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FIU Women’s Basketball Signing Tracker

Ricardo Urrusuno June 19, 2026 6 min read
FIU Women's Basketball Signing

FIUWBB

The Panthers have begun adding to their roster with offseason signings. They are looking to build on their 21-12 record from this past season. Here is the FIU Women’s Basketball signing tracker, with some of the players that head coach Jesyka Burks-Wiley and her staff have brought on board.

Breaunna Ward – Evansville

Ward played her freshman season at Evansville. The 5’10 guard started in 23 of 35 games, averaging 6.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 21.9 minutes.

Breaunna Ward was a three-sport athlete at John Burroughs High School, competing in basketball, volleyball, and track. She earned four letters in basketball, three in volleyball, and two in track.

In basketball, she led John Burroughs High to the 20222 Class 4 State Championship and 2024 Class 5 State Championship. Ward was a 2024 All-Tournament Team honoree and was named All-District and All-Conference.

The St. Louis native played AAU Basketball with the Missouri Phenom, helping them place second at the Nike Nationals in 2022.

Shorna Preston – Pepperdine

Preston spent her junior season playing for the Pepperdine Waves. The 6’1 forward averaged 22.5 minutes, 7.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 34 appearances. She shot for 45.2% from the court as well.
Prior to that, she played her first two seasons at the collegiate level at Dodge City Community College under head coach Landon Steele. As a sophomore, Preston started in all 39 games, averaging 14.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.3 steals, 1.8 blocks, and 27.2 minutes.
She was quite successful with her shots, finishing third in her conference at 52.8% and finishing second in rebounds. Her efforts in 2025 earned her accolades, including an All-American Honorable Mention, selection to the All-KJCC Team, and Defensive Player of the Year. Preston was also a two-time Player of the Game at the NJCAA Tournament.

In 2023-24 as a freshman, Preston made 28 starts in 33 games. She averaged 7.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.2 blocks, and 18.9 minutes per contest.
Shorna Preston graduated from Hillcrest Christian College, where she spent six years on the varsity team under head coach Pero Cameron. The Gold Coast, Australia native was a three-time state champion there. At the club level, she represented the Gold Coast Rolers.

Mio Sakano – Miami (OH)

Sakano played for Miami (OH) during her junior season. The 5’1o guard played in 33 games, scoring 49 points on the season and shooting 34% from the floor for the RedHawks.

She spent her first two seasons playing at South Georgia Tech. In 2024-25, Sakano averaged 14.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.

As a freshman, she averaged 13.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists with a 51.9 shooting percentage. Sakano led the Lady Jets with 400 points in 29 games, and she made 73% of her free throws.

Mio Sakano graduated from IMG Academy in Yamanashi, Japan, where she was coached by Shell Dailey.

Malia Tharpe – San Diego

Tharpe is coming off three seasons playing for the San Diego Toreros. The 6’0 forward was a WCC All-American Honorable Mention. She made seven starts in 24 games, averaging 2.2 points in 13.5 minutes.
In 2024-25, Tharpe averaged 3.o points and 2.3 rebounds per game in 27 appearances. During the 2023-24 season, she averaged 7.8 minutes, 1.7 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 42.9% in 23 contests.

Malia Tharpe competed for the NBL1 side Perry Lakes Hawks from 2021-23, where she won a championship and was named Division 1 MVP in 2022. She was named the 2022 Shenton College Sports Person of the Year.
Tharpe was a U18 WABL All-Star, the 2022 School Sport Championship MVP, and a three-time high school championship MVP. The communications major was a member of Western Australia’s High-Performance Program from 2018 to 2023.
A native of Cottesloe, Western Australia, she also competed in track and field and swimming.

Mable Doumbia – Arizona Western

Doumbia spent the last two seasons playing for the Arizona Western College Matadors. The 6’0 guard started all 29 games as a sophomore, averaging 16.0 points with a 61.1 field goal % from the floor in 31.1 minutes per game. She was eventually named an NJCAA D1 2nd Team All-American.

As a freshman in 2024-25, she started in 22 of 25 games, averaging 12.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 25.0 minutes per game. Doumbia speaks three different languages, including French, and was relied on as the team translator.

Mable Doumbia played in the FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2022 and in the FIBA U16 Women’s African Championship in 2021. She’s the first player in Arizona Western history to play in the national tournaments back-to-back seasons.

Frode Flos van der Schans – Chattanooga Mocs

Playing her first three years for the Chattanooga Mocs, Frode will now be bringing her talents to the 305. She played in all 31 games for the Mocs last season and earned her first start of the year in the SoCon Championship Game. The 6’4 stretch forward adds some much-needed depth to the front court for the Panthers.

Not only is she dominant on the court, but she also dominates in the classroom, earning CSC Academic All-District this past year. In her final year with the Mocs, she averaged 2.9 points, 0.7 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and shot 45% from the floor. Frode now has the opportunity to earn a starting role full-time with the Panthers this season.

Chloe Emanga – Seattle

Emanga played for the Seattle Redhawks her freshman season. The 5’9 guard averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds with an 83.9 free throw percentage in 29 games. Before that, she spent her senior year of high school playing for BasCats USC Heidelberg in the German 2 league. She averaged 7.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.2 steals in 21.4 minutes per game.

The Marcbach am Neckar, Germany native has competed with BSG Ludwigsburg and MTV Stuttgart in the past. Chloe Emanga has competed at the national level in the FIBA U20 and U18 Women’s EuroBasket, as well as the FIBA U16 Women’s European Championship.

Madussou Bamba – Saumur Loire Basket

Bamba comes to FIU as a freshman, having recently played for Saumur Loire Basket. The 5’7 guard helped in their promotion to Nationale 1 in 2024-25. In high school, she played for Lycée Polyvalent Toulouse Bellevue. Madussou Bamba is a native of Paris, France, and she has two siblings who play basketball there.

Paula Acin

Freshman Paula Acin is set to join the Panthers for the upcoming basketball season. Standing at 5’5 the international guard was one of FIU’s latest additions to their backcourt.

While her size may catch some defenders off guard, Acin plays much bigger than her height suggests. She has an incredible ability to weave through defenders, create space, and finish at the rim. Her offensive game doesn’t stop there, though; Acin’s ability to move off-ball and knock down open spots on the floor really sets her game apart.

 

With her ability to score at all three levels, Acin has the potential to make an immediate impact. Conference USA defenders will have their work cut out for them when they try to contain her this season.

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About Post Author

Ricardo Urrusuno

He’s a diehard 305 native who roots for his hometown teams in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Recently, he graduated from FIU with an MBA, but now he’s a Lemonhead covering UM basketball. Known to be anywhere and everywhere, you may catch him at a Miami sporting event.

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