Waterville, ME – The 2025/26 Women's Basketball season has arrived, and student-athletes will compete in their first game at home tonight against the University of Maine Fort Kent Bengals. Tip off is scheduled to 5:00 PM.
 
Head Women's Basketball Coach Gavin Kane and his staff have built a complete roster of dedicated student-athletes who are looking to compete this coming season. Coach Kane had this to say about this year's squad: "I look forward to seeing the growth in all our student-athletes this year, but I'm really intrigued to see what kind of season Holly Loring, Deja Hamilton and Pryelle Kesse-Beda will have. Deja and Holly will play a much more consistent role than a year ago, and I feel strongly that they will contribute greatly to our team. Pryelle now has one collegiate season under her belt, and I believe that she is very capable of having an outstanding year for us. When our captain, Elena Alderman, gets back to full strength from an injury then that will also be a huge boost for us."
 
The 2025/26 Women's Basketball roster is listed below:
 
#0 – Alani Akana – First Year – Ormond Beach, Florida
#1 – Mykey Avni – Sophomore – Tel Aviv, Israel
#2 – Deja Hamilton – Junior – Martinsburg, West Virginia
#3 – Kaya Loring – Junior – Enfield, Maine
#5 – Brooklyn Calder – First Year – Wakefield, Massachusetts
#11 – Emily Hagerty – Senior – Clinton, Maine
#14 – Holly Loring – Junior – Enfield, Maine
#20 – Elena Alderman – Senior – Mount Desert Island, Maine
#21 – Sarah Davis – Sophomore – Old Orchard Beach, Maine
#23 – Kay McLellan – Junior – North Conway, New Hampshire
#24 – Yaribel Pena – Junior – Andover, Massachusetts
#30 – Pryelle Kesse-Beda – Sophomore – Temecula, California
#33 – Roxy Dagostino – First Year – Perth, Australia
 
Looking at the team's goals for the upcoming season, Coach Kane has outlined a few key pillars that he wants to focus on. "Our main goal is to become a much better defensive team than we were a year ago. If we can do that and are willing to put in the required effort and commitment to the defensive end of the floor, then we will give ourselves the opportunity to be successful. Offensively we will focus on improving each player's strengths and improve their repertoire, so they are more confident, for example with scoring off the dribble or in the post."
 
Looking ahead to the season, the team will travel to take on every conference school twice and compete in several out of conference matchups that will test the strength of the program. Coach Kane believes the team will be able to improve and compete for a North Atlantic Conference playoff spot. "I feel that we have the ability to improve upon last year's record if we buy into our system. If we do, we can get ourselves to the NAC Playoffs and challenge ourselves from there. We have a very solid Conference and Non-conference schedule in front of us and will work hard to ensure success." Coach Kane also highlighted a few key conference matchups against schools like the University of Maine Farmington, Husson University, and Maine Maritime Academy. The 2025/26 Women's Basketball home schedule is listed below:
 
October 24^th VS University of Maine Fort Kent – 5:00 PM (Exhibition)
November 8^th VS Elms College – Time TBD (Terrier Tip-Off Classic)
November 9^th VS Saint Joseph's College of Maine – Time TBD (Terrier Tip-Off Classic)
November 21^st VS Husson University – 7:30 PM
November 22^nd VS University of Maine Presque Isle – 5:00 PM
November 24^th VS Colby-Sawyer College – 6:00 PM
December 5^th VS University of Maine Farmington – 7:30 PM
December 6^th VS Maine Maritime Academy – 5:00 PM
January 5^th VS Rivier University – 6:00 PM
January 20^th VS University of Southern Maine – 5:30 PM
January 23^rd VS Vermont State University Lyndon – 7:30 PM
January 24^th VS Vermont State University Johnson – 3:00 PM
February 7^th VS Lesley University – 3:00 PM
February 13^th VS SUNY Cobleskill – 7:30 PM
February 14^th VS SUNY Delhi – 3:00 PM
 
Coach Kane also wanted to note how excited he was for his first year as Head Women's Basketball coach at Thomas. "My coaching staff and I are honored to be here, and we are looking forward to our student-athletes having success both on the court and in the classroom."
 
Women's Basketball will compete in their first game of the season tonight, October 24^th, against the University of Maine Fort Kent. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 PM.