MARTIN, Tenn. – Coming off a conference championship and a program-record 25 victories, the Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team opens the 2026-27 season on Monday night against former Ohio Valley Conference foe UT Martin at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Monday's contest is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET tipoff. Fans can watch live on ESPN+ with Chris Brinkley and Davis Gregory on the call.
Play by play coverage will also be available for free on the Colonels All-Access page with Graham Nash of the EKU Sports Network court side on the call. The Kentucky 811 Pregame show begins 30 minutes prior to tipoff.
Eastern Kentucky enters its sixth season under head coach
Greg Todd after finishing 25-9 overall and 15-3 in Atlantic Sun Conference play last season. The Colonels captured the program's 11th regular-season conference championship and first ASUN title before defeating top-seeded Utah, 72-58, in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament. Their season ended at Harvard in the second round.
The Colonels carry that momentum into their first season in the United Athletic Conference, where they were picked to finish second in the preseason coaches poll. Junior guard
Liz Freihofer and senior guard
Kirsten Lewis-Williams earned preseason all-conference honors as EKU looks to build on three consecutive 20-win seasons, a first in program history.
Freihofer returns after averaging 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists while starting all 34 games last season. The Union, Kentucky, native earned first-team All-ASUN honors and the league's scholar-athlete of the year award, connecting on 73 3-pointers at a 38% clip. Her 143 career 3-pointers rank seventh in school history.
Sophomore guard
Kenleigh Woods and senior forward
Kailani Lindsey round out EKU's returning group. Woods earned ASUN All-Freshman Team recognition after averaging 10.6 points and 2.7 assists, while Lindsey appeared in all 34 games and contributed 5.4 points per contest.
Lewis-Williams headlines the newcomers following stops at Buffalo and South Florida. The former Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year helped Buffalo capture the 2025 Women's National Invitation Tournament championship, averaging 13.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals that season. She joins the Colonels after appearing in 30 games with eight starts at South Florida last year.
EKU's seven other newcomers include four Division I transfers in
Rylee Kalocay (Kent State),
Michelle Ugwah (San Francisco),
Nicole Fritea (Maryland) and
Brooke Nichelson (Murray State). The Colonels also added
Elyse Autrey from Division II Augusta,
Luna Ueda from Casper College and true freshman
Kiera Healy from Archbishop Carroll High School in Ohio.
Scouting UT Martin
UT Martin opens its 18th season under head coach Kevin McMillan with 12 newcomers on its 14-player roster. The Skyhawks were picked to finish fourth in the OVC preseason poll, while transfers Tyler Jones and Raven Sims earned spots on the league's preseason players to watch list.
Sophomore guard Sidni Middleton leads the returning group after averaging 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds last season, earning OVC Freshman of the Week honors three times.
Series History
Monday marks the 59th meeting between Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin and the first since the Colonels' final OVC season in 2020-21. EKU leads the all-time series 31-27, while UTM has won the last seven meetings.
