Kateri Poole shows love to Hailey Van Lith after TCU standout's huge Big 12 milestone

Houston Cougars guard Kateri Poole praised her former LSU teammate Hailey Van Lith following her success this season.

Van Lith has had a season to remember as she led the TCU Horned Frogs to the Big 12 regular season title for the first time in 13 years after their 51-48 win over Baylor on Sunday. The former LSU star had 14 points, two assists, two blocks and two rebounds.

On Tuesday, Hailey Van Lith posted images with the trophy to her Instagram with the caption:

"The beauty of being present 10."

Kateri Poole reacted to the photo dump in the comments with a single emoji.

"❤️," she commented.

Poole's comment (Credit: Instagram/@haileyvanlith)

Poole and Van Lith go way back as they both played together under Kim Mulkey at LSU last season. While Lith transferred to TCU, Poole moved to Houston. However, Poole is yet to make her mark with the Cougars, as she is currently sidelined due to a knee injury.

Hailey Van Lith riding high with the TCU Horned Frogs

While Poole has had a hard time since moving to Houston, Lith has had a year to remember at TCU. The 5-foot-9 guard is averaging 17.6 points, 5.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds with the Horned Frogs this season. These performances helped Lith win the Big 12 Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.

This is the perfect reward, as she initially received criticism for choosing TCU as her final stop in her college career. Speaking after receiving the award, Lith hit back at people who questioned the move.

“I’m not gonna allow people to make me feel bad that I was blessed with the opportunity to play five years,” Hailey Van Lith said at a press conference.

However, the job is not done for Van Lith and TCU as they have a Big 12 Tournament championship to win, starting with their first game in the playoffs on Friday. With her college career coming to an end after the playoffs, the guard will be eager to sign off on a high.

Van Lith has never won an NCAA tournament, with her best run being a Final Four appearance with the Louisville Cardinals in 2022.