Baseball wins, basketball teams fall on busy Sunday at UNCW
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) — There was high stakes, late drama and mixed results for a trio of UNCW athletic teams that played at home on Sunday.
The men’s basketball team faced their biggest rival in Charleston, but fell 79-76 despite leading by 12 at halftime on Senior Day. A win would have given the Seahawks the CAA regular season title outright.
Head Coach Takayo Siddle’s squad is usually on the other side of these types of games, but they now need to move past the late season hiccup.
“We absolutely have to put it behind us,” Siddle said. “We have to have an unbelievable day tomorrow. We have to get some rest. Everything that we want is still in front of us. When you look at it, we’re still in first place. We needed to take this loss and reset. Hopefully it lights a fire up underneath us.”
The final game at Trask Coliseum was bittersweet for the team’s seven seniors. Nolan Hodge and Noah Ross are the leaders of the group and will remember their time in Wilmington fondly.
“I think it’s the most connected team I’ve ever been on,” Hodge said. “I love these guys. They’ll all be invited to my wedding. You always want to win, but really proud to be these guys’ teammates. They’ve all had my back when things have gotten tough. I couldn’t thank them more for that.”
“What a blessing it is to have been here for four years. I’m extremely grateful for each and every person that has been a part of the program. Wilmington is a special place. I couldn’t say enough good things about it.”
The men wrap up the regular season on Tuesday at Elon.
The women’s team met a similar fate by losing to William & Mary 60-41 on the day their outgoing players were also celebrated.
Despite a year marred by injuries and needing to sign multiple walk-ons midseason, Head Coach Nicole Woods couldn’t be happier of this group.
“They stuck it out,” Woods said. “They could have easily left. They could have easily given up. Anybody that’s watched us all year long, this game isn’t indicative of how we played. We’ve been pretty much in every game and had opportunities. Every single one of them has done whatever I asked them to do. I’ll never forget them for it.”
(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)
McCall King is the only senior to have spent her entire career at UNCW, a place she will always hold dearly.
“I just felt a lot of gratitude, honestly, just to be able to stay somewhere for four years,” King said. “You talk about the portal and how that’s changed the landscape of college basketball. You often times think about the players leaving, but it’s more about the coaches wanting you to stay. I’m just extremely grateful that coach Woods and her staff have kept me from the previous staff. Really blessed to be able to play here, play with these girls. I take it for granted and won’t forget it, for sure.”
The women have two games remaining, starting on Thursday at North Carolina A&T.
As for the baseball team, they wrapped up their early March matchups by beating UConn 7-2 and taking the weekend series.
(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)
The Seahawks were down 2-1 entering the 8th inning only to plate six and hold on. This followed a 12th inning walk off victory on Saturday.
