Kenisha Bell

Personal: Kenisha Bell is the daughter of Aishia Bell and Brian Townsend. She has nine brothers and seven sisters. She majored in communications at Marquette.

Other Professional Experience: Kenisha Bell was selected by the Minnesota Lynx with the No. 30 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft. She appeared in three games with Minnesota during her rookie season. She has also played professionally in France, Israel, and Mexico.

At Minnesota: Kenisha Bell was a three-year letter winner at Minnesota after playing at Marquette as a freshman. She averaged 19.1 points and 5.9 rebounds over 125 career games. She also dished out 4.4 assists per outing while notching 274 steals. With the Golden Gophers, she was a two-time Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America selection and a six-time All-Big Ten Conference honoree, including four First-Team nods. She also earned a pair of Big Ten All-Defensive Team certificates and was named to the WBCA All-Region Team in each of her final two seasons. She is the eighth-leading scorer in Minnesota history after netting 1,754 points in three seasons. She reached 1,000 career points in just 57 games at Minnesota, the third-quickest mark in program history. She stands as the fifth-fastest player to reach 1,500 points, doing so in 82 games. Bell ranks fifth in Golden Gopher history with an 18.5 career scoring average. She tallied 10 or more points in 88 career games and also notched 42 outings with 20 or more points. She is one of 13 players in program history with multiple 30-point games during their career. She is third in Minnesota history with 508 made free throws and 693 free throw attempts. Bell ranks sixth on the Golden Gophers’ all-time list with 511 assists and also holds the No. 8 position on the career steals ledger (215). She owns the school record with seven career games with 10 or more points and 10 or more assists.

Bell led Minnesota in scoring during each of her final two seasons and also paced the squad in assists and steals during each of her three years. She owns Minnesota single-season records for free throws made (187) and attempted (255). She also stands as one of three players in program history to accrue 200 or more assists in a single campaign. She was named a semifinalist for the 2019 Naismith Trophy Women’s Defensive Player of the Year after tallying 63 steals and a career-high 188 rebounds as a redshirt senior. She averaged 19.1 points per game while authoring 15 games with 20 or more points. As a redshirt junior, she started in all 33 games and posted a career-best 20.0 scoring average while making 42.3 percent of her field goal attempts. She paced the Gophers with seven double-doubles, ranked sixth in NCAA Division I with 255 free throw attempts, and also finished the season seventh in the nation with 187 made free throws. She dished out 6.8 assists per game, good for ninth in NCAA Division I. During her inaugural campaign at Minnesota, she earned a starting assignment in 30 games and was honored as the Gophers’ Defensive Player of the Year after posting seven outings with four or more steals. She also ranked fourth in the Big Ten with a 4.9 assist-per-game average. In her lone season at Marquette, she was a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team after ranking second on the team with a 14.5 scoring average. She established program freshman records for points (434), scoring average (14.5), field goals made (157), and free throws made (111).