Women's Basketball Adds Marquette Transfer Guard Emily La Chapell

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sophomore transfer guard Emily La Chapell will be joining the Belmont University women's basketball program, head coach Bart Brooks announced Friday. Following an impressive debut season at BIG EAST Conference member Marquette, La Chapell will have three full seasons as a Bruin.
 
Starting the final 19 games of her freshman campaign, the 5-foot-11 dynamic playmaker helped lead the Golden Eagles to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022-23.
 
"We are excited to welcome Emily to our family at Belmont," spoke coach Brooks. "She is a great teammate and has been a winner at every level she has competed. Emily is an incredibly versatile and skilled player who can play multiple positions and excel from all spots on the floor. By far the best thing about Emily, though, is the quality of her character and how she will be a great representative of Belmont and our program."
 
A native of Appleton, Wisconsin, La Chapell garnered BIG EAST All-Freshman Team honors last season averaging 5.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Appearing in all 32 games and making 20 starts, La Chapell scored in double figures on eight different occasions and nearly posted a double-double during a January win at DePaul with 10 points and a career-high eight rebounds. She reached a career-best 13 points twice, including scoring 13 on 2-for-4 three-point shooting in the NCAA Tournament versus eighth-seeded South Florida.
 
Twice named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, La Chapell averaged nine points, three assists and 3.3 rebounds in three matchups with perennial national power UConn. Helping Marquette to its second top-five victory of the season, La Chapell notched nine points and a trio of boards and assists in a February win over the Huskies after recording 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals against UConn on New Year's Eve. Finishing the year with 171 points, 97 rebounds, 46 assists, 17 steals and seven blocks, La Chapell shot over 30 percent from beyond the arc.
 
La Chapell was a four-year letter winner at Appleton East High School where she starred for her father, Joe, and finished her prep career as the school's all-time leading scorer (1,885 points). She led the Patriots to a combined 83-19 record and was named the top senior wing in the state of Wisconsin by Wisconsin Sports Network after taking Appleton East to the Division I state title game. Her senior year, La Chapell scored a school-record 50 points in a win over Appleton West as she propelled her team to a 25-5 overall record and the Patriots' first trip to state since 1998.
 
Averaging 20.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.8 steals per contest in her final varsity season, La Chapell was voted Fox Valley Association Co-Player of the Year. A unanimous selection to the All-Fox Valley Association First Team all four years, La Chapell was also a four-time all-league defender. Rated as a four-star prospect by ESPN, La Chapell was the 23rd-ranked guard and 77th-ranked player overall in the 2022 recruiting class.
 
La Chapell joins JUCO All-American transfer guard Claire Hyde (Wheaton, Ill. - Morton College), Georgia Tech transfer forward Carmyn Harrison (Memphis, Tenn.), and incoming freshmen Jailyn Banks (Spring Hill, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee Christian School) and Kensley Feltner (Louisa, Ky. - Lawrence County HS), who signed their National Letters of Intent (NLI) last November, as the Bruins' newcomers this summer.
 
Belmont is the only school in the nation to win 20 or more games for eight consecutive seasons in both women's and men's basketball. The Bruins won their sixth regular season conference championship in seven seasons in their first year in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022-23. Going 23-12 overall and 17-3 against the MVC, Belmont reached its third-straight conference tournament title game before earning its 10th national postseason bid in 11 seasons.
 
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