Campus Clips: Jones, Reynolds help Purdue hoops excel at season's end

The Purdue men's basketball team stole the headlines with its postseason run to a national runner-up finish in March Madness.

Meanwhile, a pair of former area stars helped the Purdue women's hoops squad finish its season on a high note as well.

More: Former Washington girls basketball coach Marilyn Coddens set to enter Hall of Fame

Freshman Rashunda Jones and sophomore Mila Reynolds, both former standouts at South Bend Washington, helped Purdue reach the Great 8 in the WNIT Tournament at season's end.

Reynolds, who spent her freshman season at Maryland, had a career game in a 62-51 win over Butler in the tourney. The 6-3 sophomore forward scored a career high 15 points in 17 minutes of action. She hit 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the victory.

Jones, a 5-8 freshman guard, scored 12 points as Purdue ended its season with a 67-59 loss to Vermont. Reynolds scored two points in the season finale.

More: South Bend Washington-to-Purdue pipeline continues as Kira Reynolds commits to Boilermakers

Jones, who was an Indiana All-Star in 2023, had a strong freshman campaign in West Lafayette. She averaged 7.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game while racking up 52 assists and 27 steals. Jones shot 36 percent overall from the field, including 28 percent from 3-point land, and 75 percent from the free throw line. She scored a season high 23 points in a game versus Penn State.

Reynolds, who was an Indiana All-Star in 2022, averaged 2.4 ppg. for the Boilermakers.

Former Washington star guard Amiyah Reynolds redshirted her freshman season at Purdue. Reynolds, the younger sister of Mila, is recovering from foot surgery at the end of her regular season as a senior at Washington in 2023.

The trio of Jones and the Reynolds sisters led Washington to a Class 3A state championship in 2022. Their younger sister Kira, now a junior at Washington and a highly rated player nationally in the Class of 2025, has made a verbal commitment to also play at Purdue.

Purdue finished its 2023-24 campaign at 15-19 overall and 5-13 in Big 10 play.

Nevaeh Foster (Marian) completed her freshman season for the Western Kentucky women's basketball team.

Foster, a 5-8 guard, appeared in 14 games and played a total of 81 minutes. She averaged 2.1 ppg. and made 4-of-13 on 3-pointers and had nine steals. Foster had a season high 14 points in 15 minutes of action versus West Virginia State.

Foster, who is the all time leading scorer for girls or boys at Marian, has announced her decision to transfer to IUPUI to continue her playing career.

Western Kentucky finished 15-17 this past season.

Kyra Marcum (Goshen) is having a huge impact this Spring for the Trine University women's softball program.

Marcum, a lefty hitting freshman first baseman, is batting .458 with a .712 slugging percentage in 25 games for her squad. She has three triples to go with four home runs with 13 runs scored and 27 RBI.

Trine, located in Angola, Indiana, was 26-1 after a doubleheader sweep at Adrian College April 9. The 5-1 and 3-2 wins extended Trine's winning streak to 22 straight games.

Savannah Hamilton (Saint Joseph) is having a strong freshman season for the Indiana University South Bend softball team.

Hamilton was recently named the CCAC Pitcher of the Week after turning in two outstanding performances. She worked 14 innings in shutout wins over Saint Xavier and Calumet College of St. Joseph. Hamilton allowed no runs and just six hits with 12 strikeouts and five walks.

Hamilton, who helped St. Joe win the Class 3A state title in 2022, is 6-6 overall with a 4.24 ERA. She has worked 72.2 innings with 45 strikeouts and 42 walks.

IUSB has a trio of former area stars on its coaching staff. Kelli Martin is the head coach and her sister Kendra Lebold is an assistant. The pair, formerly the Zache sisters, were star pitchers at Brandywine High School and then pitched at both Western Michigan University and Bethel College.

Alex Dunfee, a former star catcher at Penn, is also an assistant coach for the Titans.

Megan Welsh (Saint Joseph) is a graduate student for the Western Michigan University softball team.

Welsh is batting .293 with five doubles for the Broncos. She also has five home runs to go with 15 RBI.

Welsh, who was a first-team All-Ivy League selection for Harvard University a year ago, went 1-3 at the plate during a 3-2 loss at Notre Dame on April 9.

Brycen Sherwood (Elkhart Central) is making his mark during his senior season for the Mid American Nazarene (Kansas) baseball team.

The senior shortstop is batting .380 with a .678 slugging percentage with 10 doubles and eight home runs. Sherwood also has 38 runs scored and 25 RBI for his squad, which stood at 26-11 after a doubleheader loss at William Penn on April 6.

Bryce Lesher (St. Joseph) had a game to remember at the plate recently for his Georgia Gwinnett baseball team.

Lesher, a junior, hit for the cycle in a 27-0 win. He went 5-for-6 in the seven-inning contest with eight RBI. Lesher was named the Continental Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week as he was 8-of-10 at the plate with 13 RBI.

Lesher's cycle was just the second in program history. His five hits, eight RBI and 12 total bases all tied single game school records.

Lesher is batting .474 in 19 games with 16 starts. He has two home runs to go with 14 runs scored and 30 RBI.

Georgia Gwinnett, which is ranked No. 3 in NAIA, is 33-5 this season.

A plethora of former local players are members of the Western Michigan baseball team this Spring.

The Broncos roster includes Hayden Berg (Penn), Cooper Hums (Penn), Adams Lehmann (Penn), Matt Hoover (Buchanan), Conner Ostrander (Edwardsburg) and Ryan Watt (Mishawaka).

Berg, a senior pitcher, got the final out for his second save as the Broncos rallied for a 10-9 win at Michigan April 9. WMU trailed 9-5 entering the final inning of the contest.

Berg is 2-2 with two saves. He has appeared in 20.2 innings, allowing 25 runs with 13 walks and 21 strikeouts.

Hums, a freshman outfielder, has had four at bats this season with one run scored and one RBI.

Lehmann, a freshman pitcher, has worked two thirds of an inning with one strikeout.

Hoover, a sophomore pitcher, is 1-0 in 14.2 innings of work. He has allowed 18 runs with 10 walks and 11 strikeouts.

Ostrander, a sophomore infielder, is batting .211 with 10 runs scored. He has one home run with two doubles and three RBI.

Watt, a junior pitcher, had worked four innings and allowed four runs with one walk and three strikeouts.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Rashunda Jones and Mila Reynolds helped Purdue hoops finish strong