SUWANEE, Ga. - In the Eastern Division, DePauw and Centre have punched tickets to the SCAC Tournament with both teams picking up a pair of home wins against Austin and Colorado College. In the Western Division Millsaps won back-to-back road conference games for the first time since the 1995-96 season. The Majors are now just a game out of first place.

- AROUND THE SCAC -

Austin College dropped a pair of games over the weekend, falling by a final score of 80-57 to Centre before dropping a 69-30 contest against No. 16-ranked DePauw on Sunday. The 'Roos are now 7-11 overall and 5-6 in SCAC play. Against Centre, Erica McDaniel recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Shayna Clardy added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists in defeat as the 'Roos trailed by just four points at halftime before the Colonels pulled away in the second half. Against DePauw, the 'Roos struggled to find a groove rhythm offensively as they committed 29 turnovers and shot just 22% from the field. Kersti Marusich scored eight points to lead Austin College and Clardy had six rebounds and two assists in the loss. Austin College steps out of conference play to take on the University of Dallas at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday and will head out on the road to face Colorado College on Saturday. 

Birmingham-Southern split at home this week, defeating Southwestern on Friday night, 78-71, but falling to Trinity on Saturday night, 72-61, snapping their perfect 10-0 record at home this season. Senior Katelyn Wilson still leads the Panthers in scoring with 9.6 points a game, but she is followed closely by sophomore Alex Adams with 9.2ppg. Adams leads with 6.8 rebounds a game, followed by junior Ashton Spurgin with 6.0rpg. BSC is on the road this week, traveling to face Sewanee and Oglethorpe.

Centre won a pair of SCAC home games over the weekend, defeating Austin 80-57 Friday night and then winning 82-74 over Colorado Sunday afternoon. The Colonels have now won three straight games and seven of their last eight to improve to 14-6 overall and 7-3 in conference play. Centre shot better than 40.0% in both games. The Colonels are now 7-0 in games in which they finish shooting 40.0% or better. Centre will host DePauw Saturday at  home in a rematch from an earlier game this season.

Becky Luetjen scored a career-high 30 points to become the 10th Tiger to reach 1,000 in a career, but Colorado College's upset bid came up a short as Centre held on for an 82-74 victory. Luetjen finished the game with 1,012 points and is the ninth player in program history to reach that milestone and also record 500 or more career rebounds. The Colonels built a nine-point lead 5:29 into the second half, but the Tigers went on an 11-3 run during the next six minutes to pull to within a point on a layup by Luetjen with 8:30 to play. Centre responded with seven consecutive points to re-gain command and made 15 of 18 attempts from the charity line to maintain their lead. Luetjen’s basket with 48 seconds to play cut the Colonel's lead to 76-73, but CC missed its final four shots from the floor. Kalli Kemling scored 12 points and led the Tigers with nine rebounds. Luetjen began the weekend with 19 points and seven rebounds on Friday night, but Colorado College couldn’t keep pace with No. 17 DePauw’s torrid shooting in the first half and dropped a 90-60 decision in CC’s final visit to Greencastle, Ind. Emily Wattman-Turner made all six of her shots, three apiece from behind the arc and from the charity stripe, and finished with 12 points. The Tigers play host to Austin on Saturday at 4 p.m. for their annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day and Pink Zone game.

#16 DePauw improved to 17-3 overall and 10-1 in the SCAC with a weekend home sweeo over Colorado College (90-60) and Austin (69-30). The wins also extended the Tigers SCAC home win string to 61 straight victories. In the win over Colorado College, DePauw placed five players in double figures. The host Tigers scored eight straight in the first half to expand a six-point lead to 14 before Colorado College used a 5-0 run to trim the margin to 28-19 with 7:17 left in the half. DePauw scored the next 11 to push the lead to 20 on the way to a 46-24 halftime advantage. Colorado College got as close as 17 in the second half before DePauw pushed the margin to as much as 31 late in the game. Katie Aldrich paced DePauw with 19 points, while Katie Mathews added 17. Ellie Pearson scored 12 followed by Alex Gasaway and Ali Ross with 11 each. Gasaway grabbed eight rebounds as DePauw held a 36-28 edge on the boards. Pearson added three blocks and Mathews three steals in the win. The Tigers shot 46.9 percent for the game after connecting on 54.5 percent in the first half. Colorado College hit 45.8 percent from the floor including 56.5 percent in the second half. DePauw held a 33-13 edge in points off of turnovers and a 22-0 advantage in second-chance points. DePauw limited Austin to its season-low point total in Sunday's win.  The Tigers led 13-10 with 11 minutes left in the first half and scored the next 25 points before closing the half with a 39-14 lead. Austin scored the first two points of the second half, but DePauw scored 10 straight and held Austin without a field goal for the first 9:38 of the final 20 minutes. The Tigers' largest lead reached 40 midway through the second half. Aldrich paced DePauw with 18 points, while Gasaway added 13 and Mathews 10. Mathews and Pearson each grabbed eight rebounds as the Tigers held a 47-32 advantage on the boards. Mathews led DePauw with five steals. DePauw shot 39.1 percent from the field and committed just 10 turnovers to Austin's 29. The Tigers held a 26-6 advantage in points off of turnovers and 16-2 in second-chance points. Austin shot just 22.5 percent from the floor in the loss.

Hendrix stretched its win streak to four games this weekend with wins at Sewanee-The University of the South and Oglethorpe University.  The Warriors now stand alone atop the SCAC West with a 7-4 conference record and hold a 1.0 game lead over Trinity and Millsaps.  After a nip and tuck first half that saw four ties and seven lead changes, Hendrix managed to stretch the gap with a hot hand from distance after the break. The Warriors went 8-of-11 from 3-point land in the second half to earn an 80-65 victory over Sewanee on Friday.  It was a tale of two halves for both teams as the Tigers kept it close with a 7-of-14 performance from behind the arc in the first half, including five 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes.  The Warriors fell behind early but never let their deficit slip past six points (21-15, 10:05) thanks to a strong presence inside the paint.  The six-point margin was the tipping point for the Warriors as they went on an 18-5 run over the next seven minutes to earn the final lead change of the game and a 33-26 advantage with 3:12 left in the half.  Hendrix held a slim lead at intermission, 35-33.  Sewanee tied the game twice in the opening minutes of the second half until Hendrix started finding success from behind the arc.  After a pair of free throws tied the game at 38-38 with 17:58 to go, Hendrix poured in five trey-bombs over the next six minutes to lead 59-46 with just over 11 minutes remaining.  Hendrix senior Christina Byler scored a season-high 24 points and junior Anna Roane poured in 14 points to lead the Warriors to a 70-66 win against Oglethorpe on Sunday afternoon.  Hendrix took control early with an 11-4 lead, its largest advantage of the first half, with 13:13 remaining.  The lead was short-lived as Oglethorpe answered with a 20-3 run over the next seven minutes to go up 24-13 with 5:41 to go.  The Warriors narrowed their deficit to just three points with 3:04 on the clock after three-consecutive 3-pointers resulted in a 14-6 spurt.  However, the Stormy Petrels closed the first half with an 8-1 spree to own a 38-28 lead at the break.  The Stormy Petrels clung to the lead for the first 7:31 after intermission, until a pair of free throws from Byler with 14:15 on the clock ignited a 22-2 run and gave the Warriors a 60-49 lead with 5:17 left in regulation.  Oglethorpe would not go away without a fight and eventually took a 65-64 lead after a pair of free throws with 1:15 remaining.  Hendrix responded with a clutch shot on its next possession when Byler found Roane open behind the arc for the go-ahead 3-pointer with 57 ticks left on the clock.  The Stormy Petrels were forced to foul to stop the clock and Roane made it hurt with two clutch free throws, 69-66, with 30 seconds left.  Oglethorpe missed a jumper on its next trip down the court and first year Jamie Tate came down with her ninth rebound of the half to seal the deal.

Millsaps got a pair of wins at Oglethorpe and Sewanee last week to close out the cross-divisional portion of the schedule. Friday's game in Atlanta saw six ties and eight lead changes, but with 10:30 left in the game the Majors took the lead for good thanks to a Janice Okeke layup. The Petrels never allowed the game to get out of reach, though, and cut the lead down to one point twice. The Majors hit their free throws in the final minute to seal the road win, 60-53. The Tigers got on the boards first on Sunday 3-0 but the Majors answered with three pointers from Lovie Love and Shante Morton and did not trail again. The Majors lead climbed to ten at the half, 31-21. Sewanee cut the lead down to five early in the second half, but never seriously challenged down the stretch, giving Millsaps the 59-43 win. The Majors will return to Jackson to host Trinity University on Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. in the Hangar Dome.

Oglethorpe lost two close contests at home this past weekend to Millsaps (L, 60-53) and Hendrix (L, 70-66). Against Millsaps, The Petrels held a slim halftime advantage of 22-21 but could not make it stand up as the Majors connected on 7 of 12 shots (58%) from downtown to get the win. The two teams struggled in a first half that saw Oglethorpe convert 9 Millsap turnovers into 10 of the 22 first half points the Petrels posted. The Petrel offense could not get going in the second half, however, and the Majors used their long-range shooting touch to knock Oglethorpe off. While Millsaps connected on 7 of 12 from downtown, Oglethorpe made only 3 of 14. Despite making one more field goal (21 to the Major's 20), the Petrels were stuck with a 7 point defeat. Katie Weeks and Sarah Giles combined to go 9 of 19 from the field for 25 points (Weeks 13, Giles 12) and each grabbed 8 rebounds to lead Oglethorpe. Freshman Kyana Jenkins had a career high 9 points, 5 rebounds and a team-leading 4 assists on the night. Against Hendrix, the Petrels erased a late 11 point deficit to claim a 66-65 lead with 1:15 to play but the Warriors scored the game's final 5 points to earn the victory. Things started slowly in this one before both teams got in gear. The Warriors raced out to a 13-6 lead only to watch Oglethorpe rattle off 18 straight points to hold a 24-13 advantage, Hendrix battled back to knock the lead down to three but the Petrels closed the half on an 8-1 run to head into the locker room with a 38-28 cushion. After a layup by Sarah Jones gave Oglethorpe a 47-38 lead with 14:15 remaining, things went south for the Petrels. The Warriors went on an 11-0 run over four minutes of clock time to take a 49-47 lead with 10 minutes to play. After the Petrels tied the score at 49, the Warriors went on another 11-0 run to suddenly hold a 60-49 advantage with 5 minutes to play. The Petrels would not wilt, however, and used 16-4 run to take the lead back at 65-64 with 1:15 to play. The Warriors responded with a clutch three-pointer and two free throws from Anna Roane to seal the game. Katie Weeks led the Petrels with 18 points, 9 rebounds and four steals. Sarah Giles had 10 points, 8 boards and seven blocks while Sarah Jones posted 17 points. Chelsea MacDonald netted 11 to round out the Petrels in double-figures. Oglethorpe is now 4-15 on the season and will host Rhodes next Friday at 6:00 p.m.

Rhodes snapped a 4 game losing streak tonight topping Southwestern, 88-75 in Mallory Gymnasium. The Lynx registered all 5 starters in double figures and were once again led by junior Sharwil Bell who tallied an impressive 31 points. Rhodes shot a season high 50.9% from the floor and knocked down 10-19 from behind the arc. Sophomore Jaime Maxey  had a strong showing from deep, connecting on 4-6 3's and finished the night with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Also in double figures for the Lynx were Sophomore Sarah Womack with 16, Freshman Amy Handelman with 10 and Senior Lakeya McGill with 14. McGill also became the 12th player in Rhodes history to reach the 1000 point mark. The win pushes Rhodes to 6-13 and 3-8 in SCAC play while Southwestern falls to 13-7 and 5-6 in league play. The Lynx will hit the road this weekend, traveling to Oglethorpe and Sewanee. They will return to Mallory Gymnasium on February 12 to face Birmingham Southern.

Sewanee finished the weekend the way it started it, still looking for their first conference win. The Tigers dropped a pair of SCAC games to visiting Hendrix on Friday evening and to Millsaps on Sunday afternoon. Sewanee trailed by just two at halftime against Hendrix, but the Warriors used a 22-7 run in the second half to pull away and take home am 80-65 victory. Dana Middleton and Logan Miller led the Tigers with 18 points apiece, while the Warriors’ Christina Byler led all scorers with 21. As a team, Sewanee shot just 34% from the field and was 10 of 27 from the 3-point line. Against Millsaps on Sunday, the Tigers faced the same fate. The Majors held a 10 point edge heading into intermission but they used a 20-5 run to start the second half and pull away for the 59-43 win. Middleton led Sewanee in the loss with 15 points and three steals. Claire Elliott added 10 points, while Dani Kabbes grabbed 10 boards for the Tigers. Sewanee went 17 of 63 from the field and 6 of 28 from 3-point land in the effort. With the two losses, the Tigers fall to 2-16 overall and 0-11 in SCAC play. Sewanee will head to Covenant College for a non-conference battle on Tuesday before hosting Birmingham-Southern and Rhodes College this weekend.

With four weeks to play Southwestern University found themselves in the same position the rest of the West was in, deadlocked for the four playoff spots. The Pirates embarked on a two game road trip, facing tough opponents in Birmingham Southern and Rhodes. Friday night the Panthers pulled ahead early and Southwestern wasn't able to begin their comeback until late in the second half. They came within 13 points with just over four minutes to play and then cut the deficit to six before running out of time with the final horn sounding for the 78-71 loss. Saturday night Southwestern faced off with Rhodes who was on fire from the floor. The Pirates had 25 more shot attempts than the Lynx but Rhodes made over half of their shots from field goal and three point range. With the two losses SU falls to 13-7 on the year, 5-6 in SCAC play and in a three way tie for the fourth playoff spot. They head to West leading Hendrix and Millsaps, who is tied for second place in the West, for games this weekend. 

Trinity won for the sixth time in the last seven games, sweeping Rhodes and Birmingham Southern over the weekend. The victories also push Trinity’s road win streak to four games. The Tigers overcame the loss of Head Coach Amie Bradley, who was sick and didn’t make the trip, winning both games by 11 points. Trinity is back on the road for the final time this weekend, facing off against two of the top teams in the SCAC West Division in Millsaps and Hendrix. The Tigers lost to Millsaps 59-66 earlier this season, but have won 17 of the past 18 meetings in the series. Against division-leading Hendrix, Trinity won 60-48 in San Antonio to snap a three-game losing streak to the Warriors.

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