SUWANEE, Ga. - The 2010-11 SCAC Basketball season is off and running. After the first full week of basketball action the SCAC posted an overall record of 13-19 against non-conference foes. A number of teams will be in action throughout feast week with Southwestern the lone remaining undefeated team on the SCAC.

- AROUND THE SCAC -

Austin College opened up the year with a 2-1 record in the first week of play under new head coach Michelle Filander, falling 58-48 to UT-Dallas before picking up back to back wins over McMurry and Sul Ross State. Against UTD, the ‘Roos were within three points late before the Comets pulled away in the final minutes. Shayna Clardy and Courtney Kenisky had 11 points apiece to lead the team. Against McMurry, Clardy knocked down 3-of-5 from deep on her way to 15 points in a 59-53 win and Spenser Cruikshank grabbed 13 boards. The ’Roos finished off the weekend with an easy 78-49 win over Sul Ross behind 13 points and eight boards from Kersti Marusich, 12 points and nine boards from Chelsie White and 11 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc from Erin Riley.

Birmingham-Southern opened the season with two wins at home in the Sheraton Birmingham Classic, defeating Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Saturday, 67-60, and Rust College on Sunday, 65-47. Senior Katelyn Wilson led the way against Rose-Hulman with 21 points, while junior Ashton Spurgin led with eight rebounds. Against Rust, sophomore Alex Adams led with 18 points, and junior Sam Davidson and sophomore Erin Moore were also in double digits with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Moore also led with eight boards, and junior newcomer Kristian Moody led with five assists. The Panthers are on the road on Tuesday to take on Division I program Troy University at 7 p.m., but return home on Sunday to face Emory University at 2 p.m.

Centre opened the season winning two of its first three games. The Colonels came from behind to defeat Maryville 52-51 on the road before returning home to host its annual Country Hearth Inn/Lee’s Famous Recipe Classic, in which they fell to Howard Payne 74-64 and then defeated Berry 73-60. Centre has now won six-straight season-openers and 10 of its last 11.   The win over Maryville in Maryville, also marked the first time a Centre women’s team won in Maryville since the 2002-2003 season. The Colonels will host Mount St. Joseph Tuesday and then travel to Transylvania Sunday for another road contest.

Battling injuries and a strong schedule, Colorado College lost its first three games of the season for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign. The Tigers dropped an 89-39 decision to Division II Mesa State College in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday. CC trailed by only three points when Alyssa Aldaz knocked drained a running jumper in the paint with 12:37 remaining in the first half, but the Mavericks outscored CC 38-13 to take a commanding 52-24 lead after 20 minutes. Aldaz and Jenny Knapp scored seven points apiece to pace the Colorado College offense, while Becky Luetjen had five rebounds and three assists. Despite a combined 21 points from Luetjen and Sydney Leichliter, Colorado College came out on the wrong end of a 62-38 score against Saint Mary’s University on Friday night. Luetjen led CC with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Leichliter added 10 points and nine boards, including five at the offensive end. Hardin-Simmons used a 16-3 run midway through the second half to break open a tight game and defeat Colorado College, 79-66, on Sunday. After Luetjen pulled CC to within three points with 10:01 remaining in the game, the Tigers missed four of their next five shots and committed three of their 20 turnovers. Luetjen poured in a game-high 18 points to lead the Tigers, while Kalli Kemling finished with 10 points and six rebounds in her season debut. Marissa Gradoz pulled down a career-high eight rebounds to go along with eight points and three assists. Colorado College returns to action this weekend when it plays Finlandia and Nebraska Wesleyan in the 2010 CC Thanksgiving Classic.

#10 DePauw (10th coaches' poll/12th D3hoops.com) opened the season with a split of its two games at the DePauw Tipoff Tournament.  The Tigers defeated 3rd-ranked Illinois Wesleyan, 77-65, on Friday and lost, 58-56, on a buzzer beating putback to Washington University (5th coaches'/7th D3hoops.com) on Sunday. In the Illinois Wesleyan game, four DePauw players scored in double figures led by Brooke Osborne with a career-high 20 on 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Katie Aldrich added 15 points, while Ellie Pearson followed with a career-best 12 and a game-high nine rebounds. Katie Mathews added 11 points and seven boards and Kate Walker dished out four assists in the win. The Titans jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but DePauw scored the next nine and never trailed the rest of the way. The Tigers expanded the margin to as many as 13 in the first half on the way to a 36-24 halftime advantage. Illinois Wesleyan scored the first five points of the second half before DePauw eventually stretched the lead back to 51-36. The Titans later closed to within 61-53 with just under seven minutes left, but the Tigers scored eight straight to put the game away.Both teams shot just over 47 percent from the floor, but DePauw held a 43-31 rebounding edge. Annie Sayers' putback lifted Washington to the win over the Tigers which snapped DePauw's 50-game home court win streak and its 66-game home win string in the regular season. The Tigers' last loss in the Neal Fieldhouse was on March 11, 2006, in the NCAA quarterfinals against Hope, while the last regular season loss came at the hands of Washington University on November 20, 2004. The Bears led 54-49 with three minutes left, but DePauw's Ellie Pearson scored on a layup and Lauren Goff hit a three with 2:08 remaining to knot the score at 54-54. Pearson's steal led to Katie Mathews' layup which gave the Tigers their first lead  of the game at 56-54 with 1:29 left. Kathryn Berger's bucket with 42 seconds left evened the score at 56-56 and the Tigers missed on the other end with the shot clock winding down. The Bears rebounded and missed two shots before Sayers snagged the rebound and scored the game-winner just before the horn sounded. Pearson led DePauw with a career-high 15 points and matched a career best with 12 rebounds. Mathews added 12 points and four rebounds. DePauw shot just 31.17 percent from the floor to Washington's 46.2 and the Bears hit 8-of-18 threes to the Tigers' 3-of-17. The Bears held a 39-32 rebounding edge and had 21 turnovers to DePauw's 10.

Hendrix went 1-2 over the week after a season-opening victory against East Texas Baptist University on Monday, Nov. 15 and then a pair of losses in the Greenville Tip-Off Classic on Friday and Saturday.  Hendrix’s 20-point deficit with 11:17 remaining in regulation was the tipping point for the Warriors as they flipped the switch and closed the game on a 37-8 run to earn a thrilling 70-61 victory over ETBU at Grove Gymnasium.  Hendrix scratched and clawed its way back into the game and finally earned a lead it would not relinquish after hitting 5-of-6 shots from behind the arc inside a 7:09 span (9:41-2:32).  The Warriors ended that stretch with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to go up 60-59.  First year forward Jamie Tate pounded the glass and played a big part in bringing her team back into the game.  She finished with a double-double in her first collegiate contest (11 points and 12 rebounds) and pulled down six defensive boards and two offensive boards during the come-back stretch.  Senior forward Christina Byler found her shot late in the game and finished with a team-best 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the free throw line and 3-of-8 from long range.  Junior guards Anna Roane and Jordan Henderson added 14 points and 10 points, respectively.  The Warriors then traveled to Greenville, Ill. to take on the host school on Friday, falling in another nail-biter 63-61.  Byler led the team once again with 16 points, while junior guard Samantha Devlin scored 14 points and a team-best seven rebounds.  Tate added eight points and junior guard Katy Ashley-Pauley led the way with four assists.  Hendrix and Westminster College battled through 10 ties and 12 lead changes in the first half on Saturday with the Titans finally prevailing 65-60.  Byler led Hendrix with 15 points on 4-of-17 shooting. Roane added 12 points on three 3-pointers. Henderson, Ashley-Pauley and junior Caty Hensy led the team with six rebounds apiece.

Millsaps got off to a tough start this week, dropping a pair of closely contested games first at home to Dillard on Tuesday, 66-69, and then at Mississippi College on Friday, 65-73. Dillard’s lead got as high as eleven with just over five minutes to play on Tuesday as the Majors prepared their final push. Lovie Love sparked the run with a three pointer from the top of the key. Millsaps went on the attack, outscoring Dillard 17-9 over the final four minutes, but could not complete the comeback. Against the Choctaws, the two teams were virtually knotted the entire game but a Kristin Salmon three pointer to cut Mississippi College’s lead to three, 63-66 with 2:44 remaining, would be the Majors’ last points from the field as free throws allowed the Choctaws to stretch the final out to an eight-point margin in the end. Millsaps will look for their first win from the Hangar Dome on Tuesday night as they host The University of Dallas in a 5:00 p.m. tipoff.

Oglethorpe began their season 0-3 with losses on the road at Emory, Puget Sound and Lewis and Clark. The team lost their season opening contest at Emory on Tuesday night, 94-74. The Petrels trimmed a 17 point Eagle lead down to two in the second half but could not overcome 32 turnovers on their way to defeat. The Eagles began the game on a 21-4 run that put the Petrels on notice they were in for a fight. Oglethorpe responded by whittling 9 points off the Emory advantage before half to head into the locker room trailing, 38-30. Oglethorpe kept the momentum going in the early stages of the second half and, after a 3-ball from Morgan Loughrey at the 16:51 mark, only trailed the Eagles, 45-43. Emory responded, however, by going on a 26-9 run over the next six minutes to put the game away. The team lost to Puget Sound on the campus of Lewis and Clark in Portland, Oregon on Friday night, 74-45. Playing in the prestigious Bon Appetit Classic, the Petrels were done in by cold shooting (28%) on a night where they took care of the basketball (only 14 turnovers) but couldn't get it to go in the hoop. Oglethorpe jumped out to their first lead of the season in the game's early stages and held a 15-11 advantage over the Loggers with 12:45 to play in the first half. That's when Puget Sound, winners of 24 of 29 games in 2009-10 and perennial NCAA Tournament participants, went on a 25-4 run to open up a 17 point lead and take control of the game. Oglethorpe wound up trailing 40-26 at the break and would get no closer to Puget Sound in the second stanza. The Petrels were only able to connect on 15 of their 53 shots throughout the game and the Loggers dominated the boards 56-29 en route to the runaway victory. The team lost to Lewis and Clark in Portland, Ore. on Saturday night, 83-64. The Petrels led the Pioneers 39-37 at the half but could not withstand a second half blitz from the home team. The first half was a back and forth affair with 6 ties and four lead changes. The Petrels managed to open up a 7 point lead on a jumper by Sarah Jones with 2:09 to play but the Pioneers scored the last five points of the half to head into the locker room trailing Oglethorpe, 39-37. The two teams traded baskets in the early stages of the second half but Lewis and Clark took the lead for good at the 15:51 mark. Following a Sarah Giles basket the Pioneers lead was only 4 points with 9:24 to play. Lewis and Clark used a 17-3 run over the next 5 minutes, however, to seal the game. The Petrels are now 0-3 on the season and will continue their early season run of road games on Tuesday night at 5:00 p.m. at Piedmont.

A furious second half Lynx rally fell short as Rhodes dropped a  60-56 decision to host Greenville College, in game two of the Greenville College Classic, on Saturday, November 20th. Trailing 31-12 late in the first half, the Lynx shot only 21% from the field and closed the half on a 6-2 run and  trailed 33-18 at the intermission. Freshman forward Sara Olds was responsible for getting Rhodes back into the game. Olds hit 5 of 6 three point field goals in the second half, and her final three cut the Panthers lead to 58-56 with 13 seconds to play. Olds led all scorers with a career high 19 points. "I thought Sara Olds had a great weekend," said Lynx Head Coach Matt Dean. "Sara kept us in the game in the second half, and I was very proud of our kids. We fought the entire night, when we couldn't get shots to fall, we still put ourselves in a position to win a game against a strong Greenville team.  We will continue to get better, this is a young team." Greenville sealed the win with two free throws with 11.9 seconds to play as Rhodes dropped to 1-3 on the season. Lynx junior forward Sharwil Bell recorded a double double, with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Lynx finished four games in six days at 1-3 and are off until after Thanksgiving. Rhodes will host Blue Mountain College on November 30th. The Lynx have four starters averaging in double figures, led by Sharwil Bell at 13.8 ppg. Freshman post player Amy Handelman is averaging 11.8 points and 6 rebounds a game, and shooting 54.3% from the field in her first four collegiate games.

Sewanee opened up the season with a 100-94 win over visiting Covenant College on Tuesday before dropping two games in the Emory University Tip-Off Tournament over the weekend. Sewanee fell to Emory on Friday, 129-82, and to Piedmont College, 89-67, on Saturday. Against Covenant, junior Dani Kabbes led Sewanee with a double-double, tallying 35 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. The Tigers’ 100 points was the largest offensive output in the women’s program since a 100-41 win over Millsaps in 2001. Sewanee was down by as many as 13 points in the second half before coming back to ice the win with seven of eight free throw shooting in the last 30 seconds. Logan Miller added 16 points in the effort. On Friday, Kabbes once again led the Tigers with a double-double, scoring 19 points and picking up 11 rebounds in the 129-82 loss. Heather Baier added 15 points for the Tigers. On Saturday, Sewanee fell in the consolation game of the Tip-Off Tournament to Piedmont College, with Kabbes once again leading the way. She picked up 28 points and was one rebound shy of her third straight double-double after pulling down nine rebounds in the contest. Claire Elliott tallied 12 points for Sewanee in the loss. Sewanee will host Agnes Scott College on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.

Southwestern has started the season off strong, going 2-0 at the outset of the year. They opened at the University of Dallas on Monday night and shot 90% from the free throw line en route to a 73-59 victory. In Sunday's game against Schreiner defense and free throws once again were the key to the victory as Southwestern won 69-55. The Pirates were 19-24 from the charity stripe and held the Mountaineers to 40% from the floor. Southwestern hosts their first home contest this week as they welcome LeTourneau University to campus on Tuesday night before hitting the road once again to face Dallas Christian on Saturday.

Trinity opened up with a pair of in-state road games, beating UT-Tyler to open the season, but losing to UT-Dallas to finish the weekend. The 77-69 win over UT-Tyler was the fourth consecutive season opener won by the Tigers, led by a career-high 26 points from Abby Dietert.  It was also the first meeting in the SCAC era between Trinity and UT-Tyler (since 1991-92).  The 82-60 loss to UT-Dallas marked the third meeting between those two teams, with UTD earning its first win in the series. Trinity will play three road games this week, continuing its seven-game stint away from home to start the year.  The Tigers face Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday night, followed by a weekend road trip to Washington.  There, Trinity will play both Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran on Sunday and Monday.trh

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