Gonzaga women’s basketball player Calli Stokes enters transfer portal

The Gonzaga women’s basketball team roster has taken another hit.

Redshirt sophomore guard/wing Calli Stokes has entered the transfer portal.

Stokes, from Redondo Beach, California, missed the Zags’ final seven games with a concussion.

TheNextHoops first reported Thursday that Stokes entered the transfer portal. The report said that Stokes checked the “do not contact” tag in her portal entry. That means other schools can’t contact her. The report also said that Stokes plans to compete in track and field, not basketball.

The 5-foot-11 Stokes was one of the first players off the bench for the Zags, providing immediate energy and defense. She averaged 18.8 minutes per game along with 3.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists.

She came off the bench the year before after redshirting her true freshman season. She scored 226 points, grabbed 214 rebounds and had 60 assists in two seasons.

Her best game last year came Feb. 10 when she scored 10 points and had seven rebounds in 23 minutes in a win over Loyola Marymount.

Stokes’ departure means the Zags return just four players who suited up at the end of the season – West Coast Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Yvonne Ejim, who is taking advantage of a COVID season; seniors-to-be Maud Huijbens and Esther Little; and sophomore-to-be Claire O’Connor.

Payton Muma, a sophomore guard who redshirted last season, placed her name in the portal earlier. Redshirt sophomore guard Bree Salenbien was lost to an ACL injury midway in the season.

Freshman forward Naya Ojukwu left the team for personal reasons halfway through the year.

Gonzaga must replace four starters who came back for a COVID season.