SUWANEE, Ga. - The SCAC tipped off the 2009-10 women's basketball season with games Nov. 15-22. The season got off on the right foot as the league opened up with a combined record through the first week of 19-10 in non-conference action.
- AROUND THE SCAC -
Austin College opened
the year 3-1 with wins over LeTourneau, Texas Lutheran and Spalding
University, while the only loss was a 51-48 heartbreaker against
No. 17-ranked UT-Dallas in the season opener. Katy Williams scored
15 points and pulled down 15 boards in the loss to UTD and the
‘Roos came all the way back from a double digit halftime
deficit and had a chance to win at the end, but three missed shots
allowed the Comets to escape with the victory. The ‘Roos
responded with a 65-45 win over LeTourneau in which they outscored
the Jackets by 22 points in the second half. Kersti Marusich scored
13 points and Williams had 17 rebounds to lead the way for AC. The
’Roos got another double digit win over TLU, topping the
Bulldogs 76-65 behind 17 points and 18 boards from Williams. Five
‘Roos reached double digits, with Shayna Clardy hitting
5-of-6 three pointers on her way to a career high 16 points. In
their final game of the opening week, the ‘Roos held an 18
point edge against Spalding but had to hang on with Williams
hitting two free throws at the end to seal a 72-68 win. Williams
scored a season-high 26 points in the win. Austin College travels
to Georgetown this weekend to take part in the Southwestern
Thanksgiving Tournament.
Birmingham-Southern opened the 2009-10 season with
three straight wins thus far, all at home, defeating Oakwood
University, Monday, 82-47, East Texas Baptist University, Friday,
88-76, and Rust College, Saturday, 92-64. Freshman Stephanie
Stanley led BSC in scoring in the opener with 11 points, while
three different Panthers led with 12 points apiece against East
Texas Baptist. Against Rust, sophomore Ashton Spurgin led with 14
points, and was named Tournament MVP of the 2009 Sheraton
Birmingham Classic, which BSC won. Freshman Alex Adams leads BSC so
far in scoring with 10.7 points a game, followed by Spurgin with
10.3. Adams also leads with 6.3 rebounds a contest, and sophomore
Sam Davidson leads with 3.7 assists a game. BSC is in action twice
this week, facing Berry College at home, Tuesday, and then
traveling to face Huntingdon College, Sunday.
Centre won their season-opening game for the sixth
consecutive year and went 1-1 in its annual tournament to go 2-1 in
the season's opening week. The Colonels hosted Maryville in their
first game of the season and won 64-54 over the Scots. Centre then
earned an 84-43 win over LaGrange in its first game of the
tournament before falling 77-72 in a hard-fought loss to Thomas
More. The Colonels will host in-state rival Transylvania Tuesday,
Nov. 24 and then travel to Hanover, Ind. To play Hanover Saturday,
Nov. 29.
Becky Luetjen scored 19 points as Colorado College
opened the 2009-10 season with an 86-64 victory over Augustana
College. CC’s freshman combined 35 points, with Marissa
Gradoz leading the way with 14. Kalli-Anne Kemling finished with 11
points, while Collier Clegg scored all eight of her points in the
second half. The Vikings led 40-37 at the half, but Colorado
College allowed only 24 points in the second half. Eliese Hansberry
had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Tigers to an 88-74
victory over Piedmont College on Sunday afternoon. Hansberry scored
half of her points during the first half to help CC build a 48-31
lead at the break. She got help from freshman guard Collier Clegg,
who scored 11 of her 16 points in the opening 20 minutes. Alyssa
Aldaz caught fire in the second half, scoring 12 of her career-high
16 points to help Colorado College build a 24-point lead. The
Tigers won the 2009 Colorado College Tip-Off Tournament title with
a 2-0 record. CC plays at home again next weekend when the Tigers
face Whitworth College and Milwaukee School of Engineering on
Saturday and Sunday, respectively, in the 2009 Colorado College
Thanksgiving Tournament.
#7 DePauw split its two games at the Illinois
Wesleyan Tipoff Tournament. The Tigers dropped a 57-52 decision to
top-ranked Washington-St. Louis on Friday and then topped Central
by an 86-51 score in Saturday's third-place game. In the loss to
Washington, the Tigers led by three with just over one minute
remaining, but the Bears scored the game's final eight points. The
Tigers jumped out to a 17-8 lead in the opening 6:22 as Brooke
Osborne nailed three three-pointers in a three-minute stretch.
DePauw still led at halftime, 26-24. The second half included five
ties and 11 lead changes. Washington had a three-point lead with
just over five minutes left, but the Tigers regained the lead with
an 8-2 run. Osborne was DePauw's lone double-digit scorer with 11
points, while Emily Marshall grabbed 13 rebounds. DePauw held a
43-36 advantage on the boards, but committed 23 turnovers to the
Bears' 13. The Tigers shot 38.2 percent from the floor, while the
Bears hit 35.5 percent. In the win over Central, the Tigers jumped
out to a 23-8 lead and never relinquished it. Marshall led DePauw
with a career-high 20 points, while Kate Walker added 11 and Katie
Mathews scored 10. DePauw held a 51-33 edge on the boards as Ellie
Pearson grabbed 12. Melaine Hopkins paced Central with seven
boards. Walker dished out six assists in the win.
Hendrix picked up a pair of season opening
victories this weekend at the Rhodes Tip-Off Classic. Head coach
Thad McCracken opened his first season at the helm with a 71-63 win
over Westminster College on Friday and a 77-41 blowout victory over
Greenville College on Saturday. Hendrix shot 45 percent from the
field against Westminster and nailed nine three pointers to hold on
for the season-opening win. Junior forward Christina Byler led the
Warriors with 16 points and five rebounds, while senior forward
Chelsey White scored 13 and knocked down a pair of three-bombs. The
Warriors never trailed against Greenville and eventually pushed
their lead to a game-high 37 with 6:36 left in regulation. Hendrix
scored 34 points on the Panther’s 34 turnovers. The
Warriors’ bench outscored the Panthers, 33-9, and Hendrix
tallied 34 points in the paint. The Warriors had four players in
double digits, with Byler leading the way at 17 points. White added
11 points, while sophomore guard Anna Roane and sophomore forward
Caty Hensy tallied 10 points apiece. Sophomore guard Jordan
Henderson dished out a team-high four assists.
Millsaps opened the
2009-10 campaign by dropping two contests at the Emory Tip-off
Classic in Atlanta, Ga. Despite a double-double from freshman
Shante Morton in her collegiate debut and three other Majors in
double figures, Millsaps fell to Emory in its season-opener, 74-59,
Friday night. In the consolation game Saturday evening at the
Woodruff PE Center, Agnes Scott scored the game's final six points
after a late Millsaps run to hold on for a 63-56 win as the Majors
fell to 0-2 on the season. The Majors only have one game slated
this week as they head to Irving, Texas for a non-conference game
against the University of Dallas Tuesday night.
Oglethorpe opened the 2009-2010 basketball season
in style by trouncing Emory University on Pinholster Court on
Tuesday night, 86-73. After graduating over 95% of the scoring and
rebounding from last year's Sweet Sixteen squad, the Petrels
started four freshmen but did not miss a beat in getting back to
their winning ways. With the game tied at 14 at the 13:15 mark of
the first half, the Petrels used a 38-14 run to close the stanza
and seize control of the game. The run was highlighted by freshman
Riley Cerone's buzzer-beating three-pointer as the half expired.
For the night, Cerone was scintillating shooting the basketball in
sinking 8 of 11 shots and 7 of 10 from downtown on her way to a 26
point debut. The seven three-pointers in a game ranks second
all-time in the Oglethorpe record books. The Petrels also had three
other freshmen record double-digits in their inaugural game on
Pinholster Court with Sarah Jones pouring in 13 to go along with 7
assists, Kaci Palmore notching 11 points and a team-high 12
rebounds and Sarah Giles recording 10 points and grabbing 6 boards.
Senior Taymah Jones, coming off successive seasons missed with ACL
injuries, returned to action as a starter and posted 7 points, four
rebounds and two assists.
Rhodes heads into Thanksgiving at 2-1 after going
2-0 at the Rhodes tip-off classic. The Lynx defeated the 2009-10
SLIAC pre-season conference favorite Westminster Blue Jays 76-72 on
Saturday, November 21st. The Lynx went on a 33-17 run in the second
half to take a 69-60 lead with 4:16 to play, and hung on for the
win. Senior guard Becky Atnip led four Lynx in double figures for
the win. Junior guard LaKeya McGill scored 14 points and dished out
seven assists. In the Lynx 95-71 win over Greenville (IL) senior
guard Becca Clarin scored a career high 24 points and connected on
6 of 7 three point field goals. Freshman guard Sarah Womack scored
a career best 15 points for the Lynx and sophomore guard Sharwil
Bell added 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Rhodes has
four players averaging in double figures in scoring through three
games. The Lynx travel to St. Louis this weekend to play in the
McWilliams Tournament, hosted by Washington University.
Sewanee came out with a 77-68 win against host
Emory and Henry at the E&H Tip Off Tournament Sunday after
falling to UAH on Monday and Brescia on Saturday. In Sunday's
effort, Emory and Henry got out to an early lead, but Sewanee took
the lead late in the first half and never looked back, earning the
eventual nine-point win. The Tiger trio of Lauren Gulley , Dani
Kabbes and Kelly Morrison lit up the Wasps with scoring efforts of
18, 17 and 16, respectively. Kabbes also logged 10 rebounds for the
double-double. Alex Lyons led the Wasps with 18 points. "I'm very
pleased with the complete team effort we had today. We were finally
able to put two good halves together. Lauren and Dani dominated the
inside and Kelly Morrison played the game of her life," added
Sewanee coach Dickie McCarthy after the game. Sewanee is now 1-2
and will play Tuesday evening at Agnes Scott.
Southwestern has had a bit of a rocky start to
their 2009-10 season. Southwestern has dropped both of their
opening contests over the past week. On Sunday the 15th SU traveled
to the University of Dallas and fell by 12 points, 72-60, shooting
21 fewer free throws than the Crusaders. Saturday’s game
against tough ASC opponent the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor was
much of the same as the Cru got to the line ten more times than the
Pirates. Southwestern dropped the contest 73-52, but showed signs
that things are beginning to come together in the second half.
After Thanksgiving Southwestern will return to action with two home
games on Friday and Saturday. Friday they will face LaGrange at 5pm
with the follow up game on Saturday against Otterbein at 5pm.
#17 Trinity opened the season with the Trinity
Tip-Off Tournament, defeating both McMurry University and
24th-ranked Hardin-Simmons over the weekend. Trinity opened the
year with a 79-69 win over HSU on Friday evening, highlighted by a
triple-double from junior guard Danielle Hubenak. She finished with
18 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists for the Tigers, hitting 6-12
from the field and 2-4 three-pointers. Ali Marzella led Trinity
with 26 points in the game, scoring 19 in the first half, and
connecting on five three-point shots. Saturday, Trinity and McMurry
battled to a tie through regulation, but the Tigers were able to
pull off a 91-90 overtime win to improve to 2-0. Hubenak added 18
points and seven assists to her weekend, but it was two different
Tiger players that highlighted the win. Abby Dietert narrowly
missed her own triple-double with 19 points, nine rebounds, and
seven assists, playing a team-high 43 minutes. The real star,
though, had to be Kelsey Goodell and her 24 points and 13 rebounds
off the bench on Saturday. Trinity will face Mary Hardin-Baylor on
Tuesday evening in San Antonio, Texas, then will take on Otterbein
on November 30 at home. The Tigers open SCAC play on December 3,
hosting Southwestern.
To view the entire Women's Basketball Hoops Weekly
for week one, click here.
