2025–26 Sam Houston Bearkats women's basketball team

2025–26 Sam Houston Bearkats women's basketball
2025–26 Sam Houston Bearkats women's basketball
WNIT, First Round
Conference	Conference USA
Record	18–13 (11–7 C-USA)
Head coach	Ravon Justice (7th season);
Assistant coaches	Brittany Mason; Ayriell Robinson;
Home arena	Bernard Johnson 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	–	12	.636
Middle Tennessee	11	–	7	.611	17	–	15	.531
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

The 2025–26 Sam Houston Bearkats women's basketball team represents Sam Houston State University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bearkats, led by seventh-year head coach Ravon Justice, play their home games at the Bernard Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas, as third-year members of Conference USA.

Previous season

The Bearkats finished the 2024–25 season 13–17, 5–13 in C-USA play, to finish in eighth place.^[1] They defeated Jacksonville State,^[2] before falling to top-seeded and eventual tournament champions Liberty in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament.^[3]

Preseason

On October 9, 2025, Conference USA released their preseason poll. Sam Houston was picked to finish seventh in the conference.^[4]

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:^[4]

Preseason All-CUSA Team

Preseason All-CUSA Team
Player	Position	Year
Deborah Ogayemi	Forward	Senior

Source:^[4]

Roster

2025–26 Sam Houston Bearkats women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	1	Kaylie Carr	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Fr	Legion Preparatory Academy	Oxford, Mississippi
G	2	Tianna Mathis	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Sr	Texas Southern	Bryan, Texas
G	3	Kelis Grant	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	Cedar Hill High School	Cedar Hill, Texas
G	4	Fanta Kone	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Sr	Tyler Junior College	Bamako, Mali
G	5	Aysia Ward-Strong	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	GS	McLennan Community College	Dallas, Texas
G	7	Annika Corcoran	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	GS	Detroit Mercy	Chardon, Ohio
F	8	Deborah Ogayemi	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS Sr	UT Rio Grande Valley	Waterford, Ireland
G/F	10	Alaisha Brown	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Denver	Arlington, Texas
G	11	Esther Rodellar	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Siena	Barcelona, Spain
F	15	Nyla Inmon	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Kilgore College	Tyler, Texas
F	21	Blessing Okoh	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	GS	Winthrop	Houston, Texas
G	23	Bryana Block	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	RS Jr	Liberty-Eylau High School	Texarkana, Texas
G	24	Whitney Dunn	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Sr	Alabama State	Chicago, Illinois
C	25	Lea Salinas Beamen	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	So	Liberty High School	Brentwood, California

Head coach

Ravon Justice (USAO)

Assistant coach(es)

Brittany Mason (Houston)
Ayriell Robinson (Saint Louis)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: February 6, 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* 4:00 pm, ESPN+	Southwestern Christian	W 58–39	1–0	13 – Inmon	12 – Ward-Strong	3 – Tied	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (469) Huntsville, TX
November 9, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at No. 17 TCU	L 46–88	1–1	13 – Kone	8 – Ogayemi	2 – Tied	Schollmaier Arena (2,302) Fort Worth, TX
November 12, 2025* 4:00 pm	at Arkansas–Pine Bluff	W 78–44	2–1	21 – Inmon	8 – Ogayemi	7 – Kone	H.O. Clemmons Arena (325) Pine Bluff, AR
November 17, 2025* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Prairie View A&M	W 77–49	3–1	16 – Tied	11 – Ward-Strong	5 – Ward-Strong	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (570) Huntsville, TX
November 20, 2025* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Louisiana–Monroe	W 57−34	4−1	22 – Kone	7 – Ward-Strong	3 – Corcoran	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (432) Huntsville, TX
November 25, 2025* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	North American	W 92−43	5−1	14 – Block	6 – Inmon	6 – Tied	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (409) Huntsville, TX
December 3, 2025* 5:30 pm, ESPN+	at Rice	L 50–66	5–2	15 – Dunn	11 – Ogayemi	4 – Kone	Tudor Fieldhouse (765) Houston, TX
December 16, 2025* 6:00 pm, SECN+	at Alabama	L 36–73	5–3	14 – Ogayemi	6 – Ward-Strong	4 – Kone	Coleman Coliseum (2,224) Tuscaloosa, AL
December 19, 2025* 5:00 pm, ESPN+	SMU	L 69–73	5–4	13 – Tied	10 – Ogayemi	7 – Kone	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (394) Huntsville, TX
December 22, 2025* 12:00 pm, ESPN+	Northern Colorado	W 65–56	6–4	17 – Inmon	8 – Ogayemi	5 – Tied	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (424) Huntsville, TX
December 28, 2025* 12:00 pm, ESPN+	Dallas	W 110–38	7–4	22 – Kone	9 – Ward-Strong	8 – Kone	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (99) Huntsville, TX
C-USA regular season
January 2, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at Louisiana Tech	W 67−64	8−4 (1–0)	19 – Kone	10 – Ogayemi	5 – Kone	Thomas Assembly Center (1,431) Ruston, LA
January 8, 2026 4:00 pm, ESPN+	at Liberty	W 59–53	9–4 (2–0)	17 – Ogayemi	11 – Ogayemi	4 – Kone	Liberty Arena (864) Lynchburg, VA
January 10, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Delaware	W 73–65 ^OT	10–4 (3–0)	21 – Dunn	10 – Ogayemi	10 – Kone	Bob Carpenter Center (797) Newark, DE
January 15, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Western Kentucky	W 50–38	11–4 (4–0)	16 – Kone	6 – Tied	4 – Kone	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (520) Huntsville, TX
January 17, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Middle Tennessee	L 67–68	11–5 (4–1)	17 – Dunn	6 – Dunn	6 – Kone	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (525) Huntsville, TX
January 22, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at FIU	L 60–66	11–6 (4–2)	14 – Ogayemi	10 – Ward-Strong	8 – Kone	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (127) Miami, FL
January 29, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Jacksonville State	W 70–51	12–6 (5–2)	16 – Kone	11 – Tied	4 – Inmon	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (555) Huntsville, TX
January 31, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Kennesaw State	W 62–57	13–6 (6–2)	18 – Ogayemi	9 – Tied	4 – Dunn	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (515) Huntsville, TX
February 5, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at New Mexico State	L 57–65	13–7 (6–3)	19 – Ogayemi	10 – Ogayemi	2 – Tied	Pan American Center (1,052) Las Cruces, NM
February 7, 2026 3:00 pm, ESPN+	at UTEP	W 70–58	14–7 (7–3)	19 – Ogayemi	7 – Inmon	3 – Tied	Don Haskins Center (1,013) El Paso, TX
February 12, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Missouri State	W 74–67	15–7 (8–3)	19 – Kone	6 – Ogayemi	8 – Kone	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (545) Huntsville, TX
February 14, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	FIU	L 65–67	15–8 (8–4)	18 – Dunn	5 – Tied	8 – Kone	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (365) Huntsville, TX
February 19, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Kennesaw State	W 72–66	16–8 (9–4)	22 – Dunn	9 – Inmon	3 – Tied	VyStar Arena (508) Kennesaw, GA
February 21, 2026 2:30 pm, ESPN+	at Jacksonville State	L 68–69	16–9 (9–5)	20 – Kone	12 – Ward-Strong	4 – Kone	Pete Mathews Coliseum (699) Jacksonville, AL
February 24, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at Missouri State	L 55–60	16–10 (9–6)	12 – Kone	8 – Ward-Strong	3 – Tied	Great Southern Bank Arena (2,259) Springfield, MO
February 28, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Louisiana Tech	L 60–75	16–11 (9–7)	16 – Dunn	10 – Ward-Strong	9 – Kone	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (738) Huntsville, TX
March 5, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	UTEP						Bernard Johnson Coliseum Huntsville, TX
March 7, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	New Mexico State						Bernard Johnson Coliseum Huntsville, TX
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:^[5]^[6]

References

^ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Conference USA. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
^ "Sam Houston outlasts Jacksonville State to advance to CUSA women's basketball quarterfinals". 256 Today. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
^ "Liberty Pulls Away from Sam Houston for 78-51 Quarterfinal Win". Liberty University. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
^ ^a ^b ^c "WBB: 2025-26 CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team and Poll Announced". Conference USA. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
^ "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Sam Houston. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
^ "Sam Houston Bearkats 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved February 6, 2026.

[1] "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Conference USA. Retrieved February 6, 2026.

[2] "Sam Houston outlasts Jacksonville State to advance to CUSA women's basketball quarterfinals". 256 Today. Retrieved February 6, 2026.

[3] "Liberty Pulls Away from Sam Houston for 78-51 Quarterfinal Win". Liberty University. Retrieved February 6, 2026.

[poll-4] "WBB: 2025-26 CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team and Poll Announced". Conference USA. Retrieved February 6, 2026.

[5] "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Sam Houston. Retrieved February 6, 2026.

[6] "Sam Houston Bearkats 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved February 6, 2026.

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[6]

Sam Houston Bearkats women's basketball
Venues	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (1976–present)
Culture & lore	History Sammy Bearkat The Famous Bearkat Band
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 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