On the heels of winning its first Liberty League title since 2024 and the return of four starters from last season’s squad, Vassar College was tabbed the 2024-25 Liberty League Women’s Basketball preseason favorite in a vote by the conference’s head coaches.
It is shaping up to be a competitive season with eight of 10 teams welcoming back three or more starters to the court, and four teams open the year with a new head coach.
The Brewers were recognized as the Liberty League’s frontrunner for this upcoming season with eight first-place votes and 80 points. Ithaca College, who were crowned Liberty League champions three times since 2019, were picked to finish second with a pair of first-place votes and totaled 74 points. Union College rounded out the top three teams with 58 points, narrowly edging Skidmore College (57) for third. The Thoroughbreds were selected fourth and not far behind them was St. Lawrence University in fifth with 53 points. The Saints are followed by Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT, 39), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI, 32), William Smith College (29), Clarkson University (19), and Bard College (9).
Vassar College
Vassar wrapped up the 2023-24 campaign with a 25-3 overall record and a 17-1 mark in league play. The Brewers returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 and the team had a program-record 21-game winning streak from November 17 through December 10. All three of Vassar’s standout players and All-Liberty League first-team honorees headline the squad’s 2024-25 returning players—Tova Gelb, Julia Harvey, and Sierra McDermed. Gelb was tops on the team in nearly every statistical category last season, she averaged 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.0 steals per game while shooting a team-best 45.9 percent from the floor. She finished the year second in scoring (14.3 PPG) and recorded double-figure points in 24 of the team’s 28 games. Harvey was the team and Liberty League’s top free throw shooter (74-of-90, .822) while ranking second on the team in steals (39) and third in points (381). Harvey also tied for fourth among conference leaders in three-pointers per game (1.6). McDermed paced the team in scoring (14.6 PPG, 409 points) and blocking (1.3 BPG, 36 blocks). She also contributed 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals while ranking second among league leaders in points per game and fourth in field goal percentage (.450).
Ithaca College
Ithaca finished last year at 21-6 overall with a 14-4 mark against league opponents. The Bombers advanced to the Liberty League postseason for the fifth consecutive season since joining the conference in 2017-18. They eye a return atop the team standings heading into the 2024-25 campaign. The Bombers are led by a pair of All-Liberty League selections in June Dickson (second team) and Anya Watkins (honorable mention). In her first season with the Bombers, Dickson made an immediate impact playing and starting 24 games last year. She finished the year as the team’s top scorer with 12.2 points per game, good for 10th in the conference. Dickson recorded double-digit points 20 times, including a career-high 26 points in mid-February. She also led the team in steals with 50 (0.48 per game), which was third in the Liberty League. Watkins appeared in all 27 games last season (20 starts) while leading the Bombers in rebounds (207), defensive rebounds (121) and offensive rebounds (86), averaging 7.7 per game. She also helped offensively with 230 points (9.9 per game), ranking her fourth on the team. Zoraida Icabalceta also brings experience to the court for Ithaca, the junior played in 19 games last season, where she averaged 4.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game.
Union College
Union (12-15, 10-8 Liberty League) returns three of its top four scorers from last season and the Garnet Chargers are looking to build on a strong finish that included five wins in the team’s final six games as well as their third straight appearance in the Liberty League tournament. Last year’s leading scorer Jelena Perovic is back as a junior after earning Liberty League postseason honors (second team) last year. Perovic led Union with her 12.6 points per game average on 49.4 percent shooting from the field. She also averaged 5.8 rebounds per game and shot 50.0 percent or better from the field in more than half of the team’s games in 2023-24. Among league leaders, Perovic was eighth in points per game and rebounds per game, while her field-goal percentage was tops among conference players. She will be joined by Jenna Forman (6.9 PPG) and Emma Riley (6.5 PPG), who were second and fourth on the team in scoring respectively. Forman appeared in all 27 games while grabbing a team-high 178 rebounds (6.6 RPG, 12th Liberty League) and recording 42 blocks, good for second in the Liberty League. Riley also played in all 27 games with 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. She was third on the team in assists (39) and added 18 steals.
Skidmore College
Skidmore is coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons and their second consecutive appearance in the Liberty League championship game as the team closed out last year at 22-5 overall (16-2 Liberty League). The Thoroughbreds will have big shoes to fill with the graduation of 2023-24 Liberty League Player and Defensive Player of the Year Julia Blanck, however a core group of returning players bodes well for the Thoroughbreds. They welcome a new head coach this season in David Bostick. Bostick’s most recent stop as head coach was at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA, 3 seasons) but he also spent time coaching at Fitchburg State (1 season), and Becker College (7 seasons). He will look to a trio of players to take the reins—Amelia Medolla, Cassie Davidson, and Becca Horger. Medolla (29 games), an All-Liberty League honorable mention selection last year, averaged 6.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.26 assists per game. In addition, Medolla recorded nine steals and six blocks as part of Skidmore’s defense that held opponents to a league-low 45.1 points per game. Davidson (26 games) was second on the team in scoring with 185 points, good for 7.1 per game and she produced double figures eight times last year. Horger (25 games) tallied a team-high 53 assists (2.1 per game), ranking her among the top 15 in the conference (14th). She tied for second on the team in steals (31) and was sixth in points (103, 4.1 per game).
St. Lawrence University
St. Lawrence (12-14, 10-8 Liberty League) extended its postseason streak to four consecutive seasons as the Saints earned the fourth seed in the league tournament to wrap up the 2023-24 campaign. They have a veteran presence this season with the return of four starters. 2023-24 Liberty League Rookie of the Year Elizabeth Flynn (22 starts) and 2022-23 Liberty League Rookie of the Year Jackie Malley (25 starts) highlight those returning starters, they both played in all 26 games last season. Flynn paced the team in scoring and rebounding with 11.3 points and 12.4 rebounds per game. She was tops among league leaders in rebounds and was the only Liberty League player to average a double-double. She was also the team leader in blocks (20) and steals (29) while ranking second in assists (50). Malley was second on the team in points (251, 9.7 per game) while leading the Saints and conference in three-pointers made (59). She shot 28.4 percent from beyond the arc and had 2.3 per game. Norah Niesz (26 games) and Caelan McHarney (17 games) are also back, they averaged 6.7 and 5.0 points per game, good for third and fifth on the team, respectively. McHarney also dished out a team-high 51 assists.
Rochester Institute of Technology
For the first time since 2008, a new head coach will lead the RIT women’s basketball team with the hiring of Melissa Kuberka. Kuberka is no stranger to New York Division III Women’s Basketball as she comes to Rochester from local foe St. John Fisher University, where she was the head coach since for the last seven seasons; she also spent two seasons at Hilbert College. She inherits a Tiger squad that snagged the sixth seed of the Liberty League tournament last year and they will look to improve upon an overall record of 9-17 (8-10 Liberty League). The Tigers will be young this season with one returning starter but a core nucleus of returning players will bolster the squad. Erin DiPaola returns as a senior after playing in all 26 games in 2022-23. She was second on the team in assists (57) and third in rebounds (115) while averaging 5.2 points per game. Classmate Kaitlyn Bockelman is also back after logging significant minutes for the Tigers last season, appearing in 23 games and making 14 starts. She finished the year with 6.5 points per game to go along with 82 rebounds (3.6 per game), 17 steals, 20 assists, and four blocks. Hannah Durand is back from injury, in only seven games in her first year with the Tigers last season, she topped the team in points per game (13.6). She also posted nine assists (1.3 per game) and seven steals (1.0 per game).
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
RPI will be a young squad as the Engineers look to make a return to the league tournament after missing the postseason last year. They closed out the 2023-24 campaign at 8-16 overall (6-12 Liberty League). RPI does welcome back All-Liberty League first team selection Siena Smith, who played and started in all 24 games last season. She led the team in scoring (329, 13.7 PPG), rebounding (162, 6.8 RPG) while chipping in a team-high 39 steals and 36 blocks. Among league leaders, Smith was fifth in points per game and tenth in rebounds per game. She was also among the top five in field goal percentage (3rd, .454). Smith will be joined by a strong supporting cast, who will look to step up into starter roles this season—Marley Mueller (15 games), Ashlyn O’Neil (8 games), and Sophie Costello (20 games). Mueller contributed 4.7 points per game to go along with 36 rebounds (2.4 per game). Despite playing in only eight games, O’Neil finished fourth on the team in scoring (6.3 per game). She also recorded 10 steals and six assists. Costello totaled 66 points and 18 rebounds in 9.3 minutes per game.
William Smith College
William Smith kicks off the 2024-25 campaign with a new head coach, alumnae Seraphine Hamilton (Class of 2006), who returns to Geneva. It is the first new head coach for the Herons since 2006. Since graduating, Hamilton was an assistant coach at William Smith from 2015-2017 before joining the staff at Newark Academy and then Princeton Day School. She will look to a trio of returning players to lead this year’s team in Molly Walsh, Amelia McCulley, and Ava Lobozzo. Walsh played in 25 games and started 19, where she tallied 98 points (3.9 per game), 35 assists (2nd on team), and 20 steals. McCulley also played in 25 games (16 starts). She ended the year second on the team in scoring with 7.2 points per game and 180 total points. She grabbed 3.1 rebounds per game to go along with a team-high 27 blocks and 38 steals. Among league leaders, she tied for sixth in blocked shots per game (1.1) and tied for seventh in steals per game (1.5). Lobozzo appeared in 22 games and made 12 starts, where she averaged 11.4 minutes per game. She finished the year with 72 points and 57 rebounds, averaging 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.
Clarkson University
Clarkson will be a seasoned team as the Golden Knights open the 2024-25 season with all five starters back from a year ago. Cassidy Dumont, a 2022-23 All-Liberty League first-team selection, headlines the team’s returning players. Dumont started all 25 games last season and averaged a team-best 13.8 points per game; she also averaged 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 2.3 steals per game. She was fourth n the conference in scoring and tied for fifth in field goals made (131) while pacing the league in steals (57) and steals per game (2.3). She scored in double figures in 23 of 25 games last year. Juniors Raelin Burns and Bella Doyle are also back, they both played and started in all 25 games last year. Burns averaged 11.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. She topped the Liberty League in free throws made (93) while registering a .715 free throw shooting percentage, good for third in the conference. She was also among the top 11 in three-pointers per game (1.4, T-10th) and had a .340 three-pointer shooting percentage. Doyle totaled 165 points (9.2 per game), 23 steals as well as a team-best 119 rebounds (6.6 per game) and 23 blocks. She was among the league’s top 10 in blocked shots per game (4th) and rebounds per game (7th).
Bard College
Bard opens a new chapter in 2024-25 with new head coach Alaina Walker, who was hired in mid-July. Walker joins the Raptors from Division II St. Thomas Aquinas where she was an assistant coach. She will entrust four returning starters to lead the 2024-25 squad. Shirley Dong returns as a junior after pacing the team in scoring with 207 points (9.0 per game) in 23 games, including 20 starts. She ended the year tied for fourth among league leaders in three-pointers made with 1.6 per game (37 total). She also dished out 58 total assists, averaging 2.5 per game, good for fifth in the conference. Dong will be joined by Maggy Peyton who returns from injury after playing in only nine games in 2023-24. Despite limited playing time, she boasted a team-high 9.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Lexi Miller is also back after appearing in 22 games during her rookie campaign (15 starts). She tallied 179 points (8.1 PPG) and led the team in blocked shots (24). She was third in the Liberty League in rebounds with a team-high 9.3 per game. She also posted 34 assists and 15 steals.
The 2024-25 Division III Women’s Basketball season gets underway on Friday, November 8 with five teams playing non-conference games. Four teams open the 2024-25 season with their home openers (RIT, Vassar, St. Lawrence, RPI) and Clarkson is on the road. League play gets into full swing on December 6 and 7. All 10 league teams play a double-round robin schedule from December through February as they battle for six playoff spots.
The top six teams qualify for the Liberty League championship. The format includes two first-round games on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The top two seeds receive byes and will host semifinal games on Friday, February 28. The higher-seeded team will host the championship game on Sunday, March 2. The Liberty League champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.
2024-25 Liberty League WBB Preseason Poll
Place. Team, Points
- 1. Vassar, 80 (8)
- 2. Ithaca, 74 (2)
- 3. Union, 58
- 4. Skidmore, 57
- 5. St. Lawrence, 53
- 6. RIT, 39
- 7. RPI, 32
- 8. William Smith, 29
- 9. Clarkson, 19
- 10. Bard, 9
Credits:
Created with images by • Dziurek - Basketball ball on the parquet with referee in the background.