UNCW Sports Weekend Recap February 25th-28th

By Ethan Marsh, Reporter

Men’s Basketball Goes 1-1 to Earn Share of CAA Regular Season Title
This weekend marked the last two home games of the regular season for men’s basketball at UNCW. The team went 1-1 in the two games as they lost a heartbreaker in the final seconds against Hofstra Thursday then took care of Towson Saturday 74-68. Senior Guard Craig Ponder accounted for 13 and 7 points in the two matchups. Ponder appeared in his 126th game in a Seahawk uniform Saturday afternoon to claim the new record over greats Brett Blizzard, Chad Tomko, and Cedrick Williams. Seniors Kevin Hickson and Dylan Sherwood were recognized alongside Craig Ponder in a pre-game ceremony Saturday afternoon as a part of senior day and sent them off with a win against Towson.

Saturday’s win also marked back-to-back regular season CAA championships for the Seahawks. This season also marked the first 20-win season in 8 years and featured an 11-game winning streak. This season also marked the first time of having back-to-back regular season CAA championships for the first time since the 2002/03 seasons. The 22-win season also marked tying a school record for the most wins in a season. This has been a season for the ages and will continue as the team plays as the No. 2 seed in the CAA conference tournament March 4th-7th in Baltimore Maryland

Women’s Basketball Falls 0-2 in Shatia Cole's Final Home Games
This season for the women’s basketball team has not been the best. Friday’s game versus No. 1 in the conference foe James Madison led to a 77-41 pummeling. Senior Guard Shatia Cole was honored in Sunday’s game as a part of senior day alongside Graduate Assistant Coach Steven Rhodes. Sunday’s matchup versus Delaware showcased a small comeback by the women’s team as they conducted an 11-0 run in the 4th quarter to bring it within 10, but Delaware essentially ran out the clock to claim the win 56-44. Shatia Cole accounted for 28 points in the two matchups as she entered the 1,000 point club this season. The team will finish out the regular season Wednesday, March 2nd in Charleston, South Carolina versus the College of Charleston.

Softball Goes 3-2 at Hampton Inn University Area Seahawk Softball Classic
The UNCW Softball team won three and lost two this weekend. The wins came against Bucknell 3-1 and two against North Carolina Central one being 4-2 and the other a 10-0 shutout. The win against Bucknell was 3-1 slugfest that resulted in a 9-inning matchup as it was not taken care of until the 9th inning as Sophomore Sarah Davis hit a home run to give her and Kelsey Bryan the two runs to win it. The first win against North Carolina Central was taken care of by the 5th inning as they led 4-0 and allowed NC Central to score two runs later to make the final score 4-2. The second win against NC Central came away in an easy win as it was taken care of in 5 innings for a 10-0 shutout. The two losses came against Bucknell in poor performances in a 12-4 and 5-0 losses. The Seahawk Softball’s overall record now is a 10-4 mark.

Baseball Continues Offensive Dominance in Hughes Bros Challenge
The UNCW Baseball team started the season 3-0 in their first weekend and did not see any reason to change their process this weekend as they went 3-0 in their second weekend. The wins came against South Dakota State in a 15-5 wallop behind being up 8-2 in the 4th and didn’t let up as the team conducted a 6-run inning in the 8th. Sophomore Brian Mims was responsible for six runs on the day. The second win came against Eastern Kentucky in a result of 10-7. It was fairly matched at 3-3 through the 4th inning until the Seahawks took possession in the 4th and Sophomore Zack Canada hit a home run to enforce a total of three runs to hit it wide open to have a 6-3 lead. The closest Eastern Kentucky got after that is 8-6 in the 7th. The third win came against VCU in a 11-4 oust. This game’s result came into fruition when the Seahawks scored the remaining 7 runs from the 4th inning through the 8th inning after being tied at 4-4 in the 4th. The Seahawk Baseball team is now sitting at an impressive 6-0 start.

Men’s Tennis Defeats NC State, Brown
The Men’s Tennis team at UNCW played two matchups over the weekend. The first came against NC State in Raleigh. This came in a 4-3 upset win against the Wolfpack. The men’s team then came home to UNCW in Wilmington and beat out Brown 5-2 to claim third straight victory. The Men’s Tennis team is now sitting at 5-3.

Women’s Tennis Splits Weekend Matchups
​The Women’s Tennis team split two games played on Thursday and Friday. The first one came at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC and came away with a 5-2 win. Then the Seahawks came back home to Wilmington and lost convincingly to East Tennessee State 4-1. The Women’s Tennis team now sits at a neutral record of 3-3.