PORTLAND, Ore. – The Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced its Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll on Tuesday afternoon, with Seattle Pacific University selected for a ninth-place finish by the league's coaches.
"They've got us near the bottom in the preseason rankings, and that's fine," head coach
Karen Byers said. "Rankings don't win games; effort and belief do. I'm excited to show everyone what this team is really about."
Western Washington enters the 2025-26 campaign as the preseason favorites. They accumulated 90 points and five first-place votes. The Vikings cleared Central Washington by one point. The Wildcats earned four first-place votes. Saint Martin's landed in third with 72 points, while Montana State University Billings grabbed 64 points and the remaining first-place vote.
The Falcons are coming off an 8-23 season in 2024-25. They won five games on their home court last season. Head coach
Karen Byers' interim tag was removed last May. Under Byers, the Falcons saw a jump in offense throughout the 2024-25 season. SPU averaged 65.6 points per game, eight more points per game than the previous season. They shot 39.8 percent from the field in their increased offense.
Madison Rubino returns as the lone senior on the 2025-26 roster. She appeared in 29 games last season and made 18 starts for the Falcons. Rubino averaged 6.6 points per game and grabbed five rebounds per game. She scored a career-high 15 points against Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 18, 2025. Rubino's best career rebounding game was against Western Oregon on Feb. 6, 2025, when she pulled down 14 boards for the Falcons.
Layne Kearns,
Grace Leasure, and
Haylie-Anne Ohta return for the Falcons as well. Kearns started all 31 games for the Falcons last season, averaging 10.6 points per game and five rebounds per game. Kearns ranked second on the team in points per game during the 2024-25 season. She scored a career-high 20 points against NNU on Feb.13, 2025. In that same game, she had a career-high 11 rebounds for the Falcons. It was her only double-double of the season.
Leasure appeared in 29 games and made 13 starts for the Falcons. She had a season-best 11 points against Saint Martin's on Jan. 9, 2025. Ohta returns after 31 games and eight starts for SPU a season ago. She scored a season-best 12 points against MSU Denver on Dec. 21, 2024.
Grace Turley and
Julia Lavigne return to the Falcons as redshirt freshmen. Turley appeared in 31 games and made eight starts for SPU. She dropped 14 points against Saint Martin's on Feb. 8, 2025. Lavigne appeared in 25 games for the Falcons. She had a big night against MSU Billings on Jan. 4, 2025, when she scored a career-high 16 points.
The Falcons welcomed 10 new players to the roster in the 2025-26 signing class.
Naomi Hotchkiss,
Pippa Krieger,
India Pines,
Emma Voellger, and
Cascadia Yates bring size to the Falcons. Each player stands at 6-0 feet or taller.
Ava Mai,
Jasmine Pho, Kara Wilkson, and twin sisters
Jadlyn Senderson and
Layla Senderson are the group of talented guards joining the Falcons.
The Falcons tip off their season at home, hosting Cal State Dominguez Hills, Western Washington, and Cal State LA in the GNACC-CCAA Challenge Nov. 14-15. The Falcons play the Golden Eagles on Nov. 14, followed by a game against the Toros on Nov. 15. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. inside Royal Brougham Pavilion.
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