Courtsey of Brian Beard

Following a highly successful 2023–2024 campaign, the women’s basketball team is looking to win its second consecutive NESCAC championship and return to the NCAA DIII tournament. The Polar Bears will start the long 24-game season with a handful of non-conference games before focusing on keeping the NESCAC title in Brunswick with conference play.

Last season was one for the Polar Bear record books: The team posted 28–3 overall and 9–1 conference records, finished as NESCAC champions and advanced to the DIII Elite Eight, falling 47–52 in the quarterfinals to Smith College. Following up on last year’s impressive resume, the Polar Bears are ranked fifth in the country to start this season, according to D3hoops.com.

Head Coach Megan Phelps ’15, who was a member of the team during her four years as a student at Bowdoin, acknowledged the pressure the team feels this year following last season’s results.

“Bowdoin women’s basketball has this amazing tradition of success.… That’s a different level of mental preparation when you’re the person with a target on your back,” Phelps said.

Captain Sydney Jones ’25 is coming off a historic junior season, where she was named 2024 NESCAC Player of the Year. Averaging 15.9 points, 3.6 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game, the guard also became the seventh Bowdoin player to receive First Team Women’s Basketball Coaching Association (WBCA) All-American honors. Additionally, ahead of this season, Jones was named a First Team Preseason All-American by D3hoops.com.

“It was really nice to be honored in that way,” Jones said. “We talk a lot about the possibility of pressure—I take that pressure as a privilege and knowing that I’ve certified myself as a basketball player.”

This season, the team is composed of three seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and three first years. With a combination of seven guards, four forwards and two dual-position players,  Bowdoin can score in a variety of ways. The Polar Bears averaged 67.6 points per game last season, including over 30 percent from behind the three-point line and 70 percent from the free-throw stripe.

Looking towards this season, Phelps believes in her team’s ability to break down its opponents.

“We have a lot of versatility this year,” Phelps said. “We are very balanced in terms of incredible post players and great guard play.… There’s a lot of different ways we can attack and counter what other teams have.”

Captain Callie Godfrey ’25 remarked on the first years’ seamless transition into collegiate basketball and the team in general.

“They’ve been so awesome. They’ve taken everything in stride,” Godfrey said. “I think they are some of the most competitive of us, yet so easygoing and down for anything.”

While the team is all friends, healthy competition is something the Polar Bears bring to the table every day.

“We try to put them in situations in practice that are almost harder than situations they will be in games, because you want the game to feel easy in comparison,” Phelps said.

Jones remarked that the team’s closeness was crucial to its success last year.

“A big thing for us that carried us last year was our energy, intensity and camaraderie” Jones said. “Our team is super close. We always talk about how we get to play basketball with our best friends.”

Community, both on and off the court, is important for the Polar Bears. With the team having so much success, students and town members alike flock to Morrell Gymnasium for home games. Over 11,000 fans attended last year’s games, averaging 600 per game, leading the NESCAC in attendance rate.

The Polar Bears will play eleven games between now and early January when NESCAC play begins. Looking towards their season opener tomorrow versus the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds, the Polar Bears are excited to get back in Morrell Gymnasium and hopefully start their season on a positive note.

“When I look to the game this weekend, it’s our first opportunity to play against somebody other than ourselves,” Phelps said. “Skidmore is a really good team—we’ve scheduled some pretty hard non-conference to try to help us prepare for NESCAC play. I’m going into the game curious and excited to see where we’re at.”

Even before the Polar Bears’ first tip-off, Jones did not mince words—they’re here to win it all.

“The ultimate goal is a national championship and a NESCAC championship along the way,” Jones said.