2025–26 Winthrop Eagles women's basketball team

2025–26 Winthrop Eagles women's basketball
2025–26 Winthrop Eagles women's basketball
Conference	Big South Conference
Record	15–17 (7–9 Big South)
Head coach	Semeka Randall Lay (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Dante Travis; Dominique Duck; Steve Joyner;
Home arena	Winthrop Coliseum
	Seasons ← 2024–25 2026–27 →

The 2025–26 Winthrop Eagles women's basketball team represents Winthrop University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Eagles, led by sixth-year head coach Semeka Randall Lay, play their home games at the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, South Carolina as members of the Big South Conference.

2025–26 Big South women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
High Point †	13	–	3	.813	27	–	6	.818
Radford	12	–	4	.750	23	–	13	.639
Longwood	11	–	5	.688	21	–	10	.677
Gardner–Webb	9	–	7	.563	12	–	19	.387
Winthrop	7	–	9	.438	15	–	17	.469
UNC Asheville	7	–	9	.438	12	–	18	.400
Charleston Southern	6	–	10	.375	8	–	22	.267
USC Upstate	6	–	10	.375	12	–	20	.375
Presbyterian	1	–	15	.063	3	–	27	.100

† 2026 Big South tournament winner

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2024–25 season 16–15, 9–7 in Big South play, to finish in sixth place.^[1] They defeated Charleston Southern,^[2] before falling to top-seeded and eventual tournament champions High Point in the semifinals of the Big South tournament.^[3]

Preseason

On October 15, 2025, the Big South Conference released their preseason poll. Winthrop was picked to finish fourth in the conference.^[4]

Preseason rankings

Big South Preseason Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	High Point	77 (6)
2	Longwood	69 (1)
3	Radford	67 (1)
4	Winthrop	48
5	Charleston Southern	41
6	USC Upstate	33
7	Gardner–Webb	25
8	Presbyterian	23
9	UNC Asheville	22 (1)
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[4]

Preseason All-Big South Teams

Preseason All-Big South Teams
Team	Player	Year	Position
First	Amourie Porter	Junior	Guard/Forward

Source:^[5]

Roster

2025–26 Winthrop Eagles women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Ar'Mani Reid	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr	Southwest Onslow High School	Jacksonville, North Carolina
G	1	Nessa Walsh	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Sr	Purdue Northwest	Chicago, Illinois
G	3	Madison Ruff	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Mount St. Mary's	Sparta, Georgia
G	5	Mya Hamilton	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr	Unioto High School	Leesburg, Ohio
G	7	Ryiah Wilson	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr	Washington High School	South Bend, Indiana
G	10	Jada Ryce	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	GS	East Tennessee State	McDonough, Georgia
F	11	Naomi Wilson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Jr	Weatherford College	Baldivis, Australia
G	13	Mya Pierfax	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Sr	Northwest Florida State College	Lake Elsinore, California
G/F	15	Amourie Porter	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Cal State Bakersfield	Glen Burnie, Maryland
G/F	21	Persais Williams	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Champaign Central High School	Bolingbrook, Illinois
G	22	Cori Lard	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Sr	Miami (OH)	Davenport, Iowa
F	25	Tocarra Johnson	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Blinn College	Crockett, Texas

Head coach

Semeka Randall Lay (Tennessee)

Assistant coach(es)

Dante Travis (Saint Paul's)
Dominique Duck (Western Kentucky)
Steve Joyner (Johnson C. Smith)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: March 3, 2026

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* 12:00 pm, ESPN+		at Marquette	L 57–89	0–1	Al McGuire Center (3,750) Milwaukee, WI
November 5, 2025* 12:00 pm, NECFR		at Chicago State	L 54–59	0–2	Jones Convocation Center (1,523) Chicago, WI
November 8, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Newberry	W 74–37	1–2	Winthrop Coliseum (402) Rock Hill, SC
November 15, 2025* 4:30 pm, ESPN+		Queens	W 75–69	2–2	Winthrop Coliseum (308) Rock Hill, SC
November 19, 2025* 7:00 pm, SECN		at No. 2 South Carolina	L 56−106	2−3	Colonial Life Arena (15,787) Columbia, SC
November 21, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Clinton	W 82−29	3−3	Winthrop Coliseum (269) Rock Hill, SC
November 25, 2025* 4:30 pm, BALLERtv		vs. Southern Illinois Music City Classic	W 75–61	4–3	Trevecca Trojan Fieldhouse (223) Nashville, TN
November 26, 2025* 4:30 pm, BALLERtv		vs. SMU Music City Classic	L 61–84	4–4	Trevecca Trojan Fieldhouse (208) Nashville, TN
November 30, 2025* 4:00 pm		at South Carolina State	W 66–45	5–4	SHM Memorial Center (175) Orangeburg, SC
December 3, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Johnson & Wales (NC)	W 105–41	6–4	Winthrop Coliseum (195) Rock Hill, SC
December 7, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		UNC Wilmington	W 78–68	7–4	Winthrop Coliseum (293) Rock Hill, SC
December 14, 2025* 2:00 pm, SECN+		at No. 18 Tennessee	L 40−112	7−5	Thompson–Boling Arena (10,091) Knoxville, TN
December 17, 2025* 11:00 am, ESPN+		at Charlotte	L 58–81	7–6	Halton Arena (2,958) Charlotte, NC
December 20, 2025* 12:00 pm, ACCNX		at Virginia	L 53–88	7–7	John Paul Jones Arena (4,077) Charlottesville, VA
Big South regular season
December 31, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Gardner–Webb	L 48–54	7–8 (0–1)	Winthrop Coliseum (270) Rock Hill, SC
January 3, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at UNC Asheville	W 59–55	8–8 (1–1)	Kimmel Arena (248) Asheville, NC
January 7, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at USC Upstate	W 66–64	9–8 (2–1)	G. B. Hodge Center (195) Spartanburg, SC
January 10, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Charleston Southern	W 63–54	10–8 (3–1)	Winthrop Coliseum (243) Rock Hill, SC
January 14, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Longwood	L 79–100	10–9 (3–2)	Joan Perry Brock Center (1,267) Farmville, VA
January 17, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Radford	L 65–67	10–10 (3–3)	Winthrop Coliseum (282) Rock Hill, SC
January 21, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at High Point	L 60–74	10–11 (3–4)	Qubein Center (1,184) High Point, NC
January 28, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Presbyterian	W 74–42	11–11 (4–4)	Winthrop Coliseum (219) Rock Hill, SC
January 31, 2026 12:00 pm, ESPN+		at Radford	L 57–61	11–12 (4–5)	Dedmon Center (447) Radford, VA
February 4, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+		High Point	L 74–88	11–13 (4–6)	Winthrop Coliseum (302) Rock Hill, SC
February 7, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Gardner–Webb	L 69–72	11–14 (4–7)	Paul Porter Arena (378) Boiling Springs, NC
February 11, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+		USC Upstate	L 58–67	11–15 (4–8)	Winthrop Coliseum (304) Rock Hill, SC
February 14, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Longwood	W 75–65	12–15 (5–8)	Winthrop Coliseum (297) Rock Hill, SC
February 18, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Presbyterian	W 72–59	13–15 (6–8)	Templeton Center (233) Clinton, SC
February 25, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+		UNC Asheville	L 59–64	13–16 (6–9)	Winthrop Coliseum (301) Rock Hill, SC
February 28, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Charleston Southern	W 77–55	14–16 (7–9)	Buccaneer Field House (382) North Charleston, SC
Big South tournament
March 5, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	(5)	vs. (4) Gardner–Webb Quarterfinals	W 64–52	15–16	Freedom Hall Civic Center (1,523) Johnson City, TN
March 7, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	(5)	vs. (1) High Point Semifinals	L 63-79	15-17	Freedom Hall Civic Center Johnson City, TN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[6]^[7]

References

↑ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Big South Conference. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
↑ "No. 4 Charleston Southern Falls to No. 5 Winthrop on Buzzer-Beating Three-Point Field Goal in the Big South Tournament". Charleston Southern University. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
↑ "High Point Defeats Winthrop to Advance to Big South Championship". High Point University Athletics. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
1 2 "High Point Voted 2025-26 Women's Basketball Preseason Favorite". Big South Conference. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
↑ "Big South Announces 2025-26 Women's Basketball Preseason Honors". Big South Conference. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
↑ "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Winthrop University Athletics. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
↑ "Winthrop Eagles 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

[1] "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Big South Conference. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

[2] "No. 4 Charleston Southern Falls to No. 5 Winthrop on Buzzer-Beating Three-Point Field Goal in the Big South Tournament". Charleston Southern University. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

[3] "High Point Defeats Winthrop to Advance to Big South Championship". High Point University Athletics. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

[poll-4] 1 2 "High Point Voted 2025-26 Women's Basketball Preseason Favorite". Big South Conference. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

[5] "Big South Announces 2025-26 Women's Basketball Preseason Honors". Big South Conference. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

[6] "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Winthrop University Athletics. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

[7] "Winthrop Eagles 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

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