The men’s and women’s basketball teams, continued their strong streaks against the University of Chicago on Friday before taking on Washington University in St. Louis on Sunday.

The men came into the weekend at 12-2 on the season, ranking 17th in the country by d3hoops.com. In their first game, the Violets lost to the 12th ranked UChicago Maroons 69-58. An early 11-0 run gave Chicago a lead that it would maintain throughout the first half, ending with NYU behind 34-24. The Violets rallied in the second half, sinking a three pointer by junior guard Joe Timmes with just nine minutes left, cutting the deficit to four. Chicago then countered with a run of its own, answering with a 17-9 run to put the game out of reach. Senior center Costa Gontikas led the Violets with 19 points and Max Ralby reached a team high of eight rebounds.

The women had much more success against Chicago, winning 71-55. The team, entering the game at 13-1 and ranked eighth in the country, were held in check during the first quarter, trailing Chicago by one. The Violets broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring the Maroons 24-7. The second half was fairly even, with Chicago occasionally threatening to make a run but NYU generally remaining in control. Junior guard Kaitlyn Read had a double-double, leading the team with 20 points and 12 rebounds. The Violets were stellar from the three-point line, where they shot 64 percent.

On Sunday the men regrouped. Playing 10-5 Washington University in St. Louis, the Violets won 77-67. WUSTL jumped out to an early lead, going on an 11-4 run in the first half putting early pressure on the Violets.The Bears kept NYU at bay for most of the game, with the lead bouncing between single and double digits. Finally, the Violets got their chance with under five minutes to play. Down 72-67, the Violets stormed ahead with an 8-0 run, with clutch scoring from senior forward Evan Kupferberg and sophomore guard Ross Udine down the stretch.

“Coming off a loss on Friday we knew this was a huge game for us,” Udine said. “The coaches gave us a great scout and we really knew if we played our game that we would have a good chance of winning and that’s exactly what we did.”

The women’s game on Sunday against the Bears was a thriller. It was an exciting battle of top-ten teams. In the final seconds, the Violets came away with perhaps their biggest win of the season at 66-64. The first three-quarters were tight, with Washington holding a slight, 53-49 edge after three. The fourth quarter was back and forth, as Washington continued to maintain its small edge.  However, in the end, NYU tied the game with 1:49 on the clock thanks to  a three-pointer from senior guard/forward Maya Wasowicz. Trailing by two with under a minute to play, junior guard Amy Harioka hit a clutch three with 33 seconds left, giving the Violets the lead for good.

The Violets return home on Friday Jan. 26 and Sunday Jan. 28, as the men and women look to march on against Carnegie Mellon University and Case Western University.
A version of this article appeared in the Jan. 25 print edition. Email Tony Schwab at [email protected].