BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

UC Irvine head women’s basketball coach Molly Tuter recently announced the signing of four student-athletes to national letters of intent: Desiree Strings, Kim Barnes, Raquel Theus and Mary Has.

Theus, daughter of former NBA player and the Sacramento Kings’ new coach Reggie Theus, is a 6-2 forward. At Inglewood High School, she averaged 9.7 points, 7 rebounds and 3.8 steals as a senior.

“Roq is an athlete. A little raw right now, but will be able to help us inside right away, especially on the defensive end,” Tuter said.

Strings, a 5-10 guard out of Leuzinger High school, was named first team All-Bay League. She averaged 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists as a senior while helping Leuzinger to a 19-6 record.

“Des will bring size and athleticism to the point guard and off guard position. She is a hard worker and has only just touched the surface of her potential,” Tuter said.

Barnes is a 6-4 center out of Auckland, New Zealand. She was a member of the Under-21 National Team. She averaged 10 points and 7 rebounds per game while playing for the New Zealand Junior Tall Fearns as well as Counties Manakua.

“Kim will bring much needed size to our lineup. She is deceivingly athletic and sees the floor very well for a post player and likes to get out and run,” Tuter said. “She hasn’t been playing basketball for long so her potential is tremendous.”

Has is a 5-7 guard out of Long Beach state. She lettered there one year, averaging 5.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 2005.

“I watched Mary in high school and watched her play well against us when she was at Long Beach State so when you get a second chance to take a kid, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity,” Tuter said.

— From staff reports