 points per game, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and is the all-time leader in points scored with 2466, more than any male or female in the history of Vandals basketball.
Ferenz is another player you better not foul as she is 86 per cent over her career from the charity stripe.
Pierce and Ferenz are best friends and have dreamt of playing professional basketball together somewhere on the planet for many years.
Ferenz’s father Chris played in Australia after college so, when the call came from Mottin, the girls were delighted.
“We are just a couple of nerds.” Pierce said when asked to describe herself. “We both like Star Wars, so that’s a red flag. But we both want to see Byron Bay and can’t wait to check out all Australia has to offer, and the Great Barrier Reef of course.”
When she arrives next week, Pierce will be the first of the two to arrive in Australia and she will quickly start working with some of the Hawks juniors as well as hitting the court with the team in pre-season training.
Ferenz will head to Australia immediately after her Luxembourg season is complete in late March, just in time for the team’s first regular season game.