Hailey Van Lith starred and dropped 21 points on her TCU debut after being forced to delay her WNBA dream.

After establishing herself as one of the biggest stars in women’s college basketball, Van Lith spent just one year with LSU having joined the Tigers from Louisville. But the 23-year-old struggled to adapt to the playmaking role bestowed upon her.

Last season, Van Lith averaged 11.6 points – over eight points less than her final season in Louisville – while increasing her assists to 3.6. However, she left Baton Rouge to move to TCU in the hopes of utilizing her natural scoring abilities more regularly.

The move appeared to pay dividends for Van Lith. On her TCU debut, she dropped 21 points along with seven assists and six steals in the Horned Frogs’ 78-41 win over Houston Baptist.

After Van Lith made the transfer decision to leave LSU, head coach Kim Mulkey heaped praise on the guard. She outlined how Van Lith hoped to be in the WNBA by now only for her move to LSU failing to work out as hoped.

“Her aspirations were to get drafted this year,” Mulkey reportedly said back in April. “And she realized, ‘I need another year, and I need to go back to a place where I can relax and get back to my normal position.’ And what do you do? You hug her, and you wish her well.”

Mulkey added: “She wanted to improve her strengths by coming to LSU with a goal of expanding her game by learning a position that I played my entire life because she knows at the next level that’s her only chance – to be able to tell them somewhat, ‘I can handle the ball if you need me to.’

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ALBANY, NEW YORK – APRIL 01: Hailey Van Lith #11 of the LSU Tigers takes the ball out during the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at MVP Arena on April 01, 2024 in Albany, New York. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) ( 

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“She had to embrace a change in her mindset of not shooting it 20-30 times a game, but finding who’s open and getting them the ball. And sometimes it was hard because she would be pressured, and she’d be pounding the heck out of that ball.”

Van Lith was the target of immense criticism during her sole year at LSU. She seemed to lose confidence, and struggled throughout the NCAA Tournament; Mulkey benched her in the second round, and Van Lith struggled to keep up with Caitlin Clark in a loss to Iowa.

Regardless, Mulkey defended Van Lith throughout the season and insisted she was a pleasure to coach, even if the tandem didn’t quite work out. She concluded: “Hailey Van Lith is one of the hardest working players that I’ve ever coached.”

TCU is next in action against 0-1 New Orleans on Sunday, Nov. 10.