Part 1 was about a title defense. Part 2 is about a fresh start. Kennesaw State women's basketball tips off a brand-new era Monday morning, with a new head coach, a mostly new roster and a whole lot to prove.
The Owls open the 2026-27 season against Shorter on Monday, Nov. 2, at 11 a.m. ET at VyStar Arena, streaming on ESPN+. Then they turn right around and host Clayton State on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Where we left off
Last season was a grind. KSU finished 13-17 overall and 6-12 in Conference USA, tied for eighth, and its stay in Huntsville ended on day one with a 66-47 loss to Delaware. The Owls actually shot the ball well, hitting 43.1 percent from the field, but they averaged just 62.0 points and 3.7 made threes a game and turned it over 20.1 times a night.
On March 11, athletic director Milton Overton announced a change at the top. Nineteen days later, KSU named Tianni Kelly the ninth head coach in program history.
Meet the coach
Kelly comes in with a winner's résumé. As head coach at her alma mater, the University of Charleston (W.Va.), she went 85-32 over four seasons, made three straight NCAA Division II Tournaments, reached the Elite Eight in 2021 and the Sweet 16 again in 2022, and won three conference titles. She spent the last two seasons as associate head coach at Chattanooga, where the Mocs went 37-26, won the 2026 SoCon regular-season title and made the WNIT and WBIT.
KSU's announcement called her "a strong recruiter and developer of talent." She'll need to be both, because she had to rebuild almost the whole roster.
The expectations
They're low, and that's fine. The league's coaches picked Kennesaw State 10th out of 10 in the CUSA preseason poll with 24 points. Missouri State (90 points, eight first-place votes) is the favorite, followed by Middle Tennessee and Liberty. No Owl made the preseason all-conference team. For a new staff with a new roster, nobody's expecting much, which makes every win a bonus.
The returners
Only four players are back from last season, and the leader is easy to pick.
- G Shania Nichols (Sr.): KSU's top returning scorer at 9.2 points a game. She hit 36.6 percent from three and set a program single-season record by making 89.1 percent of her free throws. She also knows Shorter well: she debuted against the Hawks last November with 20 points, going 6-for-9 from deep.
- G Kaelyn Flowers (Jr.): Started 24 games and averaged 6.3 points, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals.
- F Emaya Lewis (Jr.) and G Madyson Elliott (So.) round out the returning group.
The new faces
Kelly went to the transfer portal, the junior college ranks and even overseas.
- F Tracey Bershers (Gr.): The most experienced Owl. A sixth-year senior, she has more than 500 career points at UAB, Oklahoma State and Minnesota, and she was part of a Gophers team that reached the Sweet 16 last March.
- F Toni Warren (Jr.): A Canton native coming home from Wofford, where she averaged 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds and shot 95 percent at the line.
- F Kayla Sullivan (Sr.): Started 19 games at Valparaiso and was an NJCAA third-team All-American before that.
- G Riley Talbert (Jr.): A UAB transfer who reunites with Bershers, her former Blazer teammate.
- F Lamarah Cleaves (Jr.): A Second Team All-MACCC pick at Jones College, where she averaged 11.6 points and 7.8 rebounds with eight double-doubles.
- G Arissa Jenkins (Jr.): A shooter from Shelton State's NJCAA national runner-up team.
- Freshmen Nyjae Malikali-El and Uliana Kolesnyk: Malikali-El averaged 5.4 steals a game as a high school senior in Baltimore, and Kolesnyk has played for Germany's U16 and U18 national teams.
That's a lot of new names, so expect some early nights where the rotation gets sorted out.
Dates to circle
- Mon., Nov. 2: Opener vs. Shorter, 11 a.m. KSU leads the series 20-7 and has won 19 straight, plus nine home openers in a row.
- Wed., Nov. 11: At Georgia, 6:30 p.m. A trip to Athens and an SEC measuring stick.
- Mon., Dec. 28: At Clemson, 7 p.m. One more Power Four test before league play.
- Sat., Jan. 2: At Western Kentucky, 3 p.m. The CUSA opener.
- Thu., Mar. 4 and Sat., Mar. 6: Home vs. Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky to close the regular season.
The CUSA Tournament is back in Huntsville, March 9-13.
The bottom line
This is year one of a rebuild, and the preseason poll says so. But Kelly has won everywhere she's been, Nichols is a proven shooter, and the newcomers bring real experience from the Big Ten, the SoCon and two strong junior college programs.
Our early call: a winning nonconference record, a rough first trip through CUSA while the new pieces figure each other out, and a finish higher than 10th. Beat the poll, build something, and give Owl fans a reason to show up in March. OwlUp.
Catch up on Part 1, our men's preview, bookmark the full Kennesaw State schedule, and grab some black-and-gold game-day gear before Monday's tip.
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