JACKSON, Miss. - The top three seeds in the East Division advanced to Saturday's semifinal round of the 2010 SCAC Women's Basketball Tournament. DePauw, Centre and Rhodes all won their respective quarterfinal games with Hendrix the only West Division school to advance.

2010 SCAC WOMEN'S QUARTERFINALS
(played at Belhaven University)

#1E DePauw 81, #4W Southwestern 43
Box Score | Post-Game Interviews 

JACKSON, Miss. - The 14th-ranked DePauw University Tigers had five players score in double-figures and cruised to an 81-43 quarterfinal victory over Southwestern University in the first game of the 2010 SCAC Women's Basketball Tournament Friday afternoon on the campus of Belhaven University.   Katie Matthews, Kate Walker, Katie Aldrich and Danielle Boraz all had 12 points each to lead the Tigers followed by Kathryn Denbow with 10 points.

Shae Seagraves had 13 points for Southwestern, which ends its season at 10-16.

DePauw (23-3) out-rebounded Southwestern 52-24, with 28 of the Tigers' rebounds coming off the offensive glass and held the Pirates to just 31.0 percent shooting from the field (13-42). DePauw shot 40.9 percent from the floor (27-66) and nailed half of its shots from beyond the arc (8-16).

The Tigers led 45-14 at the half.

Winners of 19 straight games, DePauw will take on the winner of Austin College and Rhodes College in Saturday's first semifinal game, which is scheduled to tip at 5 p.m. CT on the campus of Millsaps College.

#3E Rhodes 57, #2W Austin College 42
Box Score | Post-Game Interviews 

JACKSON, Miss. - Rhodes College pulled the first upset of the 2010 SCAC Women's Basketball Tournament as the third-seed from the East Division upended the West Division second-seed Austin College, 57-42, Friday afternoon on the campus of Belhaven University.

Next up for the Lynx is a match-up with 17th-ranked DePauw University, the top seed from the East, who defeated Southwestern University, 81-43, the game before. Saturday's first semifinal tips at 5 p.m. CT.   Rhodes (14-12) was led by Becky Atnip, who finished with a game-high 15 points and teammates Becca Clarin and Sharwil Bell followed with 14 points each. Clarin added eight rebounds and was 4-of-6 from three-point range.

Although neither team shot the ball particularly well - Austin College shot 31.5 percent to Rhodes' 30.2 percent - the Lynx used a full court press that forced the 'Roos into 20 turnovers. Rhodes also held Austin to 2-of-20 shooting (10.0 percent) from beyond the three-point arc after the 'Roos led the SCAC in three-point shooting (37.3 percent) during the regular season.

Rhodes led 27-19 at the half.

Austin College, which ends its season with an 18-8 mark, was led by senior Katy Willaims, who had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Williams ends her career as the league's all-time leading rebounder with 1,083. Her 320 rebounds this season are the most ever in a SCAC single-season by a women's player.

#1W Hendrix 73, #4E Oglethorpe 52
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JACKSON, Miss. - Holding just a five-point lead at the intermission, Hendrix College, the top seed from the West Division, outscored the East four-seed Oglethorpe University 38-22 in the second half and cruised to a 73-52 quarterfinal victory Friday evening at Belhaven University.   The victory advances the Warriors to Saturday's semifinal round where they will play the winner of Centre College and Trinity University.

Hendrix moves to 20-4 with the victory - earning the program its first 20+ winning season since the 1999-2000 campaign.

First-year head coach Thad McCracken got contributions up and down the lineup - with Christina Byler leading the way with a game-high 13 points and eight rebounds. Amanda Morris added 12 points and seven assists and Averly Roller finished with 11 points of the bench for the Warriors. Anna Roane had 10 points.

Oglethorpe, which ends its season at 10-16, was paced by Katie Weeks who had 11 points, and Chelsea MacDonald, who finished with 10 points.

The two teams combined to shoot 58 free throws on the evening, with Oglethorpe nailing 22-of-27 and Hendrix 22-of-31 from the charity stripe.
Behind just 35-30 at the break after shooting 47.8 percent from the floor, the Petrels managed just 22.2 percent in the second. Overall, Oglethorpe was 0 for 12 from beyond the three-point arc while Hendrix hit on 5-of-18 attempts from distance.

The game marked the second time in three years that Oglethorpe and Hendrix have faced off in the first round of the SCAC Tournament. The Petrels won a nail-biter over the Warriors, 73-70, in overtime in 2008.  

#2E Centre 80, #3W Trinity 65
Box Score | Post-Game Interviews 

JACKSON, Miss. - Maggie Prewitt poured in a game-high 24 points and also added eight rebounds, six steals and four assists as Centre College outscored Trinity University 46-31 in the second half to pull away to an 80-65 victory in Friday's final quarterfinal matchup of the evening at Belhaven University.   The Colonels (18-7) advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive year and will take on Hendrix College, which earned its final four spot with a 73-52 victory over Oglethorpe.

Centre, which had lost to Trinity, 70-60, in the two team's only regular-season meeting, turned the table on the Tigers this time - largely by forcing 24 turnovers which the Colonels converted into 23 points.

Chelsea Goodman added 19 points and six rebounds for the Colonels and Chelsea Benham chipped in with 15 points and five steals off the bench.

Trinity, which ends its season with a 17-9 mark, was led by the double-double effort of Kelsey Goodell, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Tigers. No other Trinity player scored in double-figures, although Abby Dietert did pull down 11 rebounds.   The Colonels will face another team that defeated them earlier in the year on Saturday as Hendrix earned a 64-54 victory over Centre back on Jan. 17.