Emily Maise

Coming into the weekend, the Colonials were locked in a tight division race for this year’s MAWPC title, vying for the No. 1 spot with Bucknell.

The Colonials were neck and neck with the Bison through most of the first half but turned on the gas to take the lead.

The men are aiming to continue their upward trajectory, and the women are embracing a new year with new players and without injury.

This season, the men’s and women’s teams will both rely on a combined crop of 15 new players and new offensive strategies to turn their programs around.

The Colonials mustered just 51.3 points per game last season, its lowest team average in more than 38 years.

Christian developed and refined his coaching skills, later taking on more formal roles at teams like his alma mater Mount St. Mary’s and Siena.

Sophomore Maddie Loder filled the role as 2019-graduate Bautista’s understudy, but point guard options were overall scant for the Colonials last season.

With six of its 17 members hailing from Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, the team has the second highest number of regional recruits in a decade.

Women’s basketball is projected to finish seventh in the Atlantic 10 this season, according to a poll of coaches.

Men’s basketball was projected to finish 12th in a field of 14 Atlantic 10 teams, according to a preseason coaches’ poll announced last week.