BLACKSBURG, VA - The Gardner-Webb women's basketball team finishes a four-game road trip to open the 2025-26 season on Thursday night, taking on Virginia Tech in Blacksburg

GAME INFORMATION
Game 4: Gardner-Webb (0-3) at Virginia Tech (2-0)
Location: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Va.
Stream: ESPN Plus and ACC Network Extra
Tip-Off: 6:00 pm
Series History: Virginia Tech leads 5-0
Previous Meeting: Virginia Tech 73, Gardner-Webb 39 - 2020

GARDNER-WEBB NOTES

• Gardner-Webb has begun a new era under head coach Terri Williams, a 30-year veteran with 17 years of experience as a Division I coach. Williams was previously with the likes of Auburn and Georgetown, and with a stop back at her alma mater Penn State as the associate head coach, where Williams played from 1988 to 1991
• The Runnin' Bulldogs opened the 2025-26 season last Monday night at Queens, outscoring the Royals 30-26 after halftime in a 58-47 defeat
• GWU followed with a pair of losses on the road in Georgia - 91-68 at West Georgia on Saturday afternoon, and 61-56 at Mercer on Monday night
• Gardner-Webb visits Blacksburg for the fifth time in program history on Thursday and fourth in the NCAA Division I era with previous match-ups coming in 1993, 2016, 2019 and 2020
• GWU is in search of its ever second win over a current ACC school in its 16th try, famously opening the season with a win at then No. 20 North Carolina, 66-65 in 2015
• Gardner-Webb returns five players for 2025-26, including redshirt sophomore guard Kayla Martin, junior guard Amina Gray, senior guard Nyla Walker, sophomore forward Regina Yanez-Enriquez and former Big South Conference Freshman of The Year, junior guard Anaya Harris
• Walker is the leading returner for Gardner-Webb among nearly every statistical category from a season ago, playing in 28 games, starting 5 of them, and averaging 4.2 points per game during the 2024-25 campaign. She exploded for a career-high 23 at West Georgia on Saturday, being nominated for Big South Player of The Week
• The Runnin' Bulldogs welcome seven newcomers for the 2025-26 season, including five freshman and two transfers. The transfers are redshirt senior guard Jaelyn Acker arriving from Furman, and junior forward Amira Ofunniyin who lands in Boiling Springs from Maryland Eastern Shore, with Acker finishing her GWU debut at Queens on Monday night with a team-high eight points
• Acker, hailing from Richfield, Wisconsin is also a former Southern Conference All-Freshman player who averaged 11.5 points per game during her debut season in college basketball while shooting above 30% from three
• Ofunniyin, back in her home state of North Carolina, is a former MEAC All-Academic team selection and was third on the Maryland Eastern Shore roster with seven blocks last season. The junior forward spent her prep career at Panther Creek High School in Cary, N.C. posted six points, four rebounds, three steals in her first Gardner-Webb game last Monday night
• In a big freshman class for Gardner-Webb is freshman guard Makayla Legette arrives from Latta, S.C. after a stellar high school career which saw her average 22.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 3.8 steals on her way to an all-state selection as a sophomore and an SC Now State Preseason Player of The Year award. Legette opened her college career with seven points, five rebounds in a start at Queens last Monday
• The Runnin' Bulldogs also feature a handful of international talent in the freshman class, with freshman guard Rafferty Powell from Christchurch, New Zealand, freshman forward Sara Menendez from Valencia Spain, and freshman forward Kamille Henriksen from Frederiksberg, Denmark
• The Runnin' Bulldogs home opener is scheduled for November 16th against Hampton, ahead of a second home game against UNC Wilmington on November 19th inside Paul Porter Arena