Lakeland Union star Kristina Ouimette commits to UWGB women's basketball to play alongside sister Julianna

GREEN BAY – Lakeland Union forward Kristina Ouimette wanted to play college basketball alongside her sister, and because of that desire, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay turned out to be the big winner in her recruitment.

The 6-foot-2 junior announced her verbal commitment to UWGB about 20 minutes before the school introduced Kayla Karius as its new coach last Thursday. It came less than two weeks after her older sister, Julianna, signed with the Phoenix after spending her freshman season at Lehigh University.

Kristina previously had given Lehigh a verbal commitment to join her sister at the DI school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Her plans changed when Julianna entered the NCAA transfer portal after the season. Kristina reopened her recruitment.

The sisters have talked for a long time about how they wanted to play in college together and someday have homes next to each other.

If UWGB wanted Kristina, it was a good bet Kristina was going to want UWGB.

“I definitely weighed my options,” Kristina said. “I saw which schools were good fits for me. But (Julianna) was one of the main things. If I had the opportunity to play with her, I was going to take it.

“She has been a really big role in my basketball experience. I’ve always looked up to her. I usually played up on the teams with her, and she was always such a great leader and such a great player and she worked so hard. She definitely motivated me and set a good role model for what I wanted to be like as a player.”

Julianna and Kristina won’t be the only set of sisters on the Phoenix by the time their careers are complete. UWGB recently landed commitments from Oostburg sophomores Ady and Riley Ketterhagen.

It’s just the latest examples of family members teaming up for at least one season with the Phoenix over the past 12 years. The list includes Sarah and Hannah Eichler, Kaili and Megan Lukan, and Madison and Mackenzie Wolf.

Kristina Ouimette is one of best players in the state

Lakeland Union made the WIAA Division 2 state tournament when Julianna was a senior and Kristina a sophomore in 2023.

Kristina was counted on even more entering last season with Julianna in college, and she delivered by putting together one of the best campaigns of any player in the state.

She ranked ninth in the state in scoring with 27 points per game and second with 7.8 assists. She added 7.3 rebounds, 4.2 steals and 2.4 blocks while shooting 48% overall and 41.1% from 3-point range.

Kristina scored 30 or more points 11 times, including a stretch of four straight games in December. She put up a career-high 38 in a win over Marshfield in January.

Several DI schools offered her a scholarship, a list that included Illinois, Wisconsin, UW-Milwaukee, Colorado State and Navy.

Kristina is a two-time player of the year in the Great Northern Conference and has been an all-state selection each of her first three seasons. She has 1,725 career points, 602 rebounds and 417 assists while leading her team to a 65-18 record.

Karius is not allowed to comment on recruits until they have signed their letter of intent, but those who have watched her play either at Lakeland or with the Purple Aces in AAU have nothing but positive reviews about her as both a player and person.

“We are happy for Kristina and the Ouimette family,” Purple Aces program and development director Cordero Barkley said. “Kristina’s offensive versatility and immense skillset at 6-2 allows her to play multiple positions, creating matchup problems for teams.

“Kristina is a relentless worker at the craft and will fit right in with Coach Karius and the Green Bay way.”

Kristina Ouimette decided on UWGB before new hire

No matter who UWGB named as its new coach, Kristina had decided on the Phoenix. She committed before Karius was hired, just like her sister did.

Picking a school without a coach was a bit unusual, but she was excited about joining the program with her sister and didn’t have many concerns.

When Kristina found out Karius was the hire, she was even more excited. Kristina knew how big a legacy Karius had as a player at UWGB from 2007 to 2011 and her growing résumé as a coach.

Although Kristina never got the opportunity to speak with Karius before their recent phone conversation, she had been recruited by a couple of schools Karius was coaching at, including Wisconsin and South Dakota.

Karius will have the chance to use Kristina in several ways on the court when she arrives in 2025, and her game isn’t even close to being a finished product despite all the things she was asked to do as a junior this season.

It included taking over at point guard for her sister, the first time she played the position since she was young.

“I had to step up my game for sure, because Julianna was such a big part of the team and she graduated,” Kristina said. “I would say I am really happy with how much I improved over the summer before this year. I really worked on my inside game and bringing the ball up and looking for people down the court. I would say my first two years my role was kind of look to shoot it, post up when I can, stuff like that.

“I added a lot more to my game, so I’m really happy with that.”

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Kristina Ouimette commits to UWGB women's basketball, joining sister