SUWANEE, Ga. - Conference play opened up this past weekend in the SCAC as the home teams held serve and posted an 8-2 mark against visiting opponents. Southwestern remained the lone undefeated team in the league after picking up a win against in state rival Trinity.

- AROUND THE SCAC -

Austin College dropped two of three games this past week, splitting a pair of conference road tilts over the weekend. Monday Austin College fell 70-58 against Texas A&M International despite 10 points from Spenser Cruikshank. Over the weekend the ‘Roos fell at Millsaps Friday night before bouncing back to pick up a 58-52 road win over Hendrix. Austin College was led over the weekend by Kersti Marusich who averaged 16 points and 2.5 assists per game while knocking down 8-13 from long distance.

Birmingham-Southern split a pair of conference games on the road this past weekend falling to #8 DePauw Friday night 68-39 despite 11 points from Katelyn Wilson. The Panthers bounced back Sunday to defeat Centre as Sam Davidson led BSC with 19 points and Alex Adams chipped in with nine rebounds. Birmingham-Southern will return to action this Sunday as the Panthers take on Berry.

Centre split a pair of SCAC games to open conference play defeating Rhodes 65-49 Friday night and then falling 70-57 to Birmingham Southern Sunday afternoon. The win over Rhodes was the third straight conference-opening win for the Colonels and the seventh straight win over the Lynx. Centre held Rhodes to only 25.0% shooting (17-68), including only 18.8% (6-32) from beyond the three-point arc. The Colonels struggled from the field against the Panthers making only 19 of 59 shots (32.2%), while Birmingham Southern hit 42.3% (22-52), including 47.6% (10-21) from the three-point line. The Colonels will play three more games prior to the Christmas holiday. Centre will play Spalding on the road December 14 and then take part in the Transylvania Classic, playing Baldwin Wallace and Muskingum.

Kalli Kemling celebrated her first start of the season by scoring a career-high 22 points, but Colorado College dropped a 61-54 decision at Hendrix College in its conference opener on Friday night. Kemling made all four of her three-point attempts and seven of nine shots from the floor. After Becky Luetjen gave the Tigers a 51-50 lead with 3:35 to go, CC committed eight fouls and turned the ball over five times, managing only two shots from the floor and three points the rest of the game. The Tigers took a 45-43 lead when Sydney Leichliter knocked down a short jump shot with 10:14 to play, but had six turnovers, four fouls and only three missed shots before Luetjen scored with five minutes left in the game. Despite fouling out, Luetjen finished with 12 points and three assists. Sunday seemed like Groundhog Day for Colorado College. The Tigers committed 21 turnovers and shot just 29-percent from the field while dropping a 56-43 decision at Millsaps College. It marked the second game in a row and the fifth time this season CC committed more than 20 turnovers, and the third time it shot less than 30-percent from the floor. The Tigers trailed by only two points after Jenny Knapp scored 4:58 into the second half, but CC missed nine of its next 11 shots and turned the ball over six times as the Majors used a 24-6 run to build a 20-point lead with 4:33 remaining in the game. Luetjen led CC with 14 points, while Leichliter grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds. Colorado College returns to action against Johnson & Wales University on Wednesday night.

DePauw, ranked 8th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll and 11th by D3hoops.com, improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in SCAC plan after a 68-39 win over Birmingham-Southern and a 68-37 victory against Rhodes. The wins also extended the Tigers' streak to 56 straight SCAC home wins which dates back to January, 2003. In the win over Birmingham-Southern, DePauw held a 9-point lead with 12:25 remaining, but a 12-2 run pushed that to a 19-point advantage. DePauw's defense limited the Panthers to just three points over the game's final eight minutes. Katie Aldrich led all scorers with 14 points, while Lauren Goff and Katie Mathews added 12 each. Ellie Pearson grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. As a team, DePauw shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half. In the sin over Rhodes, DePauw put together a 13-2 first-half run on the way to a 36-20 halftime advantage. Midway through the second half the Tigers led 47-30 and pulled away with a 10-2 stretch. Walker matched a career high with 15 points, while Goff added 10. Pearson hauled down a game-high 11 rebounds in the win and Mathews dished out four assists.In the two games, DePauw shot 44.7 percent from the field and held its two opponents to just 28.3 percent and 38.0 points per game.

Hendrix improved to 4-4 on the season and 1-1 in conference play after a 2-1 week.  The Warriors completed their season-sweep of Rust College on Tuesday afternoon before opening league play with a win over Colorado College on Friday night and then suffering a loss to Austin College on Sunday afternoon. Hendrix picked up its second win in as many games against Rust after a 52-40 decision on Tuesday. The Warriors used a late surge in the second half to overcome the Bearcats. Rust opened the game on top and held a lead for the first 18 minutes until Hendrix sprung for a 10-0 run in the last five minutes of the half, eventually taking a 26-21 advantage into the break.  Senior Wyvonne Hawkins ignited the spree with a jumper and first year Jamie Tate capped it off with a last-second layup. Tate then recorded a 12 point, 15 rebound double-double to lead the Warriors to a 61-54 victory over Colorado in their SCAC opener. Hendrix found a way to win despite shooting just 32.7 percent from the field, compared to Colorado’s 38.0 percentage. The difference came down low as the Warriors outscored the Tigers 26-20 in the paint and earned a 37-31 advantage on the boards. Hendrix survived 10 ties and 16 lead changes, earning the final advantage on a jumper from Tate with 3:05 left in regulation. Hawkins turned the momentum in the Warriors’ favor two minutes later with a 3-point play the hard way, putting Hendrix on top 55-51 with 1:11 to go. The match was close the entire way as neither team managed to stretch its lead past five points until Hendrix led by six (57-51) in the final minute. Austin drained 10 shots from behind the arc in the first half to jump out to a 38-19 lead at intermission on Sunday. The Roos would need every bit of that advantage as the Warriors surged late in the second half but came up short in the 58-52 decision at Grove Gymnasium. Austin knocked down eight 3-pointers inside the first 10 minutes to earn a 24-10 lead with 9:52 remaining before halftime. Junior Kersti Marusich made four long balls in the opening half, including back-to-back-to-back attempts inside the Roos game-changing run. The Roos carried their momentum into the second half and eventually led by a game-high 24 points (50-26) with 10:31 left in regulation. Hendrix responded to the deficit by fighting back with a 25-2 run over the next eight minutes, making it a 52-51 affair with 2:14 to go. Both teams traded possessions without scoring a basket until Austin knocked down a jumper with 49 ticks left on the clock. Senior Christina Byler made it to the charity stripe on the Warriors next possession and went 1-of-2 to bring it back to a two-point ball game. However, Hendrix was forced to foul to stop to clock and Austin made good on its chances from the line, going 4-of-4 in the last 24 seconds.

Millsaps bested their conference win total from all of last season this week with a pair of wins over Austin and Colorado College to start the SCAC portion of their schedule. They came home after suffering a 2-point loss  on the road at Rust, 63-61 to top Austin 62-39 on Friday and Colorado College 56-43 on Sunday. The Majors jumped out to 5-0 lead thanks to a Janice Okeke layup and a Shatoya White three pointer. The Roos came back and tied the game 5-5. At 16:16, but from there Millsaps went on a 8-0 run and never relinquished the lead, leading by as many as 13 points in the half. The Roo's tried to make a late comeback in the first half cutting the Majors lead to 30-22 as the half expired. Shante Morton sparked a 10-0 run to open the half giving the Majors a 40-22 with 15:28 remaining as Kristen Salmon completed the old fashioned three point play with a layup and a free throw combination. They would extend the lead as high as 23 as the final minute ticked away thanks to a couple of game ending free throws from Sarah Spann to set the final score at 62-39 Majors. The Majors led from the tip, capitalizing on Colorado’s 21 turnovers on the day. As a result the Tigers were never able to string together a sustained run as the Majors cruised to the 56-43 victory. The Majors will look to extend their current winning streak to three as they take on Rust College Monday, December 13, at 5:00 pm in the Hangar Dome.

Oglethorpe picked up a pair of victories this past week with wins over cross town rival Agnes Scott and SCAC opponent Sewanee. The Petrels were paced by Sarah Giles who continued her excellent sophomore campaign averaging 22 points and 12 rebound in the two wins including a lights out 12-16 shooting performance against Sewanee. The Petrels will take the week off as students prepare for exams returning to the hardwood December 17th at home against Berry.

Rhodes dropped a 68-37 SCAC women's basketball game to the nationally ranked DePauw Tigers, on December 5th in Greencastle, IN.  The Tigers who were recently voted the 8th best team in Division III basketball by USA Today, jumped out to a 21-11 lead in the first half before Rhodes made a run. Sophomore Jaime Maxey hit a three point field goal with 7:21 to play in the first half to cut the DePauw lead to 21-16. However, the Tigers responded after a timeout with a 15-4 run over the last six minutes of the first half to take a 36-20 lead at intermission. "Our kids battled and just ran out of gas," said Lynx Head Coach Matt Dean. "We had too many turnovers in the second half that led to easy DePauw offense." For the game Rhodes committed 25 turnovers. LaKeya McGill and Amy Handelman led the Lynx with 8 points each.  Rhodes falls to 1-6 overall and returns to action on December 7th at Rust College. The Lynx 1-6 start is their worst start in Matt Dean’s tenure as head coach.  After their December 7th game in Holly Springs, MS, Rhodes will be home for 11 of their final 16 games, including 9 of 14 SCAC games.

Sewanee opened its SCAC schedule on Saturday with a 79-54 loss to the Stormy Petrels of Oglethorpe University. Oglethorpe jumped out quickly and led by as many as 16 in the first half, but Sewanee used an 11-0 run to help cut the differential to just four at the half. But the Stormy Petrels came out of halftime with a 16-8 run to extend their lead back to 14 and the Tigers were never able to recover, eventually falling 79-54. Dani Kabbes led the Tigers with 18 points and six rebounds on 6 of 16 shooting. Claire Elliott added 10 for visiting Sewanee, while Alex Ginsburg pitched in eight. The Tigers are now 1-5 on the season and 0-1 in SCAC play. They will head to Judson College on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. clash with the Eagles.

Southwestern remains unbeaten after wins over rival Trinity on Friday night,  65-43, and the University of Dallas, 64-49, on Sunday. Defense has been the key for the Pirates as they held Trinity to just 25.9% from the floor and 6.3% from long range and UD to 27.9% from the field and 8.3% from beyond the arc. Southwestern kept the Tigers at an arm's length on Friday, never allowing them closer than 10 points in the second half. Sunday was a little different story as the Pirates were unable to put the Crusaders away until late in the game. Southwestern led most of the contest but UD was able to steal the lead twice in the second period until SU made a 13-0 in four minutes late in the second half. Chelsea Leeder led the push with 10 points, one assist, one steal and two rebounds in the stretch. With the wins Southwestern moves to 6-0 on the season and 1-0 in the SCAC. They head north to Belton on Saturday to face a touch Mary Hardin-Baylor squad at 3:00 pm before hosting Schreiner on Sunday at 1:00.

Trinity lost both of its games over the past week, falling to Pacific Lutheran on Monday night, then losing the SCAC opener at Southwestern on Friday.  The Tigers had previously won 11 consecutive conference openers, dating back to the 1998-99 season. Trinity’s 1-5 start to the season is the worst since the 1993-94 Tigers opened with a 1-9 record.  The team’s current five-game losing streak is the worst since that 1993-94 season in which Trinity lost six straight times. The Tigers will travel to the University of Dallas on Tuesday evening for its only game this week, and will then be off until December 28-29, when Trinity will make its home debut against East Texas Baptist and Hardin-Simmons as part of the Trinity Christmas Classic.

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