WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[pbrooks3]

Centre Ladies have arrived in NE Ohio as they prepare to play Carthage tomorrow night at Mt. Union.  Mt. Union will host Illinois Wesleyan in the nightcap.  Should be two competitive games.  No one has doubted either Mt. Union or IWU going into this tournament.  Having both Carthage and Centre in the round of 16 is probably considered something of a surprise among regular D3 followers.  Carthage taking down DePauw in Greencastle was impressive especially when you consider DePaul had 22 more rebounds and 20 more shots.  Only problem was DPU could not find the basket on most of their 60 shots.  Centre was also impressive in taking down a storied Wash U team that had finished no worse than 2nd in the D3 tournament ranks the past 3 seasons!  I am expecting a tight battle between Carthage and Centre; think these two are pretty well matched.  If Centre is to prevail this will need a better start away from home.  They'll need their share of free throws as well.  No one can doubt the tenacity of the Lady Reds - look for them to get after it Friday night.  The 2nd game should be equally competitive. 

[pbrooks3]

Was not the best shooting night for Centre as they drop a 71-61 game to a hard-driving well-coached Carthage team. Unlike last weekend Centre actually got off to a decent start offensively by jumping to an early lead. The lead shifted back & forth between the 2 teams most of the 1st half.  Carthage got a small run going with about 3 minutes before halftime & took a 34-29 lead into the break. The Lady Reds' offensive execution was solid and got better in the last 20 minutes where they shot the ball at a 60%+ clip. Their bigs were excellent at grabbing tough passes and creating enough space for short clean looks that they finished nicely. Centre started the 2nd half poorly with no rhythm to its game on the offensive side. Carthage stretched the lead to 10-12 points quickly at that point. Centre struggled to find decent shots and Carthage defended well giving the Colonels 1 look on most possessions. Carthage continued to stretch the margin to 20 in the last 5-6 minutes and it looked like it would be ugly to the finish line for Centre. Credit the Colonels as their senior guard - Maggie Prewitt - led them on a late run to make things interesting by cutting the lead in half in about 120 seconds! Prewitt dropped in 3 bombs and a total of 16 in the last 3-4 minutes to make it a game. Unfortunate for Centre, they did not get things going until it was in the late stages. Carthage is a tremendously efficient team that played superior defense tonight. They showed this evening why they are the #1 shooting D3 team; their players just need a little space to get off successful shots. Centre leaves the tournament stage now having exceeded expectations by going 26-4 and reaching the sweet 16.  Congratulations to Centre for their grit and determination this year. The 8 seniors for the Colonels go out with nothing to hang their heads about. Also congrats to Carthage on a tremendous tournament run as they prepare for match #4 against Illinois Wesleyan who pulled out a buzzer-beating win 70-69 over host Mt Union a few moments ago.

[Ron Boerger]

Pbrooks, I have always appreciated your insight and commentary - it will be missed as you and your school head to the SAA.  Thank you for all that you have done to support SCAC basketball!

[pbrooks3]

Pbrooks, I have always appreciated your insight and commentary - it will be missed as you and your school head to the SAA.  Thank you for all that you have done to support SCAC basketball!

Ron, when the Trinity Men beat Centre in the SCAC final this year, I was saddened to see this chapter of the SCAC close myself.  Hope there will be regular future encounters from time to time between the combatants of both leagues.  Good luck to the new SCAC.

[pbrooks3]

Additional kudos to Centre on their fantastic season.  Coach Wendie Austin-Robinson pulls down regional coach of the year award.  Maggie Prewitt makes 1st team All-American honors. 

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity announces that Amie Bradley has resigned as women's basketball coach:

http://trinitytigers.com/sports/wbkb/2011-12/releases/04-09-12_bradley_resign

Interestingly, former coach Becky Geyer, who led the school to its greatest success and the national championship in 2003, is back in San Antonio and no longer coaching; she's athletic director for TMI, a private Episcopal school in San Antonio after stints as coach and assistant at the D1 level.   You'd think she might get a phone call ...

[Ron Boerger]

One day later UTexas announces that Amie Bradley has been hired as a 'special assistant' to help with recruiting for the women's team there:

http://www.texassports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/041012aaa.html

She gets to return to UT where she starred, has fewer responsibilities, and probably makes more than she did at Trinity.  No brainer!

[Ron Boerger]

Cameron Hill, former men's basketball player (TU class of 1999) named as head women's basketball coach:  http://bit.ly/INcS6t

[SUfan]

SU Pirates opened up the new season strong at home despite injuries that kept 3 of the top 8 players, including lone senior Katelyn Bartel, on the sidelines. The Pirates put up 167 points on the weekend while shooting 38% from the floor and 19% from behind the arc. Physically they look to be in mid-season form and their new high tempo offense is creating a lot of scoring opportunities...and trips to the charity stripe. Should be an exciting season.

[SUfan]

Southwestern split this weekend in a matchup against future conference opponent Shriner and ASC member Hardin Simmons. The Pirates led by double digits late in the game against Shriner and weathered a scoring drought to win by 3. Hardin Simmons proved more of a challenge. The Pirates led by as much as 9 early and were ahead by 5 at the break. They pushed the lead to 7 early in the second half but the majority of last 15 minutes were back and forth, neither team leading by more than 4. The final 6 minutes saw a total of 5 points scored between the two teams. Despite an incredible defensive stand by the Pirates that led to 5 HSU turnovers in the final minutes, SU was 1 for 7 shooting and 0-2 from the charity stripe down the stretch. HSU went 1 for 4 from the floor and 1 for 2 from the FT line in the final minutes, hitting a jumper with 7 seconds left that proved to be the game winner.

SU opens conference play this weekend at Austin and Centenary.

[SUfan]

On a side note, Chelsea Leeder has broken the SU career 3pt FG record of 134!  She did so in the 3rd game of the season on the road in a 2 point loss to Mary Hardin Baylor. The old record was held by Priyanka Kainthla ('03-'07), a player Coach Brinkoeter recruited in her first stint as the SU Head Coach.

[SUfan]

First night of conference play came with wins for both Southwestern and Trinity on the road at Austin and Centenary respectively.  Chelsea Leeder came out of her 3pt shooting slump for the Pirates to nail 7 of 14 from behind the arc and put up 29 of the Pirates 66 points.  Coach Brinkoeter would say after the game, "it looked like Austin's game plan was to crowd the lane and let our guards shoot the ball."  And shoot they did, hitting 14 of 34 from 3pt land.  The Pirates scored just 8 points in the paint to Austin's 14.  SU trailed for the first 7:15 of the first half until Leeder hit her first 3 of the game.  After 7 more minutes of back and forth play, Leeder took over scoring 14 of the team's 18 pts to close the half up 15 (33-18). 

Annie Bourne scored a layup to open the second half and push the lead to 17.  The lead grew to 20 before Austin mounted a comeback on the backs of the officials, outscoring the Pirates in the final 12 minutes 22-16.  Austin cut the lead to 9 with 1:48 left in the game, but that was as close as they would get.

Austin's Brooke Melton put up a solid double-double with 18 points to go along with 15 rebounds.  The always dangerous Shayna Clardy added 11pts on 3-4 3pt shooting.

The Pirates are back in action tomorrow night in Shreveport against new SCAC member Centenary. 

[SUfan]

Both Southwestern and Trinity won on the second night of conference play.  Southwestern's Jordan Owens broke the SU single game scoring record that she tied earlier in the year.  She put up 34 against Centenary as the Pirates scored 95 against the Ladies without Chelsea Leeder.  Leeder left the game after some so-so play complaining of nausea and dizziness.  She was diagnosed with a concussion from a bump on the head earlier in the day in transit to the game. 

Trinity narrowly escaped a late rally by Austin College, winning by 6.  Both teams are now 2-0 in conference.

The Pirates have 14 days until their next game against ASC opponent Concordia.

[dahlby]

Trinity travels to Orange CA (part of their SOCAL SCIAC trip) to take on the Chapman Panthers on Wednesday
afternoon at 1 PM. You can catch all the action at "chapman athletics.com".

[dahlby]

Chapman Ladies over Trinity this afternoon in a tightly fought contest 73-68.
Write up and box score at "chapmanathletics.com".