|
| There's been plenty to be excited about for fans and players of women's basketball at Smith College. Smith athletics photo |
By Riley Zayas
Special to D3sports.com
Within its 148-year history, there is little doubt that Smith College has established itself as one of the nation’s most elite institutions.
Alumnae include a pair of Pulitzer Prize winners, and two First Ladies. Numerous current and former members of U.S. Congress hold Smith degrees. That is in addition to the numerous authors, CEOs, and medical professionals who graduated from the small college nestled in central Massachusetts, which boasts an acceptance rate of 30 percent, with an 89 percent graduation rate.
Under head basketball coach Lynn Hersey, Smith has also become the place to be for future All-Americans on the basketball court.
“We feel like we have an elite experience for our women who are elite basketball players,” Hersey, now in her 16th season leading the program, said of Smith, which makes its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance on Friday. “There’s the education that is Top 13 in the country, a brand of Smith as a whole, and our basketball has a brand.”
The nationwide attraction to the all-female institution in Northampton, Massachusetts is evidenced by Hersey’s roster. Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, British Columbia, Pennsylvania, Washington, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are all represented.
“We do things the right way here, filled with a lot of integrity,” Hersey continued. “Our players gain a lot of confidence and belief in what they are capable of achieving during their four years here. That carries them out into the real world.”
Morgan Morrison ventured 630 miles from her hometown of Detroit to attend Smith in 2019. Four years later, the engineering major is leading the team in points at 17.2 per game as a senior forward, leading the Pioneers into the postseason.
“The community here is amazing,” Morrison recently said. “Everyone is so supportive of one another. Honestly, it’s like a second home.”
The community certainly turned out for Sunday afternoon’s NEWMAC championship game, witnessing Smith roll to its 20th straight win and third consecutive conference title in a 67-52 triumph over visiting Babson.
The success accomplished by Hersey’s squad in recent years is almost unmatched. The community has rightfully bought in. But the uniqueness of Smith being an all-female institution, as Wabash and Hampden-Sydney are on the men’s side, brings about a different element. As Hersey says, “the spotlight” is on the women’s team, which is not a common occurrence at the majority of schools across the nation.
“When our women come here to play, they’re in the spotlight,” Hersey said. “Of course, you have to earn it every single year. But when we do earn it, the community shows up for our women. That’s a different level of validation for all the hard work we put into being really good. I’ve been at other institutions. It’s just a different feel here.”
Morrison agrees. The atmosphere at Sunday’s championship game proved that, with a recorded attendance of 500 filling up Ainsworth Gym to capacity.
“During the NEWMAC championship, both sides of our gym were packed,” Morrison said. ”People were getting there 40 or 50 minutes before the game, just to have a seat. It’s students, teachers, and people in Northampton who come out to support us. It’s an environment that I’m forever grateful to be in.”
That “environment” goes beyond the basketball that is played. It is a large component, no doubt, but the academic side of Smith is what has achieved the institution’s international distinction. It is something Hersey certainly understands and appreciates about the group she leads each day.
“We win a lot of games, and we want to produce winners, but we know their long-term aspirations often involve going into the medical field or becoming a lawyer or whatever it might be,” Hersey added. “We hope to promote success for them in the next 50 working years of their life.”
Morrison is part of the remaining group who was on the court at Tufts on March 12, 2020, preparing for an NCAA Tournament matchup against Messiah in the Sweet Sixteen. Of course, that game never happened. That practice never finished. That season was never concluded. And it remains on the minds of the senior class to this day, entering what will now be their third experience playing in March.
“You make your second ever Sweet Sixteen, feel really good about the matchup, and all of a sudden, it stops,” Hersey recalled in an interview Tuesday. “At that moment, it’s a very different feeling.
“But the special thing with that is we had six players defer that next year, and we had two players do a fifth year. Those are life-altering plans for them. I think that showed how important the basketball experience was to this group, and how much they were willing to sacrifice to protect it.”
Smith did not take the floor once during the 2021-22 season, with all of its previously scheduled games canceled due to Covid. When the Pioneers returned for play a year ago, however, it seemed they picked up right where they left off.
A 25-3 mark saw Smith run through the NEWMAC with a flawless 9-0 record, and a pair of NCAA Tournament victories put Smith back in the Sweet Sixteen.
“I think it speaks to who we are as a team,” Morrison noted. “Whatever difficulties are thrown at us, we will adapt, and do what needs to be done.”
The next task for the Pioneers begins with Friday’s first-round duel against Morrisville State at home. Smith has reached the Sweet Sixteen in each of the last two tournaments, but in the program’s lengthy history, an Elite Eight run has never been accomplished.
Hersey has prepared her squad well to be the first. Smith’s 12 regionally ranked victories are tied for most of any Division III women’s basketball team in the nation. Being battle-tested is a quality the Pioneers do not lack.
“We knew that each game we played during the regular season and in non-conference would lead up to a moment like this weekend,” Morrison said.
Indeed it has. The Pioneers defeated seven teams during the regular season who qualified for the national tournament, including Tufts and Trinity (Cono.) out of the NESCAC. Additionally, six of their first 10 were played on the road.
“I don’t think we fear the big moment,” Hersey said. “We build our culture around competing. We recruit competitors, and competition is in our DNA. That is being consistent, not something that ebbs and flows. It’s the foundational piece.”
Riley Zayas is co-founder of the website True to the Cru, which covers Mary Hardin-Baylor athletics.