LAS CRUCES, N.M. – As the summer rolls along, so do NM State women's basketball's recruiting efforts. On Thursday afternoon, Jody Adams announced the singing of Ska'kiya Parker – a fifth-year graduate transfer from Siena Heights College.
Parker has a reputation for being a scorer, having led the Saints in scoring each of the last two seasons, earning her multiple all-conference awards and an NAIA Third-Team All-American selection this past season.
Sha'Kyia Parker
Grad Transfer | Guard | 5-7 | Grand Rapids, Mich. | Siena Heights College
Parker comes to Las Cruces having spent her last four seasons at Siena Heights College – an NAIA program – as a member of the Saints basketball program. Parker began her collegiate career with the Saints in 2019, where she played in 12 games as a freshman, scoring a career-high ten points against Wright St. Lake.
Parker saw more action in her second season with the program, starting in 18 of the 19 games she appeared in, averaging a healthy 30.2 minutes per game while scoring 8.9 points per game, 2.5 rebounds per game and 2.1 assists per game.
As a junior, Parker started all 32 games for the Saints, averaging north of 35 minutes per game while drastically improving her scoring output to 15.5 points per game, including seven 20+ point outbursts and a 30-point game at Cornerstone College. The 5'7" guard also maintained her shooting percentage of 43% from the previous season while producing a 35% clip from behind the arc in year two. All of this helped her earn a First-Team All-WHAC selection for the first time in her career.
After solidifying her role as a starter in her junior season, Parker entered the 2022-23 season as one of the Saints' go-to scorers. Last season, Parker started all 31 contests for the Saints, averaging 18.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. She improved her field goal percentage from 43% the previous two seasons to 46% last season. Once again, Parker was named First-Team All-WHAC for the second season in a row and also nabbed a spot on the NAIA Third-Team All-American list after leading her team in scoring and helping them to an NAIA Tournament appearance.
