SUWANEE, Ga. - The 2010 SCAC Basketball Tournament is now less than three weeks away and six teams DePauw, Centre and Rhodes in the East along with Hendrix, Austin College and Trinity in the West have clinched their spots for Jackson, Mississippi the sight of this years tournament. The final two weeks promises to be excited as the final two spots will be up for grabs.

- AROUND THE SCAC -

Austin College split its two games over the week, falling 62-60 to the University of Dallas before easing past Colorado College 87-70 to improve to 15-6 overall on the year. The ’Roos led late against Dallas but the Crusaders got a bucket in the final minute and Austin College’s attempted game winner went in and out with six seconds left as the ‘Roos fell despite 18 points and nine boards from Katy Williams. Angeleena Young had 10 points, Amber Stafford had six assists and Spenser Cruikshank blocked seven shots in the loss. Williams had a huge game on Saturday in an 87-70 win over Colorado College, hitting 12-of-22 shots to finish with 31 points while grabbing 16 rebounds. With her 14th board of the game, Williams became the SCAC’s all-time career rebounding leader and now has 1,012 in just 93 career games. Stafford added 10 points and a career-best 12 assists, Kayla Redden hit four threes on her way to 14 points and Cruikshank pulled down 14 rebounds in the victory.

Birmingham-Southern went 2-0 this weekend at home, defeating Oglethorpe, 67-55, Friday evening, and Sewanee, 82-71, Sunday afternoon. BSC has now won three straight and is back above .500 for the season with an 11-10 record. Freshman Alex Adams led the team with 19 points in each game, which are both ties for her career high, and recorded her second double-double with 10 rebounds against Sewanee. Sophomore Ashton Spurgin was also impressive against Oglethorpe with 10 points and 14 rebounds, which tied her career high and was her second career double-double. BSC is on the road taking on non-conference opponent Oakwood University this Thursday in Montgomery, Ala., before returning home for the last time this season against Rhodes on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Centre’s three-game winning streak was snapped as the Colonels fell 68-50 to DePauw on the road in their only game of the week. After shooting 42.9% (9-21) in the first half and trailing 34-29, Centre made only 8 of its 29 shots (27.6%) in the second half and was out-scored 34-21. The Colonels were also out-rebounded 52-30 on the day and allowed 25 offensive rebounds to the Tigers. Centre, now 13-7 overall and 8-4 in the SCAC, will take to the road this week to play Oglethorpe and Sewanee.

Emily Wattman-Turner scored a career-high 16 points, the seventh time she has reached double-figures this season, during Saturday’s 87-70 loss at Austin College. Becky Luetjen and Jenny Knapp added 14 points each, while Collier Clegg scored 13. Colorado College made 13 of a season-high 38 shots from behind the arc, with Turner and Jenny Knapp knocking down four apiece. Clegg surpassed the 20-point mark for the fifth time this season, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Colorado College from suffering its fifth consecutive setback, 94-76, at the University of Dallas on Sunday. Clegg paced the Tigers with 21 points, while Luetjen scored 15 points and had a team-high eight rebounds. Colorado College shot just .313 in the first half, while Dallas made 17 of 29 shots from the floor (.586) and 16 of 17 free throws. CC plays host to Southwestern University and Trinity University on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

#22 DePauw extended its season win streak to 14 and its home string to 47 straight following a 68-50 win over Centre. The victory was also the Tigers' 52nd straight SCAC home win and their 64th consecutive regular season (excluding NCAA postseason games) home victory. The teams battled through a tight first half with DePauw taking an early five-point lead and Centre leading by as many as four at 19-15 with 12:19 left in the opening half. The Tigers scored seven straight to regain the lead and went to the intermission with a 34-29 advantage. The Tigers still held a 43-35 lead with 15:06 left before scoring seven straight to start a 14-2 run which pushed the margin to 57-37 midway through the second half. Jenna Fernandez led DePauw with a double-double of 16 points and a season-high 11 rebounds, while Emily Marshall posted one as well with 14 points and a game-high 14 boards including nine on the offensive glass. Katie Mathews added 11 points and a game-high four assists. DePauw shot 35.4 percent from the field to Centre's 34.0 percent. The Tigers, the nation's leader in rebound margin, held a 52-30 advantage on the boards and led, 18-4, in second-chance points. DePauw amassed 25 offensive rebounds.

Hendrix split its two-game road trip to Texas this weekend. The Warriors picked up a big win over Trinity University on Friday night and then stumbled in their game against Southwestern University on Saturday. Hendrix now stands at 15-4 overall and 10-3 in SCAC play and holds a 0.5 game lead over Austin College for tops in the West Division. The Warriors beat Trinity in thrilling fashion as Hendrix senior forward Christina Byler stood at the charity stripe with 21.6 seconds left in regulation and with ice in her veins, drained both attempts for the game-winning lead change, 71-70 at Sams Gymnasium. Hendrix picked up its first win at Trinity and completed its first regular season sweep of the Tigers since the 2000-01 season. The Warriors led for the majority of the second half, however, the Tigers stayed within striking distance and a 13-3 swing ending on a 3-pointer from Trinity junior guard Danielle Hubenak with 4:52 to go put the home team on top, 68-62. Hendrix kept its composure and finished the game on a 9-2 run, thanks to 6-of-6 shooting from the free throw line and a long ball from Byler. Sophomore guard Jordan Henderson found Byler open behind the arc with 1:22 on the clock to make it 69-71, and Byler earned a trip to the free throw line after pulling down an offensive rebound one minute later. The Warriors set a new season low with just 21.5 percent (14-of-65) shooting from the field in their 55-70 loss to Southwestern. Southwestern snapped Hendrix’s season-high six game win streak. Hendrix had just one lead the entire way and it looked as if the Warriors would mount a come back after trailing 23-31 at the break. Hendrix stormed out of the locker room for 12 unanswered points and owned a 35-31 lead with 16:22 remaining. Just under a minute later Southwestern pieced together its own 10-0 run to earn the final lead change of the game. Southwestern eventually stretched its advantage to 14 points with 3:07 to go. The Pirates shot a blistering 59.1 percent in the second half and had a 17 point performance from junior guard Shae Seagraves in the final 20 minutes.

Millsalost a pair of conference games on the road over the weekend against Southwestern University and Trinity University to remain winless on the season at 0-22 overall and 0-13 in the SCAC. The Majors failed to score in the opening seven minutes of the game Friday night and shot only 22 percent from the floor as Southwestern held Millsaps to a season-low 33 points in the conference victory, 61-33. Freshman forward Shante’ Morton recorded her 10th double-double of the season in the loss finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds. In its final road game of the season Sunday afternoon, the Majors dropped their 22nd straight game as Trinity University cruised to the conference victory, 77-45. The Tigers controlled play the entire first half taking a 39-25 lead into halftime and continued to add to its lead by outscoring Millsaps 38-20 in the second half for the win. Morton again led the Majors with 11 points and eight rebounds and was the only Millsaps player to record double figures. The Majors return home for a match-up with conference opponent Hendrix College on Feb. 13 at 1 p.m. The game will be a Shoot out for Cancer: Think Pink Game sponsored by the ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the women’s basketball team.

Oglethorpe lost two close road contests this past weekend to Birmingham-Southern (67-55) on Friday and to Rhodes College (87-85) on Sunday. On Friday against BSC, the Petrels trimmed a late Panthers lead to 58-55 with the 3:33 to play in the game but Birmingham-Southern rattled off the last 9 points of the contest to claim the win. The Petrels fell behind 35-29 at the start of the second half before Kelley Reeves and Riley Cerone connected on back-to-back three-pointers to knot the score at 36 apiece. The Panthers countered by building a 52-43 lead with 8 minutes to play before Oglethorpe staged a late rally to make tighten things up. A driving basket by Katie Weeks was sandwiched in-between two Sarah Jones three-balls and Oglethorpe trimmed the lead to 54-51 with 5:50 remaining. Then, with 3:33 to play, Katie Weeks scored, was fouled and made her free throw to bring Oglethorpe to within 58-55. The Panthers, however, held the Petrels scoreless the rest of the way to claim the win. Kelley Reeves made 6 of 9 shots to lead Oglethorpe with 13 points on the night. Weeks added 12 and Jones added 11 to round out the Petrels in double figures. On Sunday, Oglethorpe endured a rollercoaster ride that saw them fall behind to Rhodes by 9 and then take a second half 12 point advantage before squandering it and losing by two. These two teams played an equally tight contest that Oglethorpe won on January 3 by the score of 70-69. The Lynx had a shot of their own to win that one come off the rim, much like the fate Oglethorpe suffered on Sunday. The Petrels shot 45% (32-71) from the field, made 10 of 21 from downtown (48%) and outrebounded the Lynx 46-30 on the afternoon but were done in by costly 21 turnovers. Katie Weeks continued her stellar Sunday play, posting the aforementioned 30 points on 12 of 20 shooting from the field. Junior Chelsea MacDonald turned in her best performance of the year by connecting on 9 of 13 shots including a red-hot 6 of 8 from beyond the arc for 25 points. Rena Crossland added 7 points and 8 rebounds while Sarah Giles led the team with 11 rebounds. Oglethorpe is now 9-13 on the season and will return home to face Centre College this Friday at 6:00 p.m. on Pinholster Court.

Rhodes rallied from a 10 point 2nd half deficit to defeat Oglethorpe University, 87-85 in a SCAC Women's basketball game played in Mallory Gymnasium, on February 7th. The Lynx jumped out to a 39-31 halftime lead before Oglethorpe got hot in the second half. The Stormy Petrels hit 8 of 12 three point field goals and used a 28-12 run, to take a 72-62 lead with 7:05 to play. The Lynx used a 10-0 run themselves to tie the game at 72-72 on a Sarah Womack three point play with 4:18 to play. Womack led all Lynx scorers with a career high 18 points. A layup by senior guard Becca Clarin gave Rhodes the lead for good at 78-76 with 2:50 to play in the game. Rhodes had 6 players score in double figures and only committed 7 turnovers in the contest. Oglethorpe outrebounded the Lynx 46-30 and shot 48% from the three point line for the game. The Lynx improved to 13-9 on the season and clinched a berth in the SCAC Tournament, to be played the weekend of February 26-28 in Jackson, MS. The Lynx currently lead the SCAC in scoring offense at 75.7 ppg. The Lynx also rank 1st nationally in fewest turnovers per game at 12.9.

Sewanee took SCAC losses at Rhodes and Birmingham-Southern this weekend. Lauren Gulley highlighted the Tiger effort with 39 points this weekend. Gulley is leading Sewanee with a 13.7 ppg average. The Tigers are averaging 10.2 three-pointers per game after the wekeend - good for the top spot in the country among DIII teams. The Tigers are also nationally ranked in steals with 14.3 per game and a 9.4 turnover margin. The Tigers are 6-15 so far and 2-11 in the league. They will play DePauw and Centre on the Mountain this weekend.

Southwestern continue to look impressive at home as they defended their home court with two big wins this weekend. In Friday's annual Pink Zone night SU mounted an early lead and continued to build on it throughout the game as they defeated Millsaps 61-33. Saturday's game against Hendrix was a great shooting night as the Pirates were able to get great looks at the basket and capitalized, winning 70-55 over first place Hendrix behind double-doubles from juniors Staley Mullins and Shae Seagraves. With the wins SU moves into fourth place in the West with a 6-7 conference record and 10-12 overall. They head out on their final road trip of the regular season which will pit them against Colorado College who trails the Pirates by half a game for the final spot in the tournament and second place Austin College.

Trinity split its final home weekend of the regular season, rebounding from a tough loss to Hendrix on Friday with a strong win over Millsaps Sunday afternoon. Trinity was in control late in the game against Hendrix Friday, holding a six-point lead with just over two minutes to go. The Tigers went scoreless over the final 135 seconds, though, and Hendrix hit a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left to go ahead 71-70. Trinity missed its last shot in the final seconds, and Hendrix earned the regular season series sweep. In Sunday’s win against Millsaps, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Ali Marzella had 24 points and hit six three-pointers, falling just short of the school record of seven threes in a game. Trinity will finish off its season series with Austin College and Colorado College this weekend, having split with the two teams at home earlier this season. Austin College, the SCAC West Division leader, beat Trinity 74-49 in San Antonio, while Trinity defeated Colorado College 92-82.

To view the entire SCAC Hoops Weekly for week eleven, click here.