Houston women’s basketball adds Carlton through the transfer portal

Houston women’s basketball rounded off last week with three more additions from the transfer portal, securing sophomore center Elodie Lutbert, junior forward Justice Carlton and sophomore guard Esmerelda Enriquez.

Carlton, whose transfer was announced on Sunday, joins Houston after spending her first two seasons with Texas. Across 38 games in 2025-26, she averaged 8.5 points, four rebounds and 1.1 steals in 19.3 minutes per game. 

In the SEC Tournament, she was named to the All-SEC Tournament Team, averaging eight points, three rebounds two assists and 1.3 blocks per game across three games, as the Longhorns went on to win the title over South Carolina, where she scored 15 points while adding four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.

Texas made it all the way to the Final Four as a No. 1 seed, where they lost to fellow No. 1 seed and eventual champions UCLA.

Carlton will be teaming up with her younger sister, Madison, an incoming freshman who committed to the Cougars last October.

Lutbert, whose transfer was announced on Saturday, joins the Cougars after spending her freshman season at Tarleton State. In 30 games, she averaged 10.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 21 minutes per game. 

She was named to the All-WAC Freshman and Defensive Teams, the first freshman to make the All-WAC Defensive Team since 2012-13, and broke the program’s all-time single-season blocks record (65) and the D1 era single-season rebounds record (234).

Enriquez, who announced her transfer on Sunday as well, joins the Cougars after spending the previous season at Eastern Arizona College in the NJCAA.

In the 25-26 season, she averaged 15.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, leading the Gila Monsters to their first-ever NJCAA D1 Championship and taking home Player of the Year honors.