Kaitlyn Chen (; born February 22, 2002) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Golden State Valkyries The Golden State Valkyries are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Valkyries compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team began play in the 2025 se ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). She played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

and

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

Early life and high school career

Chen was born and raised in

San Marino, California San Marino is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2020 United States census the population was 12,513, a decline from the 2010 United States census. History Origin of name Th ...

Taiwanese American Taiwanese Americans (traditional Chinese, Chinese: 臺灣裔美國人; pinyin: ''Táiwān yì měiguó rén''; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ''Tâi-Bí-jîn'') are Americans of Taiwanese people, Taiwanese ancestry, including American-born descendants of migrant ...

immigrants. She played four sports as a child. Chen played basketball for

Flintridge Preparatory School Flintridge Preparatory School, familiarly known as Flintridge Prep, or simply Prep, is a highly ranked coeducational day school for grades 7-12. Founded in 1933, it is located in La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Facilities Sch ...

La Cañada Flintridge, California La Cañada Flintridge, commonly known as just , is a city in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Crescenta Valley, in the western edge of the San Gabriel Valley, it is the l ...

, where she holds the school records in points, rebounds and assists. She also played with Cal Storm Team Taurasi, an

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) program competing in the

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, also known as Nike EYBL, or simply EYBL, is a basketball circuit for teams of players aged 17 and under. The circuit was founded in 2010 and is composed of AAU travel teams. Both boys and girls play in the ...

. Chen was named All-Area Player of the Year as a sophomore, and earned ''

Pasadena Star-News The ''Pasadena Star-News'' is a paid local daily newspaper for the greater Pasadena, California area. The Pasadena ''Star-News'' is a member of Southern California News Group (formerly the Los Angeles Newspaper Group), since 1996. It is also par ...

'' All-Area Player of the Year honors in her final two seasons. Rated a four-star recruit and number 66 in her class by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, she committed to play

for

over offers from California and North Carolina.

College career

Princeton

Chen did not play in her freshman season at Princeton, which was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In her sophomore season, Chen made her college debut coming off the bench to record nine points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 59–42 win over Villanova. In the 2022 Ivy League tournament final, she scored a season-high 30 points in a 77–59 win over Columbia, and was named tournament most outstanding player (MOP). The title qualified the Princeton team for the 2022 NCAA tournament, where she recorded 17 points in a 69–62 win over sixth-seeded

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

in the first round. She later scored 10 points in a 55–56 loss against third-seeded

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

in the second round. As a sophomore, Chen averaged 10.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, leading her team in assists. In her junior season, Chen started in 29 out of 30 games played. She led Princeton to the 2023 Ivy League tournament title with 21 points and six rebounds in a 54–48 win against

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, repeating as MOP of the tournament. In the 2023 NCAA tournament, she posted 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists in a 64–63 victory against

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

in the first round. She then recorded 19 points and six rebounds in 56–63 loss against

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

in the second round. She averaged 16.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, leading her team in both points and assists. She earned

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

Player of the Year and first-team All-Ivy League honors. As a senior, Chen served as the captain of the Princeton team. She posted 17 points and six assists in a 75–58 victory against Columbia during the 2024 Ivy League tournament, earning the team its third straight title. She received the MOP award a third time. In the 2024 NCAA tournament, she scored 17 points in a 53–63 loss against

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. Chen was named first-team All-Ivy League and

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBC ...

(WBCA) All-America honorable mention. Over the season, she averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists, once again leading her team in points and assists. On December 11, 2023, she scored a career-high 31 points in a 61–58 win over Villanova. While at Princeton, Chen accumulated 1,276 points, 313 rebounds and 359 assists over three seasons and 90 games, ranking third in career assists and 12th in career points in Princeton women's basketball history. She received the C. Otto von Kiebusch Sportswoman of the Year Award, an award given annually to a Princeton senior woman of "high scholastic rank who has demonstrated general proficiency in athletics and the qualities of a true sportswoman". Kaitlyn graduated from Princeton in 2024 with a degree in medical anthropology. As the Ivy League does not allow for graduate participants in varsity sports, Chen entered the transfer portal during her senior year with one year of eligibility remaining. She was ranked 9th among transfers in the nation by

UConn

head coach

Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. He holds the NCAA basketball records for wins and winning percentage with a mi ...

first expressed interest in Chen during the 2022–23 season, when she posted 18 points and seven assists in a 64–69 loss against his team on December 8, 2022. He contacted Princeton head coach

Carla Berube Carla Berube (born September 2, 1975) is an American college basketball coach and former basketball player. She is the head coach of the Princeton Tigers women's basketball team, a position she has held since 2019. She previously spent seventeen ...

, who had formerly played at UConn and been coached by Auriemma, to discuss her. Chen later cited UConn and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

as the finalists for her graduate season. For her graduate season, Chen ultimately elected to transfer to

, replacing the graduating

Nika Mühl Nika Mühl ( ; born 9 April 2001) is a Croatian professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball as a point guard for the UConn Huskies women's basketball, U ...

in the backcourt. She was named a Preseason All-Big East Team honorable mention. Chen was part of the UConn team that won the NCAA Tournament Final on April 6, 2025. She holds the distinction of being the first person of Taiwanese descent to win a women’s college basketball championship.

Professional career

On April 15, 2025, the

selected Chen during the third round of the

WNBA draft The WNBA draft is an annual draft (sports), draft held by the Women's National Basketball Association, WNBA through which WNBA teams can select new players from a talent pool of college and List of WNBA players, professional women's basketball p ...

. She became the first person of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team. On May 6, she became the first person of Taiwanese descent to play in a preseason WNBA game. Chen was waived by the Valkyries on May 14. After being waived by the Valkyries, Chen signed a professional contract with the 3x3 Basketball Association (3XBA). On June 15, Chen re-signed with the Valkyries. Chen made her WNBA regular season debut on June 22, 2025, in an 87-63 win against the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Sun compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team i ...

where she recorded five points in 21 minutes.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 21 , , 29.5 , , .434 , , .282 , , .818 , , 2.9 , , 3.2 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 2.5 , , 10.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 29 , , 33.9 , , .462 , , .265 , , .720 , , 4.1 , , 3.8 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 2.9 , , 16.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 30 , , 34.9 , , .488 , , .328 , , .766 , , 3.5 , , 4.9 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 2.8 , , 15.8 , - , style="background:#ffcc00; width:3em; text-align:left;", 2024–25* , style="text-align:left;",

, 40, , 40, , 23.4, , .514, , .354, , .842, , 1.8, , 3.4, , 1.2, , 0.0, , 1.6, , 6.9 , - , colspan=2; style="text-align:center;", Career , 130, , 120, , 29.9, , .473, , .313, , .772, , 3.0, , 3.8, , 1.1, , 0.1, , 2.4, , 11. 9 Source:

References

External links

Princeton Tigers bio

UConn Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Kaitlyn 2002 births Living people American sportspeople of Taiwanese descent American women's basketball players Basketball players from Los Angeles County, California Golden State Valkyries draft picks Golden State Valkyries players People from San Marino, California Point guards Princeton Tigers women's basketball players Shooting guards Taiwanese women's basketball players UConn Huskies women's basketball players