The Sacred Heart Men’s and Women’s Club basketball teams are currently at the top of their conferences with winning records. The men’s club team is 8-2 and the women’s club team is 14-1.
The women have wins over schools like UConn, Rutgers, and UMass, while the men have wins over Fairfield, Iona, and Wesleyan. With their current records, both club teams are in good positions for playoff spots.
Source: @shuclubwbb, Instagram
Source: Jason Pilla’25, Staff Photographer
“Success has been great, “ said women’s club basketball head coach Mike Murphy. “Last year, we had six seniors that made the transition to coaching here very easy. They believe in us, and that’s attributed to our success.”
As of right now, the men are just one game behind Fairfield for first place, whom they split a doubleheader with. The women currently stand in first place in their conference and are ranked seventh in the nation.
Men’s head coach Whitney Taylor describes their team’s success this season as being motivated by the mistakes that they make and improving on them.
“Uplifting, positive for the next group of guys coming in,” said Taylor.
Taylor has been the coach for the club team for six years now and loves being able to make players learn from him.
In a doubleheader against Wesleyan, they lost the first game against them, but in the second game they were able to bounce back with a win, from being down 14 points with just three minutes left in the game, the men’s team was able to pull off the comeback to win in double overtime.
“It’s never been about the wins and losses, it never will be, it’s about the lessons we learn,” said Taylor.
“In that game, we had to learn as a team what it takes to get to the next level, and we came back and won in double overtime,” said Taylor.
There is a ton of leadership throughout both teams. Junior Jack Colby, who is on Taylor’s 15-man roster, makes sure the freshmen stay engaged with the team and that everyone brings something to the table.
“We have a lot of good players,” said Colby. “Everyone is trying to fit into their roles. It’s hard for someone to take a backseat, but it’s a good problem to have because if someone gets injured, the next guy is going to step up and be just as good on the court.”
On the other hand, the women’s club team has an even distribution of talent on the court when it comes to gametime.
“Everyone brings a key element to the team, “said Murphy. “They all work together, which is why we have great chemistry.”
Senior Alissa Alfieri gave her thoughts on her team’s chemistry and how they always have each other’s back.
“We’re very competitive, said Alfieri. “Being a small school, people tend to look past us, but beating big schools makes us stand out to everyone, and gets Sacred Heart’s name out there.”
