Gonzaga women add transfer guard Brynna Maxwell from Utah

Gonzaga women’s coach Lisa Fortier made her first move of the off-season Wednesday with the signing of transfer guard Brynna Maxwell of Utah.

A 6-foot graduate student with two years of eligibility remaining, Maxwell is expected to replace some of the outside shooting ability of recently graduated Cierra Walker.

Last season, Maxwell averaged 10.5 points and shot 38% from long range to help the surprising Utes reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 11 years.

“She is a great shooter and has a team mentality,” Fortier said Wednesday. “She is coming to us with three years of college experience and is ready to expand her game. She is a tireless worker with goals we can help her achieve.”

Maxwell, a star at Gig Harbor High School in the Puget Sound area, played at Utah for three years. She is a two-time All-Pac-12 honorable mention and started in 63 games at Utah and played a total of 85.

As a freshman, Maxwell was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman first team and became the first freshman for Utah since joining the Pac-12 to earn All-Pac-12 Conference honors.

She ranks fifth all time in Utah history in 3-pointers made in a season with 83 in 2019-20. Maxwell also has scored double figures in 52 games.

Last season, Maxwell averaged 20½ minutes a game with 11 starts. She averaged 10.6 points per game and had a season-high 24 against Lipscomb in the Utes’ opener.

Maxwell had a career-high performance against Oregon State in 2020 with 34 points. Overall, she averaged 12 points and 25.6 minutes a game for the Utes. She also had 66 steals and 93 assists while grabbing 269 rebounds in her career at Utah.

At Gig Harbor, she was the State 3A Player of the Year and Tacoma Tribune All-Area Player of the Year as a senior after leading her team to a state championship.

A four-star recruit coming out of high school, she also has the school record for total points (1,968), points in a season (671 in 2019) and points in a game (48 in 2019).