By Marissa Essenburg | Sports Writer
Eight teams remain alive in the 2025-26 women’s college basketball season, but for the rest of the country, the next chapter is already underway. As transfer portal announcements continue to pile up, Baylor enters an offseason looking to rebuild a roster now left with key holes to fill.
After losing four starters to graduation and freshman sixth man Marcayla Johnson to a torn ACL, and with no current commits in the 2026 recruiting class, Baylor heads into the offseason with little choice but to lean on the transfer portal.
“We go to the portal like everybody else in America,” Collen said following Baylor’s season-ending loss to Duke. “The way our game has changed, veteran teams win, so I think we’ve got some holes. We have to get some playmaking guards and be able to get a piece of the paint.”
Closing the season at 25-9 (13-5 Big 12), Baylor stumbled through March, dropping its final two conference games before bowing out in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament and the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a crushing loss to Duke.
The Bears have a lot of talent walking out the door. Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, one of the most decorated players in program history; Bella Fontleroy, a first-team All-Big 12 Defensive Team selection; and Jana Van Gytenbeek, one of the conference’s top facilitators, will all be hard shoes to fill.
In their stead, the Bears will likely look to add a scoring lead guard, more shot-making from beyond the arc and another physical presence on the glass.
Although Baylor is losing much of its core to graduation, Taliah Scott gives the Bears a clear centerpiece as Collen begins building the program’s next group around her, redshirt senior Kyla Abraham, rising juniors Yuting Deng and Kayla Nelms and 6-foot-5 NC State transfer Lorena Awou.
“I feel good about what I think we have to show, and the plan is to win 25 or more games next year and hopefully be hosting,” Collen said.
Among the top guards available, the Big 12 brings no shortage of proven portal options, with dynamic scorers, experienced facilitators and versatile playmakers on the move.
There are several potential options on the market.
Former Arizona and Iowa State point guard Jada Williams being one of the biggest names in that group. With one year of eligibility remaining, the First Team All-Big 12 honoree averaged 15.3 points per game and ranked third nationally with 7.7 assists for the Cyclones, while also torching Baylor for 28 points in January.
On paper, she fits the mold of the scoring lead guard and facilitator the Bears are looking to add in the backcourt.
Following Williams’ departure from Ames, former teammate Addy Brown also entered the portal with one year of eligibility left. A two-time All-Big 12 selection, Brown brings one of the most complete all-around skill sets in the portal, averaging 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists for her career while shooting 36.7% from deep, making her a versatile frontcourt piece who can impact the game in a multitude of ways.
Another Big 12 product, Oklahoma State’s Jadyn Wooten, brings a different kind of backcourt presence with two years of eligibility remaining. The Cowgirls’ second-leading scorer and former Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year averaged 12.8 points and 5.4 assists per game while ranking 10th nationally in assists per 40 minutes.
For Baylor, Wooten’s value would go beyond the stat sheet, offering the kind of downhill playmaking and second-unit spark the Bears will miss without Johnson.
Outside the conference, Baylor also saw a potential frontcourt option firsthand during its NCAA Tournament run. Nebraska forward Jessica Petrie, whom the Bears faced in the first round, brings size and experience as a 6-foot-2 presence who has started each of the past two seasons for the Cornhuskers.
Petrie averaged a career-best 11.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game this season and has one year of eligibility remaining, giving her the kind of proven production and frontcourt stability Baylor could look to add.
“We’ve obviously got some swing players that we’re going to miss, so we have to go to the portal, and we’ve had really great success there,” Collen said. “We’re going to continue to regroup both in high school and in the portal, but I think right now that’s where we go.”
While the transfer portal won’t officially open until April 6, Baylor’s offseason priorities are already coming into focus ahead of the NCAA’s new 15-day window, which runs through April 20 and now begins after the national championship game instead of during the tournament.
