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The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team fell short against the Columbia Lions (24-8) in the WBIT Final Four, 67-50, from Wichita, Kansas. The Badgers finish the season 16-18.
The Badgers looked like they were running on fumes today – slow to the ball, lethargic on cuts, late in defensive rotations – and it certainly didn’t help when Kyrah Daniels went out with an apparent knee injury early in the game, as well as the news that Breauna Ware was not with the team – assuming that she is transferring but it hasn’t been announced yet (?) or dealing with personal matters at home.
As one of the few potential returning players, I really hope Daniels’ injury isn’t serious. The last thing UW or her needs is for it to be an ACL injury or something in that nature which would knock her out for presumably at least the first half of the 2026-27 season.
Destiny Howell led UW with 12 points today, with Laci Steele adding 11 points.
I’m proud of the step the program made this season. The 16 wins is the most in a season since the 2010-11 season when the team finished 16-15 in Lisa Stone’s final season.
It’s going to be a very another busy off-season for head coach Robin Pingeton as she enters year two in 2026-27. Five of the 13 players on this years roster have their eligibility expiring. And with the way the transfer portal is these days and without knowing the weird circumstances (never know who gets a 7th year and whatnot these days), the roster could look entirely different.
Assuming everyone with eligibility returns (unlikely but using this as a hypothetical), the only *main* contributors returning would be Dorja Zaja, Kyrah Daniels, and Laci Steele.
Of the young players, I am optimistic about Nikki Kerstein, but I think a veteran point guard in the portal is a must.
As noted about Ware earlier, she very well could have been dealing with an illness, personal matters at home or she could be transferring but hasn’t been announced yet. I got the sense that she wasn’t happy with her role and I’m assuming we won’t see her in a UW uniform next season.
Alie Bisballe, Leena Patibandla, Jovana Spasovski and Alba Martín Mesa are all good culture players, but without a MAJOR jump in the offseason, none will see the floor. Needing to fill so many spots on the roster, I suspect at least some will return as “culture keepers.” I guess Bisballe could get to the point of being the fourth or fifth “big” in the rotation.
Incoming commits Leah Nordin and Giselle Janowski and Adaline Sheplee will have every opportunity to earn immediate playing time.
I’m guessing there will be a good amount of transfers again. It will be interesting to see if Pingeton can raise the bar a bit in terms of quality, given the positive word of mouth.
There are some rumblings that some in-state kids are considering coming home, but we shall see if those rumblings are accurate or come to fruition.
All in all, the 2025-26 season was mostly a successful one considering where the program has been the past 15 years. But there is A LOT of work that needs to be done yet.
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