Photo Credit: Maria Coocimiglio
With just 44 days remaining until the Algoma Thunderbird women’s basketball team tips off their 2025-2026 OUA season at home against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks on October 24th at the George Leach Centre, excitement is starting to build in Sault Ste. Marie. Before that home opener, however, the Thunderbirds are hitting the road for a busy exhibition slate that will test the team early and provide valuable preparation. Over the September 12–14 weekend, Algoma faces the Nipissing Lakers (Sept. 12) and Lambton Lions (Sept. 13) in North Bay before closing the trip in Sudbury against the Laurentian Voyageurs (Sept. 14). The team will then travel to Montreal in early October to meet three more exhibition opponents — the Brandon University Bobcats, MacEwan Griffins, and hosts UQAM Citadins (Oct. 3–5). One final tune-up is scheduled across the river on October 15th against the Lake Superior State Lakers before the official OUA campaign begins.
Katie Hamilton told Saultsports that “this is the deepest and most talented team we’ve had in a long time, but that still has to be applied and proven on court in games. We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, or get over fixated on any season goals or expectations. We simply want to go out everyday, compete to the best of our ability and control the controllables. We believe if we do that, we should have a positive and competitive season. There are always a million different things that can happen over the course of a season, so our staff and our players are just dedicated to taking this a day at a time. We definitely don’t want to look too far ahead. The vibe in our locker room is that we have an older, pretty mature group of young women this season who are pretty focused on winning and having fun, which is always a health combo.”
Third-year head coach Katie Hamilton is energized by a roster that combines fresh talent with proven veteran leadership. Newcomers include Neela Chanderdat (transfer from Lakehead), Elia Galdos (6’1 post player from Winnipeg), and Saskatchewan rookies Taylor Randall (point guard depth) and Ryan Zimmer (size and skill in the frontcourt). Jamison Turner, returning from a medical redshirt, and local standout Mya Ferguson (redshirt) round out a strong class of additions. Hamilton praised this group for their immediate impact, noting their work ethic and ability to elevate the program. On the veteran side, returning leaders Brooke Gruhn, Mercedes Mazzuca, and Riya Donnelly, along with Sadie Grawbarger, Annabelle Lefebvre, Bernadette Maranan, Casandra Guerrier, and Emmalie Allard, bring both experience and continuity. Collectively, the team enters camp in excellent shape, and their development has Hamilton confident that Algoma will showcase a fast, uptempo, and exciting brand of basketball this season. With improved depth at every position, the Thunderbirds are poised to make noise in the OUA.
“Having the ability to get these six early pre-season games in for us is huge. It gives us the ability to see ourselves on film versus fantastic competition and make the necessary adjustments in practice. Things are going to look ugly for us early on, which is awesome. The goal is to be playing our best basketball when Laurier comes to town October 24th and 25th. If we could pack the house for those games, that would be great!!! The girls seem really committed to this and staying patient through the process, which has been nice to see. I’m a big believer in the less is more philosophy, so we are really trying to manage the girls workload and pre-season games but also giving them enough time away to enjoy university life before the long regular season kicks off, added Hamilton.
