Bates women’s basketball has been one of the College’s premier programs since head coach Jim Murphy '69 returned to his alma mater in 1994. The Bobcats have posted at least 18 wins and reached the postseason in each of the last seven years. Murphy has produced six 1,000-point scorers, four All-America selections and three New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Players of the Year as the Bobcats have racked up a 138-41 record during that seven-year span. For the second consecutive season, the Bobcats led the conference in scoring, averaging 74.8 points per game, 4.9 points more than any other team in the league.  Bates won 10 of its last 12 games to end the year, and nearly upset Bowdoin in the NESCAC championship game on the road.

The Bobcats graduate four seniors from the 2002-03 campaign, including two-time all-conference guard/forward Carla Flaherty. She finished her career as the school's fifth all-time leading scorer with 1,143 points, and she shares the Bates record for 3-point field goals made in a game with six. Point guard Julia Price and forward Lisa Golobski also graduated, which leaves three spots open in the starting lineup.

Second-team all-conference forward Olivia Zurek '05 and shooting guard Lauren Dubois '04 are the team's returning starters.  Zurek led the team in rebounding (9.1 per game) and also averaged 14.2 points per game. Dubois was the league's leading 3-point shooter, making 46.3% of her shots from long range. In the conference semifinal against Wesleyan, Dubois scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half, all in a 5:15 span. Guard Heather Taylor '05, forward Annie Whiting '06 and guard/forward Betsy Hochadel '05 are expected to contend for the vacated starting positions. Hochadel tied a NESCAC Tournament record when she made eight of her nine shots from the floor in an 80-59 win over Tufts in a quarterfinal round game.