2025–26 Canisius Golden Griffins women's basketball team

2025–26 Canisius Golden Griffins women's basketball
2025–26 Canisius Golden Griffins women's basketball
Conference	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record	5–24 (3–17 MAAC)
Head coach	Tiffany Swoffard (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Lindsay Hieronymus; Stephan Walton; Courtney Roman;
Home arena	Koessler Athletic Center
	Seasons ← 2024–25 2026–27 →

The 2025–26 Canisius Golden Griffins women's basketball team represented Canisius University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Golden Griffins, led by second-year head coach Tiffany Swoffard, played their home games at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

2025–26 MAAC women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Quinnipiac	19	–	1	.950	27	–	7	.794
Fairfield †	19	–	1	.950	28	–	5	.848
Merrimack	15	–	5	.750	19	–	13	.594
Iona	12	–	8	.600	20	–	12	.625
Siena	11	–	9	.550	13	–	17	.433
Mount St. Mary's	11	–	9	.550	15	–	15	.500
Sacred Heart	10	–	10	.500	13	–	18	.419
Manhattan	10	–	10	.500	11	–	20	.355
Marist	8	–	12	.400	11	–	20	.355
Saint Peter's	6	–	14	.300	7	–	23	.233
Rider	5	–	15	.250	7	–	22	.241
Canisius	3	–	17	.150	5	–	24	.172
Niagara	1	–	19	.050	1	–	28	.034

† 2026 MAAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Golden Griffins finished the 2024–25 season 10–22, 9–11 in MAAC play, to finish in a four-way tie for sixth place.^[1] They were defeated by Manhattan in the first round of the MAAC tournament.^[2]

Preseason

On September 30, 2025, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference released their preseason poll. Canisius was picked to finish ninth in the conference.^[3]

Preseason rankings

MAAC Preseason Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	Fairfield	169 (13)
2	Quinnipiac	155
3	Mount St. Mary's	132
4	Marist	128
5	Siena	103
6	Iona	100
7	Manhattan	95
8	Merrimack	76
9	Canisius	69
10	Saint Peter's	51
11	Niagara	48
12	Sacred Heart	43
13	Rider	14
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[3]

Preseason All-MAAC Teams

Preseason All-MAAC Teams
Team	Player	Position	Year
Third	Shariah Gailes	Forward	Junior

Source:^[3]

Roster

2025–26 Canisius Golden Griffins women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Jania Akins	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	RS Fr	Mercer	Chicago, Illinois
G	1	Ari Parker	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	RS Fr	Cass Technical High School	Detroit, Michigan
G	2	Alex Moses	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Duanesburg High School	Delanson, New York
G	3	Mary Copple	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	Brighton High School	Brighton, Michigan
G	4	Corniya Clay	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	So	Central Catholic High School	Toledo, Ohio
F	5	Irene Rey Pineda	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	So	Movistar Estudiantes B.C.	Madrid, Spain
G	10	Kelsey Bess	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Harcum College	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
G	11	Antionique Auston	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr	CCBC Essex	Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
G	12	Saige Randolph	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	Jr	Albany Academy for Girls	Albany, New York
G	14	Molly Mescall	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr	Iroquois High School	Elma, New York
F	15	Ileana Feliz	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Cal State Bakersfield	New Milford, Connecticut
C	21	Evie van der Woude	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	Jr	Florida Atlantic	Zwolle, Netherlands
G	22	Franka Wittenberg	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Sr	Fresno State	Hildesheim, Germany
F	23/33	Yasmine Djibril	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Collège Montmorency	Montreal, Quebec
F	34	Shariah Gailes	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Illinois–Springfield	Brooklyn, Ohio

Head coach

Tiffany Swoffard (Austin Peay)

Assistant coach(es)

Lindsay Hieronymus (Transylvania)
Stephan Walton (Manitoba)
Courtney Roman (Penn State)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: June 28, 2026

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 26, 2025* 2:00 pm	at Buffalo	L 63–69	–	Alumni Arena Amherst, NY
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2025* 7:00 pm, B1G+	at No. 13 Michigan	L 40–100	0–1	Crisler Center (2,881) Ann Arbor, MI
November 7, 2025* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Eastern Michigan	L 39–70	0–2	Koessler Athletic Center (809) Buffalo, NY
November 11, 2025* 7:00 pm, ACCNX	at Syracuse	L 72–96	0–3	JMA Wireless Dome (2,405) Syracuse, NY
November 14, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at St. Bonaventure	L 61–66	0–4	Reilly Center (315) St. Bonaventure, NY
November 16, 2025* 12:00 pm, ESPN+	Cornell	L 50−62	0−5	Koessler Athletic Center (107) Buffalo, NY
November 21, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Dayton	L 52−61	0−6	UD Arena (2,050) Dayton, OH
November 23, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Cincinnati	L 57–96	0–7	Fifth Third Arena (1,440) Cincinnati, OH
November 30, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Mercyhurst	W 75–67	1–7	Koessler Athletic Center (424) Buffalo, NY
December 12, 2025* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Wright State	W 65–60	2–7	Koessler Athletic Center (466) Buffalo, NY
MAAC regular season
December 19, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Saint Peter's	L 49–61	2–8 (0–1)	Koessler Athletic Center (449) Buffalo, NY
December 21, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Siena	L 56–73	2–9 (0–2)	Koessler Athletic Center (110) Buffalo, NY
January 1, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Fairfield	L 43−72	2−10 (0–3)	Leo D. Mahoney Arena (905) Fairfield, CT
January 3, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Sacred Heart	L 61–77	2–11 (0–4)	William H. Pitt Center (632) Fairfield, CT
January 8, 2026 11:00 am, ESPN+	Manhattan	L 43–69	2–12 (0–5)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,697) Buffalo, NY
January 10, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Iona	L 51–60	2–13 (0–6)	Koessler Athletic Center (421) Buffalo, NY
January 14, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Niagara Battle of the Bridge	W 57–41	3–13 (1–6)	Gallagher Center (363) Lewiston, NY
January 17, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Mount St. Mary's	L 64–71	3–14 (1–7)	Knott Arena (729) Emmitsburg, MD
January 22, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Sacred Heart	L 55–76	3–15 (1–8)	Koessler Athletic Center (425) Buffalo, NY
January 24, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Fairfield	L 42–58	3–16 (1–9)	Koessler Athletic Center (621) Buffalo, NY
January 29, 2026 5:00 pm, ESPN+	at Marist	L 53–60	3–17 (1–10)	McCann Arena (508) Poughkeepsie, NY
January 31, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Siena	L 65–69 ^OT	3–18 (1–11)	UHY Center (685) Loudonville, NY
February 3, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Niagara Battle of the Bridge	W 74–58	4–18 (2–11)	Koessler Athletic Center (463) Buffalo, NY
February 5, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Quinnipiac	L 55–73	4–19 (2–12)	Koessler Athletic Center (457) Buffalo, NY
February 12, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Iona	L 45–52	4–20 (2–13)	Hynes Athletics Center (805) New Rochelle, NY
February 14, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Manhattan	L 55–68	4–21 (2–14)	Draddy Gymnasium (181) Riverdale, NY
February 19, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Rider	L 53–55 ^OT	4–22 (2–15)	Koessler Athletic Center (473) Buffalo, NY
February 21, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Mount St. Mary's	W 68–63 ^OT	5–22 (3–15)	Koessler Athletic Center (453) Buffalo, NY
February 26, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Merrimack	L 55–71	5–23 (3–16)	Lawler Arena (313) North Andover, MA
February 28, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Quinnipiac	L 37–75	5–24 (3–17)	M&T Bank Arena (663) Hamden, CT
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[4]^[5]

References

↑ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
↑ "Ozturk Sets Tournament Block Record with Eight as Women's Basketball Rolls vs. Canisius". Manhattan University Athletics. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
1 2 3 "Fairfield Unanimously Picked First in Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
↑ "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Canisius University Athletics. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
↑ "Canisius Golden Griffins 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved June 28, 2026.

[1] "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Retrieved June 28, 2026.

[2] "Ozturk Sets Tournament Block Record with Eight as Women's Basketball Rolls vs. Canisius". Manhattan University Athletics. Retrieved June 28, 2026.

[poll-3] 1 2 3 "Fairfield Unanimously Picked First in Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Retrieved June 28, 2026.

[4] "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Canisius University Athletics. Retrieved June 28, 2026.

[5] "Canisius Golden Griffins 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved June 28, 2026.

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