The Connecticut College Women’s Basketball team is starting their 2015-2016 season doing everything right. Eight games in (including a win against NESCAC rival Tufts), and they have yet to lose a single one. Their level of play to begin the season has been so strong that many of their games have ended with the team winning by upwards of 20 points.
The depth on the team gives the Camels a strong advantage, with all players contributing equally and when it matters most, and many have been recognized for their achievements. The team is coming off of a strong 2014-2015 season, during which they went 16-9, reached the NESCAC tournament quarterfinal round and saw accolades such as the NESCAC Women’s Basketball Rookie of the Year awarded to Mairead Hynes ’18. But they want to do even better.
Senior captain Willa McKinley said that unique challenges arise with being a team with a winning record. “Lots of people want to beat you,” she said, noting that being a NESCAC team is an additional bonus because non-NESCAC teams are always looking for an upset.
With the NESCAC considered to be one of the best DIII conferences in the country, McKinley knows the biggest challenges have yet to come. Their first NESCAC game, on Dec. 12, resulted in a win against Tufts, ranked ninth in the nation. Mairead scored 15 points and had 8 rebounds. Kylie Caouette ’19 scored 14 points, and Liz Malman ’17 had nine. Though this wasn’t considered a conference game (the Camels will play Tufts again on Jan. 23, 2016), it certainly set the stage for what the team hopes their rest of the season will look like, because their hardest and most important games are yet to come. McKinley said that it’s equally important to win non-conference games so the team goes into the NESCAC games with confidence, which she described as being a “lot more competitive and difficult.”
McKinley spoke on the differences in this team that makes them better than ever, mainly their depth. This year’s team has six first-year students and six veterans, and there are obvious challenges that come with playing a college-level sport for the first time, but the team’s first-years have “upped the play” overall, according to McKinley. She described the first-years as “taking on the role of sophomores” in terms of adapting to college basketball. The rookies aren’t just making an impact on the team, but within New England as well. Payton Ouimette ’19 was honored as the New England Women’s Basketball Association’s Rookie of the Week in late November.
McKinley said that the team practices as hard as they play, and it shows. Many of their wins so far have been complete blowouts, though McKinley said that this comes with challenges. “It’s really hard to play by your standards when you’re so much better than a team,” she said, before adding that the veterans on the team need to set the precedent by constantly playing their best basketball, regardless of the score. Even if they’re winning by 30 points, she said, they can’t give up, especially with more NESCAC games in their future, which are unlikely to have such large scoring gaps.
As captain, McKinley reflected on her four years on the women’s basketball team, saying it feels bittersweet, but that she wants the team this year to be the best it can be. The chemistry of the team is found not just on the court, but, McKinley said, off the court, as well. •
