WINFIELD, Kan. — The 2025-26 season came to a close Saturday, Feb. 21, as the Southwestern College women's basketball team fell to Saint Mary 64-52 at Stewart Field House.
The result capped a 4-24 overall campaign and an 0-22 mark in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play. For first-year head coach Josh Burt and his two graduate assistants, Edward Braatz and Marta Pons Gomez, the season was about more than wins and losses as the program began a rebuild.
"This year is about establishing who we are," Burt said in the preseason. "Winning will come, but it starts with our culture."
In his first season as head coach, and the first year for his staff, Burt returned to KCAC country with a long-term vision for the Lady Builders. He inherited a program that went 4-20 the previous season and emphasized daily growth, accountability and building habits that translate into long-term success.
Southwestern opened the year by winning three of its first four games, including victories over Manhattan Christian (68-51), Central Christian (62-57) and Cottey (70-58). A nonconference win over Hesston College moved the Builders to 4-3 before conference play began.
KCAC competition proved difficult as Southwestern dropped 22 consecutive conference games. Losses to McPherson (70-66), Bethany (86-77), McPherson on the road (67-64) and York (76-74) were decided by single digits.
For the season, Southwestern averaged 57.7 points per game while allowing 77.1, resulting in a minus-19.4 scoring margin. The Builders shot 34.1 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from 3-point range. Southwestern made 211 3-pointers, an average of 7.5 per game and the program's highest single-season total since 2015. The team shot 67.4 percent from the free-throw line.
Southwestern was outrebounded 40.4 to 32.6 per game and averaged 9.4 assists while committing 15.6 turnovers per contest. The Builders finished with a 0.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Senior guard Macey Pond led the Lady Builders in her final season, averaging 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while starting all 28 contests. Pond scored 441 points, added 96 assists and 40 steals, and logged a team-high 1,000 minutes.
Junior guard Kennedy Ford averaged 10.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Freshman Breanna Goad averaged 9.9 points per game and made a team-high 61 3-pointers.
Junior Martha De La Rosa averaged 9.1 points and made 42 3-pointers, while senior Allyson Frank shot a team-best 45.5 percent from the field and averaged 4.5 rebounds.
Defensively, Ford recorded 27 steals and Pond added 40 steals and 14 blocks. Opponents shot 44.2 percent from the field and averaged 20.3 assists per game.
The record reflected the challenges of a rebuild, but the season marked the first step under Burt and his staff. With a new culture in place and a young roster gaining experience, Southwestern moves into the offseason focused on continued development.
The 2025-26 season did not produce the results Southwestern hoped for, but it marked the beginning of a new direction as the Lady Builders look ahead to Year 2 under Burt and his staff.
