Basketball fever hit the Hilltop on Oct. 15 when McDonough Gymnasium and the basketball team welcomed 3,000 Hoya fans for the annual Midnight Madness festivities. High-flying dunks, Jack the Bulldog and former NFL star Jerry Rice all elicited cheers throughout the night. Reigning dance-off champion, women’s senior center Christine Whitt was dethroned in the yearly contest by men’s freshmen forward Octavius Spann and guard Jesse Sapp.
A week later, Homecoming was just as sweet for the football team as they came from behind to defeat league rival Fordham 24-21 on a rainy day at the Multi-Sport Facility for their sixth straight Homecoming win. Trailing 21-3 at halftime, the Hoyas scored 21 unanswered points for the victory, riding senior tailback Marcus Slayton to the tune of 29 carries for 192 yards in front of a sold-out crowd of over 3,000 students and alumni.
The women’s soccer team defeated rival Syracuse on the 27th in the first round of the Big East championship tournament. Sophomore forward Elaina Filauro netted the only goal in the 1-0 win, thereby avenging Syracuse’s 1-0 win during the regular season.
In the Big East cross country championships, the Hoya men finished second to Notre Dame while the women ran their way into fourth place. Sophomore Matt Debole, in the process of finishing third in the league, set a school record in the six-mile course with a time of 24:13. Junior Elizabeth Maloy finished sixth out of 126 in the women’s field with a time of 21:06. Sophomore aggie Infeld was close behind, taking 10th place with a time of 21:37.
