NEW LONDON, Conn. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy women's basketball team is set to make their 2025-26 debut at Gordon College on Saturday, November 8th. This season's  roster features just ten players, but the team's depth is represented through its overall talent and experience, with the one player being a new addition, rather than its numbers.

Coast Guard was ranked fifth in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Basketball Preseason Poll, sharing the spot with Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A 5-6 NEWMAC record while going 16-10 overall last season had the Bears as the eighth seed in last year's conference tournament, where they bowed out in a competitive 62-70 first round loss to eventual champions Smith College. Smith are expected to win their sixth consecutive league after topping the preseason poll once again.

Acting as the team's co-captains are senior guards Dorothy Stotts (Edina, Minn.) and Taylor Lynch (Madison, Ind.), who enter the season as one of the top backcourt duos in the NEWMAC. Stotts received First Team All-Conference recognition after a breakout 2024-25 season in which she was the league leader among qualified players in scoring (18.5 points per game) and was second in the conference in field goal percentage (47.1%) and three-point shooting (38.1%). Lynch returns after establishing herself as one of the NEWMAC's top playmakers, leading the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.89) and assists per game (4.1), in which Stotts was also a top three player in the conference (3rd, 3.5). The pair were major factors in one of the top passing teams in the nation last season, which was sixth in the nation in AST/TO (1.27) and 11th in APG (17.6).

Farrah Peterein (Oxnard, Calif.) and Mackenzie Hilden (Broomall, Pa.) round out the team's senior leadership. Peterein was the Bears' sixth woman last season, playing in all 26 games without a start while averaging 15.0 minutes as a solid mutli-positionalist with the ability to stretch the floor, while Hilden averaged close to six minutes in 20 games played. Both are prepared for an abundance of time down low as the roster's two tallest players, with Peterein standing at 5-11 and Hilden a towering 6-2, and will look to emulate the defensive presence of recently-graduated six-footers Glory Blethen '25 and Kelly Hagerty '25, both of whom were massive factors in the team's NEWMAC-leading 4.5 blocks per game. 

The Bears' sophomore class makes up the deepest portion of the roster by grad year, returning five players. Elliot Geer (Grove, Okla.) led the group in playing time during her debut season, averaging 12.6 minutes in 23 games and showing flashes of her bulldoggish perimeter defense by the campaign's end. Showing flashes on the other end of the court was Olivia Wright (Midlothian, Va.), whose microwave scoring potential was shown through 15 points in as many minutes versus Endicott and 14 points in 18 minutes at Smith.

Ruby Miller (Bethlehem, Pa.) will provide great depth to the perimeter after averaging the second-most minutes for the sophomores last season, typically playing 9.2 across 22 games, while Colleen Finnegan (Dover, Pa.) will look to do the same in the post after averaging 2.1 rebounds on just 6.9 minutes per game in 20 appearances. Also figuring to see the court more will be Anna Gredell (Fair Haven, N.J.), who will add further depth around the court with the ability to play on both sides of the perimeter and down low.

The team will add one freshman into the mix this season: Georgia Pauli (Tiburon, Calif.), a who spent her high school days playing at national powerhouse IMG Academy. Pauli's guard skills mixed with her 5-10 frame gives the team extra versatility and depth at multiple areas of the court.

"Our nine returners have set the standard for how to compete every day in practice, and our freshman brings great intensity and physicality to the team," says Alex Ivansheck, Coast Guard's Head Women's Basketball Coach. Ivansheck is entering her 13th season at the helm of the program, and will be joined on the coaching staff again by longtime assistants Emily O'Donnell (8th season) and Scott Hawk (11th). "We're excited for the opportunity to face some new opponents in our non-conference schedule this year, as well as continue to challenge ourselves against strong NEWMAC competition."

After the Gordon game, Bears women's basketball will play four more road contests before their first home game of the season against Wesleyan University on December 3rd. They'll follow that contest with a pair of annual rivalry matchups, facing the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on December 6th, which will be played at Kings Point this season, and then Connecticut College on the 8th. The Mariners are entering the season receiving votes in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Coast Guard will later embark on what may end up being one of the toughest home stretches of any team in Division III. They'll host Mary Hardin-Baylor on January 10th, who enters the season at #25 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 and receiving votes in the WBCA poll; Amherst College on January 14th (#16 D3hoops.com, RV WBCA); and Smith for their NEWMAC opener on January 17th (#4 D3hoops.com, #2 WBCA).