WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity got two road wins to open SCAC play. an easy 91-49 effort over Colorado College, but had to go to OT to defeat a much improved Centenary, 81-76.    Back home this weekend for a pair against TLU and Southwestern.

Centenary might make an interesting story for ATR or Hoopsville.   After two consecutive winless seasons (and a 6-19 showing the year before that), the Ladies promoted Justin LeBlanc from an assistant role for the men's team as women's head coach.    The results so far are encouraging, as Centenary stands 6-8 and recorded their first-ever SCAC win in two-plus years, 76-56 against Colorado the week before last, and the Ladies had their chances to upset Trinity in regulation with a missed layup/three at the end of the fourth quarter, either of which could have won the game. 

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity falls to Texas Lutheran 65-55 in a game where they struggled badly from the field (27.7% on 18-of-65, 7-of-26 from beyond the arc).   Stalwart Anecia Richardson was a DNP; combined with only a handful of minutes the prior game against Centenary I fear she has suffered an injury of some sort.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Ron - she's out for the season; torn ACL. Career is over.

They recovered very nicely against Southwestern. I think Trinity will be just as dangerous moving forward.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

For the third consecutive year, Hoopsville will air for 12 hours as the regular season enters the final four weeks. Dave McHugh will chat with coaches, administrators, student-athletes, and others involved in Division III basketball from around the country. Other guests will include those who have Division III roots or appreciate the division and the game along with the student-athletes who play the sport.

Hoopsville will air from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (and maybe later) on Thursday, February 4 live from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can see what guests are scheduled, get more information, and watch the show here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/feb4

You can also read the press release about the show: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/hoopsville-marathon-2016

Here is the guest list as we speak. All times are Eastern and subject to change. Additional guests to be added if and when necessary:


   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Time	Guest	School
10:15am	Connie Tilley	St. Norbert (WBB) - WBCA Center Court
10:40am	Jamie Purdy	Peidmont (WBB)
11:00am	Keri Carollo	UW-Whitewater (WBB) - Nat'l Committee Chair
11:20am	Brent Pollari	Saint Mary's (Minn.) (WBB)
11:40am	Kent Madsen	No. 21 Wheaton (Ill.) (WBB)
12:00pm	Russell Loyd	Rose-Hulman (MBB)
12:20pm	Kevin Broderick	Nazareth (MBB)
12:40pm	Justin Scott	Arcadia (MBB)
1:00pm	Sam Hargraves	No. 12 Alma (MBB)
1:20pm	Lenny Reich	Mount Union (SID)
1:40pm	Maureen Webster	Clarkson (WBB)
2:00pm	Betsy Witman	York (Pa.) (WBB)
2:20pm	Sara Lee	Denison (WBB)
2:40pm	Klay Kneuppel	Wisconsin Lutheran (MBB)
3:00pm	Brian Van Haaften	Buena Vista (MBB) - Nat'l Committee Chair
3:30pm	Sydney Moss	No. 1 Thomas More (WBB)
3:45pm	Aaron Rousell	Bucknell (WBB) - former Chicago coach
4:00pm	Tim Shanahan	Staten Island (WBB)
4:20	Pat Cunningham	Trinity (Texas) (MBB) - NABC Coach's Corner
4:50pm	Bubba Smith	Sewanee (MBB)
5:15pm	Ben Strong	Former Guilford All-American
5:30pm	Kevin Connors	ESPN SportsCenter Anchor - Ithaca alumnus
6:00pm	Kristen Dowling	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (WBB)
6:20pm	Allison Coleman	Sage (WBB)
6:40pm	Landry Kosmalski	Swarthmore (MBB)
7:00pm	Dave Niland	No. 23 Penn State-Behrend (MBB)
7:20pm	Aaron Galletta	Lasell (MBB)
7:40pm	John Baron	Gwynedd-Mercy (MBB)
8:00pm
8:20pm
8:40pm	Melissa Hodgdon	Wheaton (Mass.) (WBB)
9:00pm	G.P. Gromacki	No. 2 Amherst (WBB)
9:20pm	James Wagner
9:40pm	HAPPY HOUR	Free-for-all of calls, tweets, and fun!

We hope to get at least the full show on a podcast, or several podcast, during the on Friday. You can find it here:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

And a reminder the Hoopsville Fundraising Project has begun yet again. Please consider helping us cover Division III basketball the way it deserves to be covered. If you can not donate, please don't worry about - we understand. At least share the campaign with anyone you think might be interested: http://igg.me/at/hoopsville-fundraiser/x/6029509

Also, if you know any advertisers interested in promoting their company or products on the show, send them our way: hoopsville@d3hoops.com

Thanks!

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity wins a tight one at Texas Lutheran to reclaim the SCAC lead, and after jumping out to a YUGE lead in the second half at Southwestern (24 midway through the third) saw all but six points vanish before hitting enough FTs late to win by nine.     They hold Colorado College and Centenary this weekend, and finish up at Schreiner the following Saturday.     Centenary took them to OT the first time around, and Schreiner only lost by two, so the coaching staff should have plenty to work on in the upcoming week.

[jekelish]

It's going to be an interesting tournament. From an Austin College standpoint, I'm never exactly sure what to expect. The 'Roos are still the only team to beat UT-Tyler this year and have also beaten Trinity on the road, but (and this isn't taking away from Schreiner, who is clearly, deservedly in the top half of the SCAC) is 0-2 against Schreiner this season. Sports are a funny thing.

[Ron Boerger]

I think the tourney is wide open this year.   Schreiner, AC, TLU, and TU ... tourney's at Centenary this season so no home court advantage for any of the contenders.

[Pat Coleman]

Alright, folks -- the NCAA's first women's basketball regional rankings are posted. Check out the full list from D3hoops.com:
http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2016/02/10/first-2016-regional-rankings-released-today/

[Ron Boerger]

Nice touch in yesterday's Senior Day game at Trinity as Anecia Richardson and Natalie DeWitt, both of whom had been injured earlier this season, were suited out, introduced in the starting lineup, and went out for the tip.   Centenary won the tip and immediately took a timeout to allow the two injured players (who can walk just fine, but not play ball) to be subbed out.    Thanks to the Centenary coaching staff for helping us honor these two who will be sorely missed in the postseason.

Without two of their normal starters, Trinity was in a battle early as the normally tepid three-point Ladies (26% on the season) hit half their threes led by Savannah Doty (4-6).   Fortunately for Trinity, Mollie Hughes (18 pts, 6 rebounds) kept the Tigers in the game before fouling out in 22 minutes.  Trinity went on a run in the third and led by double digits the rest of the way.   The 82-70 final gap could have been wider had Trinity been able to hit more than 5 of their 16 free throws (!!).

Trinity has to win at Schreiner on Saturday to clinch the regular season championship.    A loss would likely drop them into a tie with Austin (at home vs Dallas) with whom they split the regular season games, so it would be on to the next tiebreaker, whatever that might be.  If it's net points in the two games, Trinity outscored Austin by 1.

#3 and #4 seeds are up in the air with both TLU and Schriner currently having identical 9-4 records.  Southwestern is locked in at #5; the final spot goes to Dallas if they pull off the upset, otherwise it's a three way tie between Dallas, Colorado, and Centenary.

[jekelish]

Ron - FYI, Centenary is guaranteed a spot. The host school has an automatic spot in the SCAC tournament.

With regard to the top seed...if Trinity loses to Schreiner, and AC beats UD, then I'm honestly not sure how things will work out. The first tiebreaker is head to head; as you mentioned, they split. The second tiebreaker is record versus "top teams" in descending order. AC is 2-0 against TLU, Trinity is 1-1 against TLU; AC is 0-2 against Schreiner, and Trinity, in this scenario, would be 1-1 against Schreiner. Not sure if it's the two records combined, because then both teams would be 2-2 against the other two teams in the top half of the conference (Trinity and AC are both undefeated against every other team in the conference, again, in this scenario assuming AC beats UD).

The NEXT tiebreaker, if it gets to that, is common non-conference opponents. The only common non-conference opponent between AC and Trinity is UT-Tyler. AC is the only team to beat UTT this year. So, if Trinity loses to Schreiner, AC beats UD, and it gets to the third tiebreaker, AC would get the top seed.

[jekelish]

Scratch that - if Schreiner beats Trinity, and AC beats UD, creating a tie between Trinity and AC...it will come down to a coin toss to determine the top seed (since AC played UTT at home, and Trinity played them on the road, that common opponent cannot be used).

This is going to be a potentially crazy Saturday, folks!

[Ron Boerger]

I had no idea you were guaranteed a spot if you hosted.

[Ron Boerger]

Time for my semi-annual post here 

Trinity remained undefeated with two wins at the PLU tournament, squeaking by formerly undefeated Puget Sound 68-65 before sprinting past host PLU 81-62.   First year Abby Holland led all players with 21 points and 7 rebounds in the latter, while Micah Weaver and Monica Holguin had 19 and 15, respectively, in the opener.  The 9-0 start is the best in program history.     The Tigers return home for two more games before the end of the year, Wednesday against Hanover, and on the 29th against George Fox (7-1), whose only loss was a one pointer at UPS. 

Austin College, Texas Lutheran, and the University of Dallas are all 6-2, so it's shaping up to be another interesting season in the SCAC.   Dallas (6-1 at the time) lost a shocker to then 1-8 Colorado College to open SCAC play last Friday. 

[jekelish]

Austin College has gotten off to a pretty nice start at 7-3, just beating UT-Tyler the other day on a buzzer beater, on the road. They open up SCAC play with Centenary today, and host Hardin-Simmons tomorrow. So if the 'Roos get through these two, they head on the road to play Trinity next weekend. That'd be quite a showdown with AC at potentially 9-3 and Trinity undefeated. Always very good games between AC and Trinity. They split last year, Trinity won 3 times the year before, and AC won both meetings the year before that, so it's a 4-3 edge for Trinity head to head over the past three seasons.

[Ron Boerger]

GAAH they play early (5:30) on Friday.   I may have to talk to my boss to leave work a little early, that's a game worth watching with AC now at 9-3 and Trinity 11-0 after getting past #15 George Fox in OT.    Probably have to take the toll road to have any chance of getting there on time.