The Case Western Reserve University women's basketball team is set to embark upon the 2025-26 season with a roster that is loaded with experienced players and supplemented by a young core of players ready to step into action.
The Spartans are coming off a 7-18 record last season, including a 2-12 mark in the University Athletic Association. The team averaged 58.9 points per game during the season while shooting 34.9% from the floor with the offense being characterized by its propensity to shoot the three, averaging 27.1 three-point attempts per game, the 20th-most among Division III teams during the season. Defensively, the Spartans allowed 64.6 points per game and blocked 5.2 shots per contest, the 14th-most among Division III teams and second in the UAA.
CWRU is set to return its top-three scorers from last year's roster, headlined by junior guard Mya Hartjes. Hartjes will look to build on a campaign in 2024-25 that saw her receive All-UAA Second Team selection after emerging as one of the top players in the conference while leading the squad with 12.4 points and 3.7 assists per game while shooting a team-high 36.1% from three-point range and 34.7% overall. Guard/forward Emily Plachta will aim for a strong senior season after adding 11.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game in 2024-25. Junior forward Maura Schorr will look to anchor the front court after scoring 8.3 points with 6.8 rebounds and a team-high 1.8 steals per contest during a breakout sophomore campaign last season.
Senior guard Emi Hutter-DeMarco (1.2 points per game and 1.1 assists per game) and junior guard Jordyn Call (5.3 points per game) each provided a spark off the bench for the Spartans last year and will aim to expand their impact this season. Meanwhile, both senior guard Maya Roberts and junior forward Biz Watson are returning from season-ending injuries last season and should immediately improve the Spartans' rotation.
Also returning to the team are sophomore guards Mila Rossini, Lauren Ludwig, and Taylor Angielski, who will all look to make a leap forward during their second seasons of college basketball. Adding to the team's depth this year is a talented class of first-year players, including guards Christen Banks, Abby Sirois, and Ava Jordan, and forward Clara Swanson.
Head Coach Jennifer Reimer will begin her 19th season at the team's helm with a 190-234 (.448) record with the Spartans and a 347-335 (.509) record during her 25-year career, which includes stops at Juniata, Mount Union, and Allegheny prior to arriving at CWRU. She is assisted by Brooke Beecher, a 2015 CWRU graduate who is now in her fourth year back as an assistant coach, and Madison Gutierrez, who is in her second season with the squad.
The Spartans are set to open their 2025-26 campaign at the MSOE STEM Classic, where the team will take on Rose-Hulman on Friday, November 7, and either the Milwaukee School of Engineering or Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, November 8. CWRU will play its home opener against Adrian on Saturday, November 15, with other non-conference games in November and early December at home against Thiel (Nov. 22) and Marietta (Dec. 3) and on the road against Capital (Nov. 19), Bethany (Nov. 25), and Denison (Dec. 6).
A highlight of the team's non-conference schedule will be its trip across town to the Baldwin Wallace Invitational as the team will face Oberlin on December 29 and ninth-ranked Baldwin Wallace on December 30. The Spartans will then conclude their non-conference schedule at home on January 3 against Geneva.
The Spartans will kick off their 14-game UAA schedule in Pittsburgh on Saturday, January 10 against 17th-ranked Carnegie Mellon, before returning home for contests against Chicago (Jan. 16) and WashU (Jan.18). CWRU has a pair of matchups against NYU, the two-time defending NCAA Division III Champions and the top-ranked team in the preseason polls, facing the Violets on the road on January 30 and a week later at home on February 6. The Spartans are slated to wrap-up their regular season with three-straight home games, hosting Emory on February 20, Rochester on February 22, and Carnegie Mellon on Senior Day on February 28.
