Until last weekend, no rugby team had ever won the Collegiate Rugby Championship National 7s Women’s Premier Cup three years in a row. But from the first woman to play Division I baseball to the first female DI football position coach, the women in Brown Athletics have always been trailblazers — and no team better embodies that spirit than the women’s rugby team, which secured its third consecutive national championship on April 27.
“I’m feeling so pumped,” said Akilah Cathey ’25 during an interview with the College Rugby Show following the championship victory this past Sunday. Capping off a sensational season, Cathey was named tournament MVP.
Sunday’s Premier Cup victory has been years in the making. In 2023, the Bears first announced themselves as a force to be reckoned with by defeating Navy 19-0 to win the CRC 7s Premier Cup. Last year, Brown topped the national stage once more, winning a second-straight national championship with a 12-5 victory over Army West Point in the championship finals.
This past weekend, the Bears completed the trinity, going undefeated across the tournament’s four games and beating Army 19-7 in the final matchup to clinch a third national title.
“I’m just bursting with pride being able to watch such amazing student-athletes work together to do something historic,” Head Coach Rosalind Chou wrote in an email to The Herald.
Although the entire team made history with their three-peat, Sunday’s victory also marked an individual accomplishment for Chou. With five total national title victories under her belt — two of which she won with Life University — Chou now holds the record for the most national titles of any coach in CRC women’s history.
“Coach Chou, she pours her entire life into each program that she becomes a part of, and I love it for her because she works so hard,” Cathey added in the interview. “She’s such a phenomenal coach, and she deserves it.”
On their path to victory, the Bears played a near-perfect tournament. In the round of sixteen, Brown put up their highest-scoring game of the day, trouncing Adrian College 38-0. Tate Muller ’27 and Genie Dickens ’28 led the way for the Bears, with Muller scoring a hat trick and Dickens recording three conversions for a combined 21 points.
Brown breezed through the quarterfinals as well, whalloping Navy 24-7. Lily Nowak ’27 and Nikki Lynch ’25 spearheaded Bruno’s offensive, scoring all of Brown’s tries. Although Navy tried to launch a counter-offensive late in the game, the Bears had all but won the match by halftime after putting up 19 unanswered points in the first half.
After a seamless day one, Brown took to the pitch at noon on Sunday to face off against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Picking up right where she left off the day before, Lynch came out of the gates firing, scoring her first try just three minutes into the game. The Lions responded with a try of their own to close out the half, and the teams entered intermission tied at 7 points each.
Despite a close first quarter, the Bruno offensive came to life in the second half. Laryssa Barbosa ’26 and Lynch each notched a try, and propelled by a stellar defensive effort that kept Penn State out of the tryzone, the Bears won the game 19-7.
For the third year in a row, the Bears earned their way to the CRC 7s Premier Cup championship final. With a chance at securing their reputation as one of the greatest rugby programs in the nation, the Bears took the field. Undeterred by the weight of an entire school’s hopes on their shoulders, Brown delivered.
In the final against Army, the Bears got off to a rocky start. Just 48 seconds into the game, Army slipped past Brown’s defense to score the first try of the match. But if the Bears are anything, it’s resilient.
“This team has faced a number of obstacles, losing some key folks to injury (and) fighting through some hard tournaments leading up to this CRC,” Chou explained. “All of those growing pains have made us a team with more depth.”
Any hopes the Black Knights had at running away with the game were quickly put to rest by Barbosa. Five minutes into the game, Barbosa received the ball at midfield and steamed ahead, above and through anything that stood in her way. Making contact with a West Point defender, Barbosa lowered her shoulder and leveled her opponent, marching straight over her and into the tryzone to shift the momentum in the Bears’ favor.
But Barbosa didn’t stop there. Only a minute into the second half, she notched another try. Launching an attack on the left flank behind Cathey, Brown barreled into Army’s territory. At midfield, the Bears flipped sides, sending the ball into Barbosa’s hands. Putting her speed on full display, she slipped past the last Black Knight defender into the tryzone. Following successful conversions by Julia Murray ’26 on both occasions, Brown claimed a 14-7 advantage with six minutes to go.
Chou emphasized the contributions made by Barbosa, who helped Brown “return to our confrontational style of play mixed with some tactical acumen.”
All of the Bears’ tries in the Premier Cup final, Chou noted, were scored by Barbosa and Aziza Alford ’25 — both of whom were walk-on players.
As the game wound down, it was clear to all sides that the next try would be decisive. If Brown struck first, the Bears would have a chance to put the game away. But if Army could launch a counter-attack, the national title would be wide open.
In this do-or-die situation, the Bears came out on top. Once more, Cathey started the attack, carrying the ball deep into Army’s territory despite being dragged down by three defenders. From there, Olivia Baptiste ’26, Yona Allouche ’28 and Lynch teamed up to spear through the heart of Army’s defense and advance up to the five-meter line.
From there, it was Alford’s time to shine. With a physicality that Army had no answer for, Alford bodied the Black Knights’ defensive line, fighting through contact and lunging for the tryzone to cement the victory 19-7.
“I’m excited for this team, I’m excited for the program, and I’m happy,” Cathey concluded. As a graduating senior, “I’m comfortable with leaving the program as it is now because we’re destined for greatness.”
Lydell Dyer is a sports editor for The Herald. A junior hailing from Bonn, Germany, Lydell is studying nonfiction English and political science, and if he's not off "making words sound pretty," you can find him lifting heavy circles at the Nelson.
