Courtesy of Brian Beard

Grace Kinum ’28 sealed the women’s basketball team’s fate last Saturday. The sophomore guard matched her career high with 26 points and added six rebounds, pulling the team forward to a win against Williams College (10–12; 3–5 NESCAC).

Although the Polar Bears (20–1; 8–0 NESCAC) finished strong, the game was not quite a breeze. During a tight third quarter, the team leaned back on their defense, and Kinum was pushed to step up with a strong performance to turn the game into a 64–51 triumph.

“It’s hard being on the road [with a] long trip to Middlebury and then Williams, so I think you could see a little bit of that in our style of play,” Kinum said. “We are a little tired, shaking off our legs.… It’s also hard to be undefeated in the NESCAC; teams are always scouting us. There’s a lot of pressure on that.”

Still, the team stayed strong.

“We really stuck to our principles.… Even when Williams was playing really well, we stayed calm and collected and got through that little rough patch,” Kinum explained.

Kinum pointed to the Polar Bear’s unified front as a key factor in their win and the reason her performance shone that night.

“They can shut down one person, but they can’t shut down a whole team,” Kinum said. “That was probably what was working for me.”

This season, Kinum has taken on a larger role within the team. After graduating three seniors, including Sydney Jones ’25, the program’s two-time NESCAC Player of the Year, the team’s  offense was forced to shift, demanding more responsibility from every team member.

“As a freshman, I was doing whatever I could, and we had [Jones], who was so amazing that she carried a lot of that weight for us,” Kinum said. “So this year has been a big focus on distributing that weight and that scoring and defense, and we’re all carrying parts of it.”

The balance, she explained, comes from the bond among the 13 members of the team, each shaped by their passion for the sport and community they find in each other.

“We trust each other to have each other’s backs,” she said.“When things are going wrong, instead of getting mad at each other, we come together instead and take a deep breath, and then we refocus, and it works out.”

Kinum’s connection to the College goes beyond basketball. Shaped by backyard games in New Jersey with her three older sisters, a driving force in her competitive streak, Kinum always knew she wanted to continue playing in college but wasn’t sure where.

“My parents both went [to Bowdoin]. Bowdoin has been a big part of my life for a while, but I didn’t really consider going until my senior year, and I came to visit. You could tell these girls [on the team] actually really liked each other,” Kinum said. “Watching them play, seeing the style and then meeting Coach [Megan Phelps] and her values—the team really resonated with me, and it was something I really wanted to be a part of.”

Looking ahead to the weekend, the team will host Wesleyan University (6–14; 1–7 NESCAC) today at 7 p.m. and Trinity College (15–7; 4–4 NESCAC) on Saturday at 3 p.m. With seniors set to be honored, Kinum acknowledged how the games will be bittersweet.

“It’s sad because it’s the end of an era, and we have five seniors, so we’re losing a lot, but I think we’re excited that this isn’t the end,” Kinum said. “It’s Senior Night, but we have so much more basketball left to play.”

With the NESCAC championships approaching in the coming weeks, the possibility of Bowdoin hosting and hopes of a deep NCAA run after last season’s Sweet 16 appearance, the Polar Bears are approaching the final stretch with momentum.

“It is a privilege that we get to be nervous to be here. We’re nervous, but the other team’s nervous too, and we have the hard work, and we have the preparation to back up those nerves,” Kinum said.

Kinum stays close to what has kept her grounded throughout the season as the NESCACcChampionships quickly approach.

“I chose to play basketball for a reason, and I’m doing it because it brings me joy,” she said.