No. 20 Taft Heads to Skyline for NorCal Regional Opener

Taft College women's basketball opens the 2026 NorCal Regional Playoffs on the road Wednesday night, traveling to San Bruno to face Skyline College in a first-round matchup between evenly matched 18-10 teams. The Cougars enter as the No. 20 seed and Skyline as the No. 13 seed, with the winner advancing to face No. 4 Fresno City College in the second round. It is a significant postseason test for a Taft group that has spent the year battling in one of the top three strongest conferences in the state.

Despite the lower seed, Taft brings the kind of balance and star power that can travel in March. First-team all-conference guard Madyn Kassatly leads the Cougars and ranks in the top five in multiple conference categories, averaging 16.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while piling up 35 steals and ranking fifth in free-throw shooting. Her ability to score at all three levels and get to the line will be central against a Skyline team that will look to protect its home floor and capitalize on the seeding advantage.

Kassatly is joined by a deep supporting cast that has helped fuel Taft's 18-win campaign. Second-team all-conference guard Ella Waufle provides consistent scoring at 12 points per game, shooting 35.5 percent from the field and sitting atop the conference in free-throw percentage while also ranking in the top five in steals with 25. In the paint, honorable mention forward Alesha Gordon gives the Cougars a presence on the glass, averaging 6 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 41 percent from the floor, a combination that could be pivotal in controlling the boards and limiting Skyline's second-chance opportunities.

Taft's freshman class has also become a defining storyline entering the postseason. Guard Laila Gines is averaging 11 points and 5 rebounds and has already shown she can rise to the moment, scoring a career-high 20 points against state No. 24–ranked Lemoore College. Fellow freshman guard Brooklynn Larsen adds another emerging scoring option after recording a career-high 18 points in the same game against Lemoore. Their production off the perimeter gives the Cougars additional firepower and versatility in what figures to be a tightly contested playoff environment.

With both programs holding identical overall records and Taft battle-tested from a rugged conference schedule, Wednesday's game at Skyline College sets up as a true toss-up with season-defining stakes. The Cougars will look to lean on Kassatly's all-conference leadership, Waufle's efficiency, Gordon's interior work and the impact of their freshmen to extend their postseason run. A win in San Bruno would push Taft into a high-profile second-round meeting with No. 4 Fresno City College and further solidify the Cougars' rise on the regional stage.