By R.L. Bynum

Coach Courtney Banghart picked up another significant transfer on Monday when former Iowa State guard Lexi Donarski, a former five-star recruit, picked the Tar Heels.

The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last season with 32 steals is ranked as the No. 4 player in the portal by 247 Sports and she was considered the best shooter in the portal. She played three seasons with the Cyclones and has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

She visited Chapel Hill last Tuesday and Indiana three weeks ago. She began her Iowa State career as a point guard but shifted to the two spot.

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A post shared by Lexi Donarski (@lexidonarski)

Donarski entered the transfer portal on March 27 and is the second player to transfer to UNC after Boston College center Maria Gakdeng. The Tar Heels lost two players to the transfer portal: Kennedy Todd-Williams, who committed to Ole Miss, and Destiny Adams, who will play for Rutgers.

The Cyclones finished 22–10 and won the Big 12 Conference championship, with Donarski averaging 21.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

In three seasons, she scored 196 3-pointers while shooting 36.4% from outside the arc. She shoots right-handed but will also put up shots left-handed on drives.

She shot 86.7% from the free-throw line last season and became the 33rd player in Iowa State history to reach 1,000 points, collecting 1,251 points, 301 rebounds and 203 assists. She scored in double figures 21 times last season, scoring at least 20 points five times with a season-high of 22 against Southern and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

In Carolina’s 73–64 victory in Portland on Nov. 27 of last season over Iowa State, Donarski had six points in 24 minutes before fouling out and was 2 of 7 from the floor and missed all four 3-point attempts. There are a couple of Donarski plays on the above video at 9:43.

Donarski collected 2,106 points in her career at Aquinas High School in Wisconsin, where her team went 107–3 with two state Division 4 titles and made the state championship game four times. She was named McDonald’s All-American, Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year and first-team All-State after her senior season. She was a five-star recruit ranked No. 14 in her class by ESPN.

She committed to Iowa State after her eighth-grade season.

In other program news, the Pennsylvania Sports Writers group named incoming freshman Ciera Toomey the state player of the year and her mother Carrie, Dunmore High School’s coach, the state coach of the year. The team won the school’s first state title in 24 years.

Year	No.		Players	Pos.	Height
Freshman	5		Liza Astakhova (LEE-zah uh-STAH-koh-vuh)	W	6–2
Freshman	7		Nyla Brooks	W	6–1
			Brooks brings dazzling skills, confidence to UNC
Freshman	3		Taliyah Henderson	W	6–1
			Long wait, journey for 5-star freshman Henderson after second knee surgery nearly over
Freshman	26		Taissa Queiroz	G	6–1
			Queiroz came to USA from Brazil to chase her dreams
Sophomore	17		Elina Aarnisalo (EH-lee-nah AHR-nee-sah-loh)	G	5–10
			Aarnisalo brings flash, IQ and pro experience to backcourt
Sophomore	0		Lanie Grant	G	5–9
Sophomore	34		Blanca Thomas	C	6–5
Sophomore	1		Jordan Zubich	G	5–11
RS sophomore	21		Ciera Toomey	F	6–4
RS sophomore	4		Laila Hull	W	6–1
Junior	10		Reniya Kelly	PG	5–7
Junior	15		Sydney Barker	PG	5–6
Senior	2		Nyla Harris	F	6–2
			It was hard for Harris to say ‘no’ to UNC again
Senior	24		Indya Nivar	G	5–10

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Class of 2025

Player	Rating	ESPN rank	Position	Height	Hometown
Nyla Brooks	Five star	No. 13	Wing	6–2	Alexandria, Va.
Taliyah Henderson	Five star	No. 27	Wing	6–1	Vail, Ariz.
Taissa Queiroz	Four star	No. 77	Guard	6–1	Santa Rosa, Calif.
Liza Astakhova	—	—	Wing	6–1	Moscow, Russia

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Date	Day/month	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
30	Thursday	L, 91–82	No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta	Exhib.
	November
3	Monday	W, 90–42	vs. N.C. Central	1–0
6	Thursday	W, 71–37	vs. Elon	2–0
			WBCA Challenge Las Vegas
13	Thursday	L, 78–60	vs. No. 4 UCLA	2–1
15	Saturday	W, 82–68	vs. Fairfield	3–1
			———————————
20	Thursday	W, 85–50	at N.C. A&T	4–1
23	Sunday	W, 94–48	vs. UNCG	5–1
			Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico
27	Thursday	W, 83–48	vs. South Dakota St.	6–1
28	Friday	W, 85–73	vs. Kansas State	7–1
29	Saturday	W, 80–63	vs. Columbia	8–1
	December		ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
4	Thursday	W, 79–64	at No. 2 Texas	8–2
			———————————
7	Sunday	W, 82–40	vs. Boston Univ.	9–2
14	Sunday	4 p.m.	vs. No. 22 Louisville	ACCN
17	Wednesday	8 p.m.	vs. UNCW	ACCN
21	Sunday	Noon	vs. Charleston Southern	ACCN Extra
29	Monday	8 p.m.	at Boston College	ACCN
	January
1	Thursday	Noon	vs. California	ACCN
4	Sunday	Noon	vs. Stanford	ESPN or ACCN
11	Sunday	1 p.m.	at No. 19 Notre Dame	ESPN
15	Thursday	TBA	vs. Miami	ACCN Extra
18	Sunday	2 p.m.	at Florida State	The CW
22	Thursday	8 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
25	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	The CW
	February
2	Monday	6 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN2
5	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ACCN
8	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
12	Thursday	6 p.m.	vs. SMU	ACCN
15	Sunday	1 p.m.	at Duke	ABC
19	Thursday	6 p.m.	at Virginia Tech	ACCN
22	Sunday	Noon	vs. Pittsburgh	ACCN
26	Thursday	TBA	at Virginia	ACCN Extra
	March
1	Sunday	Noon	vs. Duke	ESPN
			ACC tournament
4–8	Wed.-Sun		Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga.
			NCAA tournament
20–24	Fri.-Mon.		First, second rounds
27–30	Fri.-Mon.		Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif.
	April
3, 5	Fri., Sun		Final Four Phoenix

Photo via @CycloneWBB