The official Gonzaga Athletics website posted a 13-woman roster with a handful of familiar Zags (five returning players), but plenty of new faces (three from the 2026 recruiting class, five out of the transfer portal). The max roster size for a women’s college basketball roster is 15 for the upcoming season, so two more players could potentially be added later on.
Here is the 2025-26 squad looking to return to the NCAA Tournament after missing out last season:
5-9 freshman guard Paige Lofing – Huntley Project/Billings, Montana
5-9 senior guard Vera Gunaydin – South Georgia Tech/Ankara, Turkey
5-10 freshman guard Julia Wilson – Rancho Christian/Temecula, California
6-0 graduate forward Sierra Lichtie – Cal Poly/Riverton, Utah
5-9 senior guard Ines Bettencourt – UConn/Sao Miguel, Portugal
5-8 sophomore guard Allie Turner – John Burroughs/Saint Louis, Missouri
5-11 sophomore guard Christabel Osarobo – Ipswich Basketball Academy/Tudela, Spain
6-2 junior forward Taylor Smith – Weber State/Pocatello, Idaho
6-0 junior forward McKynnlie Dalan – Minnesota/Montesano, Washington
6-2 freshman forward Jaiden Haile – West Fargo Horace/Fargo, North Dakota
5-10 sophomore guard Teryn Gardner – Boise State/Spokane, Washington
6-3 redshirt freshman forward Lauren Whittaker – Canterbury, New Zealand
5-10 junior guard Zeryhia Aokuso – Saint Mary’s/Amarillo, Texas
The upcoming group will look a lot different without star Yvonne Ejim on it, as well as with the departures of Tayla Dalton, Esther Little, Maud Huijbens, Bree Salenbien (transferred to Ball State), and Claire O’Connor (transferred to Colorado). With Ejim specifically moving on, it’s time to look for the new face of the Gonzaga program. All signs point to the sharpshooting sophomore guard Allie Turner. She is being handed the keys by coach Lisa Fortier after a spectacular freshman campaign.
Turner hit a staggering 105 three-pointers last season, and no returning player in all of women’s college basketball had more. That was the eighth-most by a freshman in NCAA women’s history.
She ended up averaging 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game last season. Turner finished as one of only three players in the sport to average at least 3.0 three-pointers made per game on 45.0 percent from beyond the arc.
The sky is now the limit for Turner and the rest of her teammates (including her new backcourt partners: Spokane native, Mead alum, and Boise State transfer Teryn Gardner/Saint Mary’s transfer Zeryhia Aokuso, who look to make an immediate impact) as they chase their first West Coast Conference tournament title since 2022. Under Fortier, the Zags have made the NCAA Tournament a total of eight times since being handed the lead job in 2014-15.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
0 Comments
