After a season that showed flashes of promise, Georgetown University’s women’s basketball team looks to continue growing, replacing star guard Kelsey Ransom with a plethora of transfers.
The Hoyas are set to begin their 2025-26 campaign Nov. 6. With a roster consisting of eight newcomers, eight upperclassmen and one first-year, the Hoyas are ready for a fresh, mature start. Following a 2024 run to the Big East championship game, Georgetown had a disappointing 2024-25 showing, furnishing a 12-19 overall record and 4-14 conference record.
The Hoyas, who were seeded 10th of 11 teams heading into last year’s tournament, narrowly edged out the No. 7 seed Providence University Friars in the first round before suffering a 2-point loss to the Creighton University Bluejays in the quarterfinals. This year, the Hoyas have much to prove as they look to finish in the top half of the league.
Georgetown has a record of ping-ponging performances between seasons. Last season, the Hoyas racked up a .387 overall win percentage and .222 conference win percentage. The season prior, those values were .657 and .500, respectively.
Head Coach Darnall Haney enters his second season as head coach and third year at Georgetown. Haney came to the Hilltop as an assistant to Tasha Butts, who died of breast cancer prior to the 2023-24 season. He served that season in an interim role, before being named the permanent head coach ahead of last season.
During the 2022-23 campaign, the Hoyas also recorded a losing season with .452 overall and .300 conference win percentages. 2021-22 saw another losing record, while the prior two seasons saw win percentages below .200. Between the 2015-16 and 2018-19 seasons, however, Georgetown had a winning record or drew even; 2014-15 saw numbers in the .100s again.
That said, any prior season’s performance is not a good predictor of the current or upcoming season’s performance, and the Hoyas have plenty of chances to build a record afresh. Over the summer, the team welcomed eight new players — seven transfers and one first-year.
The transfer class consists of graduate guard Laila Jewett from the University of Central Florida; sophomore guard Destiny Agubata from West Virginia University; junior guard Khia Miller from East Carolina University; twin sophomore guards Indya and Summer Davis from the University of Georgia; junior forward Cristen Carter from fellow Big East school Butler University; and junior forward Brianna Byars from the University of Cincinnati. The singular first-year joining the team is forward Braelynn Barnett from Aurora, Colo.
The Hoyas’ Head Coach Darnell Haney said that in addition to maturity, he was looking for players who could contribute to the team both offensively and defensively.
“We made sure we went to go get some people that could rebound the basketball,” Haney told The Hoya. “We went to go get some people that could score the basketball.”
Haney added that the team is overall better with these additions to the roster.
“I think we’re better by committee,” Haney said. “I think we’re in a situation where I can put five people on the floor out of our top 10, 11, 12 — where I could put any of those five people on the floor, and we can have really good production.”
In addition to the newcomers, the Hoyas also have two players returning from season-ending injuries — graduate forwards Chetanna Nweke and Brianna Scott. Nweke transferred to Georgetown from Princeton University last season and saw the first minute of play in the first game of last season, where she tore her ACL. Scott, who was named the Big East sixth woman of the year in 2024, also suffered a torn ACL — as well as a torn MCL and meniscus — during the semifinal of the 2024 Big East tournament, setting her out for the entire 2024-25 season.
Haney said both new and returning players put in the work over the summer and are ready for the upcoming season.
“I just think working on making sure they understood our culture, how we did things, what we do, how we do and why we do, right?” Haney said. “I think over the summer we put in our fundamental stuff and they know what we are and who we are and we’re going to come with it every single day.”
The players believe the same thing. Sophomore point guard Khadee Hession, who was a consistent starter for the Hoyas last season and the second-leading scorer of the remaining players, said the team will perform well this season because of how they interact.
“I think we’re going to be good, honestly, regardless of who we have,” Hession told The Hoya. “We’re very together on the court and off the court.”
The Hoyas lost their key player between last season and this season — Ransom. While no one can replace the outstanding Ransom, new and returning players alike are stepping into leadership roles.
Senior guard Victoria Rivera said everyone is stepping up as leaders.
“I think we all bring different things to the table, and with that being said, we’re all stepping into this new role in a new, unique way,” Rivera told The Hoya. “I know Kelsey Ransom was Kelsey Ransom, but we’re here to step into and be our own new leaders.”
With this new leadership composition, Haney said the Hoyas plan to finish in the top half of the league.
“To be honest, our expectations are just to finish in the top half of the league,” Haney said. “I think we have a really good basketball team and I think we have really good people that want to come in and help Georgetown be one of the top programs in the Big East.”
The team will only meet their goal by performing well in games, the first of which kicks off next week. The Hoyas’ first eight games will take place in the Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area. Georgetown will open nonconference play with a game against Stonehill College Nov. 6 in McDonough Arena at 7:00 p.m. Nov. 9, the team will travel across the District to College Park, Md. to take on University of Maryland at 1:00 p.m. Georgetown will then travel to Fairfax, Va., to face George Mason University Nov. 14, before returning home to McDonough for a five-game homestand.
The Hoyas’ five-game homestand will consist of nonconference matchups with Sacred Heart University Nov. 18, a game against crosstown rivals George Washington University Nov. 21, a matchup against Elon University Nov. 24 and a game against Towson University Nov. 26 before opening Big East play against Villanova University Dec. 4.
After their Big East opener, the Hoyas will take a 17-day hiatus from league play and face Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. Dec. 7 and Delaware State University in McDonough Arena Dec. 13. The team will then turn completely to Big East play, with notable home matchups against last season’s NCAA tournament qualifiers Creighton at McDonough Arena Dec. 28, reigning national champions the University of Connecticut Jan. 22 at CareFirst Arena in Southeast D.C. and Marquette University Feb. 1 in McDonough Arena on linear television.
Haney said he is very excited for the season ahead — and the rest of the Georgetown community should get excited, too.
“I’m excited about our growth,” Haney said. “I’m excited about this whole season getting ready to get started, man. It’s going to be fun.”
“And Georgetown women’s basketball is going to be fun to watch,” Haney added. “I need everyone to tap in and watch.”
