The New England Women and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) 2023-2024 Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll, which was released on Oct. 19, ranked Smith Basketball first out of the twelve teams in the conference. Smith received the votes of every team except two, resulting in ten first place votes.
Last season, the Smith Pioneers won the NEWMAC Conference Championship and saw the program’s first appearance in the Division III National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Final Four. The team’s final record was a record-breaking 30-2. This season, the team looks to build on those successes.
“We certainly want to match what we did last year, and we want to build upon the experiences we gained along that journey,” said head coach Lynn Hersey, who was nationally recognized last season as the 2023 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) National Coach of the Year. “We have an incredible group who have come together in believing in the goal that we’re chasing. I give them a lot of credit that they started the year very much sending me a message of what they want to do this year.”
In the early stages of the season, the team’s focus has been largely on developing trust. Captain Ally Yamada ’24, a guard and a key player in Smith’s Final Four appearance last year, said, “I genuinely feel very connected to each and every one of my teammates, and I think that we have worked hard to build our chemistry as a team so far. In my last season playing, I’m really excited to be a part of this group because of our grit, competitiveness and how good our on-court and off-court relationships have been. This has contributed a lot to our identity and culture, which will hopefully carry into a great season.”
The Pioneers’ goals for the season are clearly defined. Still, the team understands that now is the time to create the foundations that will allow them to achieve these goals and lead them to success later on. Hersey said, “Everyday we take care of the habits and the mindset needed for when that moment arrives later in the year, so that we’re confident and as prepared as possible to hopefully return to a final four and this time take a step to the national championship game.”
Yamada and the rest of the team share that mindset. “Looking ahead, our overarching goals are to win the NEWMAC conference and to win a national championship, but this is dependent on our day-to-day habits. These are the habits that we build everyday in practice. Our everyday goals are to be better than we were the practice or game before. It’s the small details that matter and build up throughout the season. These details will help so that we are able to trust each other and make sure that we’re the best that we can be for each other.”
The team’s season starts on Nov. 11 with the 32nd annual Tyler Tip-Off, which is hosted at Smith in memory of Kimmy Tyler, class of 1994 and a member of the 1991-92 team. The Pioneers will compete against Keene State College on Nov. 11, and Rowan University and Husson University on Nov. 12, who were both ranked first or second in their respective conferences last year, in the championship-format tournament.
Even after the season begins, the team will continue to grow and bond as a group. Yamada said, “We’re really eager to pick up from where we left off last year. We’re competing for something bigger than ourselves.”
