CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball held its first practice ahead of the 2025-26 campaign on Tuesday morning at the SEMO Recreation Center. 
 
Head Coach Briley Palmer starts her second season at the helm of SEMO Women's Basketball. She welcomes back assistant coach Mike Geary along with three new assistants in Reggie Mosley, Kate Rolfes, and Jace Lance. 
 
A season ago, the Redhawks finished with a 6-23 overall record and a 4-16 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play. Palmer secured her first NCAA Division I victory over Southern Illinois by a final score of 70-58 in the Show Me Center on November 25. 
 
The 2025-26 squad features 14 players, including four returners and 10 newcomers. Guards Lexi McCully, Da'Kariya Jackson, and Anjelicia Del Valle return in the backcourt from a season ago. Center Ainaya Williams returns in the paint after a standout freshman campaign.
 
McCully, a graduate student from Grand Rapids, Michigan, is the team's top returning scorer from 24-25. She averaged 11.2 points per game while shooting 34.7-percent from the field and an impressive 86.0-percent at the foul line. 
 
Williams dominated the paint during her freshman season averaging 9.2 PPG, a team-high 5.2 rebounds per game, and recorded 53 blocks. Her 53 blocks put her in the top team in program history for a single season. 
 
Newcomers
The Redhawks bring in seven transfers and three freshman to make up the rest of the squad. Guards Carmen and Charmen Taylor (Williams Baptist), Raissa Nsabua (Robert Morris), Madison Ayers (Mineral Area College), and Mikayla Riley (Pearl River CC) make up the newcomers in the backcourt. 
 
In the front court, center Aa'Mya Stacker (Johnson County CC) and Kearra Jones (Mississippi Valley State) complete the transfers. 
 
Freshman guards Zoey Rixter, Noelani 'Princess' Dunn, and Addison Tarr complete the freshman class for the 2025-26 season. 
 
SEMO begins its season on Tuesday, November 4, at Illinois.