The university women's basketball team will have a healthy amount of expectations going into this season
The Washington Huskies women's basketball team will begin the 2025-26 regular season today.
The Lady Huskies will open the season with an in-city showdown at 5 p.m. PT on Monday against Seattle U at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
Washington will enter its fourth season under head coach Tina Langley. Last season, the Huskies made their first NCAA Tournament with Langley at the helm, but were one of the first four teams eliminated. The team finished that season with a 19-14 overall record and was 9-9 in Big Ten play.
Washington missed out on the preseason Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll but received the most votes among teams who didn't receive a placement in the poll (79).
Here's a preview of season for the women's Huskies team:
Returners
Washington will have a healthy amount of returning players from last year's NCAA Tournament team: sophomore guard Devin Coppinger, junior guard Sayvia Sellers, sophomore guard Chloe Briggs, junior forward Olivia Anderson, senior guard Hannah Stines, senior guard Teagan Brown, senior forward Shayla Gillmer and senior guard Elle Ladine.
Coppinger was a contributor off the bench for the Huskies in her freshman season. In 30 games, she averaged 3.5 points per game on 43.5% shooting, 1.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists.
Sellers was All-Big Ten honorable mention last season. She averaged 15.3 points per game on 47% from the field and 38.7% from 3-point range across 33 games. She pulled in 2.7 rebounds per game and dished 3.9 assists per game. She also swiped 1.8 steals per game.
Briggs was another contributor off the bench last season. She saw playing time in 33 games and started 13. She averaged 3.6 points per game on 43.7% shooting (35.8 from beyond the arc) and averaged an assist and 2.3 rebounds per game.
Anderson saw playing time in 10 games for Washington in 2024. She averaged 1.4 points per game, 1.4 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game. She last played against Northwestern on Dec. 28, 2024, before missing the rest of the year with an undisclosed injury.
Stines was a full-time contributor for the Huskies last year. She started all 33 games. She scored 9.6 points per game on 44% shooting (35.6% from 3-point range) and averaged 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
Brown registered playing time in all 33 games last year. She averaged three points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. She shot 47% from the floor.
Gillmer played 19 games last season. She averaged 2.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game and completed 39.5% of her shots from the floor.
Ladine was a second-team All-Big Ten selection last season. She played in and averaged all 33 games and averaged 17 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. She shot 47.3% from the floor and 39.3% from 3-point range.
New faces
Washington had a stellar recruiting class and has several highly-recruited freshmen entering the program.
The five players joining the program are forwards Daniella McLean, Brynn McGaughy and Nina Cain and guard Sienna Harvey.
McLean was an international recruit out of Canada. She scored over 1,000 points while playing at Syracuse Academy in New York.
McGaughy was the first five-star recruit in Langley's tenure as head coach and is the highest-rated recruit in program history. She was the Washington Gatorade Player of the Year and a McDonald's All-American.
Cain scored 2,016 points in high school, which set a school record at McClatchy High School in Sacramento, Calif. She was a two-time Sacramento Bee Player of the Year.
Harvey, another international recruit, was a member of the Australia U19 FIBA Women's World Cup women's basketball team this past summer. She helped lead Australia to a silver medal in the tournament.
New places
The Huskies will have two new transfers this season: sophomore guard Avery Howell and senior center Yulia Grabovskaia.
Howell transferred to Washington from Southern California (USC). While with the Trojans, she averaged 7.5 points per game across 35 games on 43.1% shooting from the floor and 39.9% from beyond the arc. She averaged three rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.
Grabovskaia, who transferred in from Michigan, averaged 5.3 points across 33 games on 48% shooting from the floor. She averaged 4.1 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks per game.
Season outlook
The Huskies were outside the Big Ten top five preseason media and coaches' poll. The program had one player named to the preseason All-Big Ten team on both the media and coaches' selection. Sellers was named on the coaches team and Ladine was on the media team.
Key games
Washington's first ranked and Big Ten opponent of the season will be against USC at 5 p.m. PT on Dec. 7 in Los Angeles.
The Huskies will have two-straight home games against ranked Big Ten opponents: one at 3 p.m. PT on Jan. 1 against No. 13 Michigan and the second at 6 p.m. PT on Jan. 8 against No. 23 Michigan State.
Quotable
“For me, building a program is all about continuing to bring in the best of the best when you first arrive,” Langley said in a story written by Percy Allen of the Seattle Times. “You’re getting used to everything. And I think that each year we’ve improved in identifying talent and growing our skill sets. I’ve grown, our staff has grown and our student-athletes have grown."
“I’m honestly excited to exceed those expectations,” Ladine said in Allen's story. “We’re glad that we’re getting acknowledged and people are seeing us as a top-25 team (and) we’re grateful for that, but we know that the sky’s the limit if we focus on our daily thing.”
Schedule
Monday, Nov. 3 vs. Seattle U 5 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 10 vs. Montana 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 15 at Utah 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 19 vs. Fresno State 6 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 23 vs. Vermont 11 a.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 25 vs. Southern 6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 28 vs. UC San Diego 7 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 1 vs. San José State 6 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 7 at No. 18 USC 5 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 13 vs. Green Bay Noon
Friday, Dec. 19 at Stanford 7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 21 at Pacific 1 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 29 vs. Northwestern TBD
Wednesday, Jan. 1 vs. No. 13 Michigan 3 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 8 vs. No. 23 Michigan State 6 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 11 at Purdue 11 a.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Indiana 4 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 18 vs. Minnesota 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 21 vs. Penn State 6 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 25 at Rutgers 11 a.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 28 at No. 10 Maryland 4 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 1 vs. Illinois 3 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 5 vs. Ohio State 6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 8 at Wisconsin Noon
Tuesday, Feb. 11 at No. 21 Iowa 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 15 vs. Oregon 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 19 at No. 3 UCLA 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 22 vs. Nebraska Noon
Saturday, March 1 at Oregon TBD
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