KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan University women's basketball hosts its first game of 2026 on Saturday afternoon against the Buffalo Bulls.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos struggled in their conference opener in the program's second game at Mullins Arena. Over 22 minutes without scoring kept WMU behind UMass through 40 minutes in the 73-40 loss. After a week off for the holidays, the Brown and Gold shook off the rust in their first conference game of the season in Massachusetts.

For the second game in a row senior guard Alli Carlson led Western Michigan on the floor with another double figure outing. Carlson ended the final game of 2025 with 16 points, three rebounds, and an assist for the Broncos while sophomore guard Kailey Starks led the team on defense with five rebounds and a steal along with two assists.

WELCOME HOME!
WMU has spent over two weeks away from its home court to end 2025. During non-conference play, the Brown and Gold only hosted four of their 10 games before the holiday break. During MAC play Western Michigan will host nine of its 18 games. The Broncos also have one more non-conference home game in February as part of the MAC-SBC Challenge. WMU begins a two-game home stand this weekend and won't have a home stand longer than two games the rest of the season. 

TAKING CHANCES FROM THREE
Even with lower point totals recently, the Brown and Gold continue to have success behind the arc, especially among MAC teams. Through the first full week of conference play Western Michigan is ranked sixth in the conference in three pointers made with 6.3 through 40 minutes. The Broncos are also keeping their opponents from shooting threes, ranking fifth in the MAC at 29.8%

WMU is also showing up in the national rankings regarding its work from three point range. The Brown and Gold are currently ranked 83rd nationally in three point attempts at 23.3 per game, also for sixth in the MAC.

CLUTCH CARLSON
Senior guard Alli Carlson continues to lead Western Michigan on the floor as 2026 begins. Carlson has been the Broncos leading scorer over the past two games, matching her career high of 16 points on Wednesday afternoon. The senior also set a career-high in three pointers at then No. 19 Ohio State on Dec. 22 with five treys. 

Carlson also ranks in the Top 10 in the MAC in multiple statistical categories. She is ranked sixth in both assists and assist/turnover ratio at 4.64 assists a game and a ratio of 1.50. At the national level, Carlson is 62nd in assists per game, but has her highest ranking in minutes per game. Averaging 34.8 minutes, Carlson is 40th among Division I players in minutes per game.

SERIES HISTORY
It will be the 35th matchup in the series between WMU and Buffalo on Saturday afternoon. The Bulls currently hold the series record at 20-14 and won both meetings last season. The Brown and Gold's most recent win over Buffalo came in 2024 at University Arena. Western Michigan took the close game 66-63 on Jan. 20. 

SCOUTING THE BULLS
Buffalo comes into Saturday's game in a similar position as the Broncos. Also under a head coach in her first year with the program, the Bulls are 2-10 and dropped their first game of MAC play. Buffalo is now led by former player and assistant coach Kristen Sharkey, who was with the program on the sidelines for seven years from 2014-15 to 2021-22. 

With only one returning player from their 2024-25 roster, the Bulls are navigating a new era of the program. Currently leading Buffalo on the floor is the program's lone returning, junior guard Paula Lopez. Lopez is the only Bull averaging double figure scoring at 11 points a game. On defense Buffalo is led by freshman forward Meg Lucas, who leads the MAC in rebounds per game at 10.3 boards and ranks 20th nationally in the category.