After a resounding 69-53 victory over Saint Benedict, Hamline women’s basketball clinched a spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoffs. This marks the sixth consecutive postseason trip for the team, a milestone only two other MIAC teams stake claim to. Only two regular season games followed that win against St. Ben’s, including a matchup against a St. Mary’s squad that was receiving votes for the top 25 list.

“There’s certainly no easy, or “nights off” in the MIAC, that’s for sure! We knew this stretch was coming since the schedule was released, and have just stayed true to our process, plan and mindset as we approached it and are currently going through it,” head coach Joshua Hersch said via email.

The St. Mary’s match, which ended as a 77-72 Hamline victory, came at the end of a stacked month of competition, with the Pipers playing back-to-back games against ranked opponents Concordia-Moorhead and Bethel, losing a close match versus Concordia and winning a close one against Bethel.

“Competing well at Concordia, although a disappointing end result, certainly gave us belief as a team in what was coming ahead. We just kept working and were able to combine our league leading defensive efforts (points allowed and turnovers forced) with some well-timed offense, which led to a couple favorable results last week,” Hersch said via email.

The secret sauce behind this successful stretch? Hersch’s answer: depth.

“It has been since we took the floor in the Fall, and although it always takes a team time to understand messaging and truly buy-in to concepts throughout the season, our depth has never been a question,” Hersch said via email.

“I think the challenging part for our opponents to prepare for or scout is the reality that in any given game we have multiple players who can step in and take over the scoring,” Hersch said via email.

One of the more recent examples of this mentality came in Hamline’s game against St. Ben’s, when senior forward Sophie Stork was quite literally perfect. She scored 21 points on 8-8 shooting from the field, five of which were three pointers and had no free throws to boot.

“It was definitely a fun night and a confidence booster to see the ball go in consistently! My key takeaway from that game that I will bring into the playoffs is to play free and to play confident. Let the game come to me and just work as hard as I can,” Stork said via email.

The team atmosphere in this last historic stretch is, as one would assume, electric.

“The locker room after those games is refreshing and exciting. It helps us remember why we put in all the work during pre season and keep showing up everyday. We proved to ourselves we can battle with anyone, and we plan to continue to do so,” Stork said via email.

As the regular season winds to a close, the final aspects of the team are looking to click into place.

“In the final two regular season games of the year, I just want to see all of the puzzle pieces come together. It’s been a work in progress and we have been growing all season, so now it’s time to truly showcase what we are made of,” Stork said via email.

The senior also had some goals for herself.

“For me personally, I want to not only work my tail off, but soak in these moments as my career is coming to an end. Points or not, as long as I play hard and do what my team needs me to do on a given night, I’m happy,” Stork said via email.

She had one very simple, but core message for the team overall:

“I want everyone to play free and confident! And to have fun of course!”