While the majority of the Wesleyan student body was spending its winter break in less productive ways, the women’s basketball team was busy getting into the swing of their season. Over the break, the women played a total of ten games, seven of which were league games. Of the three out-of-conference games, Wesleyan compiled a 3-0 record, topping NYU, Emmanuel, and Farmingdale State. Against NESCAC opponents they went 4-3, bringing their winter break total record to 7-3. In the NESCAC, they managed to beat Trinity, Middlebury, Bates, and Conn College, while losing to traditional powerhouses Williams, Amherst, and Tufts.
On Jan. 2, Wesleyan traveled to the Big Apple to compete in the NYU New Year’s Classic against Farmingdale State and NYU. The day was spent playing Farmingdale, who Wes defeated 50-37 thanks to stellar defensive performance and sophomore guard Jenna Klaes’ team-high 11 points. The next day, the women defeated NYU to take the Classic by a score of 69-60. It was a tough match-up that saw both teams lead multiple times in the second half, but Wes eventually pulled away on the strength of their two high-scoring senior forwards Emily Lippe and Sam LaCroce, who each scored 15 and 16 points respectively.
After these games, Wes launched into the heart of their seasonal schedule and began playing tough NESCAC competition. The Cards first battled with Amherst, but were unable to overcome the Little Three Rival—Wes suffered a disheartening 76-39 defeat. After such a lopsided loss, it was necessary for the Cardinals to break into the NESCAC win column against in-state rivals Trinity. Wes did just that, winning a close battle by a score of 54-46 as center Eileen Gaffney ’12 paved the way with a team-high 17 points.
The squad next faced another tough challenge against their other Little Three Rival, Williams College, and unfortunately for the girls in red, the result was the same as it had been against Amherst. They lost by a score of 65-51, despite strong play by Gaffney and LaCroce, who recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the game. Next, Wes took on Middlebury for their second home game in a row, but this time experienced a different result, as the Cardinals won by nine in a squeaker with 63-54. Gaffney, Klaes, and LaCroce all scored in double digits for the Cards. While the team hoped the game would give them momentum to start a streak in the upcoming duel with Tufts, the Jumbos trounced the Cardinals 54-32 on home court.
For their fourth straight home match, Wesleyan took on Bates and beat them in a high-scoring affair 78-67. Gaffney, Klaes, and LaCroce were joined by sophomore guard Amber Wessells ’14 in the double digits scoring club. Wes then traveled to their first away game in over two weeks to play Emmanuel and finally got the win to turn their stand-alones into a streak. Admittedly less important because of the non-conference nature of the game, the value of the win wasn’t taken for granted, and Wes was glad to begin a winning streak by beating their Bostonian opponents 71-59.
The last game that Wes played was this past weekend against Conn College at home, and the girls won for the third time in a row with a score of 51-43. As it stands, Wes currently sits tied with Conn College in 5th place with an above .500 record of 4-3. Their next game is a grudge match against Amherst at home on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Silloway Gymnasium.