Alison Montgomery enters her 12th season as the head coach of the Bates women's basketball team in 2026-27.
The New England Women's Basketball Association Coach of the Year, the D3hoops.com Region I Coach of the Year, and the leader of the NESCAC Women's Basketball Coaching Staff of the Year, Montgomery led Bates to a 26-4 overall record in 2025-26, the most wins in one season in program history. The Bobcats also captured the program's second NESCAC championship and advanced to the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in team history. Montgomery has now led Bates to the NCAA tournament in four of the past five seasons, with two NESCAC titles (2022 and 2026) and two "Sweet 16" appearances (2024 and 2026) mixed in.
In 2024-25, the Bobcats finished 17-10 and 6-4 in NESCAC play. The Bobcats qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament for the third time in the past four years, advancing to the second around after a thrilling win over Southern Virginia.
In 2023-24, Bates had one of their best seasons ever, going 24-6 and 8-2 in NESCAC play. They advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III tournament for the third time, and their 24 wins were the second-most in program history. Montgomery guided the Bobcats to the NESCAC championship game for the second time in the past three seasons, and Elsa Daulerio '26 was named a D3hoops.com 4th Team All-American and an honorable mention Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American.
In 2022-23, the Bobcats qualified for the NESCAC Championships for the fifth time in Montgomery's tenure and senior captain Meghan Graff was named a D3hoops.com 5th Team All-American and an honorable mention Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American.
In 2021-22, her seventh year at the helm of the program, Montgomery was a finalist for the WBCA Coach of the Year after leading the Bobcats to an 18-8 season and their first-ever NESCAC title. Montgomery led Bates to the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time since the 2005-06 season, where the Bobcats beat Roger Williams in overtime in the first round. Montgomery led the team to its best winning percentage (.692) since 2004-05 and junior captain Meghan Graff was named the NESCAC Player of the Year and a D3hoops.com Second Team All-American.
In 2019-20, her fifth year at Bates, Montgomery guided the Bobcats to their third NESCAC tournament appearance in her tenure, with a final record of 13-12, the team's first winning mark since 2011.
Bates appointed Montgomery, assistant coach at the U.S. Naval Academy and former assistant at Bowdoin College, to become the 12th head coach in the history of its varsity women's basketball program, in July 2015.
Montgomery led Bates to back-to-back NESCAC tournament bids her first two seasons. In 2018-19, the Bobcats finished with 12 wins, their most in one season since 2012-13.
Born and raised in Maine, and a graduate of Bangor High School and Bowdoin College, Montgomery, formerly Alison Smith, graduated from Bowdoin in 2005 and spent the previous seven years as an assistant coach, the first three at Bowdoin under head coach Adrienne Shibles and the past four at the Naval Academy under Stefanie Pemper. This is her first head coaching position.
After receiving her master's degree in social work from Boston College in 2007, Montgomery began her coaching career as an assistant for Shibles, a 1991 Bates graduate, at Bowdoin. There she helped lead the Polar Bears to a 70-18 record over three years, including NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen appearances in both 2010 and 2011.
Montgomery then joined Pemper, her former head coach at Bowdoin, as an assistant with the Division I Mids, beginning with the 2011–12 campaign. In her four seasons at Annapolis, Montgomery helped the Mids to a cumulative 80-48 record, a Patriot League regular-season mark of 44-20, an 8-2 record in league tournament play and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
The 2014-15 academic year was Montgomery's first as Navy's recruiting coordinator. She was also responsible for scouting, game planning and team preparation for eight of Navy's opponents, including film breakdown and analysis, practice planning, game strategizing and generating scouting reports.
Montgomery earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from Bowdoin in 2005, following a successful playing career. Montgomery was a four-year starter for the Polar Bears, helping them win the NESCAC Championship all four years and compile a 108-9 record, with four NCAA Tournament appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2004. She was the team's captain as a senior, and a two-time NESCAC All-Academic selection.
Montgomery is one of three players in Bangor High School girls' basketball history to score 1,000 career points.
