Basketball
In the fifth week of the NCAA Division III college basketball season, the No. 10-ranked men’s team continued their dominance on the hardwood. In two home victories this past week, the Violets showcased elite defensive versatility and exceptional three-point shooting.
On Tuesday, Dec. 3, the Violets defeated Marywood University 82-5. Despite two consecutive three-point shots from graduate student Tristan How to end the first half, the Violets struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just four of 16 attempts.
In the second half, NYU took complete control of the game, generating points off turnovers and scoring easy buckets in transition, forcing Marywood into 21 turnovers. The Violets had five players score in the double digits, with How leading the way with 17 points. Draining over half of their three-point attempts, NYU’s shooting improved tremendously. Graduate student Chuma Oyigbo ended the game with 12 points.
After their 88-46 win against Connecticut College on Dec. 7, the Violets improved to a perfect 7-0 record. Unlike their earlier game last week, NYU only trailed in the opening minutes before forming a commanding 40-15 lead by halftime.
The Violets’ defense once again proved to be among the best in the country, holding Connecticut to just 25% shooting from the field. On the offensive end, graduate student Brock Susko continued his lights-out shooting, knocking down four three-pointers to finish with a team-high 16 points. Graduate student center Emmanuel Onuama asserted his dominance in the paint, going a perfect 6-for-6 and ending with 14 points.
After winning two consecutive games this week with a 7-0 record, the women’s team remains ranked No.1 in the nation. The Violets have not lost a game since their NCAA D-III Tournament Elite Eight exit to Transylvania University in March 2023 and are on a 38-game winning streak.
On Friday, Dec. 6, the Violets steamrolled past State University of New York Cobleskill by 64 points, winning 119-55. Graduate student Natalie Bruns tied her career high in points with 29 for the game, with three other Violets also chipping in with double-digit scoring. SUNY Cobleskill simply had no answer for NYU, as the Violets connected on 50% of their three-point attempts — setting a program record with 18 makes.
On Saturday, Dec. 8, NYU defeated Tufts University 97-50. Offensively, Bruns and senior Belle Pellechia led the Violets with 23 and 21 points, respectively. NYU secured 12 steals for the game, with Pellechia contributing four.
Fencing
The men’s and women’s fencing teams competed in the Tradition Tournament hosted by Vassar College on Dec. 8. They competed against Vassar, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Sacred Heart University, Princeton University and Temple University.
In the first matchup, the men beat Vassar 23-4 with the women pulling a 22-5 win. The men defeated both NJIT and SHU by similar margins of 20-6 and 21-6. The women’s team beat NJIT 20-7 and SHU 18-9. Both teams fell to Princeton, with the men earning three wins for each event — foil, epee and saber — and losing 12-15. The women beat Princeton in foil, but did not excel in the other two events, causing an 11-16 loss. The men’s team did not compete against Temple, but the women lost 13-14.
The fencing teams will compete next in the North American Cup in Kansas City, MO on Jan. 3.
Swimming & Diving
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, both ranked No. 4 in the nation, continued their winning momentum into Saturday, Dec. 7 in dual meets against Johns Hopkins University and host The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ.
The men’s team defeated Johns Hopkins 157-104 and TCNJ 180.5-113.50 in events, winning nine of the 16 events. The women’s team only faced Johns Hopkins, beating the Blue Jays by a 182-79 score, winning 15 of the 16 events.
Senior Caitlin Marshall secured three victories: winning the 1000-yard freestyle at 10:17.89, the 200-yard butterfly with a 2:02.07 time and the 500-yard free with a 5:00.78 time. Junior Kaley McIntyre won two individual events — the 200-yard freestyle and the 50-yard free with times of 1:49.89 and 23.24, respectively.
She was also part of the 400-yard medley relay team, alongside junior Nicole Ranile, senior Anna Li and sophomore Grace Baik, that won by over four seconds. First-years Natsuki Uchino and Sarah Pierson, with senior Isabel Oldham and McIntyre won the 200-yard freestyle relay with a 1:34.51 time.
Ranile and Li won the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard breaststroke events, respectively. Sophomore Maya Williams won the 1-meter and 3-meter dive events, junior Meera Katsuri followed in second place for both events.
Senior Connor Vincent secured two victories in the 1000-yard and 500-yard freestyle events. Sophomore Pierce Downs won the 100 and 200-yard freestyle events while fellow sophomore Matthew Wang took first-place in the 100-yard butterfly and was part of the 400-yard medley relay team that placed second with a 3:19.08 time alongside first-years Keith McQuaid, Maksym Nechydyuk and Downs.
On Sunday, the diving teams travelled to Troy, NY to compete in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Go Red Diving Invitational. Senior William Hopkins scored 513.10 points in the 3-meter dive event, placing second, while first-year Nolan Jennings scored 451.85 points to earn third.
Four Violets swept the top-four spots of the women’s 1-meter dive. Williams won her third dive event of the weekend with 472.05 points and first-year Katherine Taylor was close behind in 468.45 points. Junior Isabella Reyes scored 465.10 to take third and Katsuri came fourth with 449.65 points.
Both diving teams will be competing on Jan. 11 at the Palladium Athletic Facility Natatorium. The men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams will return to the deck next year in a meet against Williams College in Williamstown, MA on Friday, Jan.17.
Track & Field
The men’s and women’s track & field teams got off the blocks quickly at the FastTrack Season Opener in Staten Island’s Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex last Friday, Dec. 6 and at the TCNJ Indoor Opener at the Nike Track & Field Center at the Armory in Manhattan on Saturday, Dec. 7.
On Friday, sophomore Julian Aske led the Violet contingent in the men’s mile with a 4:16:11 time to take first place, with senior Jon Diaz following closely in second with a 4:18:89 time. Sophomore William Cornick finished fourth with a personal-best time of 4:20:57.
Junior Travis Perry had a successful meet, recording two personal bests: a 30th-placed 7.11 time in the 60-meter dash and another 30th-placed finish in the 200-meter dash with a 22.90 time. Senior Oliver Fideler tied his personal best in the long jump with a 6.22-meter mark to place 19th and junior Drew Boyce tied his in the triple jump to place 18th at 12.76 meters.
The Violets had two top-10 finishers in the women’s mile — first-year Stella Kuttner earned eighth with a 5:12:81 time and fellow first-year Gianna Dawson came 10th at 5:14:41. Junior Dasha Jackson secured a fifth-placed finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a 9.40 time.
Junior Daniel Lee placed ninth in the men’s shot put with a 12.95m on Friday, tying his personal best.
The next day, Boyce broke his long jump personal-best by 0.13 meters and placed 16th while junior Areyanna McCarthy tied for fifth in the high jump with a 1.48 meter mark. Sophomore Beverly Okeyere broke her personal best in the 300-meter event, placing 22nd at 43.67 while sophomore EJ Eaglin placed 15th in the 400-meter dash with a 57.04 time.
Both track and field teams return to action at the Armory on Jan. 10 to compete in the St. Thomas Aquinas College Invitational.
Wrestling
The wrestling team traveled to Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI on Dec. 7 to compete in three separate duals against Roger Williams, Western New England University and Rhode Island College.
The Violets defeated Roger Williams by precisely 10 points, 27-17. Junior Harrison Gordon, first-years James Carlock and Tyler Kadish, junior Vincenzo Napolitana, and team captains Cooper Pontelandolfo and Trent Furman all defeated their respective opponents to clinch the big win.
Napolitana and senior Pontelandolfo had the two largest wins of the afternoon — namely, two technical falls by the Hawks that ended in a 17-1 and 19-3 victories.
Against Western New England University, NYU won every single matchup — pummeling WNEU 43-6.
In the third and final duel of the day, the Violets finished strong against Rhode Island, finaling 39-4 with two sweeping defeats from sophomore Jacob Venenzia and Kadish, scoring 10-0 and 8-0.
The Violets are back in action next month for the UAA Challenge, dueling Augsburg University, Aurora University and Millikin University on Jan. 4, 2025.
Contact WSN’s Sports Desk at [email protected].
