University of San Francisco
California
11/7/2026 10:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Tip-Ins
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The Dons boasted two players on the WCC Preseason Team for the first time since 2014-15. Candy Edokpaigbe and Aina Cargol were the honorees this year.
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The Dons welcome eight newcomers to this year's squad - five transfers and three freshmen.
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Nearly 70 percent of the scoring production from the 2025-26 season returns this year, led by all-conference honoree Candy Edokpaigbe
USF Women's Basketball Game Notes
GOODENBOUR STARTS YEAR ELEVEN:
Molly Goodenbour begins her 11th season as head coach for the San Francisco Women's Basketball team as the Dons opened the 2026-27 campaign with a home 85-79 overtime win against Hawaii on Thursday. The Dons finished the 2025-26 season with an overall record of 19-15, a season that ended with a trip to the second round of the WNIT.
USF returns nearly 70 percent of the scoring from last season's roster, notable returners include All-WCC First Team honoree Candy Edokpaigbe and WCC All-Freshman Team member Aina Cargol.
The Dons will also feature Noelia Mouriño, Nataša Taušová, and Paula Tirado for the upcoming season. Along with the returners, the Dons added five transfers in Ines Babaya (Salt Lake City Community College), Jayda Queeley (Pittsburgh), Savi Mi (Dodge City Community College), Keiryn McGuff (Akron/Bowling Green), and Lucia Yenes (New Mexico State) while welcoming Belize Ibáñez Mengüç, Emilie Beggs, and Maria Burliga as true freshmen.
OPENING-DAY THRILLER:
The Dons opened up the season with a back-and-forth home opener that saw USF take a 20-0 lead the start the game against Hawaii. The Wahine would battle back in and take a 12-point lead with just four minutes remaining. San Francisco had its own run to force overtime, where they never trailed.
SWEET MAGIC:
In the first match of the season, Candy Edokpaigbe was one of four Dons who scored double digits, scoring 15 points in the game. Going back to last season, Edokpaigbe has 17 consecutive games with double-digit scoring performances.
UNDERCLASSMEN SHINE:
Sophomore Aina Cargol and Freshman Maria Burliga led the team in scoring against Hawaii with 17 points. Cargol added a game-high six assits. Sophomore Noelia Mouriño led the team with 14 rebounds, the most she's had in a collegiate game since her career high of 17 last year against Long Beach State.
IN SEASON OPENERS:
In the Goodenbour era, the Dons are 8-3 in season openers after the win Thursday. Last season, the Dons opened the 2025-26 campaign with a 64-40 win over UNC Greensboro.
TRIP TO TAHOE AWAITS:
Dons will next compete in the inaugural Caesars Lake Tahoe Classic, a premier opening-week college basketball showcase taking place Sunday, Nov. 8, at Tahoe Blue Event Center. The event will feature four marquee men's and women's basketball matchups. San Francisco is set to face off against California in the event on Sunday, November 8 at 11:00 a.m. PT.
CLASH WITH GOLDEN BEARS:
This will be the 38th overall matchup for the Dons and Golden Bears, a series dating back to 1976-77, with the last game between the two coming on November 13, 2021 in a neutral site game at the Chase Center that saw California win, 71-51. Cal (2-0, 0-0 ACC) so far this year has wins against Washington State, 80-58, and Long Beach State, 100-46.
FIFTH IN WEST COAST CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL:
USF was tabbed fifth in the annual West Coast Conference Women's Basketball Preseason poll. The Dons earned 58 points for fifth place, just one point shy of Pepperdine's 59 points for fourth place.
MULTIPLE WCC PRESEASON TEAM HONOREES:
USF, Portland, Pepperdine and Santa Clara all featured two players on the WCC preseason team. Edokpaigbe and Cargol mark the first Dons to earn conference preseason honors since Debora dos Santos in 2024-25. The last time USF featured two players on the conference preseason team was 2014-15 (Zhane Dikes and Taylor Proctor).
FIVE KEY RETURNERS HEADLINE DONS:
Among the returners, San Francisco's roster features five standouts in Candy Edokpaigbe, Noella Mourino, Aina Cargol, Natasa Tausova and Paula Tirado. Four of the five played in 34 games and averaged at least 7.0 ppg.
REPRESENTATIVES FROM TEN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES:
Including the United States, the Dons' roster boasts footprints from 10 different countries. Among the countries, four natives of Spain on the roster - Aina Cargol, Paula Tirado, Lucia Yenes and Noella Mourino.
CANDY RETURNS AFTER STELLAR SEASON:
Candy Edokpaigbe returns this season after she was one of the conference's top stars last season, garnering all-conference first-team accolades. She averaged a team-best 17.9 points per game, and defensively led the team in blocks with 20 while ranking tied for second in steals with 51. She scored a career-high 28 points twice last season.
CARGOL ALSO BACK IN 2026-27:
After a strong rookie campaign, Aina Cargol is ready to take another leap this season. As a freshman, Cargol started all 34 games, averaging 9.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game. Last season she was recognized by the WCC as an honoree on the all-freshman team and all-conference honorable mention. She scored a career-high 21 points against Washington State and collected a career-high four steals against San Diego in the conference tournament.
FIFTIETH YEARS OF USF DONS WOMENS BASKETBALL:
The 2026-27 season marks 50 years of USF Dons Women's Basketball. Throughout the season, USF Athletics will be spotlighting the history of USF Women's Basketball through the decades. The first set, the 1970s and 80s, was distributed online on Oct. 15 on USFDons.com - https://storyoftheseason.org/virtualvisit/usf/wbb/
Following along throughout the season as more decades are highlighted each month.
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP NEW TOURNAMENT FORMAT:
With the West Coast Conference currently standing at 10 teams in the league, March's Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship will feature a new format when the tournament returns to Orleans Arena in Las Vegas from March 5-9. The reformatted 10-team, nine-game, four-round tournament will feature two first-round games on March 5 before the men's quarterfinals start on Sunday, March 7, with the semifinals slated for March 8 and the title game on March 9.
UP NEXT:
San Francisco stays on the road next week, traveling to face Air Force on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. in a game that can be found on Mountain West Plus and then travels for a Sunday 1:00 p.m. match against UC San Diego that will be on ESPN+. The Dons return to the Hilltop on Nov. 19 against Long Beach State at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
