City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2023-24 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 6. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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There is Philadelphia basketball talent everywhere in the country.

Dozens of Philly-area ballplayers are spread around Division I women’s rosters heading into this season, from East Coast to West Coast, North to South, low-major to high-major and everywhere in between. Each fall, CoBL rounds up all of those local prospects to update you on how their careers are going and what’s expected of them in the year to come.

We’ve split the area’s D-I alumni into a three-part list, the whole thing way too big to run all at once. Here’s Part 1 of our 2023-24 CoBL girls alumni roundup, featuring around 25 players who are on a Division I roster this season.

(If we’re missing someone, let us know: cityofbasketballlove@gmail.com)

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2023-24 Alumni Roundup: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |

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Lainey Allen (Soph. | Maryland-Eastern Shore)
The centerpiece of Plymouth Whitemarsh’s undefeated season two years back had a solid debut season at UMES, moving into the starting lineup a month into the season and finishing with 19 starts in 29 games overall. The 6-foot-2 post averaged 4.7 ppg and 4.6 rpg, breaking double digits twice late in the season, including a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double against Morgan State.

Ryanne Allen (Soph. | Vanderbilt)
Allen made quite a splash in her first year down at Vandy, the Archbishop Wood product hitting 42 3-pointers (on 117 attempts, a 35.9% rate) as she proved herself a valuable piece in Year 1 for the Commodores. The 6-1 wing out of Archbishop Wood averaged 6.4 ppg and 2.5 rpg, topping out with a 17-point outing (four 3s) against Sanford. 

Mia Andrews (Sr. | Fairleigh Dickinson)
A 5-9 guard from Archbishop Wood, Andrews began her career at Chipola (Fla.) College on the junior college circuit, then transferred to FDU last year. She appeared in five games as a junior, scoring eight points in a total of 19 minutes.

Amaris Baker (Jr. | Drexel)
The former Cardinal O’Hara standout will make her return to Division I this fall after going from Kennesaw State to Harcum College, where she was the top scorer in NJCAA’s Division II (27.0 ppg). The 5-8 guard joins a team that definitely needs a scoring boost with the graduation of Keishana Washington and her 2,363 career points. 

Kendall Bennett (Fr. | Binghamton)
A double-double machine during her years at Germantown Academy, Bennett brings her 6-2 frame up to Binghamton, which graduated its leading rebounder from a year ago. As a senior at GA, Bennett averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds, and set the GA record for points in a game (43) the year before.

Bri Bowen (Soph. | Quinnipiac)
Effectively a redshirt freshman, Bowen spent her freshman year at Delaware, where she didn’t see the court all season. A 5-10 combo guard from Archbishop Wood, Bowen is looking for a fresh start at QU, which went 21-9 (16-4 MAAC) last season but graduated five of its top six scorers.

Alexa Brodie (Sr. | Colgate)
Brodie enters her fifth and final year at Colgate with a wealth of experience under her belt: 92 games (90 starts) and more than 2,500 minutes (28.2 per game) in a Raiders uniform. The Central Bucks South product started a career-high 29 games as a senior, averaging 7.3 ppg, 2.9 apg and 2.8 rpg, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.2:1.

Alexzeya Brooks (Jr. | Long Island)
A native of Binghamton (N.Y.), Brooks spent her junior and senior seasons at the Westtown School, helping the Moose to the 2020 FSL Championship. She was at UMass the last two years, playing in 27 games a year ago but averaging fewer than one point and one rebound in about seven minutes per outing, and transferred to LIU in the offseason.

Anajah Brown (Jr. | Siena)
Brown took a major step forward in her second collegiate season. She improved from scoring 2.4 ppg and hitting 39.6% of her shots as a freshman to 11.3 ppg (and 8.1 rpg) as a sophomore, shooting 56.2% overall in 30 games (29 starts) for the Saints, who had a nine-win improvement over the year before. The 6-1 post out of the Baldwin School finished her season with her high-water mark, a 20-point, 12-rebound effort against Iona in the MAAC Tournament, her eighth double-double of the season.

Kassondra Brown (Gr. | Rutgers)
Brown has played in 106 games with 55 starts across two years at Rhode Island, one at Saint Peter’s and one at Rutgers, but she’s really come on strong the last couple years. After averaging 14.9 ppg and 10.1 rpg in her only year at SPU, the 6-2 Abington grad started 26 games and averaged 8.1 ppg and 5.2 rpg in her first year at RU, where she’ll play as a graduate student to finish out her collegiate career. 

Amber Bullard (Fr. | La Salle)
The star forward from tiny The Christian Academy in Delco, Bullard is a raw 6-2 post with a developing offensive game. The Explorers aren’t deep at the ‘5,’ so she’ll have a chance to play right away if she can defend and rebound against significantly better competition than before.

Maddie Burke (Sr. | Villanova)
Burke fit right in her first year at ‘Nova, starting all 37 games for the Wildcats and averaging 7.1 ppg while hitting 36.1% (69 of 191) from downtown. It was a major bounce-back season for the 6-foot guard from Central Bucks West, who averaged only 2.8 ppg and hit 19.5% from 3-point range (15 of 77) her sophomore year at Penn State.

Anna Camden (Gr. | Richmond)
After four years at Penn State, Camden was set to finish her college career as a grad student at Richmond. However, the team announced this spring she will miss the entire season due to a knee injury. A 6-3 forward, Camden averaged 5.3 ppg in 111 games (58 starts) with the Nittany Lions, though her sophomore year (7.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg) has been her high-water mark thus far.

Denae Carter (Jr. | Villanova)
Carter makes her return to the Philadelphia area after two years at Mississippi State, where the St. Basil Academy product played in 47 games with 10 starts in two years. The 6-foot post averaged 4.2 ppg and 4.7 rpg last year, and her rebounds per 100 possessions last year (17.8) was higher than anybody on ‘Nova outside Christina Dalce (20.0 ppg). However, a preseason knee injury will cost her the season.

Gabby Casey (Fr. | St. Joseph’s)
The best hooper in Lansdale Catholic history — boys or girls — brings a strong résumé with her to Hawk Hill, coming off a year where she led the Crusaders to the Catholic League and PIAA state championships for the first time. A 5-9 guard, Casey was just about unstoppable in high school getting to the rim but can also knock down an outside shot. It’ll be curious to see her role on a Hawks squad that returns quite a bit from a successful season.

Erin Doherty (Gr. | Drexel)
A standout guard at D-III Catholic (D.C.) over her four years there, Doherty made a big jump with her grad-transfer season, coming in to help shore up the Dragons’ backcourt. A 5-7 guard from Haverford High, Doherty averaged 12.4 ppg last season, with a season-high 30-point game, while knocking down 35% of her 3-pointers. 

Maggie Doogan (Soph. | Richmond)
A hand injury seven games into her freshman year cost Doogan all of December and a couple January contests, but the 6-2 Cardinal O’Hara grad bounced back nicely once she returned. She started the final 15 games of the season, averaging 14.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg in that span; for the season, she averaged 11.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg (plus 1.7 apg). 

Caroline Dotsey (Fr. | Maine)
The centerpiece for Haverford High’s success the last few seasons, Dotsey is a 6-2 forward who excels from the high post, though she can stretch the floor out to the 3-point arc. She’ll be one of the tallest players on the Black Bears’ roster, and her versatility should give her a good shot at earning some early minutes. 

Deja Evans (Fr. | Albany)
Speaking of 6-2 freshman forwards who should have a chance to crack the rotation right away, Evans is the tallest member of the Great Danes’ roster. The Archbishop Wood product is a strong defender and rebounder who can finish around the rim with both hands.

Izabella Forker (Fr. | Merrimack)
The ‘23 Faith Christian grad (and daughter of Faith head coach Dave Forker) is one of six freshmen on the Merrimack roster. A versatile 5-10 guard, Forker could get to the bucket at will in the Bicentennial Athletic League. 

Kaitlyn Flanagan (Soph. | Holy Cross)
The starting point guard on Plymouth Whitemarsh’s undefeated team two years back, Flanagan jumped right into the same role for the Crusaders, starting all 33 games her freshman year. The 5-8 point guard averaged 6.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 2.9 apg, shooting 42.2% from the field and 32.7% from range for a team that won 24 games and captured the Patriot League championship.

Maggie Grant (Soph. | Villanova)
An Archbishop Carroll product, Grant redshirted her first year at Villanova due to injury. The 6-foot wing has several players ahead of her at her position, so snagging a rotation spot might be tough this season. 

Hannah Griffin (Fr. | Holy Cross)
The younger daughter of St. Joseph’s head coach Cindy Griffin, Hannah begins her freshman season at Holy Cross after winning MVP of the AACA as a senior at Gwynedd Mercy. The 5-6 point guard was an All-State Second Team selection as a senior.

Kaylie Griffin (Jr. | St. Joseph's)
The older Griffin sister is listed as a junior but is technically a redshirt sophomore after she didn’t appear in a game her first year at Hawk Hill; she appeared in 10 games last year, playing a total of 28 minutes, and is still looking for her first collegiate point. 

Casey Harter (Fr. | Northwestern)
The standout point guard from Souderton joins a Wildcats roster that has several other Philly-area products on it. Harter’s a lead guard with good size (5-11) and a smooth outside shot.