LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates women's basketball team made history last season, winning the program's first conference title and advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Now, the Bobcats look to turn the page and focus on the challenges that lie ahead in the always tough NESCAC. Bates wastes no time in that regard, welcoming No. 11 nationally ranked Tufts to Alumni Gym Saturday at 4pm for a non-conference game to start the season.
"I think three weeks of practice feels like not even close to enough for coaches, but I think for players, it feels like they're ready right now to play a game," head coach Alison Montgomery said. "So I think to keep focused with a first opponent that they know is going to be a really intense matchup, I think that's helpful."
Senior captain and pre-season D3hoops.com first team All-American guard Meghan Graff (South Portland, Maine) returns to the Bobcats, looking to somehow top what she did last year, when Graff won NESCAC Player of the Year while scoring 20 or more points seven times, including a 30-point effort against Bowdoin and back-to-back 20-point outings in the NESCAC semifinal and championship games.
"Last year, and the years leading up to last year, she was surrounded by a really familiar cast with a group of women who came in the same year as her, so I just think in terms of developing that chemistry, they had a real opportunity to do that," Montgomery said. "This year, have some women who have definitely been contributors in the past, but who are going to be evolving into new roles. And so I think that's going to be where Meg is going to have to evolve with the team around her. Obviously she's going to bring a lot to the table, but I think it's also going to be about how does she get everyone around her to elevate their games and to just develop a chemistry that really works for our entire group."
Junior Morgan Kennedy (Oklahoma City, Okla.) is the top returning scorer besides Graff, having averaged 10 points per game in what essentially was her rookie season. Kennedy finished the season on a high note, with 14 points on 6-11 shooting in the second round of the NCAA tournament against national powerhouse New York University. Sophomore Alexandra Long (Newton, Pa.), nicknamed A-Rose, is a fierce defender who impressed as a rookie with her length and intelligence.
"Those two women in particular are our returners who have been battle tested with game experience," Montgomery said. "Morgan started most of the year, and then, the first half of the season, Alyson Kennedy (Oklahoma City, Okla.), was sort of our sixth woman at that guard spot, and then she got injured and A-Rose took over. Morgan and A-Rose both have great game experience. They are both really smart players, and they have a really good understanding of what we're trying to do on the court."
The Bobcats are a guard-heavy team, with senior Kayla Bridgeman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and first-year Sophie Spolter (Blacklick, Ohio) both expected to make an impact this season as well.
"I'm so excited for Kayla," Montgomery said. "She's done so much to make our program better every year that she's been here, both at the way that she challenges people on the court, and just all she brings in terms of her energy and her vibe. She's had a great preseason and is a really good defender. She's strong, she's quick, she's athletic, and she's going to rebound a lot for us."
Bates suffered a blow to their post presence when senior captain forward Brianna Gadaleta (Chappaqua, N.Y.) was lost for the year due to injury. But it's an opportunity for post players senior Jenna Berens (Durham, Conn.), junior Delaney Nwachukwu (Avon, Conn.), and first-year Elsa Daulerio (Harpswell, Maine) to make a big impact this season.
"Jenna had a great first season, she didn't have a sophomore season due to COVID, and then last year she played fewer minutes due to us having a deep upperclass group at that spot," Montgomery said, "So I'm really excited to see her return to a bigger role as a senior. Delaney's had a great preseason so far. She has a ton of potential, and she's really played with consistency recently. And then Elsa brings a ton of length and size. So I think it'll be interesting but right now I see all three of those women contributing at that spot."
A fun fact for diehard Bates fans: Daulerio is the daughter of Bates alumna Adrienne Shibles '91, who was recently inducted into the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame and is currently the head coach at Dartmouth. Shibles has served as a mentor to Montgomery.
"It makes me feel old, no, it's awesome," Montgomery said. "It's really cool. It's obviously neat to mentor and to work with all the women in our program, but it's kind of unique to have a woman that I've known since she was four years old, and who has basketball in her blood in so many ways."
The Bobcats have a fun schedule this year, including a trip to Puerto Rico in December. Montgomery is looking forward to seeing how her team responds to being the defending conference champs.
"We talk a lot about legacy in our program," Montgomery said. "Our team takes a lot of pride in the rise of our program, and they take it pretty seriously to think about how to maintain it. But we talk about it not necessarily as winning another championship, but being a championship level team, and what does that look like, and how do we do that, and how do we represent in that way."
