Wisconsin women's basketball adds intriguiing prospect from Belgium

MADISON – What an interesting week of recruiting for the Wisconsin women’s basketball program.

On April 15, Addie Deal, a 2025 McDonald’s All-American who played her freshman year at Iowa, announced her commitment to the Badgers. Shortly before that UW announced the addition of Northeast Conference player of the year Kadidia Toure from Long Island University.

Then on April 18, Wisconsin added another intriguing prospect, Alicia Courthiau.

The 5-foot-10 guard from Belgium is a 20-year-old incoming freshman with experience playing for her country’s national and U20 teams. Most recently she played in EuroCup Women where she routinely faced players in their mid-20s and older.

Courthiau more than held her own.

She averaged 13.7 points, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game for Castors Braine in the EuroCup season that concluded earlier this month. She had the fourth-best efficiency rating on the team (14.9).

During the 10-game schedule she shot 57.6% (19 for 33) from 3-point range. Overall, she hit 62.8% of her shots (49 of 78).

In August she averaged a team-high 14.7 points per game for Belgium at the U20 FIBA World Championships. She hit 59.6% of her shots and 10 of 18 (55.6%) from 3-point range.

Last month she played for the Belgium national team in FIBA’s World Cup Qualifying tournament. She played in five of the six games and averaged seven points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 11.9 minutes per game.

Courthiau has a chance to provide immediate help for the Badgers, who expect to lose their top four scorers from a team that went 16-18 and reached the semifinals of the WBIT.

"Alicia is a very talented young player who has competed at the highest levels with Belgium and in EuroCup play,” Pingeton said in a news release. “She'll make an immediate impact with her ability to score, create for others and defend at a high level. Alicia will be a great addition to our Badger family.”

In addition to Courthiau, Deal and Toure, the Badgers will have three other incoming freshmen on the 2026-27 roster: Giselle Janowski, a 5-9 guard from Pewaukee, Leah Nordin, a 6-1 forward from Shawano and Adaline Sheplee, a 6-3, guard/forward from Rice Lake.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin women's basketball signs Belgian standout Alicia Courthiau