Few teams overhauled their roster as drastically as Wisconsin women's basketball did this past offseason. With the arrival of new head coach Robin Pingeton, the team looks to forge a new identity. Desperate to get their first winning record since 2010, Pingeton and her staff face an uphill battle to reshape the team’s performance and culture.
Pingeton comes into the program following the resignation of former head coach Marisa Moseley back in March. She takes the helm after 15 seasons at Mizzou, compiling a 250-218 record and leading the Tigers to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 2016-2019. However, her lackluster results in the past two years led to her resignation from the program, going 11-19 and 14-18 respectively, including a 5-27 record against SEC opponents.
Joining Pingeton from Mizzou are assistant coaches Chris Bracey and McGhee Mann, along with former WNBA player and SIU Edwardsville assistant Ariel Massengale.
This season’s roster bears little resemblance to last year’s team, with 8 out of 15 players leaving through the transfer portal and graduation. Pingeton was able to successfully recruit a solid transfer portal class to round out the squad.
Departures
Arguably the biggest loss for the Badgers is forward Serah Williams, who left in the transfer portal to play for blue blood powerhouse UConn. She averaged 19.2 points per game, 9.8 rebounds and had a 49.3% shooting percentage from the field, proving to be one of the lone bright spots from a mediocre campaign last season.
Carter McCray, the team’s starting center last year, is also gone. She transferred to West Virginia after averaging 10.6 points per game, 7.1 rebounds and a 56.7% shooting percentage from the field. The rising sophomore was poised to be a key contributor for the Badgers this year, and her departure dealt a heavy blow to the Badger’s roster composition.
Graduation also contributed to three losses, including guards Tess Myers, Halle Douglass and Natalie Leuzinger. They averaged 7.2, 4.6 and 6.9 points per game respectively last season after each spending four years with the Badgers.
Rotation pieces Tessa Grady, D’Yanis Jimenez and Gracie Grzesk also left in the offseason through the transfer portal. Both Grady and Jimenez transferred to Coastal Carolina, while Grzesk transferred up north to in-state rival Green Bay.
Returning Players
Seven players return from last year’s squad. The most impactful is senior guard Ronnie Porter. Originally part of the mass exodus of players leaving the program, Porter decided she would return soon after Pingeton’s hiring was announced.
She averaged 8.6 points per game, 3.7 rebounds and a 37.6% shooting percentage from the field last season. Retaining senior leadership in this relatively young squad is pivotal, and the senior will be crucial to how the Badgers perform this year.
A barrage of young players who were mostly confined to the bench last season return as well, including sophomores Alie Bisballe, Alba Martin Mesa, Joanna Spasovski and Reese Jaramillo, as well as junior Leena Patibandla and senior Lily Krahn. With many key players departing this past offseason, the returning core will be expected to step up and set the tone for the year.
Key Additions
With a large majority of the roster departing in the offseason, Pingeton had to use the transfer portal to her advantage. She was able to recruit a quality array of recruits that will help the Badgers compete this season.
One of Pingeton’s highest profile transfers is junior guard Laci Steele. A former ESPN Top 100 recruit, Steele joins the program after two years at NC State. Averaging 1.3 points per game, she was limited to the bench on a talented Wolfpack team. With increased playing time and a change of scenery, Steele looks to find new life and bring much needed scoring depth on the perimeter.
Also coming into the fold are several talented players from mid-major programs. Redshirt junior Breauna Ware comes from Stony Brook, where the guard averaged 14.7 points per game and earned a third team all-conference selection in the Coastal Athletic Association. Junior Kyrah Daniels joins the program after averaging 12 points per game at Missouri State and helping them gain a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title.
Graduate student Destiny Howell was a force to be reckoned with in her time at Howard, winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2023. The guard comes to the team after averaging 14.9 points per game and 4.3 rebounds last season, earning her a first-team all-conference selection. Her experience and leadership should mesh well with the current veteran presence of Ronnie Porter, rounding out a strong backcourt duo.
Forward Gift Uchenna Okeke joins from Southern Illinois after averaging 14.5 points per game and 12.8 rebounds per game, the second best in the entirety of Division 1 women’s basketball. After playing her first two years of college ball in Taiwan, the senior guard from Ebonyi State, Nigeria looks to become a focal centerpiece in Pingeton’s system this year.
Former Duke and Illinois forward Shay Bollin also signed with the Badgers and looks to return strong after a back injury kept her sidelined this past season. In the 2023-24 season, she averaged 2.1 points per game and 1.3 rebounds. If she stays healthy, she will provide good frontcourt depth and help as a potential stretch forward option.
Two freshman recruits joined the roster this year: point guard Nikki Kerstein and center Dorja Iva Zaja. Kerstein came to the Badgers as a previous Mizzou commit, but jumped ship once Pingeton moved to Wisconsin. She averaged 18.4 points per game, 4.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.4 steals per game, leading Montini Catholic High School to an Illinois Class 3A state championship.
Zaja comes over from Croatia, where she played for their U20 women’s team. In 2024, she averaged 12.5 points per game and shot 46.9% from the field. Her impressive defensive repertoire is a force to be reckoned with, averaging 7.5 rebounds per game and contributing 15 blocks throughout the season in 32 games.
Ultimately, Wisconsin is still in rebuild mode with a first-year coach and a highly revamped roster. Despite this, Pingeton’s arrival and the combination of promising underclassmen and experienced transfers offers an optimistic lookout on what could be the start of a revitalized program.
Surpassing last season’s struggles and establishing a winning culture are achievable this season. For a program seeking its first winning record since 2010, there’s nowhere to go but up for the Badgers.
The Badgers open regular season play on Nov. 5 at the Kohl Center in a non-conference matchup against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
