The nomadic Violets are making themselves at home no matter where they play. NYU athletics photo

Athletes and coaches, like the majority of people, are creatures of habit.

The times and structures of practices, the quirky individual pregame rituals, the comfort of playing games on your home court -- these are all things most organized basketball teams take for granted.

Head coach Lauren Hall-Gregory and the New York University women's basketball players used to count themselves among that group. That hasn't exactly been the case this season, however, and it's not going to change in the immediate future.

The Violets, who long called the Coles Sports and Recreation Center (affectionately known simply as "Coles") their home, have had to move their practices to Pace University and their home games to Hunter College as the university moves forward with a major expansion plan known as NYU 2031.

One of the first steps in the project was the demolition of Coles to create space for a new, 20-plus-story building complete with athletic facilities, classrooms, dorms, and a dining hall, among other amenities. Once completed, it will undoubtedly rank among the finest facilities in college sports. But, in the meantime, the current NYU players and coaches face the unique challenge of being displaced in New York City.

Right mascot, wrong court. The Bobcat makes itself at home anywhere. NYU athletics photo

"It's a life lesson for me on how to lead people through a challenge and being able to adapt and really not allow your circumstances to define what kind of success you have," said Hall-Gregory, now in her fifth season as the Violets' head coach.

Coles closed its doors for the final time last February, so NYU was forced to use other facilities for its NCAA tournament preparation. The Violets have slowly adjusted to playing their home games at Hunter and holding practices at Pace -- and occasionally a separate practice court on NYU's main campus in Washington Square when conflicts arise either with Pace's athletics teams or the NYU men's basketball team, which finds itself in the same situation as the women's team.

Hall-Gregory repeatedly praised NYU's administration, including director of athletics Chris Bledsoe and senior associate directors of athletics Janice Quinn and Frank Sicignano, among others, for helping to make the transition as smooth as possible.

"I just try to keep an open mind every time I walk through the door and I have to really trust our administration and our facilities people at Hunter, and I do. They're really good at their jobs," Hall-Gregory said. "But certainly you have to accept the situation for what it is, because if you don't, then it's going to make it worse."

Rather than viewing this situation as a negative, Hall-Gregory said her players have embraced it as an opportunity. The same goes for the coaching staff, administration, and Violet Nation, the university's official support community.

"It's all about mindset," Hall-Gregory said. "If they keep telling themselves, 'This is tough and not worth it,' then it's tough and not worth it."

To get to the practice court on Pace's campus, which is within walking distance of Wall Street, players have to take the 6 Train a few stops into Manhattan's Financial District. The ride is a bit longer to Hunter for home games, but generally speaking, the commute from NYU's main campus to either venue is rarely more than 20 minutes. It's not an impossible feat, but it's considerably more daunting than most Division III programs.

"We're not talking about rolling out of bed and walking to practice right across campus," Hall-Gregory said. "They're getting on a subway, they're going down to the Financial District, they're going into another school."

Relying on public transportation can cause its own headaches. Prior to NYU's preseason scrimmage against Montclair State earlier this season, one of NYU's players noticed the 6 Train wasn't going to be stopping at the Hunter College stop per usual. After Hall-Gregory was alerted to this, it was decided that the team would take cabs, instead of adding time and stress by figuring out a new subway route.

Hall-Gregory said NYU naturally attracts student-athletes that possess resiliency, independence, and problem-solving skills. While many 17- and 18-year-olds are unequipped to face city life, NYU students embrace it.

"They chose to come to the middle of New York City, and most of these kids aren't New York City kids," Hall-Gregory said. "They're from the suburbs of somewhere."

The ongoing construction of the Violets' new athletic facility is a common topic among potential recruits, but Hall-Gregory said it hasn't negatively impacted recruiting. Incoming recruits for the 2017-18 season could potentially play a full four years without a permanent home, if the construction projects ends up taking five-plus years.

"Luckily, I get to recruit to NYU and New York City," Hall-Gregory said with a laugh. "The kids that we recruit don't come here to play in Coles. That's an added benefit, the gym. They come here for the education, New York City, and to be a part of our program."

The constant moving around hasn't slowed the Violets down on the court this season. NYU defeated Johns Hopkins 75-65 on Monday night to improve to 9-1 overall. The Violets have qualified for the NCAA tournament in each of the last three seasons, and appear poised for another run this season behind a unique blend of senior leaders (guard Kaitlyn Read, guard Amy Harioka, forward Lindsey Oldshue), impact freshmen (guard Shaye McGoey, forward Lauren Brown, guard Annie Barrett), and a key junior transfer (forward Kayla Patterson).

"There just aren't a lot of other programs that are having to weather this," Hall-Gregory said. "I've just been so impressed with how our players have handled this situation."

St. John Fisher closes 2016 with loss at buzzer

A tip-in by Malquan Pullium as time expired gave Penn State-Behrend a 72-71 win over St. John Fisher in the Dec. 30 title game of the Cardinals' annual holiday tournament.

The loss marked the third defeat in five games for St. John Fisher in the month of December, but there's little reason for panic as Empire 8 play approaches. The Cardinals enter conference play 5-4 overall, but their four losses came against teams with a combined record of 34-11. Head coach Rob Kornaker, who reached 300 career wins on Dec. 29, has also mixed and matched his rotation -- eight players have started at least one game, and 15 players have scored so far this season.

Senior forward Keegan Ryan (19.3 ppg, 9.8 rpg) and junior guard Tyler English (13.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg) have both been superb, but the Cardinals have also gotten significant contributions from sophomore guard Jake Haight, freshman guard Dennis Hare and sophomore guard Ryan Henderson.

St. John Fisher opens Empire 8 play with back-to-back road games this weekend against Houghton (5-4, 0-0) and Alfred (4-6, 1-0).

Brockport off to fast start in SUNYAC play

The Golden Eagles kicked off the new year with an 89-66 loss to Carnegie Mellon on Monday, but they closed out the first half of the season by winning four of their last five. All four wins came against SUNYAC opponents, including defending regular-season champion Plattsburgh State.

It's early, of course, but Brockport (8-2, 4-0) stands alone at the top of the SUNYAC standings and is on pace to surpass its 17 wins from last season.

Senior forward Clifton Lyerly (17.1 ppg) and junior guard Hamed Shamseldin (11.4 ppg) have played key roles as starters, as had senior guard Devonn Gavin (11.2 ppg) off the bench.

Brockport is only three years removed from claiming the SUNYAC regular-season and conference tournament titles, so a similar season could be taking shape. The Golden Eagles resume conference play Saturday against Geneseo.

Players from Geneseo, Lancaster Bible killed in car accidents

On behalf of the D3hoops.com family, allow me to extend my deepest condolences to the Geneseo and Lancaster Bible women's basketball programs. Geneseo freshman Savannah Williams and Lancaster Bible sophomore Alyssa Bowen were killed in separate car accidents over a span of two days in the week leading up to Christmas.

At a time of year when friends and family come together to celebrate and reflect on what they have to be grateful for, it seems particularly cruel that such tragedy would befall these programs. Keep the players, coaches, friends and family members in your thoughts.

Top 25 roundup: Rochester ranked in both polls

The Rochester men continued their recent climb in the weekly D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, checking in at No. 4 this week. That's up two spots from last week, and seven spots from three weeks ago.

The Rochester women dropped one spot to No. 22 in this week's poll. The Yellowjackets were the only East region school to rank among the top 25 in either poll this week, though NYU, Ithaca and Geneseo all received votes in the women's poll. Brockport received votes in the men's poll.

Contact me

Have a story idea? A fun stat? Just want to talk some hoops? I'm always happy to hear from a fellow D-III fan. I can be reached via email at andrew.lovell@d3sports.com, or on Twitter at @Andrew_Lovell.