Narwhal Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Club beats Hofstra in first (and last) game of the season
Photo by Michael Stockdale
The New School’s Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Club faced Hofstra University in their first game of the season on Saturday, February 10. They played as the away team in Long Island, and won the game with a final score of 31-26.
The club has faced Hofstra before, losing to them in last year’s season. If the Narwhals had lost this game, they would not only have lost their first game of the spring season, they would have lost their only game of the season.
Accompanied by head coach George Saad, assistant coach Lindsee Downer, the Narwhal Men’s Basketball Team, and a couple of other supporters from The New School, they had a small group of people supporting them. Unfortunately, attendance by The New School’s student body at the game was evidently lacking.
In a random sample survey of students at The New School, almost 90% said they do not attend The New School’s sporting events. Even less said they participate in sports at The New School, with only 13.5% saying that they participate in a school sport.
“People don’t think of The New School as a particularly athletic place,” said Gnarls Squad Captain Michael Stockdale, who takes photos for the club and helps bring Gnarls to their games. “We have sports teams? I've heard that question at least three times this week,” he said. “We have sports teams and we have lots of people running it.”
Despite a lack of support from the student body, the Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Club showed dedication as they prepared for their game against Hofstra by holding their usual weekly practices.
“We don't have that many games during the school year,” said club co-captain Mariana Graterol. She is a graduate student and graduating from The New School this year, so this game was also her last as a Narwhal. The club is not a division III team or part of a league, so they have had issues finding other women’s basketball teams to play against. “We try to look for other schools that might be at the same competitive level as us, and a lot of schools either do not have clubs or they have teams,” Graterol explained.
The Narwhals were off to a strong start on Saturday morning. They battled for possession and maintained a 0-0 score until the third minute, when Kwan Lam Karen Zhang made a two-pointer and put the Narwhals in the lead.
Photo by Michael Stockdale
The first six minutes of the game saw The New School dominating the court, until Hofstra scored their first points in the seventh minute. The Narwhals stayed ahead with a five point lead against The Pride throughout the half, entering halftime with a score of 18-13.
“They had possessions that are honestly a basketball coach's dream,” said head coach, and Associate Director for Recreation and Commuter Engagement at The New School, George Saad. “Everybody touches the ball, the ball doesn’t even hit the ground. All of a sudden we've got an open shot, and that's what I really love to see, is how much they've come together and play together, and really share team goals rather than individual ones.”
Saad could be heard yelling encouragingly from the sidelines throughout the game. Players on the bench attentively watched their teammates’ performance on the court, shouting supportively.
After a quick team huddle and lots of hugs and encouragement among the athletes at halftime, the Narwhals headed into the second half of the game. They quickly upped the stakes with a three-pointer made by Graterol only 16 seconds into the half.
Photo by Michael Stockdale
“Good box out Mariana,” Saad yelled out enthusiastically as Graterol blocked a Hofstra advance with the protective rebounding position. The Narwhals kept up their momentum throughout the second half and extended their lead to 31-24.
Graterol attributed the win to her teammate Emily Chiang, who scored the Narwhals’ last points of the game. “It was very tight and there was a moment where Hofstra was following her steps and the score got very close,” she said. “She got involved and she made the three points and that really cut it for them, and it was a very defining moment.”
With one minute left of the game, Hofstra made their last attempt to get ahead and managed to score a two-pointer, making the final score 31-26.
The final stats of the game showed contributions from nearly every player on the court, with three points made by Emily Chiang, four by co-captain Skyler Martin, five by Annie Zhang, six by both Graterol and Kwan Lam Karen Zhang, and seven by co-captain Julia Hoffman-Douglas.
“It was clear right from the start that we belonged on the same court as them. It was really impressive what they did, especially considering that this was largely the same players that we had last year,” Saad explained as he recalled the club’s prior loss to Hofstra. “It just goes to show what can happen when a team really has a set of shared goals and decides to work really hard together.”
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. This one was just fun,” Graterol said of the game. With it being both the last game of the Narwhals’ season and her last game with the club, winning it was momentous for her. “It felt very special,” she said.
Photo by Michael Stockdale
Despite their success, the club is still struggling to gain traction with The New School student body.
“We're trying to get a little bit more exposure out there,” Stockdale said. “I think we're doing a little bit better job, but I think we need to keep evolving in terms of letting people know that we're here, we have games.”
In the meantime, the club still serves as an inclusive, communal space where players can collaborate outside of school. “That is basically the mission of the club,” Graterol said, “I just really hope that it continues growing.”
