2025–26 Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball team

2025–26 Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball
WCC Tournament champions
NCAA Tournament, First Round
ConferenceWest Coast Conference
Record24–10 (14–4 WCC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaMcCarthey Athletic Center
2025–26 West Coast Conference women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Loyola Marymount 15 – 3   .833 21 – 10   .677
Gonzaga † 14 – 4   .778 24 – 10   .706
Santa Clara 13 – 5   .722 24 – 10   .706
Oregon State 13 – 5   .722 23 – 12   .657
Portland 11 – 7   .611 20 – 14   .588
Pepperdine 10 – 8   .556 21 – 12   .636
San Francisco 9 – 9   .500 19 – 15   .559
Pacific 6 – 12   .333 11 – 19   .367
Washington State 6 – 12   .333 9 – 25   .265
Saint Mary's 6 – 12   .333 15 – 17   .469
San Diego 4 – 14   .222 11 – 22   .333
Seattle 1 – 17   .056 5 – 25   .167
† 2026 WCC tournament winner
As of March 20, 2026

The 2025–26 Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball team represents Gonzaga University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by 12th-year head coach Lisa Fortier, play their home games at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington, as members of the West Coast Conference.

This season will mark Gonzaga's last season as members of the West Coast Conference, as they will be joining the newly reformed Pac-12 Conference, effective July 1, 2026.[1]

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2024–25 season 24–11, 17–3 in WCC play, to finish as WCC regular season co-champions, alongside Portland.[2] They were upset by eventual tournament champions Oregon State in the semifinals of the WCC tournament.[3] They received an automatic bid to the WBIT,[4] where they would defeated UTSA in the first round[5] and Colorado in the second round,[6] before falling to eventual tournament champions Minnesota in the quarterfinals.[7]

Offseason

Departures

Due to COVID-19 disruptions throughout NCAA sports in 2020–21, the NCAA announced that the 2020–21 season would not count against the athletic eligibility of any individual involved in an NCAA winter sport, including women's basketball. This meant that all seniors in 2023–24 had the option to return for 2024–25.

Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason left
Esther Little 0 F 6'2" Senior Ipswich, England Graduated
Claire O'Connor 4 G 6'0" Sophomore Bellevue, WA Transferred to Colorado
Maud Huijbens 5 G 6'3" Senior Hilversum, Netherlands Graduated
Tayla Dalton 10 G 5'9" Graduate Student Auckland, New Zealand Graduated
Yvonne Ejim 15 F 6'1" Graduate Student Calgary, AB Graduated/2025 WNBA draft; selected 33rd overall by Indiana Fever
Ella Hopkins 31 F 6'3" Freshman Rochester, MN Walk-on; TBD
Bree Salenbien 35 G 6'2" Junior Adrian, MI Transferred to Ball State

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous
school
Sierra Lichtie 4 F 6'0" Graduate Student Riverton, UT Cal Poly
Taylor Smith 20 F 6'2" Junior Pocatello, ID Weber State
Teryn Gardner 24 G 5'9" Sophomore Spokane, WA Boise State
Zeryhia Aokuso 55 G 5'10" Junior Amarillo, TX Saint Mary's

Recruiting

There was no recruiting class of 2025.

Preseason

On October 23, 2025, the West Coast Conference released their preseason poll. Gonzaga was picked to finish second in the conference, receiving three of the twelve first-place votes.[8]

Preseason rankings

WCC Preseason Poll
Place Team Votes
1 Oregon State 119 (9)
2 Gonzaga 111 (3)
3 Washington State 94
4 Portland 91
5 Santa Clara 84
6 San Francisco 70
7 Saint Mary's 55
8 Pacific 52
9 Loyola Marymount 38
10 Pepperdine 36
11 San Diego 31
12 Seattle 11
(#) first-place votes

Source:[8]

Preseason All-WCC Team

Preseason All-WCC Team
Player Year Position
Zeryhia Aokuso Junior Guard
Allie Turner Sophomore

Source:[8]

Roster

2025–26 Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Paige Lofing 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Huntley Project High School Billings, Montana
G 2 Vera Gunaydin 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr South Georgia Tech Ankara, Turkey
G 3 Julia Wilson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Rancho Christian School Temecula, California
F 4 Sierra Lichtie 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) GS Cal Poly Riverton, Utah
G 8 Inês Bettencourt 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr UConn São Miguel, Portugal
G 11 Allie Turner 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So John Burroughs School St. Louis, Missouri
G 12 Christabel Osarobo 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Ipswich Basketball Academy Tudela, Spain
F 20 Taylor Smith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Weber State Pocatello, Idaho
F 22 McKynnlie Dalan 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Minnesota Montesano, Washington
F 23 Jaiden Haile 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr West Fargo Horace High School Fargo, North Dakota
G 24 Teryn Gardner 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Boise State Spokane, Washington
F 33 Lauren Whittaker 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) RS Fr St Andrew's College Canterbury, New Zealand
G 55 Zeryhia Aokuso 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Saint Mary's Amarillo, Texas
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: January 9, 2026

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 2, 2025*
2:00 pm 		Carroll W 91–31  –
  20 – Smith    –      –    McCarthey Athletic Center 
Spokane, WA
Non-conference regular season
November 7, 2025*
5:00 pm, SLN 		at North Dakota State W 81–66  1–0
  18 – Turner   9 – Whittaker   4 – Bettencourt  Scheels Center (1,906)
Fargo, ND
November 9, 2025*
11:30 am, CBSSN 		at Toledo W 72–69  2–0
  16 – Tied   6 – Whittaker   5 – Turner  Savage Arena (4,127)
Toledo, OH
November 13, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Colorado State L 66–70  2–1
  29 – Whittaker   7 – Whittaker   4 – Turner  McCarthey Athletic Center (4,936)
Spokane, WA
November 16, 2025*
2:00 pm, SWX/ESPN+ 		Stanford L 52–65  2–2
  14 – Turner   6 – Tied   6 – Turner  McCarthey Athletic Center (5,584)
Spokane, WA
November 20, 2025*
5:00 pm, Midco Sports 		vs. South Dakota State L 63–72  2–3
  19 – Turner   13 – Whittaker   4 – Wilson  Sanford Pentagon (2,136)
Sioux Falls, SD
November 23, 2025*
2:00 pm, SWX/ESPN+ 		Eastern Washington W 79–60  3–3
  21 – Whittaker   9 – Haile   6 – Bettencourt  McCarthey Athletic Center (5,018)
Spokane, WA
November 28, 2025*
10:30 am, FloSports 		vs. Indiana
Coconut Hoops Blue Heron Division semifinals 		L 72–76  3–4
  27 – Whittaker   9 – Haile   5 – Bettencourt  Alico Arena (761)
Fort Myers, FL
November 30, 2025*
8:00 am, FloSports 		vs. Marquette
Coconut Hoops Blue Heron Division consolation 		W 65–61  4–4
  23 – Whittaker   13 – Whittaker   4 – Tied  Alico Arena (252)
Fort Myers, FL
December 4, 2025*
6:00 pm, SWX/ESPN+ 		Grand Canyon W 62–58  5–4
  24 – Whittaker   13 – Whittaker   4 – Turner  McCarthey Athletic Center (4,588)
Spokane, WA
December 6, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		UC Davis W 83–72  6–4
  19 – Whittaker   5 – Tied   6 – Tied  McCarthey Athletic Center (4,686)
Spokane, WA
December 16, 2025*
6:00 pm, SWX/ESPN+ 		Arizona State L 66–68  6–5
  24 – Whittaker   9 – Whittaker   5 – Smith  McCarthey Athletic Center (4,742)
Spokane, WA
December 19, 2025*
4:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Missouri State W 68–49  7–5
  19 – Whittaker   16 – Whittaker   6 – Aokuso  Great Southern Bank Arena (1,801)
Springfield, MO
December 21, 2025*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at UC Riverside W 68–62  8–5
  18 – Turner   13 – Whittaker   7 – Smith  SRC Arena (149)
Riverside, CA
WCC regular season
December 28, 2025
2:00 pm, SWX/ESPN+ 		Loyola Marymount W 87–80 2OT 9–5
(1–0) 		 20 – Turner   16 – Whittaker   6 – Turner  McCarthey Athletic Center (5,179)
Spokane, WA
December 30, 2025
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Pepperdine W 75–52  10–5
(2–0) 		 22 – Whittaker   12 – Haile   4 – Tied  McCarthey Athletic Center (4,980)
Spokane, WA
January 2, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Seattle W 85–59  11–5
(3–0) 		 16 – Tied   10 – Whittaker   8 – Turner  Redhawk Center (541)
Seattle, WA
January 4, 2026
12:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Santa Clara L 73–77  11–6
(3–1) 		 21 – Whittaker   13 – Whittaker   3 – Turner  Leavey Center (376)
Santa Clara, CA
January 10, 2026
2:00 pm, SWX/ESPN+ 		Portland W 69–55  12–6
(4–1) 		 22 – Whittaker   10 – Whittaker   5 – Smith  McCarthey Athletic Center (5,713)
Spokane, WA
January 15, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		San Francisco W 82–69  13–6
(5–1) 		 26 – Whittaker   11 – Whittaker   5 – Turner  McCarthey Athletic Center (4,765)
Spokane, WA
January 17, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		San Diego W 87–42  14–6
(6–1) 		 12 – Gardner   13 – Whittaker   6 – Turner  McCarthey Athletic Center (5,166)
Spokane, WA
January 22, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Oregon State L 87–92 OT 14–7
(6–2) 		 37 – Whittaker   14 – Whittaker   5 – Tied  Gill Coliseum (4,257)
Corvallis, OR
January 29, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at San Francisco W 74–66 OT 15–7
(7–2) 		 17 – Whittaker   13 – Haile   4 – Aokuso  Sobrato Center (463)
San Francisco, CA
January 31, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Washington State W 81–75  16–7
(8–2) 		 18 – Whittaker   9 – Haile   5 – Bettencourt  Beasley Coliseum (1,470)
Pullman, WA
February 5, 2026
6:00 pm, SWX/ESPN+ 		Oregon State W 67–37  17–7
(9–2) 		 15 – Tied   12 – Whittaker   5 – Tied  McCarthey Athletic Center (4,901)
Spokane, WA
February 7, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Pacific W 72–44  18–7
(10–2) 		 15 – Tied   10 – Haile   5 – Bettencourt  McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000)
Spokane, WA
February 12, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at San Diego W 66–56  19–7
(11–2) 		 19 – Whittaker   12 – Whittaker   4 – Tied  Jenny Craig Pavilion (585)
San Diego, CA
February 14, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Loyola Marymount L 63–72  19–8
(11–3) 		 19 – Turner   8 – Whittaker   4 – Smith  Gersten Pavilion (336)
Los Angeles, CA
February 19, 2026
6:00 pm, SWX/ESPN+ 		Washington State W 75–50  20–8
(12–3) 		 16 – Bettencourt   11 – Tied   4 – Smith  McCarthey Athletic Center (5,193)
Spokane, WA
February 21, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Pacific W 85–70  21–8
(13–3) 		 20 – Whittaker   11 – Whittaker   7 – Bettencourt  Alex G. Spanos Center (541)
Stockton, CA
February 26, 2026
6:00 pm, SWX/ESPN+ 		Saint Mary's W 75–67  22–8
(14–3) 		 29 – Turner   12 – Whittaker   4 – Tied  McCarthey Athletic Center (5,231)
Spokane, WA
February 28, 2026
5:00 pm, ESPNU 		at Portland L 91-92 OT 22–9
(14–4) 		 30 – Whittaker   10 – Whittaker   3 – Tied  Chiles Center (1,436)
Portland, OR
WCC tournament
March 9, 2026
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		(2) vs. (3) Santa Clara
Semifinals 		W 88–60  23–9
  17 – Turner   11 – Haile   4 – Tied  Orleans Arena (3,359)
Paradise, NV
March 10, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN2 		(2) vs. (4) Oregon State
Final 		W 76–66  24–9
  26 – Whittaker   9 – Whittaker   5 – Turner  Orleans Arena (3,345)
Paradise, NV
NCAA tournament
March 20, 2026*
12:30 p.m., ESPN2 		(12 S2) vs. (5 S2) No. 19 Ole Miss
First Round 		L 66–81  24–10
   –      –      –    Williams Arena 
Minneapolis, MN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
Sacramento 2=S2.
All times are in Pacific.

Sources:[9][10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Gonzaga Accepts Invitation to Join Pac-12 Conference". Gonzaga University. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
  2. ^ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". West Coast Conference. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  3. ^ "Kennedie Shuler's last-second layup sends Oregon State to the WCC championship game". oregonlive.com. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
  4. ^ "WBIT 2025 schedule, bracket: Game times, TV, streaming for women's tournament". USA Today. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  5. ^ "Gonzaga women surge past UTSA 67-51 in WBIT opener". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  6. ^ "Gonzaga Bulldogs End Colorado Buffaloes' Season In WBIT Second Round". Colorado Buffaloes On SI. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  7. ^ "Battle scores 35 points to lift Gophers women's basketball over Gonzaga in a close matchup". Minnesota Daily. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  8. ^ a b c "Oregon State Picked to Win 2025-26 West Coast Conference Women's Basketball Championship". West Coast Conference. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  9. ^ "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Gonzaga University Athletics. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  10. ^ "Gonzaga Bulldogs 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
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