KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's basketball team plays its first home game of the 2025-26 season on Sunday afternoon against a brand new opponent.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos began the 2025-26 season with a 65-45 loss to the App State Mountaineers on Monday, November 3 as part of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. It was a closely contested game through 26 minutes on Monday night in the Holmes Convocation Center. WMU led for over half, but the final 15 minutes proved to be the turning point to the 65-45 loss. The Brown and Gold were led by redshirt senior De'Ahna Richardson on the floor as the only Western Michigan player to be in double-figures with 11 points. On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore Kailey Starks had a team high seven rebounds while senior Alli Carlson had four steals for the Broncos.

WELCOME TO UNIVERSITY ARENA
Western Michigan comes into this season with a home record of 76-60 over the past decade at University Arena. The 2025-26 season will be the second to last at University Arena for the Brown and Gold as they will move to the Kalamazoo Events Center in the fall of 2027. But over the past decade at University Arena, WMU has a record of 8-2 in home openers with their last loss in Read Fieldhouse coming in 2022 to Loyola Chicago. Prior to the loss to the Ramblers, the Broncos had a 10 season winning streak at their home openers.

SEEING SOME FAMILIAR FACES
Western Michigan Assistant Coach Aurielle Anderson will face her former team on Sunday afternoon. Before coming home to the Brown and Gold, Anderson spent the prior two seasons with the Dukes as an Assistant Coach helping with offensive planning and development. Anderson helped Duquense to back-to-back 20-win seasons and two trips to the Women's National Invitational Tournament. She also led the Dukes to a record-breaking 2024-25 season that saw the team set a new program record with 341 made three-pointers in a single season. The team also averaged a program-record 71.9 points per game. 

SCOUTING THE DUKES
Duquesne comes into Sunday afternoon's game with a perfect 2-0 record. The Dukes played their first two games of the season at home, earning wins against NEC Saint Francis and Division II Stoney Brook. In the first two games of the season, Duquesne has been a powerhouse under the glass, ranking 16th in the nation in offensive rebounds per game with 23.5 and 23rd in rebounds per game as the team currently averages 54 rebounds through 40 minutes.

The Dukes currently have a well-balanced offense with six players averaging double-digits through two games. Sophomore guard Nadia Moore is Duquesne current leader on the floor, averaging 15 points in only 15.5 minutes a game. She is also adding 3.5 rebounds a game to help the Dukes. On the defensive side of the ball, redshirt sophomore guard Gabby Grantham-Medley has a team high 7.5 rebounds a game while also adding 14 points. She is currently the only Duquesne player with a double-double through two games. 

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday afternoon will be the first meeting in history between the Broncos and the Duquesne Dukes over WMU's 55 seaons. The Brown and Gold have played six A-10 teams in program history, including Davidson, Daytona, George Mason, Loyola Chicago, Richmond, and Saint Louis. Against A-10 teams, Western Michgan has a record of 10-11 with its most recent games being two losses to the Ramblers in the past two seasons. The Broncos will play three A-10 teams this season along with Duquense, as they play at Loyola Chicago on Dec. 7 and then host the Dayton Flyers on Dec. 18.