Women's Basketball Recap (Week 12) - Around the SCAC

Women's Basketball Recap (Week 12) - Around the SCAC

SUWANEE, Ga. - Only one spot remains unclaimed as we head to the final weekend of SCAC play. In the East, DePauw (1), Centre (2), Rhodes (3) and Oglethorpe (4) have all punched their tickets. In the West, while the seeds have not been determined, Hendrix, Austin College and Trinity are all in with Colorado College and Southwestern battling for the final spot.

- AROUND THE SCAC -


Austin College closed out the home portion of their regular season slate with a pair of big victories over Trinity and Southwestern to improve to 17-6 overall and 11-3 in conference play. Against the Tigers, Katy Williams scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the ‘Roos held off a late rally by TU to take a 58-54 victory. Amber Stafford hit three treys to finish with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists and Kayla Redden added three triples to finish with 11 points. Williams again posted 18 points and 15 boards in a 64-58 comeback win over the Pirates in which the ‘Roos trailed by 13 with under eight minutes to go but used a 17-0 run to take command and earn the victory. Stafford had 12 points and five assists and Redden and Kersti Marusich each added 11 points in the victory as the ‘Roos hit 6-of-13 threes in the second half to help overcome their double digit deficit. The ‘Roos close out the regular season this weekend when they travel to take on Hendrix and Millsaps.

Birmingham-Southern went 2-0 this week with a big road win against Oakwood University, Thursday, and a thrilling home victory against Rhodes on Saturday. Against Oakwood, freshmen Caroline King and Melanie Short led with 10 points apiece, and sophomore Laura Kneiss led with seven rebounds. Against Rhodes, junior Katelyn Wilson was impressive with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while she and Short led with nine boards apiece. Saturday was the Panthers' last home game, and BSC wraps up the season this weekend on the road, traveling to take on Centre, Friday, and DePauw, Sunday.

Centre picked up a pair of SCAC road wins over the weekend defeating Oglethorpe 80-67 Friday night and then Sewanee 77-64 Sunday. The Colonels attempted 31 free throws on the evening making 22 of them while Oglethorpe had 23 attempts. In the win over Sewanee, Centre out-rebounded the Tigers 56-28, including 40-16 on the defensive end. The Colonels' defense also limited Sewanee to only 18.4% from the floor in the first half in building an 18-point lead at the intermission. Centre, now 15-7 overall and 10-4 in the SCAC, will return home for the final weekend of the regular season to host Birmingham Southern Friday and Rhodes Sunday.

Collier Clegg and Becky Luetjen combined for 56 points, including 12 in overtime, to lead Colorado College to a crucial 86-79 victory over Southwestern University on Friday night. Luetjen tied the game with on a driving layup with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation, and then scored seven points in overtime. Clegg poured in a season-high 30 points, making a season-best six of 13 shots from behind the arc. Luetjen posted her eighth double-double of the year with 26 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Wattman-Turner finished with 12 points, while Alyssa Aldaz dished out seven assists. CC had a 69-43 advantage on the boards, but let the Pirates hang around by committing 22 turnovers. The Tigers dropped a 68-67 decision to Trinity University on Saturday night. Clegg gave CC a one-point lead when she buried a 10-foot jumper from the right baseline with 10.6 seconds remaining, but the Tigers gave up an uncontested layup as time expired. Clegg scored 17 of her game-high 19 points in the second half when Colorado College overcame a six-point deficit with 4:58 remaining to take a one-point lead three times during the final two minutes. Luetjen had 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots for CC. She finished the game ranked No. 19 in single-season scoring with 384 points. Colorado College concludes the regular season with games at Millsaps College and Hendrix College next Friday and Sunday, respectively.

#19 DePauw extended its win streak to 16 and notched its ninth straight 20-win season and 13th in the last 14 years following a weekend road sweep. The Tigers won at Sewanee by an 82-37 score on Friday and topped Oglethorpe, 57-49, on Sunday. In the win at Sewanee, the Tigers scored the game's first 10 points and never trailed. The Tigers led by as many as 23 in the first half and held a 39-19 lead at the break. DePauw then opened the second half with a 31-9 run which pushed the margin to 40. Katie Aldrich led the Tigers with 13 points, while Emily Marshall added 12 and Lauren Goff 11. Kate Walker led DePauw with seven rebounds as the Tigers held a 46-18 edge on the boards. Walker and Katie Mathews each dished out four assists in the win. DePauw shot 54.7 percent from the floor including 61.3 percent in the second half to Sewanee's 29.2 percent for the game. The Tigers also held a 22-0 advantage in second chance points and a 33-9 margin in points off of turnovers. In Sunday's win at Oglethorpe, DePauw held Oglethorpe scoreless over the opening 5:49 of the game and built an 8-0 lead. Later in the half they used a 10-0 run to take a 20-9 advantage and went to the break with a 36-22 lead. In the middle portion of the second half, the Tigers still held a 13-point lead before Ellie Pearson and Jenna Fernandez each hit buckets and Brooke Osborne knocked down a three to make it 54-34 with 9:32 left. That would be the Tigers' last field goal as the hosts outscored DePauw, 15-3, down the stretch. Walker was the Tigers' lone double-figure scorer with 11, while Marshall led the way with eight rebounds. Mathews dished out four assists in the win and Goff totaled five steals. DePauw shot just 36.4 percent from the floor to Oglethorpe's 43.2 percent, but the Tigers turned 26 Stormy Petrels turnovers into 26 points and only committed eight turnovers themselves. Oglethorpe held a 40-30 advantage on the boards and were the first team to outrebound the Tigers this season.

Hendrix had a 2-0 week with a non-conference victory over University of Dallas on Tuesday afternoon and a SCAC West Division win over Millsaps College on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors (17-4/11-3 SCAC) completed their regular season sweep of the Majors (0-23/0-14 SCAC) and will now look ahead to a big game against West Division foe Austin College (17-6/11-3 SCAC) on Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. CT. Hendrix allowed just 21 points, forced 14 turnovers and grabbed eight steals in the second half of its 71-51 victory over Dallas at Grove Gymnasium. Warriors’ senior forward Christina Byler collected 16 of her game-high 24 points in the final 20 minutes. The two teams played an aggressive first half with five lead changes and four ties. Dallas opened the affair on an 8-2 run and Hendrix quickly answered with a 9-0 stretch which featured a pair of 3-pointers. The Warriors controlled the lead over the next four minutes until the Crusaders snatched an advantage off two free throws with 9:09 left in the half. The lead would change hands twice more with Hendrix ending the opening 20 minutes on eight unanswered points for a 36-30 lead at intermission. A 3-point play the hard way and a shot from behind the arc from Byler put the Warriors up 42-32 with 17:36 remaining. The Crusaders would get as close as six points the rest of the way. Hendrix eventually led by a game-high 20 points with 51 seconds left on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Sam Deragowski. Millsaps led just twice for a total of 1:04 in the entire game, however, the Majors would not allow Hendrix to stretch its advantage past 10 points in the affair. The Warriors’ largest lead of the first half was just six points on three occasions, including a 35-29 lead at intermission. The Warriors’ survived on perfect (12-of-12) shooting from the charity stripe in the second half and struggled from the field after the break with just nine baskets (9-of-27) in the last 20 minutes. Byler, sophomore guard Sam Devlin and sophomore forward Sam Deragowski all went 4-of-4 from the line in the second half.

Playing in the 2010 WBCA Pink Zone game for breast cancer awareness, the Millsaps College women's basketball team dropped its 23rd straight game of the season at The Hangar Dome to Hendrix College Saturday afternoon, 67-62. Wearing pink high-socks and pink hair bands, the Majors (0-23, 0-14 SCAC) got to within three points in the final 15 seconds of regulation, but a pair of free throws by the Warriors' Samantha Devlin sealed Millsaps' fate. Deonna Walton finished with a team-high 15 points and nine rebounds to lead the Majors offensively. Millsaps, still looking for its first win of the season, will return to the hardwood next Friday night when they play host to Colorado College at 6 p.m.

Oglethorpe dropped two contests this past weekend to Centre (L, 80-67) and DePauw (L, 57-49). After Centre had built a 15-point lead at 56-41 with 12:55 left, the Lady Petrels fought valiantly to get back into the game. They cut the lead to 69-65 with 3:46 to play. But they would get no closer and Centre would close the game on an 11-2 run to finish the Lady Petrels off. Down in the first half, Oglethorpe made three straight three-pointers to give themselves a five-point lead with 7:37 left in the first half. It would be their biggest lead of the game. However, Centre was able to mount a 16-5 run to end the half and go into the locker room with a 40-34 lead. Oglethorpe forward Sarah Giles had the best game of her young career on Friday night. She finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and a school-record 12 blocks, becoming the first player to record a triple-double in Oglethorpe women's basketball history. Despite this truly dominating performance, the Lady Petrels were not able to get over the hump against Centre, though. Against the Tigers on Sunday, the Petrels held the 18th ranked Tigers to only 21 second half points and trimmed a 20 point DePauw lead all the down way to 7 before succumbing in the hard fought conference battle. The Tigers controlled the first 10 minutes of the second stanza to open up a 54-34 lead with 9:32 left in the contest but the feisty Petrel squad would not go away. Oglethorpe only allowed the 18th ranked Tigers to make just 3 free throws over the final 9:32 of the contest and nearly pulled a dramatic comeback. Time, however, was not on Oglethorpe's side, and despite trimming the lead to 7 the Tigers held on for the win. Turnovers were a key difference in the game as Oglethorpe committed 26 that the Tigers turned into 26 points. DePauw, meanwhile, only turned it over 8 times in the game from which the Petrels could only net 3 points. Katie Weekes continued her stellar Sunday play by scoring a team-high 18 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and dishing 5 assists. Sarah Giles controlled the glass for Oglethorpe by snatching 11 rebounds and blocking 4 more shots to extend her conference lead in that category. The Petrels are 9-15 on the season and will play their final regular season game next Saturday night on Pinholster Court versus Sewanee.

Rhodes lost a SCAC thriller in women's basketball, 79-74 to Birmingham Southern, on Saturday, February 13th in Birmingham, AL. All five Lynx starters scored in double figures and the Lynx were led in scoring by senior guard Becky Atnip and sophomore forward Jenilee Pate who each scored 16 points. Birmingham Southern jumped out to a 10-0 lead and increased their lead to 22-6 with 10:13 to play in the 1st half. Rhodes trailed 37-24 at the half after shooting only 27.8% from the field and 1 of 12 from 3 point territory. The Panthers opened the second half on a 11-3 run to increase their lead to 48-27 with 16:06 to play. Rhodes began to chip away at the Birmingham Southern lead and only trailed 59-46 with 8:40 to play. The Lynx then went on a 15-4 run to cut the margin to 63-61, on a Becca Clarin 3 point field goal with 4:58 to play. The Panthers responded with a 12-5 run to push the margin to 75-66 with 1:35 to play after a free throw by Alex Adams. The Lynx countered with a 8-0 run to cut the lead to 75-74 with 28 seconds to play; however, Birmingham Southern hit four consecutive free throws to seal the win. Atnip missed a potential game tying three point field goal with 10 seconds to play. Rhodes continues to rank 1st nationally in fewest turnovers per game. The Lynx are averaging only 12.7 turnovers a game and committed only 8 in their loss to Birmingham Southern. The Lynx also lead the nation in assist/turnover ratio at 1.2. The Lynx fall to 13-10 overall and will travel to Greencastle, IN on February 19th to face DePauw University. Rhodes is locked into the 3 seed in the east and will play either Hendrix or Austin College in the first round of the SCAC Tournament.

Sewanee dropped a pair of SCAC games in its final home games at Juhan Gym. The Tigers fell 82-37 to DePauw on Friday and 77-64 to Centre on Sunday. On Friday, seniors Jamie Robinson and Kelly Morrison were honored for Senior day. Robinson had a career high 21 points on Sunday. The Tigers will play at travel partner Oglethorpe on Saturday and are now 6-18 (2-11 SCAC).

Southwestern dropped two important contests this weekend as they fall out of fourth place in the West at 10-14 overall and 6-9 in the SCAC. The Tigers of Colorado College needed overtime to defeat the Pirates as turnovers late in the extra period cost SU the much needed win to remain in final spot for the post-season tournament. After falling in Colorado Southwestern knew the impact a win against Austin College would have on their standing and they controlled the game through 32 minutes of action, leading by 13 points with eight to play. SU went cold, however, and the 'Roos were able to steal the win. SU closes out regular season action on Friday night with Senior Day as they play host to Trinity.

Trinity earned a road weekend split in SCAC play, coming up just short in a comeback bid against Austin College, but scoring a last-second victory at Colorado College Saturday night. On Friday at Austin College, Trinity trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half, but fought back to within three at one point late in the game. Austin held on for the 58-54 win, though, earning a season series sweep over Trinity. On Saturday, Trinity and Colorado played a close game throughout, and it would come down to the final seconds. After making 1-2 free throws with 53 seconds left, Colorado led by one, but Trinity regained the lead on a layup with 21 seconds left. Colorado scored with 10 seconds left to go back up by one, then Kelsey Goodell scored her second buzzer-beater of the year as Trinity escaped with the win. The Tigers travel to Southwestern and the University of Dallas this weekend, finishing off the regular season schedule. Trinity defeated Southwestern 68-53 earlier this season.


To view the enitre SCAC Hoops Weekly for week twelve, click here.