Rock Hill, S.C.– Winthrop women's basketball head coach Semeka Randall-Lay announced her team's 2024-25 schedule, complete with a 13-game non-conference schedule prior to the start of Big South Conference play.
 
The Eagles open the regular season with a road game, traveling to Georgia Tech on Monday, Nov. 4, followed by the home opener with Paine College on Sunday, Nov. 10. Winthrop will then hit the road for three straight contests, first traveling 30 minutes up the road to Queens for the first time in the annual Battle of I-77 Showdown on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The Eagles will stay put in the Tar Heel State, heading to Wake Forest on Sunday, Nov. 17 and UNCW on Wed., Nov. 20. Winthrop returns home for two more contests prior to the Thanksgiving holiday vs. North Florida on Saturday, Nov. 23 and Charlotte-based school Johnson and Wales on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
 
Winthrop will play two straight neutral site contest against American and Air Force in Puerto Rico Friday, Nov. 29 and Saturday, Nov. 30. Following their return to the U.S. as well as the final exam break, Winthrop will play four more games in the month of December to wrap up non-conference action. The Eagles will host in-state rival South Carolina State on Wednesday, Dec. 11, head to Charlotte for a matchup with the 49ers on Monday, Dec. 16, welcome North Carolina Central University on Friday, Dec. 20 and after the Christmas holiday, going up to Knoxville on Sunday, Dec. 29 to face Randall-Lay's alma mater, the Tennessee Volunteers.
 
The conference schedule is set up for all the team's to play 16 league games.
 
Last season, the Eagles finished 14-16 overall and 8-8 in Big South Conference games. In her third full season as the permanent head coach in 2023-24, Randall Lay saw the Eagles, register a sweep of Longwood for the second straight year and snapped long skids in the series with UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb. Most notably the Eagles had overtime victories over UNC Asheville on the road and Radford at home and sweeping Gardner-Webb and UNC Asheville for the first time in nearly a decade. Randall-Lay also coached the program's 600^th all-time win at South Carolina State, was named to the 2024 American Basketball Hall of Fame, captured her 100^th career coaching victory vs. Longwood at home, and saw Marissa Gasaway and Jada Ryce take home All-Conference honors. The Eagles finished the season having the most wins since they won 17 in 2014-15 and recorded the most Big South wins since they won eight in 2019-20. Winthrop also ended the year having their highest conference finish (6th) since 2014-15, when they finished third.
 
Randall-Lay's squad returns eight players from last season, including five who played in all 30 games in the 2023-24 campaign. The Eagles also welcome three new additions to the coaching staff: Dominique Duck (director of basketball operations), Myron Poindexter (graduate assistant coach), and Jordan Warlick (video coordinator).
 
The team has one freshman, three sophomores (with one transfer), three juniors (with all of them being transfers and two of them coming from conference rival Radford), seven seniors (with one of them being a transfer from conference rival Presbyterian) and two graduate transfer students.
 
Marissa Gasaway, a senior forward from Louisville, Ky., started and played in all 30 games, led the Big South in rebounds with 318 and was tenth in the Big South in free throw percentage at .730. Gasaway was named the Big South Women's Basketball Player of the Week for games played Nov. 27-Dec. 3. She was named to the Big South All-Conference Honorable Mention at the end of the regular-season. Gasaway led the team in free throws made with 81 and rebounds with 318.
 
Jada Ryce, a senior guard from McDonough, Ga., played and started in all 30 games. Ryce finished in f ourth in the Big South in steals with 53, fifth in free throw percentage at .775, eighth in assists with 71 and minutes with 954. Against Carolina University at home on Dec. 10, 2023, she came within one of tying the school record for steals in a single game set by Cassandra Barnes vs. Sacred Heart on Feb. 12, 1981. Ryce surpassed 500 career points vs. Charleston Southern at home on Jan. 24. Ryce was named Big South All-Conference Honorable Mention and Big South All-Academic Team at the conclusion of the regular-season. She led the team in minutes played with 915, field goals made with 115; total points with 333 and steals with 53.
 
Ronaltha Marc, a senior guard/forward from Miami, Fla., played in all 30 games. She also started in every game but one and had 14 games in double figures in total points.
 
Leonor Paisana, a senior point guard from Lisbon, Portugal, played and started in all 30 games. She finished sixth in the Big South in assists with 79, tenth in three-point field goals per game at 1.2 and steals with 42. She entered the Top 10 in school history in three-pointers made vs. Charleston Southern at home on Jan. 24. Paisana scored her 500^th career point at USC Upstate on Feb. 24 and led the team in three-point field goals made with 37 and assists with 79.
 
Blessing Okoh, a senior forward from Houston, Texas, played in all 30 games and started in 28 of them. She finished third in the Big South in blocked shots with 24. This also led the team.

The other four returnees include sophomore guard Ar'Mani Reid from Jacksonville, N.C; senior center Prunelle Mungo from Philadelphia, Pa.; and sophomore guard Adelaide McLeod from Savoy, Ill.
 
McLeod did not play last season while Reid played in 22 games. Mungo played in 24 games and had one game in double figures in points (10 vs. Erskine on Nov. 14, 2023).
 
In addition to the four returners, Randall-Lay and her staff have brought in eight newcomers in Olivia Wagner; Ciara Harris; Mya Pierfax; Amourie Porter; Persais Williams; Nuria Cunill; Konnor Gambrell and Bria Beverly.
 
Times for all home and conference contests will be announced in the coming weeks. Season tickets for Winthrop women's basketball can be purchased at WinthropEagles.com, by calling the Winthrop Ticket Office at 803-323-2345, or by emailing tickets@winthrop.edu.
 
You can also find all your needs for Winthrop gear here- ShopWinthropeagles and ShopWinthropGear.
 
All of the home and conference games during the 2024-25 season will air live on ESPN+. To watch Big South games on ESPN+ you must have a subscription to ESPN+. For more information on how to subscribe, click here.
 
For all the up-to-date information on Winthrop Women's Basketball, follow along on Twitter at @WinthropWBB, Instagram at winthropwbb and Facebook at facebook.com/WinthropWBB.