HARRISONBURG, Va.- It's that time of year again! Basketball season begins this week, so we're taking a look ahead to the 2025-26 campaign for our EMU Basketball programs. Today, let's take a sneak peek at the season ahead for our women's basketball Royals.
Head Coach: Jenny Posey – Eighth Season
2024-25 in Review
The Royals got off to a strong start with an 8-1 mark in non-conference play, their best single-season mark against non-ODAC foes since the 2003-04 season. EMU then played hard against a tough ODAC schedule to finish the season at 11-14, marking the first back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins since the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns.
Grace Burke shined from beyond the arc, leading the ODAC in both three-point field goal percentage (39.0%) and three-point field goals per game (2.6).
Preseason ODAC Poll: 11th (28 pts.)
ODAC Preview
Schedule Highlights
Season/Home Opener: Friday, Nov. 7 vs. Penn State Altoona - 6:30 p.m.
ODAC Opener: Tuesday, Dec. 2 at Randolph Macon – 7 p.m.
Rowdy Royals: Wednesday, Jan. 14 vs. Randolph – 7 p.m.
Green Bandana Game: Wednesday, Jan. 21 vs. Shenandoah – 7 p.m.
Play4Kay Game: Saturday, Feb. 14 vs. Virginia Wesleyan – 2 p.m.
Senior Day/Regular Season Finale: Saturday, Feb. 21 vs. Lynchburg – 2 p.m.
ODAC Tournament: Wednesday, Feb. 25-Sunday, March 1
Full Schedule
Key Losses: Laila Glymph,
Jayla Gray
Key Returners: Grace Burke,
Lexie Dingus,
Jayda Jones,
Jeriyah Osborne,
Lauren Townsend
Full Roster
Outlook: The Royals enter the season bringing back plenty of experience in the backcourt, including their top three scorers last season in Burke, Osborne, and Townsend. In the paint, the team will need to replace their top two rebounders from 2024-25 with Gray and Glymph. Dingus, a sophomore from nearby Broadway, will likely be in line for more minutes at forward. Out of the first-year players,
Jada Waller could see a significant amount of minutes at forward from the get-go The ODAC figures to be a deep and competitive conference again in 2025-26 as three of the league's 12 teams are either ranked or receiving votes in the D3Hoops.com preseason poll, but the Royals are up for the challenge.
