NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Saint Mary's College Basketball kicks off the 2025-26 season on Friday as they travel to Naperville, IL to take on North Central College in the season opener.
The Belles and Cardinals meet on opening night for the second straight season after the Cardinals took last year's matchup from the Angela Athletic & Wellness Complex, 88-49.
Saint Mary's heads into their second season under the direction of Head Coach
Rob Hoffman. The Belles went 6-19 (3-13 MIAA) in the first year under Hoffman, finishing eighth in the MIAA.
The Belles return five of their top six scorers from last season including junior
Kate Restovich (St. Charles, MO) who averaged a career high 12 points per game while starting all 25 games for the Belles last season. Restovich also averaged a team high 2.5 assists per game while grabbing 3.4 rebounds.
Kate is joined by her sister junior
Annie Restovich (St. Charles, MO) who averaged 8.5 points per game last season while making a team high 47 three pointers in only 19 games. Both Restovich sisters shot an impressive 36.7% from three point range while both shot over 35% from the field.
Senior
Nicole Connolly (Mokena, IL) returns as a key contributor for the Belles, averaging 5.8 points while starting 24 games and grabbing 3.2 rebounds per game. The sophomore duo of
Ella Notaro (Crystal Lake, IL) and
Kate Passinault (Grand Rapids, MI) look to improve on their impressive freshmen seasons as both averaged over five points and four rebounds per game.
Saint Mary's brings in eight new faces to the program in 2025-26, including senior transfer Hanna Outlaw (Jones, MI). Outlaw joins the Belles from Aquinas College where she averaged 2.4 points and three rebounds per game as a junior. The Belles also add sophomore
Ella Andree (Spring Lake, MI) while adding six freshmen. The six freshmen include
Caroline Langworthy (Cincinnati, OH),
Liv Fry (Fort Wayne, IN),
Gabby Webb (Geneva, IL),
Karina Peppler (New Haven, IN),
Kenadie Schrock (South Bend, IN), and
Cara Kucharski (Lockport, IL).
North Central Cardinals
North Central comes into the season after finishing 2024-25 with a 10-15 record. North Central returns three leaders in Grace Kieffer, Biz Daly, and Jocelyn Trotter. Daly led the team in scoring last season, averaging 15.1 points per game. Daly and Trotter contributed 15 and 11 points each in last season's win over Saint Mary's. The Cardinals were projected to finish sixth in the CCIW after finishing eighth in the conference last season.
The Cardinals come into their eighth season under the direction of Head Coach Maggie McCloskey-Bax.
