SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara women's basketball has a new set of faces this year after bringing in newly appointed Bronco Head Coach Loree Payne in the offseason. Payne brings back only two returners from last year's squad, while bringing in six freshmen and seven transfers.

Among the transfers, the Broncos brought in Preseason All-WCC Selection Sophie Glancey, a unanimous First Team All-Big Sky pick last season at Northern Arizona University (NAU) where she played for Coach Payne. Glancey led the Lumberjacks last season with 18.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg, and 62 blocks. 

The Broncos also brought in fellow Preseason All-WCC selection Maia Jones. Jones played at Saint Mary's last season and led the team with 12.2 ppg while adding 2.7 apg and 1.7 spg to go along with 3.0 rpg. She also shot 45.7-percent from the field, 37.0-percent from downtown, and 82.1-percent from the charity stripe. 

In addition to Glancey, Coach Payne brought over two rotation players from last year's squad at NAU in redshirt sophomore guard Reilly Clark and junior forward Ava Schmidt. 

Perhaps one of the biggest offseason signings for the Broncos was graduate guard Ashley Hawkins. Hawkins is the reigning 2025 Big South Player of the Year at Gardner Webb. She was a first team First Team All-Big South selection, leading her team with 18.9 ppg, 4.9 apg, and 36.1 mpg while starting all 29 of her team's games 

Rounding out the transfers is junior forward Kylee Fox (Fresno State) and sophomore guard Aniya Hooker (Sienna). Fox started all 34 games last season for Fresno State averaging 33 mpg, 9.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.2 apg, and 1.1 spg, leading the team in apg, and played the most minutes by a sophomore in program history. Hooker played in 25 games and made 23 starts at Sienna last season, averaging just under 30 minutes per game to go along with 6.0 ppg, 2.4 apg, 2.2 rpg, and 1.4 spg.

Rounding out the upperclassmen, the Broncos brought back two players from last year's team in senior forwards Alana Goodchild and Lauren Grover. While Grover saw limited action in her first season with the program after staring with the Bronco women's volleyball program for four seasons, Goodchild appeared in 31 games for the Broncos off the bench last season averaging 5.8 ppg and 2.0 rpg. 

Finally, the Broncos brought in six freshmen in guards Kate Schat (Redwood Valley HS), Maddy Warberg (South Medford HS), Sara Schmerbach (South Medford HS), Sienna Grieger (St. Michael's College), Delainey Miller (Cherokee Trail HS), and Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles (Snohomish HS).

The Broncos will open the season on November 3 at home against Stanislaus State at 6 p.m., and play at Stanford on November 6 at 7 p.m. to close out the first week of action. Single game tickets are available for purchase here.