Fast Break: Basketball, swim face tough week of competition

A duck in a Willamette jersey about to score a goal on the soccer field while the crowd cheers behind them. Art by Wes Mowry-Silverman.

Hello, Bearcat Fan! Happy Thanksgiving Break to all who celebrate (me) and to all of you who remain in Salem not shirking your responsibilities (not me …). I wish you the best. But Bearcat sports have continued even as I, Willamette’s resident sports fan, am away, so I am putting myself back into the mindset of the poor Wudent trapped in Salem. Like you losers. Okay, enough bragging. Onto the news!

Men’s basketball headed down to Southern California on Thursday and dropped all three games, losing 78-117 to Redlands, 81-92 to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and 61-87 to UC Santa Cruz. 

Women’s basketball also lost both of their games over the weekend, falling in overtime to DII Western Oregon 81-88 and to Walla Walla 72-78. 

Men’s and women’s swimming went North to Newberg for the Bruin Invite, with both sides placing No. 4 overall after the two days of competition. 

In the wider world of sport: No. 8 seed Gotham FC won the NWSL championship thanks to a game-winner from Rose Lavelle, capping off their Cinderella playoff run. The NFL saw some upsets over the weekend, including a huge win for the Kansas City Chiefs to keep them in competition for a playoff spot. Oregon beat USC to rise to No. 5 in the AP poll and only have Washington left to beat in their regular season schedule to lock in a playoff berth. 

In the coming weeks: Can women’s basketball break their losing streak on their own trip to California? Will men’s basketball be able to recuperate over the break and bounce back when they face George Fox on Dec. 5 in Newberg? And can swim find a way to capitalize on their individual successes when they resume competition in January? Lots of questions! And so much time before we will get our answers!