UNA women’s basketball has high expectations that the 2025 season will include entertaining games, high energy and a drastically different roster.
The season begins Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. as they take on UT Martin at CB&S Bank Arena. The game will be available on ESPN+ for fans who cannot make it.
Last season, the Lions obtained a 13-17 record. The season came to an end in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun Championship. The final score was 64-73.
Four of the top five scorers and the top three rebounders from last season are making a return this season. Three transfers and five freshmen have been training to represent the Lions.
Head Coach Candi Whitaker credits all newcomers for their outstanding work this pre-season and thinks fans should be on the lookout for what’s to come. While gearing up for season to come, Whitaker also confesses how difficult it is to predict the outcome of it.
“Almost every roster got turned over in the ASUN,” She said. “There’s a lot of unknowns – who signed who? Do they look different this year? Rankings came out, but I think it’s going to be very difficult until we start playing to know what everyone has.”
Excluding the unknown, Whitaker is certain of a goal, besides winning, that she has for the team.
“I just want them to come every day and get better,” she said. “It’s more of understanding it’s a journey and it’s not always result based.”
Alexsandra Alvarado is a redshirt senior transfer who played four years at San Francisco State. She left an impactful mark with the Gators by ranking sixth in program history. She secured 1,105 points, 214 assists and 157 steals.
Excited to play at a higher level with the Lions, Alvarado mentioned a recent poll result actively motivating the team.
“Our goal is to win,” she said. “We got voted to be 6th in our conference, we’re trying to prove them wrong”.
In an ASUN preseason poll, both the media and coaches voted for UNA to be sixth place in the conference.
Junior guard Katie Criswell has played for the Lions for two seasons and noted how the results are not a true reflection of how the team will perform this season.
“We’re serious, we mean business,” she said. “I think we’re going to do really good and we have a lot of potential this season.”
Emma Kate Tittle, a senior who has spent three years with the Lions, says the team as a whole leads with the same goals
“Obviously to win a championship,” she said. “We want to do the best we can in that aspect and then really just playing hard every game, giving 100 percent effort knowing that we walked in there and did our very best. If we do those two things, we will be alright”
This season will bring significant change. Star guard Charity Gallegos graduated and now plays for the Bay Area Phoenix in the Women’s Premier Basketball Association. The 5’5 graduate made a noticeable impact during her season with the Lions. She averaged 14.5 points, shot 40.2 percent from the floor and finished with a season total of 114 assists, 96 rebounds, 31 steals and four blocks. She has been named rookie of the year during her time with the Phoenix so far.
With Gallegos and other impactful players no longer on the team, an obvious gap needed to be filled. This was a priority in Whitaker’s book. She didn’t undermine how important Gallegos was for the team.
“[Gallegos] led us in everything,” Whitaker said. “We knew we needed to bring in some people that could score. We don’t have a Charity, but I think we have the ability to spread out her load amongst our whole team.”
Whitaker’s accomplishments should be acknowledged as she leads the Lions through her second season. She helped Texas Tech as team captain for her alma mater to a pair of Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2001 and 2002. She has 17 years of coaching experience with the University of Missouri – Kansas City and Missouri Western who she led to NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2022 and the MIAA regular season championship in 2024, earning coach of the year. She coached 7 WNBA draftees, was named Bill Synder woman of impact and was recognized by the St. Joseph YWCA’s woman of excellence program.
The women’s basketball season has come to a halt in the quarterfinals since the 2020-2021 season. Not yet bringing the team further, Whitaker described what keeps her motivated to keep coaching and bring the Lions to their first ever ASUN conference win.
“[Coaching has] been what I’ve always done since I was 22,” she said. “It’s a group of young women that are in their college days so it’s fun and exciting. You want to give your best to them because it’s such a short amount of time of their life they get to do that.”
It is also important to consider who the team is rather than the statistics they will bring as the season goes on. Tittle mentioned how the team bonds off of the court.
“We all live in the same apartment complex,” Tittle said. “We’re always in each other’s apartments hanging out and we’ll go out to dinner– just everyday things. We do have a great bond this year and everybody has such good chemistry, we kind of feed off each other.”
She mentioned how bittersweet it is to be playing one last season for the Lions.
“I’m thankful for the 3 years that I have played,” she said. “I’m excited for this year coming up and I think good things are in our future. I’m going to try to soak in every moment and make the most of this year that I have.”
This upcoming season for UNA will feature 29 games before the ASUN conference championship, 14 at home.
While players are responsible for giving their all, Whitaker believes fan support is a substantial contributor to win.
“When I recruit, I talk about our fan support, it impacts you winning at home,” she said. “They’re so important to be there and we need them there. We’re going to work really really hard to be a lot of fun to watch.”
Basketball season will begin with many high hopes and ecstatic energy from the team that fans should also match.
