2025–26 Jacksonville State Gamecocks women's basketball team

2025–26 Jacksonville State Gamecocks women's basketball
2025–26 Jacksonville State Gamecocks women's basketball
Conference	Conference USA
Record	16–16 (9–9 C-USA)
Head coach	Rick Pietri (13th season);
Assistant coaches	Eric Wise; Rachel Barnes; Harley Cook; Toni West;
Home arena	Pete Mathews Coliseum

2025–26 Conference USA women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Louisiana Tech	17	–	1	.944	26	–	7	.788
FIU	12	–	6	.667	21	–	11	.656
Middle Tennessee	11	–	7	.611	16	–	15	.516
Sam Houston	11	–	7	.611	18	–	13	.581
Liberty	11	–	7	.611	18	–	13	.581
Missouri State †	11	–	7	.611	23	–	13	.639
Jacksonville State	9	–	9	.500	16	–	16	.500
Delaware	6	–	12	.333	13	–	19	.406
Kennesaw State	6	–	12	.333	13	–	17	.433
UTEP	5	–	13	.278	13	–	17	.433
New Mexico State	5	–	13	.278	9	–	21	.300
Western Kentucky	4	–	14	.222	8	–	21	.276

† 2026 CUSA tournament winner As of March 20, 2026

The 2025–26 Jacksonville State Gamecocks women's basketball team represents Jacksonville State University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by 13th-year head coach Rick Pietri, play their home games at the Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama, as third-year members of Conference USA.

Previous season

The Gamecocks finished the 2024–25 season 10–20, 4–14 in C-USA play, to finish in a tie for ninth (last) place.^[1] They were defeated by Sam Houston in the first round of the C-USA tournament.^[2]

Preseason

On October 9, 2025, Conference USA released their preseason poll. Jacksonville State was picked to finish 12th (last) in the conference.^[3]

Preseason rankings

Conference USA Preseason Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	Louisiana Tech	128 (5)
2	Liberty	125 (5)
3	Middle Tennessee	123 (2)
4	Missouri State	107
5	Western Kentucky	96
6	FIU	74
7	Sam Houston	59
T-8	UTEP	57
T-8	Kennesaw State	57
10	New Mexico State	51
11	Delaware	36
12	Jacksonville State	23
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[3]

Preseason All-CUSA Team

Preseason All-CUSA Team
Player	Position	Year
Mya Barnes	Forward	Ffith Year

Source:^[3]

Roster

2025–26 Jacksonville State Gamecocks women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	1	Eden Sample	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	RS Sr	Old Dominion	Suwanee, Georgia
G	4	Maša Buzic	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	So	Chattanooga	Belgrade, Serbia
G	5	Mearah Whitehead	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr	Archer High School	Lawrenceville, Georgia
F/C	11	Vitória Carvalho (5th)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr	Idaho	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
G	13	Abril Ricart-Mensah	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr	Institut Cirvianum de Torelló	Sant Pere de Torelló, Spain
F	14	Mina Djurdjevic	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Central Pointe Christian Academy	Belgrade, Serbia
G	15	Makala Hobdy	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Jr	Shelton State Community College	Troy, Alabama
G	21	Kyera Thornsbury	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	So	Pikeville High School	Belfry, Kentucky
F	22	Mya Barnes (5th)	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Shelton State Community College	Montgomery, Alabama
G	23	Adriana Jones	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Sr	Troy	Newbern, Alabama
F	32	Brooklyn McDaniel	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Sr	Cleburne County High School	Heflin, Alabama
F	71	María Sánchez-Ponce	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Sr	Reinhardt	Conil de la Frontera, Spain

Head coach

Rick Pietri (South Alabama)

Assistant coach(es)

Eric Wise (Louisiana)
Rachel Barnes (Providence)
Harley Cook (Jacksonville State)
Toni West (Shelton State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
(5th) Fifth-year senior
Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: February 8, 2026

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* 11:30 am, ESPN+	LaGrange	W 92–35	1–0	16 – Sánchez-Ponce	7 – Tied	8 – Thornsbury	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,567) Jacksonville, AL
November 10, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at North Alabama	L 54–66	1–1	16 – Hobdy	8 – Hobdy	2 – Jones	CB&S Bank Arena (1,170) Florence, AL
November 13, 2025* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Southern Miss	L 61–67	1–2	26 – Jones	10 – Carvalho	5 – Hobdy	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,167) Jacksonville, AL
November 16, 2025* 1:00 pm, SECN+	at Georgia	L 51–76	1–3	14 – Sánchez-Ponce	6 – Hobdy	2 – Thornsbury	Stegeman Coliseum (2,154) Athens, GA
November 22, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at New Orleans	W 65–62	2–3	22 – Barnes	13 – Carvalho	7 – Thornsbury	Lakefront Arena (567) New Orleans, LA
November 28, 2025* 3:00 pm, ESPN+	vs. UC Davis Tiger Turkey Tip-Off	L 59−69	2−4	17 – Djurdjevic	6 – Djurdjevic	2 – Tied	Alex G. Spanos Center (392) Stockton, CA
November 29, 2025* 5:30 pm, ESPN+	at Pacific Tiger Turkey Tip-Off	L 63−70	2−5	15 – Jones	7 – Tied	4 – Tied	Alex G. Spanos Center (436) Stockton, CA
December 6, 2025* 2:30 pm, ESPN+	Mercer	W 72–62	3–5	18 – Thornsbury	13 – Barnes	3 – Tied	Pete Mathews Coliseum (467) Jacksonville, AL
December 9, 2025* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Brewton–Parker	W 60–35	4–5	14 – Hobdy	10 – Tied	2 – Tied	Pete Mathews Coliseum (467) Jacksonville, AL
December 13, 2025* 2:30 pm, ESPN+	Point	W 90–30	5–5	18 – Thornsbury	9 – Tied	6 – Hobdy	Pete Mathews Coliseum (287) Jacksonville, AL
December 17, 2025* 4:00 pm, ESPN+	at Saint Louis	L 54–74	5–6	18 – Barnes	8 – Tied	4 – Barnes	Chaifetz Arena (171) St. Louis, MO
December 21, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Presbyterian	W 74–39	6–6	15 – Hobdy	12 – Barnes	4 – Thornsbury	Templeton Center (194) Clinton, SC
C-USA regular season
January 2, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Western Kentucky	W 75−48	7−6 (1–0)	19 – Tied	9 – Barnes	3 – Tied	Pete Mathews Coliseum (347) Jacksonville, AL
January 4, 2026 2:30 pm, ESPN+	Middle Tennessee	L 52–69	7–7 (1–1)	14 – McDaniel	8 – Tied	2 – Tied	Pete Mathews Coliseum (753) Jacksonville, AL
January 8, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at FIU	W 70–67	8–7 (2–1)	16 – McDaniel	13 – Barnes	3 – Tied	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (127) Miami, FL
January 10, 2026 12:00 pm, ESPN+	at Missouri State	L 47–63	8–8 (2–2)	16 – McDaniel	8 – Tied	2 – Hobdy	Great Southern Bank Arena (2,190) Springfield, MO
January 17, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Kennesaw State	W 74–47	9–8 (3–2)	18 – Barnes	10 – Barnes	3 – Tied	VyStar Arena (513) Kennesaw, GA
January 22, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	New Mexico State	W 57–46	10–8 (4–2)	20 – Jones	13 – Barnes	3 – Hobdy	Pete Mathews Coliseum (464) Jacksonville, AL
January 24, 2026 12:00 pm, ESPN+	UTEP	W 73–60	11–8 (5–2)	13 – Tied	7 – Tied	6 – Hobdy	Pete Mathews Coliseum (471) Jacksonville, AL
January 29, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at Sam Houston	L 51–70	11–9 (5–3)	13 – Tied	11 – Djurdjevic	2 – Thornsbury	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (555) Huntsville, TX
January 31, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Louisiana Tech	L 51–71	11–10 (5–4)	17 – Sánchez-Ponce	9 – Barnes	2 – Tied	Thomas Assembly Center (1,736) Ruston, LA
February 5, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Liberty	L 55–60	11–11 (5–5)	10 – Jones	11 – Barnes	3 – Tied	Pete Mathews Coliseum (573) Jacksonville, AL
February 7, 2026 1:30 pm, ESPN+	Delaware	W 61–58	12–11 (6–5)	20 – Barnes	6 – Barnes	3 – Tied	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,084) Jacksonville, AL
February 12, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at Middle Tennessee	L 48–57	12–12 (6–6)	11 – Djurdjevic	5 – Tied	3 – Thornsbury	Murphy Center (3,572) Murfreesboro, TN
February 14, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Western Kentucky	L 41–56	12–13 (6–7)	10 – Jones	9 – Jones	2 – Tied	E. A. Diddle Arena (723) Bowling Green, KY
February 19, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Louisiana Tech	L 57–58	12–14 (6–8)	13 – Tied	10 – Barnes	4 – Hobdy	Pete Mathews Coliseum (597) Jacksonville, AL
February 21, 2026 2:30 pm, ESPN+	Sam Houston	W 69–68	13–14 (7–8)	21 – McDaniel	13 – McDaniel	2 – Tied	Pete Mathews Coliseum (699) Jacksonville, AL
February 26, 2026 8:00 pm, ESPN+	at UTEP	L 64–66	13–15 (7–9)	20 – Barnes	15 – Barnes	4 – Thornsbury	Don Haskins Center (1,150) El Paso, TX
February 28, 2026 3:00 pm, ESPN+	at New Mexico State	W 57–38	14–15 (8–9)	13 – Barnes	6 – Tied	3 – Thornsbury	Pan American Center (904) Las Cruces, NM
March 7, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Kennesaw State						Pete Mathews Coliseum Jacksonville, AL
C-USA tournament
March 10–14, 2026	vs.						Propst Arena Huntsville, AL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources:^[4]^[5]

References

^ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Conference USA. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
^ "Sam Houston outlasts Jacksonville State to advance to CUSA women's basketball quarterfinals". 256 Today. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
^ ^a ^b ^c "WBB: 2025-26 CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team and Poll Announced". Conference USA. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
^ "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Jacksonville State University Athletics. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
^ "Jacksonville State Gamecocks 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved February 8, 2026.

[1] "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Conference USA. Retrieved February 8, 2026.

[2] "Sam Houston outlasts Jacksonville State to advance to CUSA women's basketball quarterfinals". 256 Today. Retrieved February 8, 2026.

[poll-3] "WBB: 2025-26 CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team and Poll Announced". Conference USA. Retrieved February 8, 2026.

[4] "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Jacksonville State University Athletics. Retrieved February 8, 2026.

[5] "Jacksonville State Gamecocks 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved February 8, 2026.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Jacksonville State Gamecocks women's basketball
Venues	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1976–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26