PITTSBURG – The Pittsburg State University women's basketball team will partake in the MIAA/GLVC Crossover this weekend in Springfield, Mo., at the O'Reilly Family Event Center on the campus of Drury University.
 
Tip off against Southwest Baptist, Friday (Nov. 13) is set for 7:45 p.m. (CT), and on Saturday (Nov. 14) against Drury at 7:45 p.m. (CT). Mike Snow can be heard live at 100.7 FM which can be found in the story links along with live stats and live video (GLVC Sports Network) options to follow along to the action.
 
Head Coach Amanda Davied
In her ninth year as head coach of her alma mater, Davied owns a 166-74 (.692) record. During her tenure as head coach, she has guided the Gorillas to the Division II National Tournament four times (2025-23 & 2019) with her debut season marking the first coach in program history to guide the Gorillas to a 20-win season. Following the 2024-25 season, Davied was named the MIAA and KBCA Four Year College Coach of the Year after helping lead the Gorillas to a 33-4 overall record and a NCAA Division II Final Four appearance after claiming the MIAA regular season, MIAA Tournament and Central Region Tournament championships. Davied has deep ties to the program first as a player (1999-03), graduate assistant (2003-04) and assistant coach (2004-18) while serving as the lead assistant from 2007-18 for current Division I, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), head coach Lane Lord.

A Peek at the Gorillas
Pittsburg State was tabbed sixth in the MIAA Preseason Coach Poll (Oct. 6) following an 18-11 overall record in 2025-26. The Gorillas began the season in Weatherford, Okla., (Nov. 9) where they fell 75-49 to Southwestern Oklahoma State University at the Pioneer Event Center. Leading the team with 12 points in the game and knocking down a pair of three pointers was Landri Schaffer a first-year player by way of Gardner Edgerton High School. Ja'Miya Brown finished second on the team with 11 points, going 3-of-7 from behind the arc and hauling in seven rebounds. Anaiyah Fletcher finished the game against SWOSU as the leading rebounder with 10, three of which were offensive rebounds while adding in six points. Clara Swearingen led the offense and finished with a team-high four assists against the Lady Dawgs, adding in a pair of three pointers to account for her six points in the season opener.

Brown's Continued Emergence
Coming into 2025-26, Ja'Miya Brown in 39 career games as an underclassman scored 60 points (1.5) and collected 28 rebounds (0.7) in 285 minutes of action (7.3). By the end of the 2025-26 season, Brown scored 330 points (12.2) and grabbed 121 rebounds (4.5) in 692 minutes (25.6) while shooting .375 from behind the arc and .723 from free throws. Brown set new career highs for every statistical category during the 2025-26 season which included scoring 36 points against Western Colorado (Dec. 20). Against WCU, Brown finished going 7-of-13 from behind the arc, her scoring total and amount of made three pointers are tied for the fourth best in a game in PSU history. By the end of the 2025-26 season, Brown had scored 20 or more points in seven games after never scoring in double-figures previously in her collegiate career.

Seeing A Freshman - Sophomore Jump
As a freshman in 2024-25, Clara Swearingen was part of the Final Four team for the Gorillas and saw limited action off the bench (7.1 MPG) while adding 52 points (1.9), nine rebounds (0.3) and 11 assists (0.4). In 2025-26, the Nevada, Mo., native was a key member of the starting unit with 253 points (8.7), 72 rebounds (2.5) and 47 assists (1.6) in 29.9 minutes of action a game. Swearingen came away with a career-high 20 points against Angelo State (Nov. 30), to account for one of 11 games she finished in double figure for points in a game.

Rebounds Galore For #30
Kaycee McCumber enjoyed one of the best rebounding seasons in Pitt State history in 2025-26, finishing with 278 rebounds (9.9). The Farmington, Ark., native tied a school record with 22 boards against No. 6 Fort Hays State (Feb. 21) while adding 16 points for her eighth and final double-double of the season. Among PSU season ranks, McCumber's season totals for rebounds and rebounds per game are good for the best best totals in PSU history. Among Pitt State ranks for double-doubles in a season, McCumber's total of eight is a freshman record and is the seventh-most in a season in program history. For the season, McCumber recorded double digit rebounding totals in 14 games and finished 12 games in double figures for scoring.

Trio of International Rillas
The trio of Anaiyah Fletcher (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada), Karolina Kiraga (Wistka, Poland) and Marie Wembadjonga (Libreville, Gabon) have taken unique paths to end up in Pittsburg, Kan.. Flethcer prepped at the Bond Academy in Ontario before beginning her collegiate career at Division I, University of North Dakota. Kiraga prepped at Providence Classical Christian Academy in Rogers, Ark., before beginning her collegiate career in 2025-26 with the Gorillas. Wembadjonga played at the Lycee Joseph Ambouroue Avaro Secondary School in Gabon before beginning her collegiate career at Chipola College (2023-24) and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO) (2024-25) before being a member of the Gorillas 2025-26 squad.

From Colorado To Kansas
Amanda Byrnes is entering her second season in the Pitt State program after beginning her collegiate career at Metropolitan State University - Denver. The Brighton, Colo., native in two seasons at MSU - Denver, played in 51 games for the Roadrunners with six starts while amassing 153 points, 143 rebounds and 29 blocks in 12.9 minutes a game. In 2025-26 for the Gorillas, Byrnes started in two-of-27 games she appeared in where in 339 minutes (12.6) she collected 125 points (4.6), 91 rebounds (3.4) and a team-high 21 blocks (0.8). Came away with a season-high 15 points against St. Mary's (Kan.) (Dec. 15) and Newman (Jan. 8). Corralled a season-high eight rebounds against Central Oklahoma (Dec. 4) and came away with a season-high five blocks against Northwestern Oklahoma (Nov. 20).

Six Gems
Pittsburg State features six players who played high school basketball in the state of Arkansas. Marin Adams, Ja'Miya Brown, Karolina Kiraga, Kaycee McCumber, Cambrie Phillips and Charley Rawlins. Adams prepped at Farmington High School alongside McCumber, with the duo recording three straight Arkansas State Championships (4A for 2023 & 2024, 5A in 2025) to end their high school careers. Brown prepped at North Little Rock High School while Kiraga played at Providence Classical Christian Academy in Rogers. Phillips prepped at Bentonville High School and the first-year Gorilla, Rawlins played at Fayetteville High School. 

Series Brief For SBU
All-time against Southwest Baptist, Pittsburg State owns a 36-25 advantage over the Bearcats entering the weekend. In the last 10 meeting overall, PSU is 9-1 with the lone setback coming in Kansas City, Mo., on March 6, 2014 thanks to a last second putback from SBU to down the Gorillas in the MIAA Tournament, in what is up until this weekend the only prior neutral site game in the series.
 
Bearcat Scout
Southwest Baptist began it's 2026-27 season in Searcy, Ark., (Nov. 11) where they fell to Harding, 84-45. The leading scorer for SBU against HU with 12 points was Ai Yonemura who also provided a team-high three assists in the game. Tinu Fakunle and Karly Holm each recorded six rebound performances with Fakunle the other member of the team to crack double figure points with 10. As a team, Southwest Baptist went 0-of-10 from behind the arc and 16-of-59 from the floor (.271) while nabbing 32 rebounds and turning the ball over 12 times. Under the guidance of first-year head coach, Matt Bollant the Bearcats were picked to finish 11^th in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Preseason Coaches' Poll (Oct. 23) after going 8-18 a season ago.
 
Short History Against DU
Pittsburg State and Drury have only meet six prior times with the Panthers owning a 4-2 advantage in the series. In the last meeting (Nov. 28, 2014), No. 10 Pitt State claimed a 78-73 win in Springfield over No. 7 Drury, thanks to 27 points and eight rebounds from Lizzy Jeronimus as three other Gorillas also finished in double figures in the early season top 10 clash. All-time in Springfield, the series is 2-2 with the Gorillas other win coming on Dec. 1, 2001 (66-56).
 
Panther Outlook
Tabbed to finish third in the GLVC Preseason Coaches' Poll after going 21-8 in 2025-26, this weekend will be the first action of the year for the Panthers in head coach Kaci Bailey's fourth season in charge. All-Region forward, Sara Mendel is back after averaging 16.1 points and 10.1 rebounds a game while shooting .671 from the field. All-GLVC first-team selection Rhi Gibbons finished second on the team with 14.5 points and 5.4 rebounds a night while shooting .769 from free throws and .356 from distance. Second-team All-GLVC honoree, Kaylee King led the team with 2.4 assists a game while adding in 10.9 points and 2.4 rebounds, from the charity stripe she shot .933 and .408 from behind the arc. As a team, DU averaged 73.0 points while shooting .448 from the field, .380 from behind the arc and .711 from free throws. Opponents put up on average 65.2 points while shooting .396 from the field, .268 from distance and .740 from the charity stripe.