Lindfors transfers to Loyola

Courtney Lindfors is moving closer to home to continue her college basketball career.

Loyola University announced Friday that Lindfors will be joining the women’s basketball program after playing two seasons at Horizon League rival Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Lindfors, who starred in high school at Driscoll and Elk Grove, is expected to sit out the 2012-13 season and will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Ramblers.

The 6-foot-4 Lindfors developed into one of the Horizon League’s top post players as she led 9-21 Milwaukee in scoring at 12.5 points a game and was second in rebounding at 6.4 a game. She made the league’s all-newcomer team as a freshman after averaging 9.2 points and 5.5 rebounds.

Milwaukee coach Sandy Botham resigned in April after 16 seasons and was replaced by Kyle Rechlicz.

“Since entering the Horizon League as a freshman, she has been an impact player at the post position,” Loyola head coach Eric Simpson said in a release from the school. “Courtney’s skills are a great fit for Loyola’s offensive system and her athleticism and physical size will help us give the post players in the league a different look. In addition, we are adding a terrific student and a high-character person who will represent Loyola in a first-class manner.”

Loyola returns its top five scorers from last year’s team, which finished 13-17. The program is 40-51 in three years under Simpson, who played at Northwestern.

Lindfors played her first three years of high school basketball at Driscoll and led the program to a 2009 Class 2A state title. When Driscoll closed that spring, Lindfors transferred to Elk Grove for her senior year and was a Daily Herald All-Area selection.

Loyola also hired former Bartlett High School and University of Notre Dame star Lindsay Schrader as an assistant coach two weeks ago. Schrader was an assistant coach last season at Longwood University and graduated from Notre Dame in 2010.