The winter sports season has arrived, and the women’s basketball team will be the first to compete with a weekend doubleheader against SUNY Oneonta and St. John Fisher on Friday Nov. 12 and Saturday Nov. 13.

The Spectator

sat down with one of the captains of the women’s basketball team, senior point guard Kelcie Zarle. Zarle is the team’s leading scorer among returning players, averaging 13.3 points per game, while shooting an impressive 38.7% from three-point range during the 2019–20 season. 2019–20 was a major step in the right direction for Coach Mo Green’s squad; in just her second year at the helm, a 15–10 overall and 5–5 NESCAC record was good enough to tie for fourth in the conference. Due to tiebreakers, the team earned the sixth-seed in the NESCAC Tournament and fell to a top-five nationally ranked opponent in Bowdoin. The team is hoping to continue its upward trajectory into another competitive NESCAC Season.

How are the energy and emotions around the team heading into your first season in two years?

We definitely have some great energy as we head into our first season in two years. Our team is super young — 8 of our 15 have never played in a college game — so a lot of that energy is definitely nervous but there is also a ton of excitement to start the season. The team is definitely very different from previous years, so I am excited to see how we grow throughout the year and continue to get better. Personally, I am super excited to hit the ground running and finally play in an actual game again. It has definitely been a while, but being able to lace up the shoes one more time this season is definitely an honor and I am trying to value every minute of this year!

As a senior captain, what do you hope to bring to the team both on and off the court?

As a senior captain, I am really just hoping to get the team to buy into the program and to build off of what we were able to do two years ago. We have a lot of potential to be good, but we need to make sure everyone has “flipped their switch” like Coach Mo says so that we can really come together and achieve something great this year. I have a lot of faith in our team and I know my co-captains Claire Sehring ’22 and Emma Sehring ’23 and I are really working to make sure all of our underclassmen are focused and working hard day in and day out, but also enjoying every second on the hardwood. Off the court, we are hoping to continue to build our great team chemistry and make sure everyone is having as great of an experience as we have had here on the Hill.

The team seems to have a good balance of returners and new players. What has it been like adjusting to the new roster?

We definitely do have a nice balance of returners and new players this year, mainly because last year our now-sophomores did not have a normal season, so this will be the first time they suit up for games and wear the H on their chest with any sort of pressure. With any team, there always seems to be an adjustment period at the start of the season, so we have definitely experienced that so far, but I can already see improvement from the first couple weeks of practice. I think the coaches are definitely trying to put the puzzle pieces together and put us in the best position to win so I am excited to see the adjustments we continue to make throughout the season!

With two home games against Oneonta and St. John Fisher to start the season, what are your expectations for this first weekend of games?

Because I do not really know what to expect since our starting lineup is completely different from previous years, I think my expectations for the first weekend of games is to almost figure it out as we go. I think these first couple games will really be telling of what areas we need to improve and what areas we can continue to excel in. I expect that everyone will go out there and work hard and have fun because after all it is our first game in two years, so I want everyone to value every moment and hopefully come away with two wins!

Does the team have any big goals for the season?

As always, I think our team goal is to make it to the NESCAC tournament and hopefully win it all. For the seniors and myself especially, that would be an amazing way to end our basketball careers here at Hamilton and it would definitely be an honor to help lead the team there as best as I can.

Lightning Round

Best team tradition?

Our best team tradition is definitely the senior poems and speeches that we do at the end of the year banquet. They are usually super meaningful and clever so it is always fun to see what the underclassmen come up with.

Any personal superstitions before games?

I just have to put my uniform, socks and shoes on in a specific order (left foot first). I also like to make a dance before every game and record it and then put all of the pregame dances together in a video at the end of the season. An alumni, Carly O’Hern ’20 used to eat a single sour patch kid before every game so I might do that as well to keep the tradition alive.

Go-to gameday meal?

Pesto pasta from Olive Garden or a banana and peanut butter — no in between.

Teammate with a secret talent?

Lauren Kuster ’23 plays the violin for the orchestra here at Hamilton, and Maria Mercado ’25 is also a stellar juggler.

Song/artist on your personal pregame playlist?

Definitely Chelsea Cutler and Kesha!