Baylor Women's Basketball Adds Former LSU, Notre Dame Center Kate Koval
WACO, Texas – Baylor women's basketball head coach Nicki Collen announced the signing of Kate Koval, adding her to the 2026-27 roster on Saturday morning.
"We are beyond excited to welcome Kate to Baylor," Collen said. "She has played at an elite level over the last two seasons and has shown the consistent ability to score around the rim and protect the rim. Kate, at 6-5, can be a decision-maker on the perimeter both as a scorer and facilitator, which will expand our offense. Her shot-blocking ability will help anchor our defense. She is an elite student with a big heart for others, and our fans will love her on and off the court."
Koval comes to Waco after one season in Baton Rouge, where she made 17 starts and appeared in all 35 games, averaging 8.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Her 43 blocks on the season ranked 11th in the Southeastern Conference, and she swatted a season-high five blocks twice in SEC play, against Arkansas at home and on the road at Mississippi State.
The Kyiv, Ukraine, native scored a career-high 23 points in non-conference play against Alabama State last season, going 8 of 15 from the floor and adding seven points from the free-throw line. She recorded seven double-doubles during the 2025-26 campaign, bringing her career total to nine, and set career highs in free throws made (7), free-throw attempts (9), field-goal attempts (15) and steals (9).
In her All-ACC Freshman Team season at Notre Dame, Koval made 10 starts, averaging 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while dishing out 40 assists with 55 blocks in South Bend, the fourth-most blocks by a freshman in Fighting Irish history, highlighted by a career-high seven blocks at Lafayette.
Koval recorded her first career double-double against James Madison with 14 points and 16 rebounds, part of a historic run through her first three collegiate games in which she posted 40 points, 33 rebounds, 15 blocks and eight assists, becoming the first freshman in Division I basketball, male or female, to hit those numbers since Anthony Davis.
She was ranked the No. 5 overall prospect and the No. 1 post player in ESPN's HoopGurlz recruiting rankings after being named a McDonald's All-American and a SLAM All-American.
Baylor is gearing up for the new season coming off a 25-9 campaign in 2025-26, finishing third in the Big 12 while extending the nation's second-longest active streaks of 20-win seasons (26) and consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (22). The Bears led the conference in blocks per game and 3-point field-goal percentage defense and ranked 14th nationally in field-goal percentage defense. Baylor owns the most victories among Big 12 teams since Collen took over the program ahead of the 2021-22 season, and Collen ranks third among active major-conference head coaches in wins through their first five seasons at their current school and fifth in winning percentage in that same span.
