Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce, a.k.a “The Splash Sisters”, had two of the most prolific careers in not only Vandal women’s basketball history, but women’s collegiate basketball history as well. They both averaged over 14 points per game over a four-year career and both hit over 400 threes’ during that same span. Both of them finished in the top 3 their senior season for three pointers made with Pierce breaking the all-time record finishing the season with 154 made three’s.
Their careers were anything short of impressive and their presence will be missed on the court coming into the 2019-2020 season. The records they set and stats they posted will be nearly impossible to beat for upcoming Vandal women basketball players. Let’s take a look at some of the impressive stats they recorded over their four-year career.
Starting with career stats, the Splash Sisters are top ten in the following categories; points scored, free throw percentage, three pointers made (top 2), field goals made, three-point percentage and games played (tied for first). That’s six different categories which is unreal, especially considering they were a part of the same recruiting class. Having not one but two players on your team over a four-year period getting in the top ten of these categories is insane.
Moving on to single season records, which they also hold multiple records for. Starting with Ferenz, she is top ten in the following categories; points scored, scoring average, field goals made, three pointers made and three-point percentage. Ferenz clearly made her mark as the best scorer in Vandal history and even her season records held prove that. Plus, the fact that she did this through her impressive outside shooting is also major – especially considering the third Vandal on career three pointers made is not even on the top ten all-time scoring list. So not only is Ferenz the best scorer in Vandal women history, but also the best shooter of all time behind her partner in crime Taylor Pierce.
Now we look at Pierce’s single season records. Pierce was pretty much just a pure shooter, so the records she holds are three pointers made, three-point percentage and free throw percentage. Having a pure shooter like Pierce on your team is always necessary but considering the rate she did it at is phenomenal. If Ferenz was having a rough shooting night, Pierce would be there to step up and knock down big shots for the Vandals and vice versa.
Now we take a look at some of their other career statistic averages other than shooting. One that stands out for Pierce is her average minutes per game in her career which is 31.5 minutes per game. There are 40 minutes total in NCAA games, and averaging this number of minutes per game over four years this is absolutely outstanding. The stamina required to be on the floor for this long during games is not an easy task at all. And to be shooting the ball as well as she did in her career while playing for this amount of time in games is also amazing.
A career stat that stands out for Ferenz is her average rebounds per game which is 4, an above average number for the general guard in the NCAA. Being able to not only score the ball at a high rate but also grab rebounds on the other end of the floor is always a bonus for coaches and is something that coach Newlee had to be proud of. Having one of your guards being able to rebound the ball at the rate she did improves your teams transition game tremendously considering that Ferenz can pull down that rebound and immediately start dribbling down the floor.
At the end of the day the Splash Sisters will definitely be missed, and their accomplishments never forgotten. The only thing left for Vandal faithful to do is watch to see what Ferenz and Pierce do next – whether that be continuing a professional basketball career or potentially working their way into the coaching ranks. Thank you, Splash Sisters, for the wildest 4 years the Vandal women’s basketball programs have seen in a while.
Braedon Cain can be reached at [email protected]