2016-17 Women's Basketball Roster
Makenzie Ellis
- Position:
- Forward
- Height:
- 6-2
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Tulsa, Okla.
- High School:
- Booker T. Washington
- 2015-16 CU’s Crystal Ford-Adams Scholar Athlete Award
- 2016-17 Academic All-Pac-12 honorable mention
2016-17 (Sophomore): Ellis started all 33 games at forward as a sophomore, averaging 6.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals. She also shot 37.1 percent from 3-point range, hitting 33-of-89 from downtown. She had season totals of 211 points, 140 rebounds, 40 steals, 24 assists and 14 blocked shots. She also scored in double figures eight times, including five of the final 11 games when she averaged 8.6 points. Ellis scored 10 points and had seven rebounds in a win over Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 30. She buried all four of her 3-point attempts and scored 16 points against Wyoming on Dec. 21. She hit four more 3-pointers and scored 12 points on Jan. 20 at Oregon. She had a season-high nine rebounds in a win over Washington State on Feb. 3 and then scored a season-high 18 points with six rebounds two days later against No. 10 Washington. Ellis made 4-of-5 3-point field goals and scored 14 points on Feb. 10 at No. 8/11 Stanford. In CU’s final regular-season home game on Feb. 19, she helped the Buffs beat Oregon with 13 points. She also scored 11 points and had five rebounds and three steals in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on March 2 and scored 10 points with six rebounds in a WNIT second-round overtime win at South Dakota State on March 19. She wrapped up the season with nine points and matched a season high with nine rebounds at Iowa on March 23 in the third round of the postseason.
2015-16 (Freshman): Ellis played in 30 games and made nine starts, six in Pac-12 play during her first season with the Buffaloes. While averaging 16.0 minutes on the floor, Ellis averaged 3.1 points and 2.9 rebounds. A consistent shooter from the free throw line, Ellis was second on the team with a .839 percentage, connecting on 26-of-31 from the charity stripe. She made a career-high four free throws against USC (1/31), helping the Buffs earn their first Pac-12 win of the season and she also collected a personal-best seven rebounds in the same contest. Ellis’ top scoring performance came against Utah (2/7) when she tallied nine total.
High School: Ellis is a 2015 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa. Ellis had a knee injury that forced her to sit out the 2015 high school season, but despite that was a 2015 McDonald’s All-America nominee. Ellis was also an Elite 8 in Oklahoma and Vype Top 100 honoree. She averaged 12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds as a junior in 2013-14, guiding Booker T. Washington to a 22-5 record. She earned honorable mention to the Tulsa World’s All-State team, which spans all classifications as the Hornets fell just one game short of the 2014 state tournament. Ellis was the lone sophomore starter on Booker T. Washington’s 2013 Class 6A State Championship team. She earned All-State Tournament first team honors as well as regular season MVP awards for the Jenks Invitational, Lady Jag Classic and Super 5. She’s ranked as the 98th best player in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz, and 15th at her position. Ellis was also selected for the USA Women's U17 National Team Trials in 2014. She played AAU basketball for the Nike Cy-Fair Elite in 2014 and the Oklahoma Ballerz in 2013.
Academics: Ellis is majoring in Integrative Physiology at Colorado. She was named Academic All-Pac-12 honorable mention in 2016-17 as a sophomore.
Personal: Born on Jan. 27, 1997, in San Mateo, Calif., she is the daughter of Matney and Christine Ellis. She has a younger sister, Savannah, who is a junior in high school and also plays basketball. After college, Ellis would like to play in the WNBA or overseas, or go into physical therapy. She lists the biggest moment of her high school career as winning the state championship and singing the school hymn all together as a team and school.
