AMES – Iowa State women’s basketball head coach Bill Fennelly announced the signing of four transfers to the 2024-25 Cyclones roster. Lily Hansford (Oregon State), Kenzie Hare (Marquette), Sydney Harris (TCU) and Lilly Taulelei (Massachusetts) will join Iowa State later this summer.
Lily Hansford · 6-2 · G · Green Bay, Wis.
Hansford comes to Ames following two seasons at Oregon State, helping the Beavers to an Elite Eight appearance in 2024, their first since the 2018 season. She played in 34 of Oregon State’s 35 games this season, averaging 5.1 points per game while shooting over 45 percent from 3-point range. She has made 67 career triples while shooting 41.9 percent from deep.
In the Beavers’ deep NCAA Tournament run, Hansford matched her career high with 12 points against top-seeded South Carolina in the Elite Eight, finishing with four 3-pointers, three rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Fennelly on Hansford: “We love Lily’s ability to play both ends of the floor. She is another player who comes to Iowa State with a winning mindset. Lily can impact the game at both ends with her excellent 3-point range and defensive length.”
Hansford scored in double figures seven times throughout the 2023-24 season, also scoring 12 points on perfect shooting (4-4) from beyond the arc against Utah. She finished 17 games shooting .500 or better from 3-point range. Hansford enters 2024-25 with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Kenzie Hare · 5-9 · G · Naperville, Ill.
Hare, a 2024 All-Big East Honorable Mention, joins the Cyclones following two seasons at Marquette. She averaged 14.0 points, 2.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds while starting 31-of-32 games for the Golden Eagles in 2023-24. Also a sharp shooter, Hare broke Marquette’s program record for 3-pointers made by a sophomore with 91 triples this season. Her total also ranked first in the Big East and 13th in the nation.
Fennelly on Hare: “Kenzie is a perfect fit for Iowa State. She is a winner and extremely skilled. We felt she was one of the best 3-point shooters in the portal. Our fans are going love how she plays the game.”
Hare finished the season with a 3-point percentage of .425 which also led the conference and was 13th in NCAA DI. She made her 100th career triple in her 49th career game. Scoring in double figures 24 times this season, she also registered four 20-point games with a career-high 25 points against Boston College (Nov. 24). Also a high-level distributor, Hare passed out a career-high seven assists in a win over Illinois (Nov. 11).
Hare was a two-time member of the Big East Weekly Honor Roll in 2023-24, a Big East All-Freshman Team selection in 2022-23 and the Big East Freshman of the Week on Jan. 30, 2023. She joins the Cyclones with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Sydney Harris · 6-1 · G/F · Edwardsville, Ill.
Harris joins the Iowa State roster following a season at TCU. She was a standout for Central Michigan as a freshman the season prior, the Mid-American Conference’s (MAC) Freshman of the Year in 2023 and an All-MAC Third Team selection.
Fennelly on Harris: “Sydney fills a need for us at many positions while being an excellent scorer at all levels. She fits in many ways with our style of play.”
At TCU, Harris appeared in 16 of the Horned Frogs’ final 18 games after being forced to sit out all of nonconference play due to an ankle injury sustained at the end of fall camp. Making the most of her time on the court, Harris averaged 9.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 40 percent from behind the arc. She ranked fourth nationally in 3-pointers per 40 minutes (4.4). Harris was one of only three Horned Frogs to score in double figures in five consecutive games alongside All-Big 12 players Madison Conner and Sedona Prince. She knocked down three or more triples in five games this season and scored a season-high 27 points behind 5-of-12 shooting from deep in TCU’s 79-72 road win at Cincinnati (Feb. 17).
As a freshman at Central Michigan, Harris averaged 17.4 points and four rebounds per game. She led CMU and ranked among her conference peers with 505 points. She also ranked fifth in the MAC playing 35.6 minutes per contest. She accounted for five of CMU’s six top individual scoring performances in 2022-23 and scored a career-high 31 points at Northern Illinois (Feb. 25). Harris comes to Ames with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Lilly Taulelei · 6-3 · C/F · Wellington, New Zealand
Taulelei played in 31 games and made 22 starts for UMass this season, averaging 6.7 points and 2.5 rebounds as a true post presence. The fifth-leading scorer for UMass, Taulelei finished her freshman season with a .453 field goal percentage, going 91-of-201 from the floor.
Fennelly on Taulelei: “When we first talked to Lilly, we knew she was the perfect fit for our team on and off the court. Lilly will give us depth and experience (playing for New Zealand and in college) in the post which we felt was the last thing we wanted to add to next year’s roster. I know our fans are going to love to get to know her and her family background.”
Prior to UMass, Taulelei was a contracted player with the Tokomanawa Queens in 2022 and made the Wellington U19 Basketball Representative Team. Competing for the New Zealand U14 Basketball Team, she helped the team to a gold medal in Melbourne, Australia. A captain for the U15 team, New Zealand made the National U15 Championships and Taulelei was selected as the Tournament MVP. She aided the New Zealand U16 team to a fourth-place finish at the Asia Cup Championships in 2021, qualifying for the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup, where the team placed 12th. Taulelei became the first female in New Zealand Basketball history to be selected to the Jr. NBA Global Championship, named the team captain of the Jr. NBA Asia Pacific Team.
The Wellington native was also selected to compete in the Women’s National Basketball League, a professional/amateur competition for elite female basketball players, as the youngest ever to compete at the level. She averaged 20 minutes, 4.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in six contests played. Taulelei will have three seasons of remaining eligibility entering 2024-25.
(TOP IMAGE via Cyclone Athletics)
