The Lady Toppers have added two new transfers to the roster, head coach Greg Collins announced on Thursday. Ana Teresa Faustino and Gabby McBride will be joining WKU for the upcoming 2021-22 basketball season.

Faustino signed with Oregon State for 2020-21 season and spent time on the court in five games during the season. The Barreiro, Portugal native played for the senior team GDESSA, a club team in Portugal during the 2019-20 season. During her time playing for GDESSA, she was awarded with Rookie of the Year twice and earned National Starting Five of the Week one time. Faustino’s best performance was a 28-point game.

In the 2018-19 season, Faustino helped the GDESSA U-19 squad win a national title, earning MVP accolades after a 23-point and seven assist performances in the final. Faustino was named an All-Star Five that season as she averaged 17.7 points per game and 4.3 assists per game. She was also a member of the GDESSA senior team in 2017-18 that was involved in the Euro Cup for the first time in the club’s history.

Faustino has also played for the Portuguese National Team where she was the team captain for the U-16 team. She was also on the roster during the 2017 European Championships. In 2016-17, Faustino earned a spot at Portugal’s High-Performance Center. She also played with the U-15 team in the CPLP Games in South Africa.

McBride is transferring to the Hill from Panola College where she played during the 2020-21 season after transferring from Iowa State. While on the Iowa State roster, McBride was redshirting for her freshman season in 2019-20. The Roanoke, Texas native played her junior and senior seasons at Liberty Christian High School and as a freshman and sophomore at Carrol High School.
The six-foot-two forward was a three-star recruit coming out of high school, ranked 19th in her position.

McBride was also an Adidas All-American and was awarded with All-District honors. McBride’s career high is a 38-point performance as a sophomore and a career best 20 rebounds while playing for Liberty.

Faustino will be a sophomore in class standing while McBride will be a redshirt freshman. Both players will have a total of four years eligibility left.

Faustino and McBride will be joining other newcomers Macy Blevins, Jaylin Foster, Alexis Mead, Mya Meredith, and Jenna Walker. The newest Lady Toppers will be alongside returning athletes Meral Abdelgawad, Raneem Elgedawy, Tori Hunter, Selma Kulo, Hope Sivori, and Jordan Smith.

Women’s basketball beat reporter Drew Toennies at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @drew_toennies.