LAREDO, Texas – Texas A&M International head women's basketball coach, Nate Vogel, announced the signing of Barbara Turkalj to the 2022 recruiting class on Wednesday.

From Zagreb, Croatia the six-footer joins TAMIU after beginning her collegiate career at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO).

Turkalj spent two seasons with the Lady Norse. This season she started 21 of 26 games, averaging 8.5 points and shot 35% from behind the arc. Turkalj set a career-high with 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting against Evangel on Dec. 12, 2021. In that performance, every make was from three, going 7-for-11.

In her native Croatia, she helped lead her junior team to consecutive championships, was the leading scorer in the 2018 Croatian Cadet Championship in which her team won and played in the highest league in Croatia with her club WABA.

Off the court, Turkalj earned multiple academic awards at NEO, including the Outstanding Female Student-Athlete Award, Top 10 freshmen and was the top graduate for the Department of Business and Technology.

Furthermore, she was a member of both PTK and PBL, student mentor, President's Honor Roll recipient and took home first place in accounting and third place in marketing at the Oklahoma State Leadership Conference.