Kierstan Bell

Personal: Bell has eight siblings. She is the first player in Ohio high school basketball to earn Ms. Basketball recognition three times. She finished her scholastic career as the fourth-leading scorer in Ohio history with 2,833 points, surpassing Katie Smith and Semeka Randall. 

2023 Season: Bell secured the 10th spot on the final league leaderboard with 4,950 points. She also ranked 10th with 2,000 stat points and eighth with 300 MVP points. She amassed 300 or more leaderboard points in eight games, including three outings with over 500 points. Her standout performance came in Week Three, where she set a season-high with 605 points against Team Mitchell. Bell received Game MVP honors four times, including earning a pair of MVP 3 distinctions. She also captained a team in Week Four, securing a 1-2 record. Starting in all 15 games, Bell ranked seventh in the league with an average of 15.9 points per game. She ranked second in the league with 94 three-point field goal attempts and was one of three players to make 30 or more triples during the season. She also sixth in total rebounds (94) and fifth in defensive rebounds (79) in the league. She posted three consecutive double-double performances from March 4-10. Bell closed the season with a season-high 25 points against Team Smith, shooting 9-of-21 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. This performance capped a string of six consecutive double-digit scoring performances. Bell also contributed 20 points in the Week Three opener against Team Mitchell and tallied 21 points in her AU Pro Basketball debut against Team Williams. She narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and a season-high 10 assists against Team Hillmon to conclude Week Four.

Other Professional Experience: Bell was selected with the No. 11 overall pick by Las Vegas Aces in the 2022 WNBA Draft. She appeared in 21 games while helping the Aces win the WNBA championship. She averaged 1.3 points and 0.9 rebounds per contest. Bell scored a season-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field against Los Angeles on May 23, 2022. She played a season-best 16 minutes against Los Angeles on June 27, 2022. In 2023, Bell appeared in 36 games off the bench while helping Las Vegas claim second consecutive WNBA crown. She scored 3.7 points per outing while shooting 34.6 percent from the field. She also spent the 2022-23 campaign with Adelaide of Australian Basketball League. She averaged 14.1 points per game over nine appearances. Bell tallied eight double-digit scoring efforts, including a pair of 20-point performances. She netted a season-high 23 points with 14 rebounds against Southside on December 3, 2022. 

College Experience: Bell played two seasons at Florida Gulf Coast after transferring from Ohio State following freshman campaign. She earned the starting assignment in 60-of-80 career games and tallied 1,505 career points with 583 rebounds while shooting 47.3 percent from the field. She started all 50 games during two-year career at Florida Gulf Coast. She finished with 1,179 points with the Eagles on 49.9 percent shooting from the field. She ranks ninth on Florida Gulf Coast’s career scoring list and holds FGCU’s career record with 23.6 scoring average. She is one of three players in program history with 100 or more career blocked shots (103). Bell owns the school-record for career double-double games with 24. She is a two-time Honorable Mention All-America pick by the Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association. She also earned Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year accolades in both seasons at Florida Gulf Coast. Bell was a recipient of the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award as a sophomore and junior. She was a unanimous pick as 2020-21 ASUN Newcomer of the Year after earning league-record 10 Newcomer of the Week commendations. She set the FGCU single-season records for points (632), scoring average (24.8), field goals made (248) and defensive rebounds per game (9.1) as a sophomore. She led Florida Gulf Coast to a 30-3 record and ASUN Championship title as a junior. She also led the ASUN Conference with 22.8 point per game average. Bell posted five games with 30 or more points during her junior campaign, including a season-high 39 points against Tennessee Tech. She holds the school and ASUN Conference record with 12 career Player of the Week awards. She averaged 10.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.2 steals per game as a freshman at Ohio State while earning Honorable Mention nod on All-Big Ten Conference Team. She was a three-time selection as Big Ten Freshman of the Year during the 2019-20 campaign.