Story co-written by Emma Hodes
The 2022 season of catamount basketball officially ended on Friday, March 4 as both teams had been eliminated from postseason contention.
An underwhelming season for both teams found the Cats in last place in the Southern Conference heading into the Southern Conference Tournament.
The men’s team, under first-year head coach, Justin Gray, finished 11-20, with a 5-13 record in conference games.
The team was led by graduate transfer Nicolas Robinson. Robinson, averaging over 15 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game for this season. Robinson earned a career high 37 points against Blue Ridge rival, East Tennessee State leading to their first regular season win against the Buccaneers since 1998.
“Our guys understand that we will be resilient and our culture will come through,” said Gray, regarding their season. “We always will be 25 strong,” he added.
The Lady Cats, under third-year head coach, Kiley Hill, finished 7-22, with a conference record of 0-14.
The cats were led by redshirt junior forward Nadia Marshall, sophomore guards Zanoria Cruz and Joi Reid, and junior guard Vanessa Oduah.
“I’ve got mixed emotions,” said head coach Kiley Hill regarding the 2022 season. “We had such high expectations for what we had returning, but injuries and other factors beyond our control really limited us…but we constantly fought and I am proud of our team for that,” Hill added.
The lady cats tipped off their first round against the Mercer Bears at 11 a.m. on Thursday March 3, losing by a score of 46-85. Cruz led the team in points with 15 as Marshall was able to grab 7 rebounds in the tournament matchup.
The men’s team tipped off against the Mercer Bears on Friday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. losing by a score of 53-81. Robinson scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the loss.
Both men’s and women’s teams have been eliminated from the tournament in the first round for two consecutive years.
