For the first time in 13 years, the Mount Holyoke College women’s basketball team has a winning streak longer than three games.

Last season, the Lyons won two total games. The year before that (2022-23)? Also only two victories. But over the last four games of this season, Mount Holyoke has matched the win total of those two years combined – a 66-59, come-from-behind triumph over Colby-Sawyer on Thursday being the most recent victory.

Mount Holyoke started the season 0-9, but wins over Lesley (45-44), Gordon (70-64), Bard (67-58) and Colby-Sawyer have the Lyons in uncharted territory under first-year head coach Abby Wemhoff.

During the second quarter, Mount Holyoke overcame an 11-point deficit, eventually retaking the lead in the third before holding off a late Chargers rally in the final frame. This now marks the first time the Lyons have had a four-win season since the 2014-15 campaign – 10 years ago.

“I think one of the big differences for us is we didn't let ourselves get down after the other team went on a run,” first-year guard Ania McMichael, who had 12 points on Thursday, said via Mount Holyoke’s website. “We came together and told ourselves, ‘We're still in this game.’ We bounced off each other and picked up our energy on defense, and used that to fuel our offense and work our way back into the game.”

Junior guard Alex Twomey has been fantastic during the streak, including a 27-point outburst in the win over Bard and 15 more points against the Chargers. Mount Holyoke currently has five players averaging 8.5 points per game or more – McMichael, Twomey, Cal McGonagle, Helena Robinson and Sofia Francisco.

All four of Mount Holyoke’s wins have come at home, but the Lyons’ next contest will be on the road – a Monday tilt with Worcester State. It’ll be the MHC’s final non-conference game of the year before NEWMAC play begins.

Smith cracks top 10 in D3hoops.com Top 25 poll

The Pioneers haven’t slowed down a bit, and they will head into Saturday’s NEWMAC battle with Springfield College winners of seven straight. Smith is currently ranked 10th in the D3hoops.com Top 25, moving up three spots from a week ago.

Springfield and Smith have been two of the best teams the conference has to offer over the past handful of years, and it’s always an intense matchup when the two sides get together. Last year, Smith defeated Springfield 72-71 in double overtime at Blake Arena in Springfield in the first meeting. Then the Pride got revenge with a 70-68 win over the Pioneers in the second meeting. Saturday should be filled with a similar competitiveness in the rivals’ first of two games this month.

At this time last season, Smith was ranked No. 17 in the country before the Pioneers ultimately ended up in the Division III national championship game. During the 2022-23 campaign, Smith climbed all the way up to No. 4 in the nation en route to a Final Four appearance later that season.

Head coach Lynn Hersey has done a great job of keeping her team hungry for more despite beating teams by an average margin of victory of 19.5 points. The Pioneers’ (11-1) one loss came to UMass Dartmouth, a game in which they led by nine at halftime.

Another QB for Minutemen

Joe Harasymiak is certainly going to have an important decision to make. As soon as the 2024 season came to a close, UMass football fans were all but set on rising sophomore AJ Hairston being the Minutemen’s quarterback of the future after showing clear signs of stardom throughout the final several games. Hairston announced on social media he would be coming back to Amherst, and the UMass faithful was all-aboard the Hairston hype train.

But those conversations have since shifted, as Harasymiak brought in two more QBs to round out the position. The 2025 roster will likely feature UMass’ best quarterback room in a long time.

Joining Hairston and former Yale signal caller Grant Jordan on the Minutemen’s roster is Utah transfer Brandon Rose. Rose spent three years at Utah and played in three games in 2024. He made his first start against BYU, where he threw for 112 yards and ran for 55 more. A former 3-star out of high school, Rose (a native of California) suffered a Lisfranc injury (foot) that may impact his spring camp status in a few months.

Nonetheless, UMass now has three legitimate options to lead the charge of what has the potential to be a dynamic offense under new offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian – who coached QBs at Utah and likely got Rose to come over to Amherst with him.