By Ryan Frye, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State women’s basketball has announced the signing of NJCAA Division II Second Team All-American Lai’Janique Perry-Ellis to the program. Perry-Ellis, a 5-9 guard, joins the Eagle program following a standout freshman campaign at Bryant & Stratton College-Wisconsin.
Perry-Ellis helped Bryant & Stratton and head coach Jeff Lorenz to an NJCAA Region IV championship and an appearance in the NJCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Championship—the school’s second appearance since the program’s establishment in 2016-17. Overall, the Bobcats finished the shortened 2019-20 season with a 24-6 record.
“We are thrilled to add Lai’Janique to our team this year,” said head coach Greg Todd. “She is an explosive wing that penetrates well to the basket with a solid outside shot who can also handle the ball efficiently.”
En route to earning Second Team All-American honors, she led all Bobcat scorers and ranked 29th in the NJCAA, pouring in 18.2 points per game. In 28 games, Perry-Ellis scored in double-figures in 25 games, scoring 20 or more points in 11 games, including two 30-plus point efforts. Against Gogebic CC (Ironwood, Mich.) on Feb. 7, she fashioned a season-best 32-point performance, posting the sixth-best single-game scoring total in Bryant & Stratton history.
From the floor, Perry-Ellis shot 53.5 percent, a total that ranked 22nd in the NJCAA during the 2019-20 season, while shooting 31.9 percent from beyond the three-point arc. At the free-throw stripe, she converted at an 81 percent clip, ranking 15th in the NJCAA.
In addition to her outstanding scoring averages, Perry-Ellis also pulled down 6.8 rebounds per game while dishing out 3.3 assists per contest. Defensively, she ranked 27th in the NJCAA in total steals, collecting 90 on the season, an average of 3.2 per game.
Prior to her lone season at Bryant & Stratton College, Perry-Ellis starred at Washington High School in her hometown of Milwaukee, Wis.
She joins fellow transfers Fredrionna Adams, Tyler Moore, Laurie Thomas, and Darryn Ziegler and incoming freshman Morgan DeFoor as newcomers to the program while transfers Lauren Carter, Gabby Crawford, and Eternati Willockwho joined the program last season will also be eligible this season.