UNK finished the regular season 15-15 and entered the MIAA Tournament as the 10-seed, but its season ended with a 77-69 loss to Missouri Western in the opening round.
Drew Johnson, UNK women’s basketball coach, said the season was defined by how consistently his team battled through adversity.
“It was kind of an interesting year with injuries and adversity,” Johnson said. “But what I’m most proud of is our group’s ability to keep battling and keep fighting. No matter what was happening, they never gave in.”
That determination became a defining trait for the team as the season progressed. Injuries to key players forced the Lopers to adapt, often asking athletes to step into unfamiliar roles while the coaching staff adjusted strategies throughout the year.
One of the biggest setbacks came early in the season when junior Bailee Sobczak tore her Achilles tendon in her first game of the year against Sioux Falls. The injury forced the team to reshuffle its lineup and rely on depth as the season continued.
“We played a lot of different styles this season,” Johnson said. “We trapped and pressed for a while, then played more in the half-court and tried to combine the two. I thought we grew as a team in understanding what we were trying to accomplish and competing hard with whatever the game plan was.”
6-foot-3 junior Tara Biocanin emerged as a key offensive presence, scoring efficiently inside and drawing defensive attention. She ended her season averaging nine points and five rebounds while shooting 58 percent from the field.
‘Tara was a great player for us this year,” Johnson said. “By the end of the year, she was getting double teams and still scoring at a high percentage.”
Freshman guard Myleigh Weers also made an immediate impact during her first season in a Loper uniform. She led UNK in scoring with 15 points per game and recorded 10 games with 20 or more points.
Her performance earned her third-team All-MIAA honors and Freshman of the Year, making her the first Loper to receive the award since 2009. Weers also set the program’s freshman scoring record, further cementing her breakout season.
Senior point guard Jillian Aschoff anchored the team while continuing to build one of the most decorated careers in program history. She earned second-team All-MIAA honors while averaging 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game.
Aschoff set the program’s single-season assists record with 185 and finished her career with 497. She also surpassed 1,000 career points, finishing with 1,069, recorded two triple-doubles and became just the fourth Loper to earn All-MIAA honors three times.
Junior Brinly Christensen said the team’s resilience was evident all season.
“We faced our fair share of adversity, but we learned to fight for one another and stay connected as a group,” Christensen said. “Even in our last game in the MIAA Tournament, we got down but never gave in and kept fighting.”
With several contributors returning, Johnson said the lessons from this year will help the Lopers build momentum.
“It’s huge to return a big group together,” Johnson said. “The consistency of knowing where everybody’s going to be and what we’re trying to accomplish on both ends of the floor really helps.”
