17.9 points per game, 591 total points and career highs in single game points, assists and rebounds. That’s the kind of legacy former Quinnipiac guard Gal Raviv had on the women’s basketball program.
Her history-making year resulted in her transfer to the University of Miami Hurricanes which was much more impactful. Raviv’s exit raised a very critical question for the 2025-26 season: Who was going to fill the void left in the Bobcat frontcourt?
Enter guard Ella Ryan.
The Brentwood, Tennessee native is approaching her first collegiate season with a simple mindset: enjoy it.
“It’s so much fun,” she said. “It’s nothing like I’ve ever experienced and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Before Ella Ryan ever stepped foot on Hamden hardwood, she had a high school career that was nothing short of historic. As a junior with the Brentwood High School Bruins, she averaged 24 points per game, shooting 35% from range and 91% from the free throw line.
Her senior campaign was even better.
In her final year as a Bruin, she averaged 25 points per game, finishing the year with a 38% three point shooting percentage. She left Brentwood with the career program records in points (2,321), rebounds (600), steals (275) and made three pointers (309). Not to mention she also holds the single season point record (689) and single game point record (40). To say she left her mark on the program would be an understatement.
With a record-breaking career in the rearview mirror, several Division 1 schools came calling. For Ryan, it was the first impression with head coach Tricia Fabbri on a recruiting visit that made Quinnipiac feel like home.
“Knowing the kind of environment I’d be stepping into here outside of the great academics, that was really a big draw,” Ryan said. “She knew that coming in, I’m obviously a freshman, I don’t know anything, kind of nervous, jitters, trying to make a good impression. So knowing that she believed in me to play, it made me feel closer to her.”
Coming to Quinnipiac gave Ryan a privilege very few athletes get to do: play collegiate athletics with their siblings by their side. In Ella’s case, she gets to start her collegiate career with her sister, Sydney Ryan.
“It’s honestly meant the world. She has been my number one supporter. My day one. Been there through thick and thin,” Ella said. “It’s so amazing to be out there with her and laugh with her and share all these experiences that I missed out on over three years while she was at Furman…I’m so grateful for the opportunity.”
For Sydney, taking the off-court bond on the court continues to be a blessing.
“It’s just so gratifying,” Sydney said. “It’s just so amazing to watch her go run around and do all the things I’ve watched her work so hard for.”
Sydney hasn’t been the only one helping her adjust, with Ella crediting much of her early confidence to the steady mentorship of junior guard Karson Martin, helping the freshman navigate the pace of college basketball.
“She’s been behind me from day one,” Ella said. “She really has just been on the sidelines talking me through things, slowing it down for me, taking it play by play, and just really breaking it down into terms that I understand as someone who’s new to all of this stuff.”
Nine games into the year, Ella has made her impact. She is currently second on the team in points, with 112, and three pointers with 25, shooting 49% from range. She also recorded a career high in points, with 22, against the College of Charleston. That performance has earned her MAAC Rookie of the Week twice.
It’s extremely rare to see this kind of play this early into a career. For Ella, it boils down to one word: confidence.
“We’ve put Ella on the fast track,” Fabbri said. “What she’s doing throughout her early career on both ends of the floor is really impressive … she just does so many things well.”
That confidence comes from more than just the coaching staff, but her fellow teammates as well.
“Every time I shoot it, my teammates have the expectation that it’s going to go in, therefore I can be confident that I’ll make it as well,” Ella said. “If (Ella O’Donnell) is throwing it to me then she must believe in me, so I can believe in me too.”
This kind of faith is set in a foundation built off the court.
“I’m just a little ball of energy and so ready to laugh,” Ella said. “I love to laugh. I love being around people, I love playing guitar, I love coloring, I love a lot of random things and love to find out what I like.”
Ella’s infectious energy has taken deep roots in the program.
“I call her joy,” Fabbri said. “She brings a lot of joy on and off the court.”
Only a short way into her collegiate career, Ella is still learning, still growing and still enjoying every step of the journey. In a season defined by uncertainty, she has already provided clarity. Not just how she fills a role, but how she carries herself through it.
For the player she once was and the one she’s becoming, the message remains the same.
“You can.”
