Sis-stars: The 6 best sibling duos in women’s college basketball, ranked
For the first time in nearly four years, Stanford lost a non-conference game to unranked opposition, as Gonzaga blitzed the Cardinal 96-78 with impeccable three-point shooting and a backcourt connection 22 years in the making.
Kaylynne and Kayleigh Truong combined for 15 points, 11 assists and four steals in the Zags’ historic victory on Dec. 3, further solidifying themselves among an elite group of sibling duos taking the country by storm.
Here’s a look at the six best sister pairs through a little over one month of the 2023-24 college basketball season:
Kaylynne and Kayleigh Truong (Gonzaga)
Gonzaga’s aforementioned historic win over Stanford is familiar territory for the Truong twins, who have developed a penchant for defying expectations and precedent since their high school days in suburban Texas. By their senior seasons, the twins had helped transform a historically downtrodden Jersey Village High into Division 6A champions, and they would later lead their ancestral nation of Vietnam to silver and gold in 3×3 basketball at the 2022 and 2023 Southeast Asian Games, respectively, the country’s highest-ever finishes.
These days in Spokane, both Kayleigh and Kaylynne are thriving in their super-senior seasons, averaging 13.4 and 11.8 points per game, respectively, while providing well over half the team’s overall assists. In lockstep with her Gonzaga teammates, collectively the 15th-best perimeter shooting team in America, Kaylynne is scorching the net from deep at a stunning 43.1 percent while setting up her sharp-shooting peers with 6.4 assists per game. Kayleigh has been craftier scoring on the interior, meanwhile, and their combined success has helped Gonzaga crack the top 25 while riding a four-game winning streak.
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Lior (Oklahoma State) and Yarden (Indiana) Garzon
While separated by two years and more than 1,000 miles, these dead-eyed Israeli sisters both look on pace for their best seasons in college basketball to date. Lior, who first made the leap from Israel to the United States, played her first two years at Villanova, ultimately earning a starting role her sophomore season where she averaged more than 13 points per game and led the Wildcats to their highest win total since 2003. After transferring to Oklahoma State and embracing a crucial role off the bench last season, Lior has started all eight games in 2023 — once again nearing her 13 PPG average after a recent 24-explosion against Wyoming.
Yarden, meanwhile, has continued to develop her game after a tremendous freshman campaign from the perimeter. Following her sister overseas, she committed to Indiana and scorched the nets around her newly-adopted Midwest home, shooting just shy of 46 percent from three and earning herself All-Big Ten freshman honors. Despite an early eight-point dip in three-point accuracy, Yarden has still improved her scoring average to 11.4 and demonstrated her offseason polish in other areas, attacking inside the arc with more consistency and adding an extra assist per game.
The two sisters have remained extremely close throughout their careers, and while college basketball has dragged them to opposite ends of the United States, Lior and Yarden still enjoy the opportunity to play together as part of the Israeli national basketball team. Most recently, they participated in the FIBA Women’s Eurobasket tournament co-hosted by Israel, where Yarden excelled with 11.3 points on 60% 3PT shooting.
Sara (Indiana) and Amber (St. Thomas) Scalia
Sisters that have both taken the Twin Cities by storm at various stages in their career, Sara currently stands as the second option on top-15 Indiana after transferring from Minnesota while Amber has remained local to lead St. Thomas through their continued transition into the Division 1 ranks.
A high three-star recruit out of Stillwater, Minnesota, Sara Scalia opted to stay home and make the 20-minute trek to UM, where after three seasons she would earn second-team All-Big Ten honors with 18 points per game and finish second nationally with 118 three-pointers. However, after three straight losing seasons at The Barn and a turbulent offseason, Sara opted to join up with an elite Hoosier squad in Bloomington. Sara came off the bench most nights last season on an Indiana team that finished ranked third in the AP Poll, but she’s become a penciled-in starter and “the missing piece” for the Hoosiers, who have now won seven straight. Needing another high-volume perimeter shooter to compliment Mackenzie Holmes’ interior dominance, Sara currently ranks 50th nationally in three-point makes per contest while maintaining a near-flawless and 96 percent free-throw clip.
Remaining right in her backyard, Amber has enjoyed one of the more remarkable sophomore jumps across all of America. More than doubling her playing time past 30 minutes per contest, Amber has raised her scoring average from 4.7 to 16.1, shooting a near-even split between twos and threes while converting her nearly five free throws a game at an hour 87.5 percent rate.
RANKINGS: Latest AP Poll
Emma (Creighton) and Hannah (Colorado State) Ronsiek
Despite heading in polar opposite directions from their Sioux Falls, South Dakota, hometown and assuming different positions on the court: Emma and Hannah’s assurgent careers have been aided by a shared trait — the three-point shot. Combining to shoot nearly 45 percent from the perimeter, the two sisters have separated themselves as top scorers on a top 25 Creighton squad and a Colorado State team that currently sits at 7-0.
After coming off the bench in all but three games last season, Hannah Ronsiek has proven her starting chops with a much-needed, hyper-efficient scoring punch (11.4 PPG) while still contributing to the Rams’ defensive approach, poking away a steal a contest while averaging 1.5 blocks. Hannah attempts nearly 2/3 of her shots from the perimeter, hitting at an impressive 44.1 percent, but exploiting overzealous defenses at the rim is where she truly shines, as she ranks second nationally with an 80 percent conversion rate.
Over in Omaha, sister Emma appears to be a fully-realized offensive juggernaut after four years in coach Jim Flanery’s high-octane system, leading the Blue Jays with 18.3 points per game and just narrowly missing out on the vaunted 50-40-90 club through nine games this year. Emma enjoys an impressively balanced scoring profile, consistently and efficiently scoring from all three levels on the court, torching defenders with dominant post moves and finding the free throw line more than four times a contest, where she converts at an 87 percent clip.
Macie and Maddie Warren (Utah Tech)
Another pair of players leading a recent Division I entrant, twins Macie and Maddie have helped trail blaze a notable turnaround at Utah Tech following a 6-19 freshman campaign. Despite losing Maddie to injury last season, the Trailblazers improved markedly to 17-12, and the sisters’ return to the backcourt this year powered an impressive 4-1 start.
As you’d expect from a pair of twins, Macie and Maddie have achieved their lofty offensive outputs through very similar statistical profiles, averaging right around 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2.5 assists — Macie has a definite edge in efficiency, however, shooting better than 55 percent from the field and 47 percent from the perimeter. Macie, Maddie and their Utah State teammates have an opportunity for historic upset victories next week, hosting Oregon and Oklahoma State in the Trailblazer Classic.
Jaelyn and Brylee Glenn (Kansas State)
A pair of Kansas City sisters that opted to stay close to home, Jaelyn and Brylee have both secured starting roles for a rolling 9-1 Kansas State team. The sisters found immediate playing time upon arriving in Manhattan, combining to start 57 contests in their freshman year, but it was Jaelyn who enjoyed the greater sophomore bump, as she went on to score 11.3 points per game and better than 36 percent from distance on high volume.
Brylee’s best statistical stretch has been her first 10 games in 2023 despite seeing her playing time slip, hitting nearly 54 percent of her attempts from the field and poking away 1.3 steals per game despite playing just 15 minutes a contest. Jaelyn logged 38 minutes in the Wildcats’ impressive neutral site win over No. 18 North Carolina, and both sisters have played in crucial role in K-State rising to 12th in the most recent AP Poll.