ATHERTON, CA – Coming off four consecutive winning seasons and 73 victories in the last four years, Menlo College Women's Basketball is set to write its latest chapter in the 2025-26 campaign ahead. The program's 27th installment returns the Oaks to NCAA Division II competition within the Pacific West Conference where Menlo was picked to reach the PacWest Tournament in the Preseason Coaches Poll and, with Head Coach Shannon Spataro on the verge of another major milestone at 290 career wins, the Oaks are ready to continue their triumphant tradition.

Returning Oaks – Trunk Of The Tree
Plenty of experience in a Menlo uniform highlights 11 Oaks returners (tied for the most among PacWest teams) including PacWest Preseason Watch List notable senior guard Alberte Frisch. An All-PacWest Team honoree last year, Frisch ranked seventh in the conference in points per game (15.7) on the strength of the second-most free throws made (111). The multi-level scorer checks in at second in program history in career free throw percentage (84.2) as well as top 10 in Menlo history in both career points (947) and 3-pointers made (102) and helped the Oaks cap an impressive campaign by winning two games in the 2024 NAIA National Championship Tournament.

Alongside Frisch on that NAIA Final 16 squad two seasons ago are returning senior guard Mehkia Applewhite and graduate student forward Frida Schmidt. Ranked among the top 20 in the PacWest in rebounds per game last year, Applewhite also brings valuable leadership after previously playing a part in back-to-back 20-win seasons (2022-23, 2023-24) that both featured trips to the NAIA National Championship Tournament. Unmatched in her determination to return from injury last season, Schmidt exemplified a dedication to leaving her legacy on the court en route to earning the 2025 Menlo Athletics Sports Medicine Perseverance Award.

Back for their respective final years, graduate student guard Laila Saenz and senior guard Jayonnah Carter further deepen a collection of six upperclassmen on the team. Saenz, a dangerous long range threat and owner of the most PacWest experience on the squad, ranks second among Menlo returners in 3-pointers made after knocking down at least one in all but six of her 23 games last year. Returning the ballhawk defensiveness that had her with Frisch inside the conference's top 20 in steals per game (1.5) in 2024-25, Carter will keep the Oaks' tenacity high this season.

Newcomers – Patience Is A Virtue
After redshirting their respective first seasons with Menlo last year, guards Kimberly Ceron-Romero and Nadia Brown are poised to make their collegiate debuts this year. A uniquely versatile All-Conference athlete at South Medford High School, Ceron-Romero previously helped lead the Panthers to two Oregon 6A State Championships, highlighting a high school career that featured nearly 90 wins to just nine losses. In addition to time with Riordan High School, Brown proved her ability as a dynamic scorer, rebounder, and defender at Palo Alto High School.

Newest additions to the Oaks family include a pair of true freshmen in guard Angel Allen and forward Faye Borchert. A varsity starting point guard since middle school, Allen earned two All-Star honors as an upperclassman after receiving All-Conference Honorable Mention recognition twice at The Hotchkiss School. Borchert, a graduate of Segbroek College in the Netherlands, helped her U20 team capture the 2022 Tournament title in Limfjord, Denmark and played a key role in winning the Dutch National Championship with the U18 squad as well.

Schedule Highlights – Pack The 'Prim
At home inside Haynes-Prim Pavilion for their first six games of the season, the Oaks tip off the 2025-26 season by hosting Cal State Monterey Bay and SF State for the PacWest/CCAA Crossover Challenge on Nov. 14-15 then welcome in Cal State East Bay (Nov. 20) and Chico State (Nov. 22) the following week. A road game at UC Santa Cruz (Nov. 25) wraps up Menlo's non-conference slate, setting up a trip to Southern California for PacWest-opening matchups with Azusa Pacific (Dec. 2), Vanguard (Dec. 4), and Westmont (Dec. 6).

Over the ensuing six-game homestand that bridges the 2025 and 2026 calendar years, the Oaks will host Jessup (Dec. 16), Dominican (Dec. 21), Point Loma (Jan. 3), Concordia (Jan. 5), Hawaii Pacific (Jan. 8), and UH Hilo (Jan. 10). A trip to Hawaii then brings a pairing with Chaminade (Jan. 15) followed by a rematch with HPU (Jan. 17) before the month is closed primarily on the road at Jessup (Jan. 22), home against Fresno Pacific (Jan. 24), and at Dominican (Jan. 26).

The final month of the regular season starts in SoCal once again at CUI (Feb. 3), PLNU (Feb. 5), and Biola (Feb. 7) before four of the last five contests will be back inside Haynes-Prim Pavilion. A quick turnaround against BU (Feb. 14) comes ahead of a rematch with Westmont (Feb. 16) then the last road game at FPU (Feb. 21) gives way to home games versus Chaminade (Feb. 24) and Vanguard (Feb. 28). The PacWest Championship Tournament, hosted by PLNU in San Diego, will close out the year on Mar. 5-7.