Basketball squads highlight winter sports season

The women's basketball team is enjoying one of the best seasons in program history, compiling a 14-3 record that helped earn them their first national ranking.

The team appeared at No. 24 in the USA Today Division III Coaches Poll in January after racing out to a 13-1 start, with wins over nationally ranked Tufts University and New England Small College Athletic Conference rival Trinity College.

“Earning a Top 25 national ranking for the first time ever is certainly a milestone worth celebrating,” said Head Coach Brian Wilson. “Our student-athletes have worked extremely hard to put themselves in this position and we are certainly grateful for the recognition.”

Leading the way has been Mairead Hynes ’18, who leads the team with 13.8 points per game, and Liz Malman ’17, averaging 12.3 points per game. The team has also had key contributions from rookie Payton Ouimette ’19, the teams rebound leader at 8.6 per game who has earned multiple Rookie of the Week honors from the New England Women’s Basketball Association.

The men’s basketball team is also impressing on the court, standing at 12-6 on the season. The campaign has been marked by heart-stopping finishes, which included back-to-back last-second wins over Middlebury and City College of New York.

Rookie Tyler Rowe ’19 was the hero in both victories, sinking the game-winning layup with 16 seconds to go against Middlebury and a buzzer-beating three-pointer that sent the Camels past CCNY. Rowe’s heroics landed him in the pages of Sports Illustrated, as he was included in the magazine’s Faces in the Crowd section of the Jan. 25 issue.

The Camels are also enjoying success on the ice, with the women’s hockey team earning weekend sweeps over NESCAC rivals Trinity and Wesleyan to improve to 8-7-1.

The team is led from the back—goalie Katherine Chester ’17 has been a brick wall, compiling a .950 save percentage and a 1.50 goals-against average to go with five shutouts. Her play earned her NESCAC Player of the Week honors twice in January.

The men’s hockey team currently sits at 3-11-2, but almost scored a major upset against reigning national champion Trinity, pushing the Bantams to overtime before falling 4-3. Tim DiPretoro leads the Camels with 18 points; his 11 goals rank third in the NESCAC.