RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team and head coach Greg Todd announced the addition of transfer forward Joseana Vaz on Monday.  Vaz is a member of the Cape Verde Women's National Team and has appeared in two FIBA Women's Afrobasket Tournaments since 2019.
 
Vaz is the fourth signee out of the transfer portal this offseason for Todd and the Colonels.  The 6-foot forward spent the last three seasons at Colorado State where she scored 127 points in 49 games and shot over 41 percent from the floor.  She will be listed as a graduate student on the 2025-26 roster.
 
"We are so excited to have Jo in the maroon and white," said Todd. "She is an extremely versatile player who can help us inside and out with the ability to handle, pass, and shoot. Her experience and knowledge, playing for the Cape Verde Women's National Team, sets her apart from her peers and is very valuable to our team."
 
Last season in Fort Collins, Vaz appeared in 25 games with five starts and averaged 1.8 points per outing.  She had a season-high eight points against Columbia College on Nov. 16 and had other notable scoring efforts against Gonzaga, UTEP, San Jose State, and UNLV.
 
In 2022-23 with Colorado State, Vaz saw significant minutes as a role player ending the year with 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.  She dropped 10 points with six rebounds in her NCAA DI debut against BYU on Nov. 8 and recorded a 10-point, 12-rebound game against Northern Colorado on Nov. 29.  During Mountain West regular season play that year, she had four or more points against Fresno State, New Mexico, and Boise State.  Colorado State ended the year with a 20-12 overall record and appeared in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), Vaz had six points and four rebounds in the opening game against Northern Iowa off the bench.
 
Prior to her time at Colorado State, Vaz spent her freshman and sophomore seasons with Casper College in Wyoming.  In 2021-22, Vaz led her team with 12.5 points per game and was named NJCAA Honorable Mention All-America.
 
A native of Praia, Cape Verde, a small group of islands off the western coast of Africa, Vaz has competed internationally for her county since 2016.
 
At just 18 years old, she appeared in the 2018 FIBA U18 Women's African Championships for the Cape Verde Youth National Team, leading her team in scoring with 48 points across three group phase games against Mozambique, Egypt, and Rwanda.  In the class 5-8 games following the quarterfinals, Vaz dropped 34 points and 23 rebounds against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Aug. 18 and had 24 points and 11 rebounds against Egypt on Aug. 19.  She was the second-highest rated player in the event averaging 20.2 points and 12.2 rebounds per game.
 
Since 2018, Vaz has appeared in nine games for the Cape Verde Women's National Team, helping her squad to two additional appearances in the 2019 and 2021 FIBA Women's Afrobasket Tournaments in Senegal and Cameroon.  She is averaging 13.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game on the international scene, as of June she is still eligible for FIBA play and is still listed on the Cape Verde roster.
 
EKU is coming off consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time since 2001-02 and back-to-back appearances in the Atlantic Sun Conference semifinals.  The Colonels had three student-athletes named all-conference and have the second most wins (61) among Kentucky NCAA Division I schools since 2022.
 
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