Courtsey of Brian Beard

In a show of its NESCAC dominance, the women’s basketball team (22–0; 8–0 NESCAC) coasted to victory last weekend at home against Middlebury College (14–8; 4–4 NESCAC) and Williams College (13–9; 3–5 NESCAC). With these wins, the team secured the top seed in the NESCAC championship later this month for the ninth time since the conference began, a NESCAC record.

In a strong 64–38 win against Middlebury, Carly Davey ’26, Abbie Quinn ’27 and Sydney Jones ’25 together outscored the entire Middlebury team 41–38. Following the victory, the Polar Bears beat the Ephs 80–56, with Jones, Maria Belardi ’26, Quinn and Grace Kinum ’28 leading the Polar Bears in scoring. The Polar Bears dominated the glass, out-rebounding Williams 40–27.

“Our defense was huge [against Middlebury],” Quinn said. “We kept them to 12 points in the first half. Feeding off that defensive momentum and that confidence going into the Williams game and focusing on our transition defense was really important to us.”

The next day, the Polar Bears celebrated three seniors, Jones, Charlotte Sweet ’25 and Callie Godfrey ’24, on Saturday night against Williams on their home court.

“It was a great weekend feeling all the love and support from the alumni and from all the families being there,” Quinn said. “Being able to support our seniors that have given so much to this program and have mentored all of us in the past. It was awesome to honor them in that way and give back to them for everything they’ve given to us.”

After an undefeated regular season so far, in the latest DIII poll, the Polar Bears ranked fourth in the nation.

“We are confident in our capabilities,” Quinn said. “We lean into each other and feed off each other and know if our record is broken, then that’s something we can handle. It happened to us last year against Bates [College], so we’ve seen it before. We know how to handle it. We know that we still made it far in the tournament and that losses happen sometimes.”

Furthermore, securing the top seed in the NESCAC tournament reinforces the team’s confidence.

“Clinching that number one spot before this weekend takes a little bit of pressure off,” Quinn said. “Knowing that we’re going to come out as a number one seed [in the tournament] regardless of what happens this weekend helps.”

The team holds the top seed for the second season in a row.

“This program has such a history of success,” Kinum said. “It all stems from our coaching staff and the values they instill in us. The hard work stems back to the past, and how every year we’ve been building upon the last. We play how the program has always played.”

Teams with higher seeds host the lower seeded teams in the NESCAC tournament, which provides a home-court advantage for the Polar Bears in Morrell Gymnasium during championship games.

“It’s always an awesome atmosphere in Morrell [Gymnasium],” Quinn said. “We have the community show up. We have super fans that are always there to cheer us on. And of course, I always feel like teams shoot better in their home gym. They’re used to it. They’re more confident. They feed off the energy better. It’s a huge advantage to play at home in the tournament and just makes us feel better.”

As the team looks forward to the NESCAC tournament later this month, it is focusing on maintaining a competitive mentality, acknowledging the ability of any team to win in such high-stakes tournament play.

“Our approach [to NESCACs] will be different from the regular season, because now we know that anybody can knock anybody off,” Belardi said. “Some teams have good nights, others have bad nights. It really could depend on a night sometimes if someone’s hitting shots. We need to look at every opponent the same and just see them as equal competition.”

Last year, the team won the NESCAC championship and made it to the quarterfinals in the NCAA tournament before ultimately falling to Smith College (20–2).

“I think there was no drop-off [from last year],” Belardi said. “We had amazing seniors last year, but we have great freshmen this year that contribute, and I think our team is such a welcoming environment.”

The women’s basketball team will conclude its regular season on the road this weekend against Trinity College and Wesleyan College. It will play its first game in the NESCAC tournament at home on February 22.

While the NCAA tournament is on the team’s mind, players are mindful to prioritize their performance on a game-by-game basis.

“We’re taking it one game at a time,” Kinum said. “We’re going to get through this weekend, go on to NESCACs and then hopefully further.”