ARLINGTON, Texas – Koi Love, a 6-0 forward from the University of Southern California (USC) has officially signed to play her last season of collegiate basketball for the Lady Mavs and head coach Shereka Wright.
 
Coach Wright and Love have a history together dating back to 2018 when Wright was the recruiting coordinator and associate head coach at Vanderbilt, and she recruited Love to the Commodores.
 
"We are excited to add Koi to our team. She is a versatile forward that can play inside and out," said head coach Shereka Wright. "She will bring size to our front court and add scoring, rebounding and defensive presence. Off the court, she will positively impact our locker room as a great student and leader."
 
Love spent her first two collegiate seasons at Vandy where she made an immediate impact, earning All-SEC Freshman team honors her first season in Nashville after leading the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game. In her career debut, she registered a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Jacksonville State. She was the first player in school history to win back-to-back SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
 
Appearing in 29 of the Commodore's 30 games, making 13 starts, Love finished with 396 points, 181 rebounds, 56 assists, 32 steals and 18 blocks in her freshman campaign, which led all Vanderbilt freshmen in points, rebounds, blocks, steals and assists. In the SEC tournament against Auburn, Love scored a then career-high 26 points and dished out seven assists.
 
Heading into her sophomore season at Vanderbilt, Love started in all eight of the Commodores games before the season was cut short due to the covid pandemic. She was averaging 20.8 points per game which was the 25th-best average in the nation when Vanderbilt's season was discontinued in January. Dropped her career-high 32 points in the Commodore's last game of the season at No. 12 Kentucky.
 
Love transferred to Arizona for the 2021-2022 season where she appeared in 28 games, making two starts, and averaged 14.3 minutes per game. Her best performance in a Wildcat uniform came in a win over Oregon State when she dropped 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. Love grabbed a season-best 9 rebounds in wins over Marist and Oregon while she led the Wildcats in steals in six different games, including three games of four steals.
 
Love spent the 2022-2023 season at USC where she played in 17 games, averaging 13.6 minutes per game. She averaged 2.8 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game while finishing the season with 23 steals, 13 assists and 3 blocks for the Trojans.
 
During Love's prep career, she was ranked the 40th-best recruit nationally by ProspectsNation and the 89th-best recruit nationally by ESPNHoopGurlz. Love was also one of 50 high schoolers named to the prestigious 2019 Naismith High School Girls' Watch List. She was a three-time FABC First Team selection and three-time 4A All-State selection after averaging at least 15 points and 11 boards in her three seasons on varsity.
    
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