A 31-2 overall record. An undefeated run through the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The first ever national ranking in the AP poll in program history.
Those are just some of the historic accomplishments of last year’s women’s basketball team. But ask any of the returners on the squad this year, and one thought quickly becomes clear: they aren’t satisfied.
“Last year, we accomplished a lot, but at the end of the day, we want to win games in the NCAA Tournament,” said head coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis, “so there’s a lot that needs to be accomplished day in and day out for us to get there.”
Success in the big dance is the one place the Stags fell short last year. They were rewarded for their tremendous season with a trip to fourth-seeded Indiana in the first round, where they suffered a disappointing 89-56 loss.
“The only time we really talk about last year is when we talk about our game at Indiana and how we lost by 33,” said road runner Lauren Beach ‘25. “And that’s just a reminder of, yeah, we had a successful season last year, but if one of our goals is to win a tournament game, then we still have a lot of work to put in.”
Part of that process involves the team challenging itself in their non-conference schedule. The Stags play five power conference opponents within roughly the first month of the season, four of them on the road. That includes next week’s season opening date with Arkansas, and a trip to Queens to take on St. John’s, who the Stags beat in Mahoney Arena last year.
Thibault-DuDonis believes scheduling tough is a luxury the Stags can afford due to the continuity of their roster, and hopes the early challenge will benefit the team going forward and give a boost to their potential postseason resume.
“We are really excited because we have 90 percent of our scoring returning and have added great pieces,” she said. “So we knew we could probably push ourselves in ways that you can’t every single year, knowing that you’re going to have graduating classes and freshmen and things like that.”
Leading the way for that group of returners is now-graduate guard Janelle Brown. The reigning Conference Player of the Year is back for one last season after a career year where she averaged 13.8 points per game on the highest shooting percentage among guards in the country (57.2 percent).
Brown was subsequently named the Preseason Conference Player of the Year earlier this month, as well as being a unanimous preseason all-conference first team selection. True to the overall mindset of her team, however, Brown knows she still has more to prove on the court.
“I appreciate the acknowledgement, but it doesn’t mean anything if I don’t put in the work and go get it,” she said. “I’m starving for this season to start, and I’m very excited to show people how we move as a team.”
Brown is joined by a number of teammates in receiving preseason honors. Matching her as a unanimous first-team pick is road runner Meghan Andersen ‘27, who returns from a sensational rookie campaign where she led the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game. Road runner Emina Selimovic ‘25, who was the premier rebounder for the Stags last season, was named to the second-team, and guard Kaety L’Amoreaux ‘27 was named to the third-team after a great debut year of her own.
Despite having so much returning talent, Thibault-DuDonis and her staff still made an effort to address the holes in the roster with transfers and incoming recruits, with the primary focus being on the wing.
“We relied heavily last year on our point guards, we played three point guards together a lot,” Thibault-DuDonis said. “So we wanted to really increase our wing productivity, and that was an area we knew we needed to hit in recruiting, both in the transfer portal and with freshmen.”
To that end, the Stags added Jillian Huerter ‘27 from Rutgers, Sydni Scott ‘26 from Marshall, and first-year Julia Karpell via recruiting. Attempting to add depth to the road runner position, the team also brought in first-year Cyanne Coe and Texas A&M International graduate transfer Raiana Brown, whose 2,070 career points ranked fifth among all active Division II players last season.
“I think it’s exciting that [the new additions] all can go into the game and make an impact,” Beach said. “I think that’s really huge for our team, because we have so many people who can do that now that another team’s gameplan can’t be to stop one or two players.”
It would be easy for the Stags to get caught up in the potential of this team and the desire to usurp the history of a season ago. Perhaps the pinnacle of all their early accolades, the team received votes in the preseason AP poll for the first time ever, already expected to be one of the better teams in the country.
But Thibault-DuDonis has continued to preach the process, harping on a number of areas where the Stags have plenty of room to improve. Despite their offensive efficiency, the team was still middle of the pack in the conference in turnovers, and awarded the second most total free throws to their opponents behind only Niagara.
“I think my goal is that our team stays focused on the day,” Thibault-DuDonis said. “I think it’s really easy to get bogged down by some of the pressure or the notion that we have to repeat.”
That’s something the team excelled at last season. Even as the noise got louder and their unprecedented win streak continued to grow, the Stags stayed the course and never looked too far ahead. They grinded out a number of gutsy wins, none more important than the overtime comeback victory over Niagara in the conference championship game.
But as the Stags have emphasized, it isn’t last season anymore. And last season doesn’t count in the win-loss column, even when you made history. Instead, they’ll continue to look ahead, and try to make sure more history is on the way.
“They say it’s hard to do the unbelievable twice, and we won’t get there unless we put our heads down and work for it,” Brown said. “If we try to base this season on last year then we’re nowhere near where we need to be. Being where our feet are and showing up with discipline and efficiency on both ends of the floor will bring us success.”
The Stags will begin their encore performance on Monday night on the road against the Razorbacks. Opening tip is set for 7:30 P.M. on SEC Network+.
