Gearing up for Another NCAA Title Run
After posting a record 28 wins last season and earning a first-time appearance in the NCAA Division III’s Final Four, the Rhode Island College women’s basketball team has put the New England sports world on notice.
And here’s the scary news for opponents: the 2023-24 Anchorwomen squad may be even more invincible, says Coach Jenna Cosgrove, who is in her seventh year as the team’s leader.
“We’re returning with the most experienced group we’ve had since I’ve been here,” says Cosgrove. “Our goal is to get back to where we were last season and advance to the national championship. During the Final Four last season, our players saw that they could accomplish that.”
To that end, Cosgrove noted that her team trained intensely over the summer and won all their games in a summer league.
“They hate to lose,” she says. “There’s a confidence that winning instills in you once you get a taste of success.”
Two season-ending polls validated the team’s success, ranking them fifth in the D3hoops.com poll and seventh in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association poll.
Team captains Angelina Nardolillo and Madison Medbury say they’re yearning to accomplish much more this season, which kicks off Friday, Nov. 10, with a contest against Tufts University in the Murray Center on campus.
“I’m looking forward to the potential that our team holds,” says Nardolillo, the Anchorwomen’s center, and a junior marketing major. “We took the loss in the Final Four to heart last season and that motivated us to want to get better and return this season in better shape.”
Medbury, a senior double majoring in health science and psychology and one of the team’s key guards, says it will be interesting to compare the team’s start this season to last season.
“We played ranked teams and didn’t perform as well then,” she says. “For example, we played against Babson [College] and lost by 30 points but later during the NCAA tournament, we knocked them off.”
Cosgrove says the way the team plays defense is its calling card.
“With the personnel we’ve brought in this season, we’re going to be even deeper defensively, and I believe that is going to ignite our offense,” Cosgrove says.
The team will also add a new coach this season, Meghan Reall ’19. Reall, who also works as a physical education teacher in the Providence Public School District, played two seasons on the Anchorwomen basketball team from 2014-16. Previously, Reall spent four years as head basketball coach at Johnston High School.
“Meghan provides an amazing presence on the court, has a sense of urgency and is a great motivator for our team. All our girls look up to her,” Cosgrove says.
Cosgrove, Medbury and Nardolillo all stressed that they need the motivation and support they received from members of the RIC community during their NCAA tournament run to carry on into this year.
“The college has been with us every step of the way,” Nardolillo says. “During the tournament, we had the biggest crowds at every gym we played in, with the exception of Scranton.”
So, is there any extra pressure now that you’re expected to win?
Nardolillo and Medbury maintain that there isn’t, but their coach says the stakes are higher.
“There is an expectation that we should be winning certain games now, whereas before we were upsetting teams,” Cosgrove says. “Whatever we accomplish, I think it’s going to be a special season because of the people we have in our program, and players who are sacrificing to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”
