Women’s basketball stays hot, marks 11th straight win

In 2006, the women’s basketball team won 20 straight games to start the season. They compiled 34 wins, culminating in a National Championship victory over Florida Gulf Coast University. 

The MVP of that game was current head coach of the women’s team, Kate Lynch. She led the team in points, steals, minutes and shooting percentage that season. 

Twenty years later, Lynch finds herself again at the helm of a streaking team with lofty expectations. 

“Everyone’s hungry. Everyone just keeps pushing each other. You can feel it in the locker room and on the court. Everyone’s got each other’s backs,” guard Jaycee Merizalde, a freshman, said. 

The 2026 team has won 11 straight games. After dispatching Bentley University on Feb. 4, the Owls took care of business against Pace University on Saturday, Feb. 7, winning 69-56. They then beat Southern New Hampshire University, beating the Penmen 55-47. 

Against Pace, the Owls went into the half facing a one-point deficit. By the time the third quarter was over, they held a 12-point lead. The Owls seem to have what other teams do not: an extra gear. 

Lynch credited a shift in “energy level,” not a tactical change, for her team’s turnaround against Pace. 

“In the second half, our defensive intensity and sense of urgency kicked up a notch,” Lynch said. 

Not every team has that extra notch. In contrast, by the end of the third, the Pace coach derided her team as “pathetic” and loudly proclaimed that they were “falling apart.” 

The defensive effort of guard Taeya Steinauer, a sophomore, who is tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best player every game, encapsulates the team’s mentality as a whole. 

“Taeya’s a dog. Even at practice and walk through, she’s getting tips and steals. She loves defense. She pushes everybody,” Merizalde said. 

The Owls consistently win the mental battle. When cooler heads prevail, it helps to have a leader like Lynch.

 “She has been there. She won the ‘chip. She knows what it takes,” forward Rheyna Steinauer, a senior, said. “She leads us and guides us through our games.” 

The win streak chugs along, but the team, Lynch says, maintains a narrow focus. 

“We don’t talk about it. We try to just take it possession by possession, be in that moment and be present,” Lynch said.