PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s basketball head coach Lee Cummard announced the signing of North Carolina transfer Liza Astakhova to the 2026-27 roster.
“Liza is an extremely dynamic player who will help us raise the level of our program now and into the future," Cummard said. "As a staff, we want to ensure that any player we bring in from the transfer portal fits into our program both on and off the floor, and Liza does just that. She is a versatile guard-forward with size who can guard multiple positions and make contributions on the offensive end at all three levels."
The native of Moscow, Russia, comes to BYU after appearing in 12 games during her freshman season in Chapel Hill. The 6-foot-2 forward averaged 4.7 minutes per game while recording 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Tar Heels.
BYU’s newest sophomore scored a career-high six points on 3-of-6 shooting, grabbed three rebounds with two coming on the offensive glass and recorded an assist in the season opener against NC Central.
Before coming to the United States, Astakhova competed in the Moscow Basketball Association with Russia-PBL and played in 39 games during the 2024-25 season. She clocked 19 minutes off the bench and scored 4.7 points. Astakhova recorded six double-figure scoring performances and recorded a season-best 20-points and six rebounds against Enisey.
She also spent time with MBA-2 in the Russian Superleague 1, averaging 11.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game during her six-game stint in the league.