QUICK FACTS
Head Coach: Sarah Cartmill (3rd season at St. John Fisher)
2025-26 Record: 12-14 (9-7 Empire 8)
2025-26 Leaders: Scoring (Presleigh Brunner, 14.6 PPG), Field Goal Percentage (Hannah Ferguson, 45.9%), 3-Point Percentage (Natalie Mai, 37.2%), Free Throw Percentage (Presleigh Brunner, 81.8%), Rebounding (Hannah Ferguson, 6.1 RPG), Assists (Julia Perales, 68), Steals (Presleigh Brunner, 47), Blocked Shots (Hannah Ferguson, 18)
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cardinals went 12-14 overall and 9-7 in Empire 8 Conference regular-season play during the 2025-26 season. The program’s streak of eight consecutive seasons with at least one win in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament came to an end when they fell 78-53 on the road to No. 6-seeded Houghton in the first round. Houghton went on to reach the conference championship game.
Senior guards Presleigh Brunner and Hannah Ferguson were the Cardinals’ only All-Empire 8 honorees last year. Brunner earned second-team honors; Ferguson garnered third-team recognition.
Brunner led the Cardinals in scoring, averaging a career-high 14.6 points per game while shooting 37.7% overall (146-of-387) and 81.8% from the free-throw line (63-of-77). She also led Fisher with 47 steals and finished second on the team in rebounds (5.8 per game), both of which marked career highs.
Ferguson led the Cardinals in rebounding (6.1 rebounds per game) and finished second in scoring (11.8 points per game), setting career highs in both categories. She finished with the Cardinals' highest field goal percentage (45.9%, 113-of-246) and second-highest 3-point percentage (34.3%, 35-of-102). Defensively, she led the team with 18 blocked shots and finished third with 32 steals.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Valerosa Gambitta (Jr., G/F) – Gambitta is the Cardinals’ top returning offensive player from last year. She played in 26 games and started in 25 of them, averaging 7.4 points while shooting 40.2% from the field and 72.5% from the free-throw line. Gambitta scored in double figures seven times, with six of those performances coming during Empire 8 play. She also finished second on the team in assists (51), steals (34) and blocked shots (13).
Danielle Seamon (Sr., F) – Seamon set career highs in almost every category with an expanded role last season. She played in all 26 games, starting in 20, and averaged 4.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest. She was third on the team in rebounds. Seamon had one of the best performances of her collegiate career against RPI last year, scoring 13 points while shooting 5-of-8 (2-of-3 from three) with nine rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and a steal.
Alexa Gibson (Sr., F) – Gibson played in 24 games and made a pair of starts last season. She averaged nearly four points and two rebounds per contest. Gibson scored a career-high 18 points while shooting 7-of-7 from the field in a February win over Elmira and had 16 points while shooting 6-of-9 in a November loss to Oswego State.
Payton O’Dell (So., F) – O'Dell appeared in 22 games and made four starts as a freshman last season, averaging 4.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. She scored a season-high 15 points while shooting 4-of-7 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free-throw line in Fisher's win over Utica on Jan. 31. O'Dell also grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds in a victory over SUNY Morrisville on Nov. 18.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Cardinals have posted a winning record in Empire 8 play every year since going .500 (7-7) in league play in 2011-12.
