With Many New Players and Speed, Women’s Basketball Team Starts at Home

That's life in the world of community college sports, says College of the Siskiyous women's basketball coach Noelle Collier of the speed with which rosters change. With only two returning sophomores for the 2025-26 season, and only one returning starter, this year's roster-churn has been more than most for the Eagles.

Going into their first game, on the first day of November, at home against Solano at 2 p.m., Collier said the team was excited about getting started and excited about the upcoming season.

What hasn't changed is the guard-centric approach that Eagle fans are familiar with.

Sophomore Alexes Collier from Yreka, the team's one returning starter, is a good player to build a team around. A 5-5 point guard, she was the Golden Valley Conference's second leading scorer last year (18 points per game) and a 1st Team All-Conference selection. As the coach's daughter, Alexes has spent a lot of time on the Eagles' Tom Powers Court since she was a little kid. "She's been doing it for years; she has it down," Coach Collier said. "She's good in the director's role, and that's really important with so many new players."

Also returning is 5-6 guard Rayana Atkins of Owyhee, NV, who played sparingly last year but "has improved a ton" and gained confidence, according to the coach.

Two other sophomores who played basketball last year are still at school but doing other sports. Sam Gish is on the soccer team. Kaelyn Lange is on the softball team.

Eight freshmen are new to the hoops team, although only six of them will be playing early in the season. They are 5-8 guard/forward Kady Lindstrom from Eagle Point, OR; 5-11 guard/forward Alayja Oliver from Weed; 5-6 point guard Ashley Wicks from Portola; 5-8 guard/forward K'shalee Smartt-Thomas from Klamath Union High School in Oregon; 5-4 guard Kaitlin Mandell from Pyramid Lake, NV; and 5-7 guard/forward Annabell McCarthy from Weed.

Two other freshmen will be on the bench supporting their teammates while recovering from injuries: Ivy LameBear is a 5-4 guard from Hoopa, and Naima Head is a 5-3 walk-on guard from Chiloquin, OR.

"Eight is great," Coach Collier said of the eight players that will take the court to open the season, a slogan she also used last year when the Eagles had a roster of four freshmen and four sophomores. Those Eagles finished third in the GVC with a 5-3 record and went 17-11 overall, including a first round loss at Cosumnes River in the NorCal Regional playoffs.

Legendary Eagle coach Tom Powers is continuing as an assistant coach, while former Eagles men's basketball player Chris "Chico" Rivera, who's been coaching in the area for many years, is new to the staff.

Collier said the plan for this year is using team speed and athleticism "full court to cause havoc" for opposing teams. "We have a few more outside shooting options, and we can guard big," she said.

Moving up to the speed of community college basketball can be a big adjustment for freshmen, especially those who come from small schools like Weed and Portola.

Alayja Oliver and Annabell McCarthy played for the best girls basketball teams in Weed High School's history, teams that won three consecutive section championships and a state championship in 2024.

Collier said they're both progressing and gaining confidence and she thinks they'll do well for the Eagles. She said Alayja is an excellent athlete who can shoot, as is Ashley Wicks, who will help bring the ball up for the offense. Annabell can play the high post and strong forward.

K'shalee Smart-Thomas can shoot as a guard or forward and is expected to get a lot of playing time, Collier said. She took a year off after playing for a strong team in high school.

Kady Lindstrom is being asked to learn all five positions for a utility role that Collier said she willingly accepts. "Her shot is nice. She'll be a big part of our puzzle."

Tired of just practicing against each other, the Eagles were looking forward to opening the season against Solano. "It's so nice to open at home," said Collier, who foresees a tough preseason schedule including several teams that rank high in preseason polls, such as Folsom Lake, Sierra, San Francisco, Fresno, and Hartnell.

After Saturday's opener, the Eagles will play two other preseason home games: against Sacramento City on Dec. 16 and Yuba on Dec. 30, a week before their conference opener at Lassen on Jan. 7.

Collier is starting her sixth season as the Eagles' head coach after being an assistant to Tom Powers for eight seasons. The Eagles have made it to the state playoffs most of those years. She was also an all-star player on teams coached by Powers, and before that she attended youth basketball camps led by Powers. She said she and assistant coach Chico Rivera first met when they were both fifth graders at a COS camp. A few years later, she said "My first job was being a counselor at COS, and Chico was there. We've always had that love for the game, and I've always wanted him as an assistant. He's coached so much in the south county and does a great job."

By Steve Gerace