The Colorado College women's basketball team opens the 2024-25 season on Friday, Nov. 15, against Pacific University inside Reid Arena at 2 p.m.
 
The Tigers aim to build on their success from last season, which saw them accumulate their most wins since 1981, which ended in a trip to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship game. CC returns four top-six scorers and four top-six players with the most minutes from last season.
 
Tomlinson and Bledsoe Lead the Way
 
The Tigers return the SCAC 2023-24 Player of the Year, senior center Zoë Tomlinson. A consensus all-American, Tomlinson led the SCAC in scoring (17.7 ppg) and rebounding (14.0 rpg) last season and is already seventh on the league's all-time rebounding list with 910.
 
Tomlinson capped her historic 2023-24 season by being named the only first player in program history to receive All-American honors from the WBCA (honorable mention) and D3Hoops (Third Team) in the same season and was the fourth player in program history to earn a pair of first-team all-conference selections. She finished the season with a program record of 24 double-doubles, also second in the nation.
 
Senior guard/forward Healy Bledsoe, the returning SCAC Defensive Player of the Year and a third-team All-SCAC selection last season, is also back. Bledsoe finished the season first on the team and second in the SCAC in steals, totaling 58.
 
Tigers Picked to Finish Second in Preseason Poll

CC was predicted to finish second in the SCAC standings after receiving 111 points, including two first-place votes.
 
The Tigers scored only seven fewer points than 2023-24 SCAC Tournament Champion Trinity, who is picked to finish first with 118 points. Last season, the Tigers advanced to the SCAC Tournament Championship game but barely missed out. 
 
Reloading & Running It Back
 
CC surpassed 20 wins last season, the first time since the 1980-81 campaign. The success was accompanied by the Tigers heading to the SCAC Championship for the third straight season, accumulating a 12-4 conference record.
 
Last season, the Tigers had five players, three returners, who received all-conference recognition, including two major awards from the SCAC. Senior Tomlinson took home SCAC Player of the Year and was named an All-SCAC First Team selection, while Bledsoe was named the first player in CC history to be named SCAC Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Junior Kayla Mackel earned her first all-conference recognition by being named an Honorable Mention selection, averaging 9.1 points per game.
 
Senior Laura Strenk returns to the lineup after missing the 2023-24 season due to injury. Strenk has played in 53 career games and was named an All-SCAC Honorable Mention selection in 2021-22.
 
Under Auguste
 
Head coach Katherine Auguste enters her ninth season for the Tigers. She has led CC to five straight winning seasons since 2019. Last season, Auguste picked up her 100^th career win during a semifinal win over Texas Lutheran and enters this season with the second-most wins all-time in CC history.  
 
The Tigers have made the SCAC Tournament in seven of the eight seasons Auguste has coached, leading the Tigers to three straight SCAC Championship appearances.
 
Auguste announced on Aug. 1 the addition of Drew Mitchell as assistant coach to the staff this season. Mitchell is well known around the Midwest coaching tree, spending years coaching at numerous levels of basketball, from AAU to NCAA DI and DIII. Most recently, Mitchell was in a similar role at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA. He helped the Kohwawks to a 21-6 record in the 2023-24 season.
 
The Road Ahead
 
CC kicks off the season against Pacific University on Nov. 15, followed by North Central College on Nov. 16. This will be the third matchup between CC and Pacific University and the first meeting since 2021. The matchup against North Central marks the third meeting between the Tigers and the Cardinals, and the first since 2017.
 
The Tigers will play their first road games in St. Paul, MN, when they take on Simpson College on Friday, Nov. 22. Their first conference matchup will be against the University of St. Thomas on Saturday, Dec. 14, in Houston, TX.