(John Barker Photo)
Wyoming head women’s basketball coach Heather Ezell had her hands full this offseason, reconstructing her roster, as the Cowgirls experienced a considerable amount of roster turnover after a disappointing 10-20 campaign.
While that 10-20 record saw the Cowgirls finish eighth in the Mountain West and fizzle out in the first round of the conference championships, the team still had plenty of bright spots—and some of the brightest spots will be returning for the upcoming season.
As of the time of writing, the Cowgirls have officially announced the return of three players from last season’s roster. Seniors Aurore Eyango, Henna Sandvik, Logan Alvar and Malene Pedersen have all exhausted their eligibility. Sophomores Heidur Karlsdottir, Karoline Lundin and Lana Beslic, alongside juniors Madi Symons and Mikyn Hamlin are no longer listed on the roster.
One of the biggest wins for Ezell this offseason was keeping freshman Jane Rumpf on the roster, as she was officially announced to return for her sophomore season on April 10. Rumpf was an All-Freshman selection and came on strong in Mountain West play, as she went from averaging just over two points per game in the non-conference slate to 10 points per game during conference games, while also leading the Cowgirls in rebounding.
Junior point guard Payton Muma will also return for her senior year after an up-and-down second season with the Cowgirls after transferring from Gonzaga. Muma averaged 3.8 points and 2.6 assists but only shot 30.7% from the field and 18.3% from deep. Muma saw marked improvements throughout the year as well, though, and should assume an expanded role next season.
Finally, junior guard Kati Ollilainen was also officially announced to return after unfortunately missing the entirety of the 2025-26 season with a knee injury.
The Cowgirls have freshman Katie Harrington, Liv Blomkvist and Peyton Wohlford still listed on the roster, though no official announcement has been made for their returns.
Six transfers were officially announced to be signed to the roster as well, all from a multitude of different levels of college basketball. Ezell was able to notch four transfers from the Division-I level, one transfer from the NJCAA level and another from the CCCAA (California Community College Athletic Association) level.
San Jose City College transfer Hayley Johnson was the first to be announced. The sophomore forward averaged 19.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game for the Jaguars.
The Cowgirls continued to add more size down low with the signing of 6-3 center Kaylan Deveney. Deveney played in a limited role at Rider, averaging 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
Merceuis Mili was the next transfer to be announced, as the freshman guard was also featured in a limited role at Utah Tech, averaging just 2.7 points per game while playing just over 11 minutes a game.
Ezell continued her trend with signing relatively unproven D-I transfers with the next addition of Ophelia Powell. The freshman guard from Cal State Bakersfield only scored 15 points in her freshman season.
The Cowgirls’ next transfer was a more proven prospect, at least at the NJCAA level. Jersey Berg, an NJCAA All-American honorable mention, will join the Cowgirls after two seasons at Williston State, where she averaged 16.4 points and 6.6 rebounds.
Ezell rounded out her transfer class with the signing of forward Norah Clark. Clark played three seasons at UT Martin, where she averaged 6.7 points per game last season.
The Cowgirls will also welcome three freshmen to the lineup next season.
The Cowgirls will seemingly be banking on a lot of unproven talent coming into form next season with their recent additions. Ezell and her staff will undoubtedly have their hands full sharpening this class of unproven talent into a top Mountain West team.
