NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head women's basketball coach Kristen Gillespie has announced the addition of Caroline Waite starting in the 2023-24 season.
"We are thrilled to welcome Caroline to our Redbird family. She is an elite shooter that will add depth to our back court," Gillespie said.
Waite, a 5-4 guard, played two seasons at MVC foe Bradley from 2021 to 2023 where she played in 56 games with 51 starts, averaging 32.2 minutes per game over her career. She scored in double-figures 24 times including a season-high 23 at Eastern Illinois and at Valparaiso during the 2022-23 season.
An Ames, Iowa, native, Waite finished second in the Valley for three-pointers per game (2.4) in 2022-23, only behind ISU's Mary Crompton's mark of 2.4 last season. Waite, while with the Braves, would be a 34-percent three-point shooter as the guard would make no less than 72 in a season. Over her two seasons in Peoria, Waite finished with 725 points (12.9 per game) along with 77 assists (1.4 per game).
Waite would tie a career-best single game three-pointers (6) on two separate occasions in 2022-23, as she would go 6-of-13 versus McNeese State on Nov. 19 before duplicating a similar success in MVC play, going 6-of-10 on the road against Indiana State on March 2. Meanwhile, her career best point performance came during her MVC Freshman of the Year campaign (2021-22) when Waite would go for 24 points against Upper Iowa.
Waite joins 2023 IHSA Class 4A State Champion Shannon Dowell, Class 6 State Champion Brooke Coffey, 4A All-Star Molly Lenz, and All-State honorable mention Savannah McGowan as newcomers for the squad next season.
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