WAUKESHA, Wis. – Change is inevitable in college basketball. For the Carroll University women's basketball team, the 2026-27 season brings plenty of it. 

There is a new head coach on the sideline. There are new offensive and defensive systems being installed. A significant amount of production departed from last year's team, leaving roles that were once well-defined suddenly open for a returning group ready to take the next step. 

Yet amid all that change, first-year head coach Brie Murphy is not asking the Pioneers to forget what brought them success in the first place. 

Instead, she wants to build upon it. 

Murphy takes over a program with players who understand what it takes to compete at a high level. Members of Carroll's returning group have experienced an NCAA Tournament run and postseason victory. Now, as the Pioneers begin a new chapter, Murphy's first priority has been establishing the foundation for what comes next. 

That starts with culture. 

Working hard. Being a good teammate. Embracing competition. Taking pride in improvement without ever becoming satisfied. They are concepts Murphy has emphasized throughout her first preseason in Waukesha, tied together by one message that has quickly become familiar within the program: iron sharpens iron. 

For Murphy, competition on the practice floor is not supposed to divide the team. It is supposed to bring out something better in everyone. 

That approach has accompanied the installation of new offensive and defensive systems, giving Murphy and her staff plenty to teach before the Pioneers ever take the floor for their first game. The goal is to establish an environment where improvement is constantly expected and where competition within the program raises the level of everyone involved. 

Murphy arrives at Carroll following two seasons as an assistant at Division II Maryville, an experience she credits with helping shape the coach she is today. One of the biggest lessons she brought with her has little to do with any individual offensive set or defensive scheme. 

It is understanding the people behind the players. 

Murphy wants athletes willing to invest the extra time required to become successful, whether through additional practice, film study or individual development. At the same time, she understands the importance of balance within the student-athlete experience. 

Building relationships and getting to know players away from basketball are important pieces of that philosophy. By understanding her players as individuals, Murphy believes she can hold them accountable in ways that are productive on the floor while continuing to build the relationships necessary for the program to grow. 

So far, Murphy has liked what she has inherited. 

With a large senior class departing after last season, one of her biggest questions upon arriving at Carroll was who would emerge into expanded roles. Throughout the preseason, those answers have slowly taken shape. 

Murphy has watched returning players step forward as leaders while describing the Pioneers as an engaged group that wants to learn and responds well to coaching. That willingness has been especially important while the team simultaneously adjusts to a new offense, defense and coaching style. 

Some practices have leaned heavily toward defense. Others have focused on offensive development. Through all of it, the Pioneers have continued adjusting, learning and competing. 

For a team experiencing so much change, that willingness to learn may be one of Carroll's most important traits. 

It becomes even more significant as the Pioneers work to replace a considerable amount of production from last season. With a large senior class departing, opportunities exist throughout the roster for players to expand their roles and for Carroll to discover new ways to generate that production. 

The encouraging part for Murphy is that many of the players stepping into those opportunities already understand what winning basketball looks like. 

"They know how to win, and they have that experience," Murphy said. 

The task now is taking that experience and building upon it. 

Seniors Katie Barger and Ryann Wendt have stepped forward throughout the transition, giving the Pioneers veteran leadership as roles evolve. Julia Lokker, a returning all-conference player, provides another experienced option who was one of the Pioneers scoring leaders last season, while Kacy Kratz brings valuable experience of her own as an inside-out player. 

Behind them, competition for opportunities has created exactly the type of environment Murphy wants. 

Juliette Huff has made an argument for an expanded role, while Alayna Petalber has emerged as another leader in the backcourt. Lauren Capstran has made significant strides during the preseason, with Murphy pointing to her as one of the team's most improved players, while Lainey Gussman has taken a jump as well. 

Rather than entering the season looking for one player to replace everything that left, Carroll has spent the preseason uncovering how a collection of returning players can take on greater responsibility. 

That process has created competition, but it has also created opportunity. 

For the team's newcomers, earning their place within that competition will require patience and continued development. 

Murphy understands one of the biggest challenges for any freshman is adjusting to the speed and physicality of college basketball. The newcomers have each shown flashes during their opening months with the program, but experience remains an important part of their development. 

They are learning alongside everyone else. 

That has been made easier by the group Murphy inherited. 

Carroll was already a close team when the new staff arrived, and that chemistry has allowed the Pioneers to compete without allowing competition to work against them. Players have helped each other learn, drawn plays together and spent time watching film as they work through the natural growing pains that accompany new systems. 

Murphy wants an environment in which mistakes are part of that process. 

Instead of players becoming discouraged when something goes wrong, the goal is to identify it, learn from it and be better the next time. Creating that space has been an important part of building a culture where players can learn without becoming afraid to make mistakes. 

That philosophy should be evident in Carroll's style of play. 

Offensively, Murphy wants the Pioneers to play fast while remaining under control. Paint touches and ball reversals will be important pieces of an attack designed to create an advantage and then maintain it. 

How that looks will differ depending on who has the basketball. 

Rather than forcing players into identical roles, Carroll wants to utilize individual strengths to create opportunities for teammates. It is an approach built around unselfish basketball, using each player's strengths to get others open and ultimately finding the right shot at the right moment. 

On the opposite end, Carroll's desired identity is easier to summarize. 

Gritty. Disciplined. In control. 

Murphy wants all five players connected defensively, creating chaos without relying on unnecessary gambles. The Pioneers want to pressure opponents into mistakes while controlling the pace rather than simply reacting to what happens around them. 

Whether Carroll has the ball or not, control is at the center of the identity Murphy is trying to establish. The Pioneers want to dictate how games are played, using disciplined pressure defensively and playing with speed, purpose and composure offensively. 

That brings Murphy back to the concept she has emphasized throughout the preseason: iron sharpens iron. 

A better defense forces Carroll's offense to become sharper in practice. A better offense presents more difficult problems for its defense. Each side pushes the other, and ideally, everyone gets better because of it. 

By the time Carroll begins seeing those challenges from opponents, the difficulty will increase quickly. 

Murphy's first game leading the Pioneers will come against UW-Oshkosh, presenting Carroll with an immediate test. And Murphy would not have it any other way. 

She wants the nonconference schedule to challenge the Pioneers. 

Rather than attempting to hide weaknesses early in the year, Carroll wants opponents capable of exposing them. Those moments provide opportunities to learn what needs improvement and address it as the season moves forward. 

Murphy believes the opening matchup will provide that opportunity immediately while also giving her group the chance to bring plenty of energy into its first game together. 

That approach extends beyond the opener. 

Different opponents will test Carroll in different ways, and Murphy expects that process of discovery to continue throughout the schedule. Wins are not supposed to conceal problems any more than losses are supposed to define the team. 

There is something to learn from both. 

The Pioneers want to continually identify areas that need improvement, build upon what is working and make sure that each game leaves them better prepared for the next challenge. 

That becomes particularly important once Carroll reaches CCIW play, where Murphy will encounter a conference featuring established programs and experienced coaches familiar with the league. 

Entering the CCIW for the first time presents an interesting dynamic. Opponents do not yet have years of familiarity with Murphy's Carroll teams, but Murphy likewise enters without the same history against coaches who have been competing against one another for years. 

Preparation and scouting will be critical. 

With Murphy expecting competitive games throughout the conference schedule, Carroll's ability to understand opponents, adapt and execute its preparation will become increasingly important as the season progresses. 

For Murphy, though, the bigger picture extends beyond any single night. 

She is intensely competitive and enters her first season expecting Carroll to compete and win. Building for the future does not mean sacrificing expectations in the present. 

What matters is how the Pioneers respond when things do not go their way. 

A loss can become an opportunity to learn. A mistake can become an opportunity to improve. Murphy will be less concerned with whether Carroll experiences adversity than whether it continues experiencing adversity for the same reasons. 

Make the mistake, learn from it and do not make it again. 

The same applies individually. 

With so many roles available entering the season, Murphy has reminded her players that opportunity alone guarantees nothing. A large graduating class may have created additional minutes and responsibilities, but someone still has to earn them. 

The coaching staff can believe a player is ready to take the next step, but Murphy knows that confidence ultimately has to come from within. For players stepping into larger roles, believing they belong there is part of learning how to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them. 

It fits her larger vision for year one. 

There are tangible areas Murphy will evaluate throughout the season, from specific statistics to the cohesion of Carroll's offense and defense. But when she eventually looks back on her first year in Waukesha, she also wants to see something that cannot be measured quite as easily. 

Growth. 

Murphy carried a saying from Maryville with her to Carroll: great teams peak in March. 

The Pioneers do not need to be their finished product at the beginning of the season. With a new coaching staff, different systems and players growing into larger roles, the emphasis remains on steadily becoming better. 

What matters is where they go from there. 

Murphy wants the team that finishes the season to be more cohesive than the one that begins it. She wants players to leave the year with greater confidence and pride in who they have become, both individually and collectively. Most importantly, she wants them to look back at their first season together and consider it a positive experience. 

There will be mistakes. There will be lessons. There will be opportunities. 

For a Carroll team simultaneously building something new and relying on a returning group that already understands what winning looks like, each one represents another chance to move forward. 

Because the Pioneers' new era does not begin by starting over. 

It begins by continuing to sharpen what is already there.