SUWANEE, Ga. - DePauw, Centre, Rhodes and Oglethorpe have made claim to all four spots in the SCAC Tournament out of the Eastern Division with seeding still to be determined. Hendrix currently leads the Western Division behind a six game winning streak however all four spots are open and everyone in the west is still in position to make it to Jackson, setting up for an exciting final two weekends of regular season play.
- AROUND THE SCAC -
Austin College fell in a hole
early and couldn’t overcome a 19 point halftime gap in an
81-63 loss to Colorado College in the team’s lone game of the
week. The ‘Roos shot just 28% from the field in the first
half while the Tigers knocked down 7-of-13 three pointers to head
into the locker room leading Austin College by a score of 40-21. In
the second half the ‘Roos finally started to get some offense
going, knocking down four threes and hitting 12-of-15 free throws
as they poured in 42 second half points but it would not be enough
to overcome Colorado College, which finished the game hitting
11-of-23 three pointers and putting three players in double figures
in the scoring column. Kersti Marusich was the lone Austin College
player to reach double digits, scoring 15 points and grabbing six
rebounds. Angeleena Young came off the bench to knock down 2-of-4
three pointers to finish with nine points and Brooke Melton added
eight points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
Birmingham-Southern split this weekend, defeating Sewanee
on Friday, 60-58, but falling to Oglethorpe on Sunday, 69-67.
Sophomore Alex Adams had an impressive game against Sewanee,
scoring 18 points and pulling down 17 rebounds, while senior
Katelyn Wilson led the team against Oglethorpe with 15 points.
Wilson and Adams now lead the team in scoring with 9.8 points per
game apiece, Adams leads with 7.4 rebounds per game, and junior
Kristian Moody leads with 2.8 assists per game. The Panthers are
back in action on Saturday, taking on Rhodes in
Memphis.
Centre fell 67-54 to visiting DePauw in an SCAC contest
Saturday afternoon. It was the second time this season, the
Colonels have dropped a game to the Tigers. Sophomore forward
Chelsea Benham and junior Maggie Prewitt finished in double figures
for the Colonels with 18 and 16 points respectively. It was the
first time in eight games this season Centre has finished a game
shooting 40.0% or better and lost, and the first time in 13 games,
the Colonels have held an opponent to under 40.0% shooting and
lost. Centre will look to rebound with home games this week against
Sewanee and Oglethorpe.
Colorado College took an important step
toward returning to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
tournament with an 81-63 victory over Austin College on Saturday.
Every one of Tigers’ 11 available players scored at least two
points and played 12 or more minutes as CC matched its largest
margin of victory this season. Kalli Kemling paced the Tigers with
13 points. Marissa Gradoz had 11 and eight rebounds, while Gracie
Rennecker connected for a career-high eight points. Becky Luetjen,
who was honored before the game for becoming the 10th player in
program history to record 1,000 points, narrowly missed recording
her sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and nine
rebounds. She also dished out six assists. Kemling made three of
five shots from behind the arc to help CC record a season-high 11
three-points baskets. The Tigers made three of their first
long-range shots to grab an early 13-4 lead. After the ’Roos
pulled to within three points with 13:26 remaining in the first
half, CC went on a 27-11 run to build a 19-point lead after 20
minutes. Colorado College took its biggest lead at 61-30 when Jenny
Knapp drained a shot from behind the arc 6:47 into the second half.
The Tigers play their final road games of the regular season when
they travel to Trinity and Southwestern on Friday and Sunday,
respectively.
#15 DePauw held a 46-22 advantage on the boards leading to
a 26-0 margin in second-chance points and a 67-54 win at Centre.
Centre held a 21-20 lead with just over five minutes left in the
first half, but DePauw used a 12-2 run capped by Ali Ross'
three-pointer with 1:01 left to take a 32-23 lead. The Tigers went
to the break with a 32-26 lead. The Colonels regained the lead
early in the second half, but DePauw led by as many as six midway
through half at 49-43. Centre still trailed by five at 53-48 with
6:00 remaining before the Tigers pushed the lead to 12 with a 9-2
stretch over the next 4:43. DePauw's Ellie Pearson paced all
scorers with a career-high 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds
including eight on the offensive glass, while Katie Aldrich and
Lauren Goff each scored 12. Katie Mathews followed with 11 points
and 10 boards and Kate Walker dished out five assists. DePauw shot
just 38.7 percent from the field to Centre's 45.8 percent, but the
Tigers snagged 21 offensive rebounds to the Colonels' four.
Hendrix extended its win streak to six games
and took a 2.0 game lead in the West Division after wins over
Southwestern University and Trinity University this weekend.
Hendrix drained seven 3-pointers in the first half to overcome an
early six-point deficit and the Warriors got key performances from
the bench to earn a 75-59 win over Southwestern. Hendrix
struggled to break an early full-court press. The Warriors
settled down and started finding their stroke from distance with
five 3-pointers in a seven minute span, giving Hendrix a 20-13 lead
with 10:16 left in the first half. Hendrix finished the
opening half with a 20-7 run to take a 45-27 lead into the locker
room. Hendrix dominated the glass by outrebounding
Southwestern, 51-27. The Warriors’ bench outscored the
Pirates, 37-10, and Hendrix owned a 13-8 advantage in second-chance
points. Southwestern won the war down low with a 30-24 lead in the
paint. Hendrix senior Christina Byler became the
program’s all-time leading rebounder and scored 19 points,
while junior Anna Roane poured in 16 points to lead the Warriors to
a 72-69 win on Saturday. Byler pulled down her 710th career
rebound with 3:53 remaining in the second half to pass Jamie Ball
(‘05) on the Warriors’ all-time list. She finished the
first 20 minutes with four rebounds and pulled down back-to-back
offensive boards on the same possession to take the record.
Byler also ranks third on the Hendrix list and eighth on the SCAC
list with 1,608 career points.
Millsaps split their final home SCAC series of the season
this weekend. The Majors got their first season sweep of Trinity
since the 95-96 season on Friday winning 79-69 over the Tigers.They
had to turn around and play Southwestern the next night and
suffered a let-down, falling 65-70. The Pirates led the entire game
and pushed their lead out to as high as 15 early in the second
half, but Millsaps continued to battle. They chiseled away at the
lead from that point. Southwestern's last field goal came with 3:58
remaining in the game, a layup that put them ahead six, 65-59. Two
layups from Janice Okeke and one from Shante Morton pulled Millsaps
to within one, 65-66 with 30 seconds on the clock, but the Pirates
hit their free throws to seal the win. The Majors will return home
for one more regular season game in the Hangar Dome this Tuesday
night as they host Covenant College at 5:00 p.m. before they head
up to Hendrix on Saturday.
Oglethorpe split their final two home contests of the
season this past weekend, falling to Rhodes on Friday (L, 59-53)
and topping Birmingham on Sunday (69-67). Against Rhodes, the
Petrels led the Lynx by one at the half and by six with 14:05
remaining but a 6-0 Rhodes run with less than 10 to play pushed the
Lynx to the win. Both teams made 11 field goals in a first half
that saw the Petrels take a 26-25 lead into the locker room.
Oglethorpe pushed the lead up six on two occasions in the second
half but, with 10:38 to play and the score tied, conference
player-of-the-year candidate Sharwil Bell went on a personal 6-0
run to give the Lynx some separation. Bell would push the Rhodes
lead to 7 on a pair of free throws with 5:58 to play but Oglethorpe
would battle back to cut the lead to 3. Morgan Loughrey had a look
from three to tie the game with 1:00 left but the shot was wide and
the Lynx closed the game out with Bell scoring at the free throw
line. The Lynx outrebounded Oglethorpe 44-40, held a 30-22
advantage in the paint and a 16-5 advantage in fast break points to
earn the win. Sarah Giles led Oglethorpe with 12 points and 9
rebounds. Katie Weeks added 11 points and 5 rebounds while Kelley
Reeves was 3 of 8 from three for 9 points. Loughrey dished a
team-high 5 assists for Oglethorpe in the loss. Against Birmingham,
The Petrels erased a 10 point second half deficit and got the
go-ahead hoop from Katie Weeks with 6 seconds remaining to snap a
six game losing streak. The first half was a back-and-forth affair
that saw Birmingham-Southern take a narrow 36-35 lead into the
locker room. The Panthers opened the second stanza on a 12-3 run to
open up a 10 point lead and it looked like Birmingham was on their
way to victory. The Petrels, however, would battle back. From the
ten minute mark of the second half until the 2:26 mark, Oglethorpe
cut the Panther lead down to four on four separate occasions. The
Petrels finally got the stop they desperately needed with less than
two minutes left and Sarah Giles scored a layup, got fouled and
converted her free throw to make the score 65-64 Birmingham with
1:46 to play. The Panthers scored with 1:20 left to go up three but
Sarah Jones hit a cold-blooded, game-tying three with 56 seconds on
the clock to tie the score at 67. After another huge defensive
stop, Katie Weeks penetrated to the basket to score the game-winner
off the glass with only 5.9 ticks showing. Birmingham was able to
get off a good look to tie the game at the buzzer but the shot was
off the mark. Giles led Oglethorpe with 17 points and 10 rebounds
to go along with 5 blocks. Kelley Reeves was 5 of 7 from the field
for 12 points and Morgan Loughrey netted 11 points on Senior Day.
Chelsea MacDonald also celebrated Senior Day with 8 points and 4
rebounds. The win moves the Petrels record to 5-16 on the season.
Oglethorpe will face DePauw this Friday in Greencastle,
Indiana.
Senior guard Lakeya McGill hit two free throws with 2.1 seconds
remaining, to lift Rhodes to a 64-63 win at
Sewanee on February 6th. McGill led all scorers with 18
points and connected on 6 of 7 free throw attempts for the
game. Sewanee grabbed the lead on a three point field
goal with seven seconds to play and McGill took the inbound pass
and went coast to coast before drawing a foul on a drive to the
basket. "Lakeya made a great play and hit two clutch free throws to
lift our team," said Lynx Head Coach Matt Dean. Freshman center Amy
Handelman grabbed a team high 16 rebounds and recorded a double
double scoring 14 points. Sophomore guard Jaime Maxey also recorded
her first career double double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11
rebounds. Junior forward Sharwil Bell added 10 points and 9
rebounds. The Lynx won their third consecutive game and
improved to 8-13 overall and 5-8 in the SCAC. Junior forward
Sharwil Bell continues to lead the SCAC in scoring at 19.5 ppg.
Bell has recorded a league high 9 double doubles. She is also 3rd
in the SCAC in rebounding (9.0 rpg) and 1st in steals (2.7 spg).
With the two road wins the Lynx vaulted to 3rd in the SCAC East,
and hold a one game advantage over Oglethorpe with three games to
play.
Sewanee battled through three hard-fought games this week,
but stumbled in three tight games. On Tuesday, the Tigers traveled
to Covenant College for a non-conference clash with the Scots.
Covenant led at halftime, 26-21, and for most of the game. The
Tigers managed to tie things up in the second half, but
couldn’t hold on and the Scots walked away with a 52-46 win.
Dana Middleton led the Tigers with 13 points and seven steals. On
Friday, Sewanee found itself in an even tighter contest, rallying
from an early double-digit deficit to tie the game in the final
moments. But Birmginham-Southern’s Katelyn Wilson hit a
baseline jumper with just 0.8 seconds remaining to give the
Panthers a 60-58 win. Middleton led the Tigers again, this time
scoring 18 points while dishing out three assists and grabbing five
rebounds. Sunday brought another close game, as the Tigers dropped
an SCAC battle to rival Rhodes in the final seconds. Middleton hit
a 3-pointer with just 11 seconds remaining to give Sewanee a
one-point lead as time ran down, but the Lynx were fouled with just
two seconds left and sent to the line. LaKeya McGill’s first
free throw tied the game at 63-63, and her second gave Rhodes a
64-63 win. Middleton led Sewanee with 16 points, while Dani Kabbes
grabbed 18 rebounds. The Tigers are back in action on Tuesday when
they head to Oakwood College for a non-conference contest before
heading to Centre and DePauw for a pair of SCAC contests this
weekend.
As the season winds down the West remains tight making every
game count for Southwestern. The Pirates split
action this week, falling at Hendrix and winning at Millsaps to
move to 14-8 on the year and 6-7 in the SCAC, tied for fourth in
the West. Friday night SU was out-rebounded 51-27 in a 75-59 loss
to Hendrix. On Saturday Southwestern jumped out to an early lead
and used two 11-0 runs to mount a 15 point lead in the first half.
Millsaps hung close and pulled within one but Chelsea Leeder went
4-4 from the free throw line in the final minute of the game to
secure the 70-65 win. The Pirates have two big games this weekend,
facing Austin College on Friday night before hosting Colorado
College on Sunday for Senior Day.
Trinity lost to both Millsaps and Hendrix this weekend,
finishing off its regular season road schedule. The Tigers were
swept by Millsaps this season, after falling 69-79 on Friday night.
The loss also snapped a four-game road win streak by the Tigers. On
Saturday, Hendrix was able to earn a season series split with
Trinity, holding on for a 72-69 victory. The losses put Trinity in
a tie for fourth place in the SCAC West Division with Southwestern,
but just a half-game behind Colorado College in third place.
Trinity will host Colorado College and Austin College this weekend,
followed by the final regular season SCAC game at home against
Southwestern next weekend. Earlier this season, the Tigers were
swept by Colorado and Austin on the road.
To view the entire SCAC Hoops Weekly for week eleven, click here.
