Purdue Women's Basketball Adds Another International Guard to 2026-27 Roster

Another international guard is headed to West Lafayette to play college basketball. On Tuesday, the Purdue women's basketball team landed a commitment from Zoja Stirn, a prominent guard out of Slovenia.

Stirn, a 5-foot-10 guard, will become the seventh international player that coach Katie Gearlds and her staff have added to the 2026-27 roster. She also becomes the fourth member of Purdue's incoming recruiting class, all four coming from overseas.

Stirn competed in the FIBA 2025 U20 Women's EuroBasket, averaging 8.1 points, 3.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds per contest in seven games. Slovenia finished 12th out of 16 teams in the event with a 3-4 record.

She also participated in the FIBA 2023 U18 Women's European Championship with Slovenia, scoring 12.4 points, grabbing 5.0 rebounds and dishing out 3.7 assists per game.

From 2021 through 2025, Stirn competed in five different FIBA events for Slovenia. She played in 32 total games, averaging 9.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Purdue has added nine players to its 2026-27 roster during the offseason — four as recruits and five from the NCAA transfer portal. The Boilermakers are looking to solidify their roster with one spot still open.

Purdue's growing list of international players

A Nike Basketball with a Purdue logo sits on the court of Mackey Arena. | Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier, Lafayette Journal & Courier via Imagn Content Services,

Gearlds and her staff are bringing in multiple international prospects to West Lafayette for next season. Here's the current rundown of who will be on the Boilermakers' roster from overseas:

Keona Douwstra, G — 5-foot-9, freshman (Netherlands)
Katarina Sediva, G/F — 6-foot-1, freshman (Slovakia)
Hannah Wickstrom, G — 5-foot-10, junior (Australia) (transfer from UC-Riverside)
Jelena Bulajic, G — 5-foot-10, sophomore (Montenegro) (transfer from USF)
Anjela Minja, F/C — 6-foot-5, junior (Tanzania) (transfer from Gulf Coast State)
Maya Zilbershlag, G — 5-foot-11, freshman (Israel)
Zoja Stirn, G — 5-foot-10, freshman (Slovenia)

Although several of those players will be playing college basketball for the first time, this is a group that has a lot of experience on the international stage. That should be beneficial for Purdue as it heads into the 2026-27 season.

Last season, the Boilermakers finished with a 13-17 record, which icnluded a 5-13 mark in Big Ten play. They earned the No. 14 seed in the Big Ten Tournament but were defeated in the opening round by Oregon.

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