The 2025–26 Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs women's basketball team represents Gardner–Webb University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Runnin' Bulldogs, led by first-year head coach Terri Williams, play their home games at Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, North Carolina as members of the Big South Conference.
Previous season The Runnin' Bulldogs finished the 2024–25 season 11–18, 8–8 in Big South play, to finish in sixth place. They were defeated by Radford in the quarterfinals of the Big South tournament.
During the season, on February 6, 2025, it was announced that head coach Scott Merritt was dismissed as head coach, in the middle of his second season, without a reason immediately given, with assistant coach Katie Nelson being named acting head coach for the remainder of the season. Following the season, on April 4, the school announced that they would be hiring former Auburn head coach and Penn State associate head coach Terri Williams as the team's new head coach.
Preseason On October 15, 2025, the Big South Conference released their preseason poll. Gardner–Webb was picked to finish seventh in the conference.
Preseason rankings +Big South Preseason Poll Place Team Votes 1 77 (6) 2 69 (1) 3 67 (1) 4 48 5 41 6 33 7 Gardner–Webb 25 8 23 9 22 (1)
Source:
Preseason All-Big South Teams Preseason All-Big South TeamsTeamPlayerYearPositionSecondAnaya HarrisJuniorGuard Source:
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=""| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=12 style=""| Big South regular season
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Sources:
References