There was no rest for the weary during winter break for College Hill athletes, as the basketball, track and field and fencing teams were each in the thick of their busy seasons. Here are the biggest developments in Lafayette sports you might have missed.
Men’s basketball
After dropping its final out-of-conference games to La Salle, Quinnipiac and Richmond in December, the men’s basketball team (8-12 overall, 7-0 Patriot League) completely flipped the script on what had been a miserable start to the season by rattling off six consecutive Patriot League wins. This included a 69-64 victory over Colgate (12-8 overall, 6-1 Patriot League) on Jan. 10 in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game.
The team took the lead early against the Raiders and did not surrender it, surviving a second-half surge from Colgate to avenge last year’s defeat. Freshman guard Mark Butler led the team with 14 points, while junior center Justin Vander Baan had a team-high eight rebounds. Butler has led the team in scoring in four out of the six wins across the streak, averaging 12 points per game in that span.
The Leopards also notched wins against Army (5-14 overall, 1-5 Patriot League), Boston University (7-13 overall, 2-5 Patriot League), Navy (8-10 overall, 4-3 Patriot League) and Holy Cross (5-15 overall, 2-5 Patriot League) at the start of January. The standout win, however, came in an overtime victory against Bucknell (7-13 overall, 4-3 Patriot League) last Saturday, which saw a second-half comeback from the Leopards to send it into overtime and keep their unbeaten streak alive.
Women’s basketball
The women’s basketball team (6-12 overall, 1-6 Patriot League) secured one win and one loss before the opening of conference play, with a 68-47 loss to Monmouth (10-6 overall) followed by a 57-55 win away at Dartmouth (6-10 overall).
Senior guard Makayla Andrews recorded 18 points and three assists against Dartmouth, leading the team in both categories. However, the team has struggled since the beginning of Patriot League play, as a win against Army (7-10 overall, 4-3 Patriot League) to open its conference campaign was followed by five straight losses against Boston University (12-6 overall, 4-3 Patriot League), Colgate (11-7 overall, 4-3 Patriot League), Navy (6-12 overall, 2-5 Patriot League), Holy Cross (13-5 overall, 7-0 Patriot League) and Bucknell (5-13 overall, 2-5 Patriot League) to place the team tied at the bottom in the standings.
In their last game before the end of winter break, the Leopards were outscored 26-8 in the third quarter en route to a 65-58 loss to Bucknell. The Leopards were led by junior guard Abby Antognoli, who had 17 points and five assists. The Leopards’ biggest issue has been their slow starts to games, where the team has been outscored 85-53 in the first quarter across the five losses.
Track and field
The track and field team competed in three meets over winter break.
The first was the Spartan Invitational at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island, during which sophomore Titan Casey and junior Nava Chevan each earned first-place finishes in the 800-meter run. Casey secured first place with a time of 1:56.92 while Chevan ran a 2:17.30 to sweep the category for the Leopards.
The team returned to Ocean Breeze to compete in the Gotham Cup, where sophomore Quinn Worrell placed first in the mile run with a time of 4:11.43, clocking the third fastest all-time performance at Lafayette. 7 Leopards got on to or improved their positions on the all-time top 10 lists at the Gotham Cup.
Finally, at the Moravian Invitational, the Leopards earned three first-place finishes from senior Juliette Delmotte in the long jump, junior Julia Greeley in the pole vault and junior Jack Lynett in the pole vault.
Fencing
The fencing team attended the Philadelphia Invitational at the University of Pennsylvania on Jan. 20. The team lost all of its matches, falling to Johns Hopkins, Sacred Heart, Cornell, San Diego, North Carolina, NJIT and Haverford on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Senior saber Amanda Manubag and junior foil Anna Silver had the best performances for the women, winning 13 and seven bouts, respectively. On the men’s side, junior epee Antoine Mannes and sophomore foil Alex Brown had seven and six wins in their bouts.
