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PROVO — Former Maple Mountain High standout Liz Eaton will transfer from the BYU women's basketball team, KSL.com has learned.
Eaton, a sophomore who averaged just 3.1 points per game in 2017-18, is the younger sister of former BYU and Springville High star Lexi Eaton Rydalch. The younger Eaton struggled with knee injuries through her final season of high school basketball that led into her freshman year—but the 5-foot-10 guard averaged fewer than eight minutes per game during a healthy sophomore season with the Cougars, who finished with a 16-14 record that included an 11-6 mark in West Coast Conference play.
"One reason is that I figured out my playing style just doesn't fit with their system," Eaton told the Salt Lake Tribune, which first reported the transfer.
A spokesman for the women's basketball team told KSL.com that Eaton has been granted a full and unconditional release from head coach Jeff Judkins, and the coaching staff wishes her luck in the move. The family also confirmed the news to KSL.com.
Eaton signed with the Cougars in the same recruiting class that brought in current starter Brenna Chase, post Shalae Salmon and Jessica Chatman, the daughter of former BYU player Jeff Chatman who transferred to Southern Utah last year.
After scoring 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting in an 80-72 loss to Washington in the Cougars' second game of the season, Eaton's playing time gradually diminished for most of the remainder of the season. She played more than 10 minutes just three times during WCC play, including a conference career-high 10 points Feb. 15 in a 78-43 win over Pepperdine.
In 23 games in 2017-18, Eaton averaged 3.1 points and 1.7 rebounds in just 7.8 minutes per game.
A two-time first-team all-state honoree, Eaton averaged 26.2 points and 12.8 rebounds for the Golden Eagles as a senior in 2015-16 before ending her season early with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Eaton's older sister Lexi, a two-time Gatorade Utah player of the year at Springville who wrapped up her BYU career in 2016, finished her prolific career as the all-time leading scorer in West Coast Conference basketball (men's and women's) history with 2,535 career points. The mark also ranks second in BYU women's basketball history to Tina Gunn Robison, who played from 1976-80.
