Weekly Lyon

Men's Basketball (6-1) Wins Twice, Youthful Lyons Head to Arizona For Tournament

The Wheaton College men's basketball team won both of its contests last week, closing out its first-semester slate in the process. Wheaton downed visiting Connecticut College, 61-60 during the waning moments on Tuesday before knocking off host Roger Williams University, 76-71 on Thursday. The Blue and White, which has started three freshmen in every game, next heads to Phoenix for the three-day Cactus Jam Hoop Classic, which begins on December 27 when the Lyons play Carroll College.

Junior Nick Michel's (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) offensive board and putback with 34.5 seconds remaining against Connecticut College put Wheaton up for good. Freshman Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) finished with 19 points by going 7-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-8 from three-point range. Sophomore Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) had 11 points and nine rebounds, while Michel recorded 11 and five. Freshman point guard Bud Gaffney (Berkley, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) ended up with five assists.

Wheaton went 8-of-16 on three-point tries and 16-of-18 from the charity stripe during its win over Roger Williams. Leo shot 3-of-6 from deep and notched 15 points, while freshman Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) also tallied 15 points thanks to a 10-of-11 effort on free throw attempts to go alongside seven assists and three steals. Coppola added 14 points in 17 minutes, while Michel had eight points, six rebounds and six assists.

The Lyons improved to 5-0 when Coppola is the team's leading scorer. The last Wheaton freshman to lead the squad in scoring five times in a season was Mike Stanton '05 in 2001-02, as he played 27 games. Only seven freshmen in program history have had at least five team-high point totals during one season for Wheaton, with Will Hawkins' '93 17 in 1989-90 the school standard.

Women's Basketball (4-3) Goes 2-1 During Only Three-Game Week of Regular Season

The Wheaton College women's basketball team went 2-1 during its lone three-game week of the regular season, improving to 3-0 at home in the process. The Lyons downed visiting Plymouth State University, 84-61 on Tuesday before dropping a 59-46 affair on Thursday at Brandeis University, which is receiving votes in both national polls. Wheaton knocked off visiting Roger Williams University, 74-63 on Saturday in its final game before the two-day Hoop N Surf Tournament in Honolulu, which begins on Wednesday, December 19, when the Blue and White faces South Dakota Tech.

Seven players had at least eight points against Plymouth State, led by junior Krystin Hickey's (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) 16. Sophomore Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) had 14 points, senior Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic) added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while junior Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) had 12 points. Sophomore Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) turned in nine points and six helpers without a turnover, while classmate Ida Kruse (Vershire, VT/Rivendell Academy) had eight points, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Junior Jennie Pleat (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) tacked on eight points.

Wheaton trailed Brandeis by only five points late in the first half before the Judges pulled away in the second stanza. Hickey paced the Lyons with 13 points, Smith added 10, and Bailey notched eight rebounds and six assists. Kruse turned in three blocks.

The Lyons broke a tie against Roger Williams by ending the first half on a 12-0 run and held off a late charge. Hickey notched 22 points by shooting 8-of-10 and added five assists, while Kruse had 16 points, seven rebounds and five steals off the bench. Champney added 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks, while Bailey notched nine points and eight assists. Aitchison and Smith totaled eight and seven points, respectively, as only six Lyons scored.

Hickey (883 points) passed former teammate Kim McCormack '07 (873) on Wheaton's career scoring list, as she is now 45 points shy of the program's top 10 and 117 short of 1,000, a plateau no Lyon junior has reached. Smith remained sixth in Wheaton history in career three-pointers (87).

Men's (2-5) and Women's (6-2) Swimming Host MIT and Smith as Two Records Fall

The Wheaton College men's and women's swimming and diving teams both hosted Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Saturday, while the women also took on Smith College during a double-dual meet. The Lyon women upset nationally-ranked MIT, 151-148 and knocked off the Pioneers, 196-102, while the men fell to the nationally-ranked Engineers, 224-48.

The Blue and White women, who defeated MIT last season for the first time since 1993-94, downed a squad ranked 19th in CollegeSwimming.com's national poll. With the Lyons holding a 147-135 edge heading into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, they needed one of their quartets to place at least second, which is exactly what senior Meg Miller (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury), sophomore Iris Meehan (Bar Harbor, ME/Mount Desert Island) and freshmen Dania Piscetta (Belmont, NH/Belmont) and Nicole Zais (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) did. Senior Abby Pratt (Melrose, MA/Melrose) won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races, while sophomore Emily Sweatt (Portland, ME/Deering) swept the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes. The duo joined Zais and freshman Samantha Farrell (Reading, MA/Reading Memorial) on the winning 200-yard medley relay team, as Pratt broke the program's 50-yard backstroke record in 28.31 during the leadoff leg. Meehan rounded out her team's victories in the 200-yard backstroke, while Piscetta's time of 59.75 during a second-place 100-yard butterfly showing bettered Pratt's school standard by 0.07 ticks.

For the Lyon men, freshman Eddie Gillie (Haverhill, MA/Saint John's Prep) topped the 200-yard butterfly field against the 14th-ranked Engineers. Wheaton also produced a pair of runner-up finishes, with senior Matt Jordan's (Ellsworth, ME/Ellsworth) in the 100-yard freestyle and classmate Matt Hurley's (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) during the 200-yard backstroke.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 12/10/07.
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