Katie Kuester believes the Army women’s basketball program has a gameplan in place that will lead to a Patriot League title next March.
The second-year coach, who lost just one player from last year’s 26-8 (14-4 in the Patriot League) squad, said the focus for both players and coaches is to aggressivelyfinetune their skills, emphasizing defense, rebounding and hitting the lots three-point shots she expects them to take and make this season. Then, it is playing a more challenging non-league schedule in November and December that will allow the Black Knights to test and hone their talents and gain experience before the start of the conference play against Holy Cross on Dec. 30.
The non-league schedule included an exhibition game with UConn in late October and non-league road games against North Carolina, Penn State, UMass, High Point and Air Force, as well as a home matchup with George Mason, which the Black Knights defeated, 80-75, in overtime on Wednesday night to start the season with a 3-0 record.
“We are returning a lot of players and we are really excited about the upcoming year,” said Kuester, who led the Black Knights to a first-round victory in the WNIT last spring and earned the 2026 Maggie Dixon NCAA Div. 1 rookie coach of the year award. “They have been relentless in the gym and, working with our staff, just getting better at the things that could add to their games. We have been evaluating the little things in areas where we came up short that did not bring us a championship last season.”
But, Kuester is just as excited about the caliber of competition in the non-conference part of the schedule and how many of those games could help Army become better for the Patriot League campaign.
“That non-conference schedule is hopefully going to set us up for a successful Patriot League season, ending with a championship,” Kuester noted. “We have really queued ourselves up to face a lot of adversity early, which is huge. When you are looking at teams like North Carolina, UMass, Penn State and Air Force on the road, these are challenges that we are only going to get better from. There are no nights off for our team, I will tell you that much. So, check on me come January.”
The bottom line is that Kuester, her staff and the players will not be happy without winning the Patriot League title and the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament in March, a first for Army since 2016. And, there are plenty of roadblocks along the way, starting with arch-rival Navy, which is predicted by league coaches to win the title behind returning league player of the year Zanal Barnett-Gay. The Black Knights are predicted to finish second, followed by Lehigh, Holy Cross and Lafayette.
Army will count on the talents and experience of seniors Camyrn Tade and Kya Smith, both named to the pre-season all-Patriot team, to lead the way and make up for the loss of last year’s lone senior shooting guard Reese Ericson, who scored 11.1 points a game and shot 40 percent from the three-point line. Tade, a guard, averaged 12.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and shot 37 percent from the three-point arch. Smith, who will play center, scored 1.37 points per game, grabbed 10.2 rebounds per game and had a field goal percentage of 51 percent.
But, Army is deep this season. Joining Tade and Smith in the starting lineup is senior forward Fiona Hastick, an all-league player two years ago, who sat out much of last season with an ankle injury in pre-season.
“Having (Hastick) back as a senior and as a former all-conference player and at 100 percent health has been unbelievable so far this year,” Kuester added.
Others will be asked to step up as well.
Junior Brooke Wilson (5.2 points and 3.3 assists per game in 2025-26) will again run the show from the point guard spot and forward Taylor Wilson 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game), who Kuester says is a great rebounder and defender, round out the starting five. Reganne Reardon (7.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game) and Audrey Annee are set to come off the bench and both should see a lot of time on the floor.
“It is going to be by committee to replace Reese,” Kuester added, saying that she plans on taking 30 three-pointers each game. “It is not going to be just one or two people. It is going to be Reganne Reardon taking more threes and stretching out the floor. It is going to be Kya Smith also taking and making more threes and the same with Camryn Tade, who is just a steady eddie for us.”
Junior forward Sam Tillson, who tore her ACL early last year, is back at full health and should see a lot of action in the frontcourt. Freshmen Julia Sedora, a backup point guard, and Daniela Maletsky, also a guard, should also see some playing time.
“It is not where you start, it is where you finish,” said Kuester. “Those top three teams, Navy, Army and Lehigh are very good programs and I could add Lafayette and Holy Cross (into the mix). They are all going to be super competitive. I am very excited to be a part of the Patriot Lague because it’s a phenomenal women’s basketball conference and on any given day, any of us can win it.”
