College of Staten Island Athletics

Few athletes have the ability to dominate in their respective sport for an entire four-year collegiate career, fewer still can do it year-round in two separate sports.  Nicole Estrada is living proof it can be done, and the dynamic hoops and diamond star was spectacular in both arenas during her decorated career at the College of Staten Island.  Estrada hit the ground running, joining the Dolphins’ women’s basketball program and making 27 starts in 2005-06 as a freshman, averaging an even 10 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest, while placing second on the squad with 81 assists.  Approximately three weeks after the team’s highly successful 18-10 campaign, Estrada started as the softball team’s opening day catcher, and proceeded to appear in 40 games, posting a .339 batting average with a team-best 11 stolen bases.

From there, Estrada made a habit of being a human highlight-reel.  In her sophomore basketball season, she averaged a team-best 19.7 points per game,  the fifth-highest total in CSI single-season history, adding 73 steals.  The next two seasons followed suit with Estrada amassing a total of 775 points, missing only a single start, and the Dolphins posted a 44-14 record over that span.  Estrada’s basketball career closed with the school’s first-ever ECAC Championship in 2009, and she finished her career 2nd all-time with 1,588 career points. Estrada also finished 6th in rebounds (680), 5th in assists (311), and 4th in steals (264), making the three-time CUNYAC women’s basketball all-star one of the most dynamic two-way players in CSI history.  

The successes on the hardwood almost pale in comparison when put against her exploits on the CSI softball field.  The catcher and second baseman ripped the region up with a .393 batting average her junior season, and a .396 clip in her senior campaign, ending with a CUNYAC title.    At the close of her career, the four-time CUNYAC softball all-star was the school’s all-time leader in at-bats (436), and her 158 hits currently place her 5th all-time in CSI history.   The two-time CUNYAC Champion  also stands in the CSI top 10 all time in seven other career, single-season, and single game categories.