ORANGE, Calif. — The Chapman University women's basketball team opens the 2026-27 season on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Sewanee. With plenty of experience returning from last year's squad, Chapman will look to rise up the SCIAC standings.
Three starters and 12 players overall return in 2026-27, led by a trio of seniors. Layla Woods, Makena Nitao and Maile Nakaji have all earned at least one All-SCIAC honor over the last three years – Nitao as a freshman, Nakaji as a junior and Woods as a sophomore and junior.
Woods has averaged just over 13 points and seven rebounds per game for her career. She is closing in on becoming the Panthers' next 1,000-point scorer, needing just 69 more points to reach the milestone. She is already the seventh player in Chapman's Division III history to eclipse 500 rebounds and could out herself near the top of the all-time list be season's end.
Nakaji and Nitao have been mainstays at the guard for the last three years. Nakaji is coming off an All-SCIAC season in which she averaged a career-best 13.6 points per game. With over 900 career points, she will race Woods into the 1,000 point club over the first few games of the season.
Nitao started her career as an All-SCIAC selection but suffered a season-ending injury as a sophomore. She played in every game as a junior, coming off the bench in all but one, and averaged 10.3 points and one steal per game.
Nitao and Nakaji are joined in the backcourt by junior Kira Watanabe, who led the team with 3.2 assists per game last season. She also had 49 steals and knocked down 47 three-pointers.
The experienced roster continues onto the bench with Jemma Lacap, Emerson Ludwick, Andi Martinez and Sydney Teoh all appearing in at least 18 of the Panthers' 26 games a year ago.
After opening with Sewanee on Saturday, the Panthers face a pair of NAIA teams before an exhibition with Penn. December opens with three SCIAC games before a trio of non-conference games at home. A trip to Las Vegas and the D3hoops.com classic closes out 2026 before facing the bulk of the SCIAC schedule in the new year.
Chapman was picked to finish fourth in the SCIAC standing in a poll of the conference coaches and was one of four teams to pick up a first-place vote. Redlands was picked as the conference favorite, followed by Cal Lutheran and CMS. The SCIAC will welcome Azusa Pacific into the conference schedule this year but the Cougars will not yet be eligible for postseason play.
