Women's Basketball Embraces New Era in 2026-2027

By Mark Albanese, Director of Sports Communication

It’s a new era for the Pacific Lutheran University women’s basketball team that looks to buck expectations this winter under first year Head Coach Aly Lacey.

Lacey joined the Lutes this spring, coming to Luteville after serving as the head coach at Auburn Mountainview High School for the past three seasons where she guided the Lions to a 16-6 record in 2024-2025 and a runner-up finish in the 3A North Puget Sound League in 2023-2024.

Lacey’s experience also includes two seasons leading Kentlake High School along with assistant coach experience at Kennedy Catholic High School.

The Lutes will lean on that coaching experience this winter with a roster of 13 that includes a half dozen returners from the 2025-2026 squad. From day one, Lacey’s top priority has been installing a culture and foundation for the program that’s centered on the core values of care, develop, and compete.

Coming into my first season (at PLU) the biggest priority has been establishing the culture and standards of the program. We’ve talked a lot about our three values of care, develop, and compete. Those are the foundations that we’re building. We know there’s going to be challenges, but I think that we really like the direction we’re heading and we’re excited for the season to start.

2026-2027 Roster

Leading the charge, building that culture in Lacey’s first year is returners Kate Wooten and Kylie Griffin.

“Kate and Kylie are doing a good job of establishing that culture and setting the standard of what we want this to look like for the years to come. They’re really owning that and taking the lead on it.”

A junior guard, Wooten played in all 25 games last season, including starting in a dozen games. The Maple Valley, Washington native averaged 5.4 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game last winter while dishing out 37 assists.

A senior from Lake Tapps, Washington, Griffin saw action in 22 games last year, making 17 starts. Griffin averaged 7.4 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game, shooting 45 percent from the floor.

Returners also seeing significant minutes include Ghadir Ramadan and Lilli Williams. A Bainbridge Island, Washington native and a Bellevue College transfer, Ramadan made a big impact in her first season as a Lute last year, appearing in all 25 games and making 14 starts. The senior averaged 6.8 points per game and led the team on the glass, hauling in 5.9 rebounds per game. Ramadan finished in double figures in three of the final eight games of the conference slate, including a 25-point, 10-rebound effort in a 78-58 road victory over Lewis & Clark College.

Lilli Williams dribbling ball down court vs GFU

Williams started in all 23 games she played in 2025-2026 after transferring in from Bushnell University in Oregon. The junior from Yelm, Washington averaged 10.1 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game and was a gritty defender, leading the team in steals with 31.

Also back for the Lutes is sophomore’s Chloe Betts and Kristie Kagawa. An Estacada, Oregon native, Betts appeared in 22 games last season while Kagawa, a product of Mililani, Hawaii, appeared in 15 games for the Lutes.

We have some emerging contributors but I think that they really need to focus on being able to increase their opportunities and make those around them better as well.

We’re still learning a lot about them (the returners). It’s new and it’s all different, we’re asking them to do a lot. There’s some differences but I think that they’re all really trying to rise to the occasion and do what they can do to perform.

Of PLU’s six newcomers, seven hail from within the state, including two hailing from nearby Lakewood.

Brooke Chisholm looks to be a breakout contributor as a first-year. The forward from Spokane, Washington played at Ferris High School where she was a four-year letterwinner for the Saxons.

Brooke’s great on both ends of the floor. She has a really high basketball IQ, defends really well, and communicates well. Of course she’ll have those first college game jitters but I think she has a composure about her that’s very mature for her age coming in as a first-year. I think she’s going to give us really good minutes and be a leader on and off the floor.

Also from Spokane is forward/center Italia Salina from East Valley High School where she was a three-sport star for the Knights. Allie Nelson joins the Lutes from Mead just outside Spokane where she was a guard/forward at Mount Spokane High School.

Toppenish High School graduate Samiah Baker is PLU’s fourth recruit from the east side of the state. The guard set school records for assists as a Wildcat and was a four-time All-League selection for a team that won a district title in 2023-2024.

A Lakes High School graduate, E’Maya Cleveland joins the Lutes after spending last season at Saint Martin’s University. The Lakewood, Washington native was a multi-sport athlete for the Lancers in high school, playing softball and competing in track & field in addition to playing hoops.

Lua Salanoa also hails from Lakewood. A guard, Salanoa graduated from Clover Park High School where she racked up an incredible 10 letters with the Timberwolves, competing in tennis, track & field, and volleyball along with playing hoops.

Ciara De La O is the lone out of state recruit, coming to Luteville from Utah’s Clearfield High School where she finished in the top 10 in the Falcon record books in three-pointers, assists, and steals.

It will depend game to game who comes off the bench and what our lineup and matchup’s look like. They all give us different looks when it comes to our matchups, so I think that were going to need some players more than others one night, and then vice versa the next.

During preseason we will get everyone a chance to get their nerves out and show us what they got. It’s interesting to see what they do in practice and how that translates to games. Some do that, some don’t. So that’s going to be a telltale sign for us, basically what can they do from practice that translates into a game.

While the personnel may change from game-to-game, Lacey want’s to install a free flowing offense that empowers the players to make reads while wanting to be a pesky unit on the defensive end of the court.

Offensively we want them to play with freedom and confidence. We want them to be able to make reads and play that flow style of basketball and not just be robots.

We want them to really learn the game and understand the game, make reads, have actions, and just play with freedom and confidence.

Defensively we just want other teams when they come to play us to say it’s going to be a dogfight. We’re hoping that’s something people talk about— how tough we are defensively.

The Lutes open the lid of the 2026-2027 season on Friday night, hosting NAIA Warner Pacific University in the first of seven games before opening Northwest Conference play on Dec. 4 at home against Pacific University.

“The first games we want to see who meshes well and who plays together well. You really get to see who’s good under pressure and who keeps their composure, and who can give us what we need when we’re in a tight game.

I’m excited about having the team playing and competing. We’ve spent a lot of the offseason getting to know each other and we had our breakaway which was a lot of fun. They’re a really great group of young women and I’m just excited to compete with them.”

2026-2027 Schedule