On Mar. 16, 2024, the Smith women’s basketball team completed their final game of the season at the NCAA Division III National Tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Although New York University (NYU) defeated Smith 51-41, their journey to the national championship game was still a victory for the program.
After a heartbreaking loss against the future 2023 National Champions, Transylvania University, in the 2023 Final Four, Smith’s appearance as a finalist is the first time a historically women’s college has made it to the championship game in NCAA Women’s Basketball history. Further, this is the first time in history that a team ranked fourteenth out of the sixty four teams in at the start of the tournament has ever made it to the championship game.
Head Coach Lynn Hersey always intended to make it to the national championship. After defeating Bowdoin College in the Elite Eight, a game where Smith was seen as the underdog to the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) conference champions, Hersey cut down the nets in the Bowdoin gym surrounded by Smithies who had traveled all the way to Maine to cheer on their team. Speaking to the crowd, she made sure they knew that this was just the beginning.
Smith went on to defeat Wartburg College in the Final Four and give it their all at the national championship, collecting the national runner-up trophy in DIII Women’s Basketball.
Hannah Martin ’27, a first year point guard for Smith, had big shoes to fill after the team lost three out of five starting players from the 2023 season. Despite losing team members who had played a pivotal role in their Final Four showing the previous year, Martin said, “When I was getting recruited, Coach was very adamant about like winning a national championship. She made that clear that that was the goal and that was the expectation.”
A few games into the season, Martin found her role as the starting point guard on Smith’s team. Martin credited her drive to the enthusiasm of her fellow first years on the team, and said, “The five of us have a huge motor and a huge drive to be really successful and really impactful”. Smith’s players attributed their success to the unique team culture cultivated by their coaches, where close friendship and a sense of community go hand in hand with each players’ commitment to high level competition.
Morgan Morrison ’23, named the Division III Player of the Year in 2023, transferred to NYU to play her fifth year of eligibility and to pursue a graduate degree in engineering. When the bracket for the national tournament was announced, Smith and NYU were on opposite sides. The only feasible way for Smith to play at NYU was at the national championship.
Jessie Ruffner ’24, a senior captain and four-year starting player for Smith, received All-American honors this year and led her team to that very championship game. In response to the idea of playing against Morrison, Ruffner said, “It was definitely something we had in the back of our mind.” NYU was consistently ranked as the top team nationally throughout the season, and had an unbroken winning streak of 31-0.
Smith lost three games early on, and their fourth place ranking by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) during preseason fell to fourteenth when the bracket was announced. To play against a former teammate now starting on a Goliath of a team would be the matchup of a lifetime. Ruffner said, “I remember I walked into the office like the day the bracket came out and I was like, the committee didn’t want to put us on the same side, so I guess we are just gonna have to get to the National Championship. And then we did.”
Graduate student Sofia Rosa ’25 stepped into the paint to match up against Morrison in the championship game. Rosa, who played for Tufts University during undergrad and spent the last year coaching Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) women’s basketball team, wasn’t sure what to expect when she came to Smith. In fact, she didn’t know she was going to play at all.
Rosa said, “I didn’t know that I was going to play again. I mean, I came here to do the coaching program.” Rosa used her fifth year of eligibility to start for Smith, and found that the culture of the team was unlike anything she had ever experienced: “What I found when I came here is that people were really accepting and really welcomed me with open arms.” Rosa ended up being the leading scorer for Smith in the championship game, making 19 points and 10 rebounds as compared to Morrison’s 14 points and 9 rebounds. Although NYU ended up winning the title, what was projected by the polls to be an easy win for the Violets was anything but that.
Each member of the team noted the extremely close relationship of the team, the intentionality of their coaches and the massive support from the greater Smith community with their historic run. Martin said, “Having an atmosphere that is extremely supportive and just, like, loving allows the people on the court to do those things. The way you win is when you are a team.”
In a year where Division I Women’s Collegiate Basketball has (rightfully) become a sports sensation, Smith’s success at the Division III level represents an upwards trajectory for sports, centering women’s stories and the power of community in propelling these teams to the very top.
