SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State bolstered its 2021-22 women’s basketball roster Friday with the addition of two-time Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Mariah White as a graduate transfer from Cleveland State.
“I’m super excited about Mariah!” Missouri State head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said of White. “She is a hard-working, high character, seasoned student-athlete who can really put the ball in the hole. She will flourish in our system as she can score at all three levels. Averaging 19 points in college is no small feat!”
The Horizon League’s top defender in 2020 and 2021, White averaged 19.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game to earn first-team all-conference honors as a senior while leading the Vikings to the 2021 Women’s Basketball Invitational championship, the first postseason title in program history.
“She also takes pride in defense and has earned back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards to prove it,” continued Coach Mox. “She will be pursuing her Master’s degree in education, as she is a very mature young lady who knows what she wants in life. Her personality and spirit fit our culture and family perfectly!”
Off the court, the 5-foot-8 guard was named the 2021 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year earlier this month, selected from nearly 1,000 men’s and women’s nominees for best exemplifying the standards of scholarship, athleticism and humanitarianism. White is completing her student teaching requirements this semester en route to a math education degree.
White ranked 10th nationally with 96 steals as a junior and was a three-time Horizon League all-Defensive Team pick. She scored 1,320 career points at Cleveland State and ranks sixth on CSU’s career lists for steals (230) and free throws (312). In 106 games for the Vikings, the Toledo, Ohio, native scored in double figures 64 times with 20 games of 20 more points and a pair of 30-point outings.
