With the end of the semester approaching, here are the things to look forward to from winter athletics in the spring semester and a recap of how they’ve gotten to this point.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams have been the standouts of the early winter season, both heading into the break undefeated. Both Violet squads came into the season with high expectations — the women’s team was coming off a solid NCAA tournament performance in 2014, while the men’s team had the talent to do the same but came up just short. This year, they have only built upon that success. With the women beating teams by an average margin of 14.0 PPG and the men’s team winning by an average margin of 19.4 PPG, the basketball season is sure to heat up even more in January.

NYU’s wrestling team started the season upstate at Ithaca College with a solid fourth place finish. Shortly thereafter, they travelled to Cornell University to compete in the New York State Collegiate Championships. The Grapplers finished in a disappointing 17th place out of 27 teams, only managing a total of 12.5 points. Their tough stretch continued when they dropped a 28-12 decision to Stevens Institute of Technology. On Dec. 4 at Hunter College, they won all but one of their bouts in a 38-6 victory. Despite their struggles in the middle part of their early season, the team is currently ranked 21st by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. The squad will have a long layoff before their next competition — Grapple on the Hill on Saturday, Dec. 12 over at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland.

The men’s and women’s fencing teams have struggled early in competitions featuring larger universities. The men’s team has had three losses early to Penn State University, Princeton University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. They got back on track by beating Vassar College. The women’s team also suffered losses against PSU, Princeton and Temple University all in the same meet. The teams will return to action in the North American Cup, which takes place Jan. 8-11 in St. Louis, Missouri.

The swimming and diving teams have picked up right where they left off in 2014. In head-to-head matchups, they are each 6-0. The men’s squad narrowly kept their perfect head-to-head record alive on Nov. 14, when they edged The College of New Jersey by a score of 151-147. In that same meet, the women’s team clobbered TCNJ, 207-87. They have a long layoff, where they will look to rest after a hard preseason and early season training regimen. The Violets will return to the Palladium Athletic Facility on Jan. 16.  

Email Ashley Arnold at [email protected].