LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates women's basketball team reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the third time in program history last season, but the Bobcats have a strong sense of unfinished business entering the 2024-25 campaign, which tips off Friday at 7 p.m. when Bates hosts Husson at Alumni Gym. 

Bates is currently receiving votes in the D3hoops.com preseason Top 25 poll and is ranked 25th in the country by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. 

"One of our values this year is being hungry, feeling that we're very unsatisfied, and the players want to really be fueled by that passion," head coach Alison Montgomery said. "We also understand there are some lessons to be learned from last season, including how it ended. So the key is fusing that hunger with really good poise and more maturity, and understanding what it takes to get to the next step." 

The Bobcats return three of their four leading scorers from a year ago, led by junior center and D3hoops.com preseason third team All-American Elsa Daulerio (Harpswell, Maine), who averaged 13.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game last season as Bates finished with a record of 24-6, the second-most wins in program history.

"Elsa is a player who has developed and grown so much," Montgomery said. "She's gotten so much better, not only year to year, but also game to game. A big part of her success last year was all the pieces around her. She's not our only focal piece and that makes it difficult for a lot of teams to defend us when you have a lot of players working together. We're going to run an offense that will highlight us collectively as a team, but put her in plenty of opportunities individually as well."

Daulerio and senior captain Alexandra Long (Newtown, Pa.) make for a dynamic duo on defense for the Bobcats, as they finished first and second respectively in the NESCAC in blocked shots last season. Long, who goes by ARose, earned second team All-NESCAC honors and was third in the conference in assists per game (3.8) while ranking first with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.7.

"ARose has a really unique skill set and she's so fast and so explosive with her ability to score in transition," Montgomery said. "Last year she played in the four-spot a lot, so she matched up against some posts. She really demonstrated her ability to guard in that way, and then there can be mismatches there for her in terms of the size of opponents trying to guard her." 

Long is the Bobcats' third-leading returning scorer at 7.2 points per game. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Sarah Hughes (Rumson, N.J.) is the team's second-leading returning scorer at 8.5 points per game. Hughes had an outstanding season in 2023-24, as she was named to the Maine Women's Basketball Coaches Association's All-Rookie Team. 

"Sarah was a huge spark for us last year on both ends, but definitely offensively as the first player off the bench," Montgomery said. "So we're really looking to her for that same energy this season as a starter." 

The Bobcats have to replace the scoring of Morgan Kennedy '24, an All-NESCAC and All-Region selection a year ago, as she led Bates in scoring last season with 14.4 points per game. Junior Sophie Spolter (Blacklick, Ohio) upped her game in a big way in NESCAC action last year, averaging 7.6 points per game while shooting a team-leading .536 from the floor in conference play. Sophomore Mya Hicks (Ann Arbor, Mich.) provides an outside threat, as she made 30 three-pointers last year, which ranked third on the team. Meanwhile, sophomore Angel Huntsman (Harpswell, Maine) provides even more depth at the guard position for Bates, having recovered from an injury to play in 10 games as a rookie.

Junior Ava James (Bethesda, Md.) provides strong defense for the Bobcats and Bates has more depth in the post this season, with sophomore Petra Kuncz (Budapest, Hungary) now healthy and ready to join Daulerio and junior Danielle Adams (Southborough, Mass.) in the rotation.

"Petra is a really, really fun addition," Montgomery said. "She was out all last season with an injury and started working her way back last year into practice, but never made it into a game. So this will be a fun developmental year for her. She has real gifts in her DNA of just her length, she's as long as Elsa." 

After graduating three seniors, Bates welcomes six first-years into the fold this season.

"I'd like to think of us as the most experienced young team out there, because we do have a lot of these key returners, but we have six rookies who are all really capable," Montgomery said. "So it'll be interesting to see as we get in our stride of figuring out chemistry and who fits into what role. I think at different points throughout the year it could be different. So we're looking for our first-years to infuse us with some really good stuff on both ends of the floor."