WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Women's Basketball Falcons have been a model of consistency during head coach Dean Jaderston's seven years at the helm, having finished outside the top four of the KCAC only once in the last five years. And that one occasion saw an injury-riddled squad make a run all the way to the conference title game in the 2021-22 season. To keep their elite spot in the league intact, the Falcons will need to replace three All-KCAC performers and their top three scorers from last season's team that finished second in the conference and served as a host for an NAIA Opening Round game during the 2025-26 season.
"We have developed a consistency in our recruiting that hopefully leads to reloading each season, not rebuilding," said Jaderston. "We have returners who understand how hard they have to compete to be at the top, and they help create the intensity and focus in practice to be consistently challenging for a championship."
Junior guard Katie Weiss is the leading returning scorer this year for Friends after scoring 8.3 points per game and immediately providing a consistent threat from three-point distance by nailing 35.3 percent (71-of-201) as a high-volume perimeter shooter.
The Falcons' lone returning All-KCAC performer is junior guard KK Peeler, an Edmond, Okla. native that contributed across the board with 6.6 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals while also emerging as a strong perimeter threat with a 37.0 percentage on 73 three-point attempts last season. Another guard that will be counted on is sophomore Raegan Bugaj, who appeared in 30 contests and contributed 5.5 ppg and hit a solid 21-of-54 from beyond the arc.
In the frontcourt, a pair of returning forwards in Heaven Gilbert and Anna Sant'Anna will provide a veteran presence inside. Gilbert played in 31 games and Sant'Anna saw action in 30 games, so each should be primed for bigger roles in the upcoming season.
Jillian Buckmiller and Zuzana Pechova are also a pair of junior forwards that each played in seven games last year and should provide more veteran depth this year.
"Our returners set the tone for how hard we practice and play, how we function as a team, and how important it is to have a positive impact everywhere we go," Jaderston commented. "They are the foundation of our toughness and resilience. Their leadership and performance will set the tone for the entire team."
In addition to the returners potentially stepping up in production, the Falcons will also need immediate contributions from a host of newcomers to help fill the gap of the outgoing talent from last season. Jaderston has his eye on a host of new additions that could quickly make their mark on the team for the upcoming campaign.
"Three transfers will help us immediately," said Jaderston. "Kennadi Jackson is an explosive offensive wing who will add some of the scoring and defensive presence. Bella Slocum will give us much needed rebounding and an athletic presence in the post. Ciarra Shaw, who transferred here last year but didn't play, will give us a lot of flexibility and shooting in the post and the wing. We also have a couple of freshmen who I think will help us this year. Julia Schlessinger and Brynleigh Graham are both 6-2 posts who give us a lot of length inside to build around for the next four years."
The Falcons will kick off the 2026-27 season with an intriguing rematch of last season's NAIA Opening Round game in Wichita this Friday (Oct 23) at Hastings College. Hastings prevailed in the postseason outing after the Falcons won a 104-102 double-overtime thriller at home early in the regular season (Nov. 5).
The home opener will be on Oct. 27 when Baker University visits the Garvey Center, while the KCAC season will also begin in Wichita on Nov. 14 against Sterling College.
"Our non-conference schedule is very similar to last year except reversed," noted Jaderston. "Four of our six non-conference games are against teams who played in the national tournament last year. On the road we play Hastings, Mid-America Christian and USAO, while we host Columbia at the end of December. The early challenges will be good for our team and help us understand the level of play we want to maintain every night."
