11/1/2026 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
2025-26 Sun Belt Conference regular season champions feel they have the talent and the system to continue enjoying success in the Sun Belt
STATESBORO - The 2025-26 Sun Belt Conference regular season champion Georgia Southern women's basketball team takes to the court on Monday, Nov. 2, and the Eagles will have a decidedly different look to the squad when the team tips off against Bowling Green in the MAC/SBC Challenge.
New head coach Heather Macy replaces the departed Hana Haden, who took the University of Memphis position after two seasons in Statesboro with the Eagles. Gone are four starters from last season's 23-8 squad that set a school record in the NCAA era for wins in a season, but five returners and eight newcomers will make up Coach Macy's inaugural Eagle squad.
When Coach Macy - who directed Nova Southeastern to the Sunshine State Conference tournament title and an NCAA Division II tournament berth in 2025-26 - talks about what her team has been through from the beginning of Summer workouts through the preseason practices and scrimmages, she is encouraged that the team will hit the ground running.
"The buy-in is absolutely incredible, with being able to retain as many returning players as we did once we explained our style of play and how it was going to be an adjustment that they would need to make to fit," Coach Macy said. "I appreciate the work ethic, I appreciate the passion in which they've competed and it's been absolutely unbelievable, that buy-in."
The coaching staff that Coach Macy has assembled is also full of familiarity and experience. Coach Butch Estes brings a wealth of college basketball knowledge over from the men's side to be Coach Macy's assistant. The former head men's coach for Furman and Presbyterian met Coach Macy while he was the head men's coach at Barry and she was coaching the women, then carried that association over until Coach Macy got the Georgia Southern position. Two more former head coaches - Jasmin Coleman (Walters State) and Donna Carr (Davis & Elkins) are also on the staff, while both Josie Earnhardt and Abria Trice are former student-athletes who played for Coach Macy at Greensboro College and East Carolina, respectively.
The style of play that Coach Macy refers to is an up tempo style, both offensively and defensively, that even makes last season's play seem stolid from a team that led the Sun Belt Conference in field goal percentage and averaged 71.8 points per game. And the one thing that she says her team needs the most going into the season is just the minutes together out on the floor.
"We need to play, play, play," Coach Macy said. "I think that the continuity of them playing together is the key element. Our three guys that came over from Nova is a huge advantage for us, and being able to recruit freshman that are college ready right away has been an advantage. What we've got to do now is get those guys in between the pieces of the puzzle fitting together and get them in the rhythm of understanding one another's game better. The more we play, the more we learn, the more we're going to grow and later in the year we will be a way better basketball team than we are today."
Chief among the five returnees for the Eagles is second-year forward Kayla Cleaveland (6-0, 2nd, Woodstock, Ga.), who was named a third team All-Sun Belt Conference preseason selection after averaging 7.3 points per game last year and setting the GS freshman scoring record with 35 points against Coastal Georgia on December 12th. She's joined in the frontcourt by fellow returnee Lia Anderson (6-1, 4th, LaPlace, La.), who shot 51.9% from the field a year ago. Add to those pair of returnees three talented newcomers in third-year Unique Horton (6-3, 3rd, Miami, Fla.) and fourth-year Hailey Chiles (6-3, 4th, Greenwood, S.C.), who both played for Coach Macy at Nova Southeastern a year ago, and first-year Jailyn Williams (6-0, 1st, Port St. Lucie, Fla.), and the Eagles have more size and depth in the post than they had in 2025-26.
The other three returnees for the Eagles - fourth-years Kyla Bryant (5-8, 4th, Salisbury, N.C.) and Nevaeh Brown (5-10, 4th, Columbia, Md.) along with third-year Jamiria Jones (5-9, 3rd, Birmingham, Ala.) - all will have the opportunity to produce offensively after having a hand in last season's championship squad. The other wings joining the group include another Nova Southeastern transfer in fifth-year Markayla Holland (5-10, 5th, Waterford, Mich.), Austin Peay State transfer Kyra Perkins (5-10, 4th, Morrison, Tenn.) and Central Connecticut State transfer Kiyah Lewis (6-0, 2nd, Fredericksburg, Va.).
A rotating group of point guards will direct what should be a high octane offense with Chipola JC transfer Tamiria Jones (5-9, 3rd, Birmingham, Ala.) returning to the Eagles after a year away and incoming first-year Kiara Anderson (5-5, 1st, Denver, N.C.) joining the mix of Bryant and Jamiria Jones at the spot.
Despite the hardware earned by the Eagles last season, a preseason poll of the league's coaches have picked Georgia Southern to finish 11th in this year's standings. Of course, the Eagles were picked 10th in the same poll prior to last year when they went 16-2 in the league and captured the crown. Coach Macy credits that to the changing nature of college athletics in the transfer portal era.
"The way things have changed and adjusted, it's not like it was before," Coach Macy said. "There's way less of a dynasty; instead it becomes who's good right away. Can they be good immediately with the roster turnover across the country. I think one year of a championship doesn't automatically mean a second year of a championship. But I do think that how we recruit, the nature of Statesboro and Georgia Southern, that we can create sustainability where we will be a tough out every game."
The Eagles' schedule is an attractive one as Georgia Southern will play 17 home games this season, a new program high. Attractive regional matchups against FGCU, Wofford, FIU and College of Charleston spotlight the home slate, along with the program's annual Kids Field Trip Day game against Charleston Southern on December 7, which will be played in Hanner Fieldhouse. The road slate includes a trip to the University of Georgia on December 28 as well as a Thanksgiving week trip to Cleveland State to take part in the Viking Invitational.
Success for Coach Macy and the Eagles in 2026-27 might look a little different in her first year with the program, but she wants to make it clear what her focus, and the team's focus, will be each night out on the court. "Success is measured differently in my career now than it was previously, but I will never back away from the fact that I coach winning basketball. Winning is winning, and every single time we step on the court, we expect to win."
