Women’s Basketball 2023-24 Schedule Released
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College women's basketball team recently released their schedule for the upcoming 2023-24 season, the first for the program as a member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).
Entering her first year as the head coach of the women's basketball program, Ashley Wilson will look to continue the recent success the team has found. Wilson, who will be making her collegiate head coaching debut with the Mariners, arrives in New London after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Division I Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut. She takes over for Courtney Burns who compiled a 76-63 record across six seasons at Mitchell, while guiding the Mariners to consecutive New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) championships and the program's first two appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and 2023.
Last season, the Mariners went 18-10 overall, posting the most wins in a single season in the Division III era of the program. The team was dominant in conference play, going a perfect 6-0 to earn the top-seed in the NECC tournament, before defeating second-seeded Eastern Nazarene College 82-59 for their second straight NECC title. On the national stage, Mitchell fell to eighth-ranked DeSales University in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Division III Championship.
Despite suffering a number of notable losses due to graduation, the Mariners return a core anchored by senior forwards Yasmine Santos (Pawtucket, R.I.) and Jermia Dumas (Bridgeport, Conn.), along with the sophomore duo of Jamya Beddoe (New London, Conn.), and Kyrsten Lucas (Manchester, MD).
Santos, a former First Team All-Conference and NECC Rookie of the Year selection, is coming off a season which saw her set career high averages with 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 49% from the floor. Dumas is also expected to play a significant role after averaging 7.5 points and 4.0 rebounds during the 2022-23 campaign, while shooting 51.3% from the field. The senior was also top 10 in the conference with 40 steals last season.
Meanwhile, Beddoe returns after earning conference Rookie of the Year honors last winter. In a role off the bench, she averaged 5.9 points and 1.8 rebounds across 23 games and scored in double-figures six times, including a mid-season stretch where she reached double-digit scoring in six of seven games. Along with Beddoe, Lucas, who averaged 4.0 points per game last season, will be tasked with elevating their game, as the team faces new challenges in a significantly larger conference.
"I'm establishing the culture of togetherness and achieving as one and I am proud of the strides we have made so far," said Wilson. "We have the 'next man up' mentality, and I'm looking to give opportunity and confidence to every player on the team. Transitioning into the GNAC will be competitive and exciting for us. We intend to compete and learn tremendously this season."
The Mariners open their season at home on Wednesday, November 8th, with a non-conference game against Mount Holyoke College. A challenging opening month of non-conference games follows, as Mitchell will square off against Smith College, Emerson College, Western Connecticut State University, and Salve Regina University, before opening GNAC play at home on Saturday, December 2nd, against Lasell University.
The regular season is slated to run through Saturday, February 17th, when the Mariners play host to Norwich University.
