The Hamilton women’s basketball team stretched its storybook season into March this year, capturing its first Liberty League tournament title, winning 20 games for the first time since 1992-93, and making a first trip to the NCAA Division III tournament.
The Continentals, 20-8 for the season, won their first-round NCAA game against Mount St. Mary College, 58-55, at the University of Scranton’s Long Center March 2 before falling to Scranton, ranked No. 3 nationally, in a 58-52 thriller the next night.
Pumla Sathula ’08 drives to the basket during a Jan. 9 game against Amherst. Sathula earned all-Liberty League first-team honors and was second in the league in scoring, rebounding and assists.
Hamilton surged back from a 31-19 halftime deficit to tie the game at 50-50 with 4:27 to play before falling short. The 64-team tournament was won by DePauw University of Indiana, which defeated Washington University-St. Louis in the final.
Hamilton ended the season on a red-hot streak behind five consecutive double-doubles by Pumla Sathula ’08. She finished the season with 13 double-doubles – double figures for points and rebounds in a game – and has 24 for her career. Sathula ranks second all-time at Hamilton with 206 steals, fifth with 661 rebounds and seventh with 201 assists.
Sathula and Sydney Fasulo ’09 made the all-Liberty League first team and the D3hoops.com all-East region second team. Fasulo had a great season, leading the league in scoring (15.1 ppg) and field goal percentage (54.8 percent). Sathula ended up second in the league in scoring (14.0 ppg), rebounding (9.2 rpg) and assists (3.32 per game).
Sydney Fasulo ’09 shoots over an Amherst defender in Hamilton’s Jan. 9 game. Fasulo earned all-Liberty League first-team honors and led the league in scoring and field goal percentage.
As a team, the Continentals set program records for most three-pointers made in one season (157) and highest free throw percentage (.704). The team’s final win of the season was Head Coach G.P. Gromacki’s 200th career game. Gromacki's record is now 163-38. Hamilton has four 20-win seasons since the debut of the women’s program in 1978-79.
The men’s team, meanwhile, capped another remarkable year (19-7) by winning the regular-season Liberty League title, then advancing to the finals of the league tournament for the fifth straight season, the last three under Head Coach Tobin Anderson. Five Continentals scored in double figures as St. Lawrence edged Hamilton in the championship game 65-64 Feb. 24 at Scott Field House.
Tsakani Ngobeni ’07 was named the league’s Player of the Year, the first Hamilton player to win that honor since Joe Smith ’04. Nick Jones ’07 joined Ngobeni on the league’s first team, while Jay Simpson ’10 was co-Rookie of the Year and Harlee Wood ’09 was an Honorable Mention.
Tsakani Ngobeni ’07 takes a shot vs. St. Lawrence during a Jan. 15 game. Ngobeni was named the Liberty League’s Player of the Year.
