Team Huddle
Kelly Bird, Linfield Sports Communications

Women's basketball aims to pick up on last season's success in 2025-26

By Chase Fisk, Director of Athletic Communications

Coming off of the Wildcats' best season since 1979-80, tying a program record in wins, Linfield women's basketball is poised to make a second postseason appearance for the first time in their Northwest Conference history. Head coach Casey Bunn-Wilson saw her best season since taking over 10 seasons ago, earning the program's first No. 1 Northwest Conference Preseason Coaches Poll ranking heading into the 2025-26 season. Led by eight seniors, and just one departure from last season, a veteran Wildcat squad now has NWC Tournament experience, aiming to rebound from their first-round loss to eventual tournament champion Whitman. 

Team Talk
Team Bench
Tana Hoekema
Eve Burke
Amelia Solt
Allie Mead
Double Team
Natalie Rosetti
Celebration
Allie Mead
Team Huddle
Jordan Roberts
Casey Bunn-Wilson

Last season, Linfield began the season strong, winning all 10 non-conference games; four of which were two-score games, while the rest were by 16+ points over their opponents. After starting the conference season 2-2, the Wildcats strung together multiple winning streaks, leading to them earning the four-seed in the 2025 Northwest Conference Tournament. Although the Wildcats fell 65-55 to the Whitman Blues in the opening round of the tournament, it marked just their second appearance in Bunn-Wilson's tenure, and their first since the 2018-19 season. The young team graduated just one senior, center Gillyan Landis, who led the team in points per-game (11.2) and field goal percentage (52%). Landis started 25 games for Linfield last season, ranking eighth in the NWC in scoring, and fourth in field goal percentage. Although, First Team All-NWC honorees Allie Mead and Miki Vermeulen return to lead the Wildcats this season. 

2024-25 Women's Basketball Season Statistics
2025-26 Women's Basketball Roster

Junior Canby, Oregon, native Allie Mead returns after a stellar sophomore season, earning First Team All-Northwest Conference honors after starting in all 26 games for the Wildcats. Mead averaged 10.5 points, 3.7 rebounds per game, and earned team-highs in assists (4.2 per-game), and steals (52). The junior guard ranked 13th in the NWC in scoring, led the NWC in assists, while seeing the second-most minutes on the team. She also ranked second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio. A Finance major, Mead also earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors for her work in the classroom as well as on the court. 

 

Allie Mead
Junior Guard #20 Allie Mead
Miki Vermeulen
Senior Guard/Forward #3 Miki Vermeulen

Miki Vermeulen enters her senior season, coming off a 9.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game junior year where she earned First Team All-Northwest Conference honors. She led the team a year ago, shooting 34% from beyond the arc amongst Wildcats with over 20 attempts. The Renton, Washington, native led the 'Cats with 34 blocks, nearly 1.5 per-game. Vermeulen ranked seventh in the NWC in rebounds, and the guard aims to be a frequent starter for Linfield, starting all 26 games last season. A Data Science major, Vermeulen has earning College Sports Communicators Academic All-District twice in her career. 

Senior Sports Management major, Eve Burke, led the Wildcats on the glass, averaging 6.6 rebounds per game last season. She also averaged 10-points while shooting 47% from the field. Native of Port Angeles, Washington, Burke ranked sixth in the Northwest Conference in rebounds, starting 25 games in the purple and cardinal. The guard looks to continue to be a top-20 student-athlete in the conference offensively, something she has done each of the last two seasons. 

Eve Burke
Senior Guard #4 Eve Burke

The roster welcomes in a class of seven freshman student-athletes, looking to build upon a foundation of success in recent history: Mia Thompson, Kate Townsend, Willow Ishibashi-To, Dylan Cheney, Sydney Newby, Evelyn Melis and Madison Huntley. Three sophomores, four juniors, and eight seniors round out the Wildcats roster this season. 

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Linfield Women's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule

*Pacific on 11/30 is a Northwest Conference game

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Linfield begins their run at a return to the Northwest Conference Tournament with a strong non-conference schedule featuring three teams from Texas and No. 3 ranked UW-Oshkosh from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The season tips off at home inside Ted Wilson Gymnasium this Saturday evening at 6 p.m., where the Wildcats host NAIA Northwest University. Prior to Thanksgiving, the ‘Cats head to Texas for the East Texas Baptist Tournament, where they will square off against Concordia-Texas, Piedmont, and ETBU for three games in four days. Following the Northwest Conference Opener against Pacific, non-conference resumes, where Linfield hosts UW-Oshkosh and Simpson before taking on Corban. To close out the non-conference slate, the ’Cats face McMurry and Knox at the Hoops in Hawaii Classic just before Christmas in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

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2025 Linfield Women's Basketball Schedule

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The WIldcats' conference slate tips off on the road at Pacific on November 30, and picks back up at the turn of the calendar year, hosting Whitman and Whitworth on January 9 and 10 inside Ted Wilson Gymnasium. The Whitman Blues aims to be an opponent that Linfield circles on the calendar, as the reigning Northwest Conference regular season and tournament champions. The conference season closes in mid-February, with Linfield hosting three of the final four games at home. George Fox hosts the 'Cats final regular-season contest on February 21 in Newberg, Oregon. 

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