NORTHAMPTON — The Smith College women’s basketball team only has one destination in mind after losing in the NCAA Division 3 championship game last season, and that’s making yet another deep postseason run come next March.

The Pioneers have become a postseason staple in women’s basketball, and although their runner-up finish to NYU was tough to swallow, they still notched back-to-back Final Four appearances. With each new season over the past half decade, Smith has continued to trend upward. The only thing left to do is raise a national title, and the Pioneers’ quest to do so began on Friday night against Ramapo College (N.J.). They’ll continue in the Tyler Tip-Off on Sunday against Arcadia University (4 p.m.) at Ainsworth Gymnasium in Northampton.

Is another deep run in the big dance going to be the expectation year-in and year-out now that the Pioneers – which are ranked No. 10 in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll to start the year – have established themselves as a national powerhouse?

“Yeah, it is without a doubt,” said Smith head coach Lynn Hersey, the 2024 D3hoops.com National Coach of the Year who enters her 18th season with the program.

“We have to keep our mindset at the Final Four level. I think it goes back to like, once you’ve been there once, then you go back again, it’s shown our team that we can have different teams and different players step up from one year to the next and still compete on the biggest stage,” she added. “And there’s a cultural philosophy to how we are able to elevate each other in our roles, the expectations we place on ourselves and our habits… I just think that going back-to-back gives you a different level of understanding of what it takes to get there.”

Every now and again teams that aren’t mainstays at the top of the college basketball world put it together for a season and make a Cinderella run in NCAA Tournament. And sure that may have been the initial thought of Smith’s trip to the Final Four in 2023 (the program’s first-ever), but Hersey and the Pioneers turned around and did it again in 2024.

Smith has won the last three NEWMAC titles and claimed four of the last five, and it holds a 15-5 record in the NCAA Tournament under Hersey.

As new first-year players and transfers come through the program, they’re fully aware that Hersey and Smith hold players to a high standard – and program veterans waste no time introducing the newcomers to that.

“I think we’re going to be really relying a lot on just the experience of our returners,” Hersey said. “And what I mean by that is, not completely just game or minute experience, but the culture of winning. The culture of being able to perform under pressure. The daily habits that elite programs have, and how you bring your younger players into that mindset. And so that’s been a big focus early on.”

March is quite a ways away from early November, so Hersey is currently focused on the present and making sure her team is prepared for the postseason when that time inevitably comes. Smith is certainly going to look a bit different this season, as the Pioneers said goodbye to program mainstays Jessie Ruffner, Ally Yamada and Sofia Rosa – the team’s top three scorers last winter.

Hersey admitted replacing them is a tall task, but she does believe Smith has the proper personnel to do so.

First up is Haverford College (Pa.) transfer Ally Landau. Hersey raved about Landau and her overall ability to make the right basketball play time and time again. The senior can score from anywhere on the floor and is capable of getting everyone involved with her play-making skills. Landau has played a ton of basketball, averaging 16 or more points per game in all three seasons at Haverford – where she started in 63 of 69 total contests.

Smith also welcomes back Hannah Martin, the 2023-24 NEWMAC Rookie of the Year. Martin is expected to take a huge leap alongside Landau in the backcourt, as is Jane Loo, who started 23 games a season ago. Loo was more of a defensive specialist throughout last year due to the several offensive options the Pioneers had, but now she is one of those top options.

“So we have some holes to fill,” Hersey said. “Ally is going to be a massive player for us. She can score at all three levels, she has incredible body control and she’s one of the faster guards we’ve had, but it’s mixed with power. And that’s a combo we haven’t often coached… Jane Loo is a returning starter for us, and she’s going to have to have a big year. She wasn’t necessarily needed to score consistently last year, but this year that role changes for her… And then Hannah Martin, it’s just about her taking another step.”

Between Landau, Martin and Loo in the backcourt and guards Selam Maher and Maggie Fleming coming off the bench, Hersey doesn’t foresee many teams across the country having more depth at that position.

“I think that group will be really competitive with any other guard group in the in the country, and so we’re looking forward to seeing how that all unfolds,” Hersey said. “They’re a fun, versatile, very crafty group, and they all bring a bunch of different elements that we can use offensively as a great toolbox for us as coaches.”

Jasmine Washington is in line to fill the shoes of Rosa down low, but for the most part Hersey is still trying to piece together what exactly the frontcourt is going to look like. She likes what she’s seen from Washington to spearhead that group early on, as Washington can be used in a lot of different ways because of her rare ability to handle the ball and make plays as a forward.

Ella Sylvester and Virginia Johnson also return to the frontcourt as two solid contributors from last year’s group. They know what it’s like to be on a winning team and play on the big stage.

All signs point to yet another dominant Smith College season in the NEWMAC.