Colorado State women’s basketball has plenty of new faces coming into the 2025-26 season.

For one new face, however, the move to CSU comes with an extra layer of hurdles for a team looking to make a statement in its final Mountain West season.

Madelyn Bragg, a 6-foot-3-inch senior from Aberdeen, South Dakota, joined the Rams with the expectation of contributing heavily to a CSU team that will deploy more size on the court this season.

The adjustment for Bragg comes with not just trying to fill a void left specifically by former star player Emma Ronsiek, but mainly the jump to Division I basketball. Bragg played her first three seasons of collegiate basketball at Northern State, an NCAA Division II school in her hometown of Aberdeen.

“She’s an all-world player at that (Division II) level,” head coach Ryun Williams said. “We just thought we needed some interior strength and height and force, and she really fit that build.”

Throughout her time playing at the Division II level, Bragg excelled. She left NSU after her junior season, where she averaged 16.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in under 28 minutes of action.

Within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, she made First Team honors in both 2023-24 and 2024-25 as she blossomed into a true star player at both her school and throughout the entire Division II women’s basketball scene.

Bragg announced her commitment to CSU in April, as the Rams went out and made some splashes in the transfer portal. They began with Bragg and closed out the offseason by bringing in guard Lexus Bargesser from Indiana, as well as forward Lexi Deden from Montana State.

“I had a few schools on my initial table that I wanted to really look into,” Bragg said. “But after my visit at CSU, I just kind of knew that this is where I wanted to be. … I just knew that this was going to be the right spot. … The family culture is unlike anything that I saw in the portal, and it’s something that I was really looking for initially.”

At 6 feet, 3 inches tall, the senior forward knows the role she will have to play as the tallest player on the squad. Bragg said she has an idea of where she can fit into a CSU system offense that hasn’t had many traditional bigs in recent times under Williams.

“(CSU) has usually had kind of a big guard, and now everybody’s had to get used to looking into the (starting) five,” Bragg said. “I feel like we’ve all done a good job of growing with that, and I feel like having that experience of being a traditional block post really helps.”

As Bragg enters her senior season, she will be faced with a different task from a majority of other transfers: taking on a leadership role for the underclassmen of the team while also adjusting herself to a new level of play.

“I kind of expressed that it was uncomfortable coming in and having to step into that leadership role being new myself,” Bragg said. “But they said that that’s what these people are expecting. And being a senior and having three years under your belt, these people are going to look up to you, and I appreciate it.”

A big switch into Division I basketball not only comes with new learning curves, but also some exciting opportunities for a senior who has dreamt of playing at the next level for a long time.

“Three years in one conference, you get to know everyone, and you already know who you’re going to play,” Bragg said. “And here, it’s just a completely new landscape with new competition, and that’s always exciting.

South Dakota has throughout history been one of — if not the largest — pipelines for CSU throughout each year’s recruiting process. The likes of the Ronsiek sisters — Emma and Hannah Ronsiek — came out of South Dakota and are two of the program’s starters and best players of the last couple years.

Even going back to Becky Hammon in 1995, who was recruited out of South Dakota and remains the most decorated CSU women’s basketball player in school history, the bars have been set pretty high for players coming out of South Dakota.

In the first season after the departure of Emma Ronsiek, Bragg can bring a lot of the same artillery to the team as Ronsiek — especially already showing her capabilities as a true first option post-scorer at NSU.

“Maddy’s a different player than we’ve had maybe in years past where she can really play with some force around the basket, … true low-post moves, that sort of thing.” Williams said. “She’s going to be on the floor a lot for us.”

Bragg said she recognizes her value but also looks forward to a new role.

“I want to be more comfortable playing on the outside,” Bragg said. “At my old school, it wasn’t really necessary for me to play outside. I kind of just dominated in the paint and that was enough. Here, they kind of were asking more from me on the perimeter, which is something that I appreciate and they were willing to work with me on that.”

CSU is putting out a roster this season with eight underclassmen alongside nine players who either weren’t on the team or were redshirted last year. Yet, team camaraderie looks to be at a high level entering the program’s final season in the MW, and a lot has been in part to Bragg stepping nicely into a leadership role.

“I love (playing with Bragg), especially having that post-to-point connection,” guard Brooke Carlson said. “It’s always fun being able to play with somebody like that, and it just brings energy onto the floor.”

Bragg said that connection goes both ways.

“I feel like me and Hannah’s connection is pretty good, I feel like we both know what we are expecting of each other and what we both like,” Bragg said. “And also Brooke — she’s a pass-first point guard, which I really appreciate. She is really good at looking in and getting touches to those around her. … I like playing with everyone, and I’m excited to grow the chemistry even more.”

As Bragg continues to get more acclimated to both the Ram team and the Division I level, she may grow to be a large part of what coach Williams and CSU envision as a season where the team will reach the top of the conference rankings with a new, well-put-together roster.

“She needs to be a flipping beast,” Williams said. “That’s her role: beast mode.”

Reach Devin Imsirpasic at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter at @DImsirpasic.