 "Photo: Michel Bafondoko/The Mirror")
After a weekend of home games, both the men and women's basketball teams continued to move through a solid season.
On Friday, Dec. 4, the men and women's team squared off with the Univ. of Mary Mauraders with mixed results. The women's team pulled off a close 85-81 victory in overtime. Sophomore guard Molly Hayes put up six points against Univ. of Mary, though she felt the win was closer than it should have been.
"We just didn't come out aggressive the second half," Hayes said. "We were sitting on a 15-point lead, and no one was looking to score."
The men's game that followed was met with less success. The Viking men lost 49-63 to the Marauders, and according to players and coaching staff alike, this was one of the men's weakest games of the season.
Head coach Tom Billeter said of the game against Univ. of Mary, "We played with little or no emotion, and we only shot 12 free throws and 22 threes, which indicates we were settling for easy shots, not trying to put any pressure on Mary's defense."
Other members of the team shared this feeling, including senior guard David Foster, who said, "We played our worst game of the season."
Still, the game against Univ. of Mary was a wake-up call for the men's team for the game against the Northern State Wolves on Dec. 5. "It was good for us to lose to U-Mary, because we went in overconfident, and this game made us realize that we have to earn each game," Foster said.
The men redeemed themselves by scraping out an 82-77 win against Northern State, with sophomore guard Cody Schilling scoring a game-high 20 points.
"We didn't play much better against Northern but got a win," Foster said. "We didn't deserve either. We were lucky to go 1-1."
The women's team earned an even more decisive 73-51 victory against the Wolves as well. Hayes scored a game-high 16 points.
"We stayed aggressive against Northern and played really well defensively as a team," she said. "The crowd was really great Saturday night too, and helped give us the extra energy we needed."
As the weekend ended, the men found themselves with a 6-1 season record while the women grew their record to a respectable 5-1.
Both teams will continue to be tested with their games against Wayne State on Dec. 12, with the women's game at 5 p.m., and the men's game following at 7 p.m.
Even with finals week approaching, coach Billeter hopes to see students turning out to cheer for their Vikings.
"It definitely makes a big difference when our students are at the games," he said.
"Hopefully as busy as things are right now, they can find a few hours to come out for a study break and support the men and women's programs."
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