The 2026–27 Niagara Purple Eagles women's basketball team will represent Niagara University during the 2026–27 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by first-year head coach Tiara Johnson, will play their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York and compete as a member of the newly renamed Metro Conference.
Previous season
The Purple Eagles finished the 2025–26 season 1–28 overall and 1–19 in MAAC play, to finish last in the conference for the second straight season. They failed to qualify for the MAAC tournament. Their 1–28 record was the program's worst record since the 2010–11 season, when they went 1–29. The Purple Eagles' sole victory came during MAAC play on February 21, when they defeated Rider 56–52 at home.
On April 10, following the conclusion of the season, head coach Jada Pierce announced that she was resigning from the program after 11 years with the team, posting a 113–205 total record which included a 4–53 record over her last two seasons. On May 19, Tiara Johnson was announced as the team's new head coach, who was most recently serving as the associate head coach at St. Bonaventure. In the 2025–26 season, Johnson helped lead the Bonnies to a 17–16 season, including their first postseason appearance in a decade.
Offseason Departures Niagara departures Tamari'a Rumph 0 Guard 5'4" Junior Sacramento, CA Transferred to Hope International (NAIA) Chasity Wilson 1 Guard 5'7" Freshman Newark, NJ Transferred to Maryland Eastern Shore Jordyn Williams 2 Forward 5'11" Sophomore Buffalo, NY Transferred to St. Bonaventure Tyasia Freeman 4 Forward 6'1" Graduate Student Waynesboro, GA Graduated Abimbola Adewumi 7 Guard 5'10" Sophomore Winnipeg, Manitoba Transferred to East Mississippi CC (NJCAA) Raven Sims 8 Guard 5'9" Junior Memphis, TN Transferred to UT Martin Calina Fenceroy 12 Guard 5'5" Graduate Student Omaha, NE Graduated Talia Dial 13 Guard 5'10" Senior El Mirage, AZ Graduated Jade Rutledge 23 Forward 5'10" Senior Buffalo, NY Graduated, entered transfer portal
Incoming transfers Niagara incoming transfers Kimora Berry 1 Guard 5'7" Sophomore Buffalo, NY Holy Cross Violeta Rojas 5 Guard 5'10" Senior Manilva, Spain Ball State Liem Bastekar 10 Guard 5'7" Junior Gedera, Israel Cisco College (NJCAA)
Recruiting class There was no 2026 recruiting class.
Roster Years are listed according to the new NCAA age-based eligibility model.
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=""| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style=""| Metro Conference regular season
Sources:
References
Footnotes