WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[goldnblack]

My Predictions:

1. Oglethorpe- returned everyone (minus Harris who came off the bench) and gained a big freshman class.
2. Depauw- The lost Bondi... that alone will allow OU to over come the Tigers
3. Rhodes-  This is Ashley Farrell's team... she'll carry them to a 3rd place finish
4. Trinity-  I expect trinity to reload from a down year and  thought of putting them above Rhodes but feel like they will be more of a force in 2 years.
5. Hendrix- The loss of Huggins and Hicks will really hurt this team but they're a scrappy bunch, had to put them somewhere in the middle.
6. Sewanee-  I feel like Sewanee will be much improved this year.  Although they lose Petay, Reninger looks to be a go to player in the making (at least when I saw her play last year).  Sewanee will go as she goes.
7. Austin- After a go around the Roos will not sneak up on anyone this year.  Teams will be ready for them this year.
8. Southwestern-  They lose George and only 3 Freshmen come in I don't see them improving this year.
9. Centre-  don't know much about them so I put them at 9.
10. Millsaps- Shouldn't give any teams trouble except in an intrasquad scrimmage.

In the words of the infamous football analyst Lee Corso: "Not so fast my friends"

As I see it:

1. Depauw: Yes will miss Bondi, Doughty and McGonigal but will return three starters ( Sr. Kalei Lowes, Jr. Cassie Pruzin and So. Emily Marshall) and four who played alot of minutes in that title run (Srs. Gretchen and Gwen Haehl, Jr. Andrea Travelstead, So. Jenna Fernandez). Throw in a coaching staff second to none(head coach Kris Huffman with 300+ wins) and a great recruiting class, the Tigers are reloading and repeating. This group knows how to win!!!
2. Oglethorpe: Will be very good since returning everyone. Probably will meet Depauw in Conference finals and qualify for the big dance
3. Trinity
4. Rhoades
5. Southwestern
6. Austin
7. Sewanee
8. Hendrix
9. Colorado College
10. Centre
11. Milsaps
12. Birmingham-Southern (last because their games don't cout this year)

[OUfan22]

Im gonna have to go with flightof thepetrel on this one and not because only did depauw lose Bondi, they lost doughty who in my opinion was the ringleader that made the team go...yes they return some good players but as close as the games were between the two teams last year, they are likely not going to be enough with OU returning everyone...in addition to a deep and impressive freshman class

[HunterT]

Is it really time to start making the switch to basketball??

I am not that well informed, but will do my best to improve.

As far as Rhodes is concerned, we all know Farrell is the name of the team. But there were some big losses last year in Cahill (great defensive player, now assistant coaching) and Jesse (dominant inside player). But not only Farrell with be important. Returning sophomore Becky Atnip is a great shooter and should ease a little pressure off Farrell and provide another talented shooter.

I don't know about a #3 finish in the conference just because it has been shaped up to be a 1 woman team. It's hard for one girl to take a team that far. Look for others to step up and help out in order to get to #3. If it doesn't happen, I see a 4 or 5 finish for the Lynx.

[DPU3619]

Pre-season Top 25 is out.

DePauw #5.  Oglethorpe in the middle of the pack in ORV. 

[FlightofthePetrel]

WOMEN'S DIII NEWS PRESEASON TOP 25 POLL

#   TEAM                          2006-07
1.  Capital                          20-7
2.  New York University              27-4
3.  Washington University (Mo.)      25-6
4.  Bowdoin College                  29-2
5.  Kean                             27-4
6.  DePauw                           31-3
7.  Calvin                           28-3
8.  Wisconsin-Eau Claire             19-9
9.  University of Southern Maine     27-3
10. Illinois Wesleyan                22-6
11. Messiah                          26-3
12. Hope College                     24-4
13. Millikin                         20-6
14. Luther College                   24-5
15. Emmanuel College                 29-2
16. Mary Washington                  31-3
17. Wilmington                       25-5
18. St. Benedict                     22-6
19. Scranton                         27-3
20. Oglethorpe                       21-8
21. George Fox                       19-7
22. Randolph-Macon                   26-5
23. Puget Sound                      24-7
24. Manchester                       21-7
25. Carroll                          22-5

[Ralph Turner]

I very seldom will ridicule something as being completely unbelievable, but that numerically-ordered collection of schools playing D-III women's basketball is not to be believed.

First, Howard Payne returns almost everyone from the Sweet 16 team that went 28-2 in 2007.

McMurry returns 10 players from the 24-5 #19 2006-2007 team that lost only their point guard but return their All-American Center Tarra Richardson.

There is even no consideration in the "good-ol' girls" network for Hardin-Simmons or Mississippi College or Trinity TX.

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps opens their season this afternoon in a game that should tell us something about how much the team has progressed in one year.  Millsaps was picked to finish last in the SCAC in the preseason poll, and MS College was picked to finish 3rd out of 7 teams in the ASC East.  Millsaps is coming off a 3-20 season and MC was 16-10 last year. 

MS College lost a lot of players from last year's team but it appears that they expect to be better this season with the addition of some key players.  In preseason they scrimmaged the U. of Alabama and they only trailed 28-26 at halftime and 53-40 with 5 minutes to go.  That makes me think MC is very good or Alabama will have a very long SEC season this year.

Millsaps lost by 23 when these two teams played last season--I have hopes that the gap has closed some and that this year the game will be more competitive.  To be honest, Millsaps was not competitive in the SCAC last season, going 1-13 and only two of those loses were in single-digits.  But in all fairness, Coach Bolton was hired in the summer of 2006, she took over a team with virtually no returning experience, and in the previous 4 seasons Millsaps had a combined 13-42 record in the SCAC.  This program has been down for quite some time and I don't expect for Millsaps to suddenly become a title contender overnight, but I do think that Coach Bolton is taking the right steps to build a solid program and I hope some of that progress is seen this season.  Just getting to the SCAC Tournament this season would be a huge step in the right direction.

[frank_ezelle]

Apparently Millsaps has progressed quite a bit as Jessica Bowie hit a shot at the buzzer to give Millsaps a 2-point win (I think it was 57-55).  More remarkable is that Millsaps only dressed 8 players and LaReina Adams, their double-digit scorer and rebounder from 2006-07, isn't scheduled to play until January (she is practicing but still rehabbing from surgery).

Five of the eight who played this afternoon are new (Bowie did play at Millsaps in 2005-06) and there is another new player who will play but did not dress out today.  I don't have a box score but it looked like balanced scoring, much better ball handling that last year, and fairly good team chemistry for a team with so many new players.  Maybe the weakest area was in rebounding, an area that will certainly be helped when Adams returns after the Christmas break.

It's just one game that could have gone either way, but obviously Millsaps is a much improved team this season.  We'll find out how much they have improved in coming weeks with road games to Louisiana College, MS College and Hendrix.

[DPU3619]

No problems for the defending champs this weekend.

DPU beat Olivet 96-63 on Friday and then beat #15 Illinois Wesleyan 77-66 yesterday afternoon.  DPU led by as many as 23 in the second half.  Cassie Pruzin with 17.  Jenna Fernandez with 15.

[frank_ezelle]

Nice wins by DePauw, especially the win over IW.  I think Millsaps will climb up the standings this year in the SCAC but it is a long way to the top.  The good thing about that is that a team that does well in the SCAC is a team that should do well in national play.  (Edit:  Four uses of the word "that" in one sentence--I need to take a writing class.)

Here's a box score for the Millsaps vs. MC game.  Both teams shot rather poorly from the field and it seemed to be a combination of good defense and just missing some good shots.  Millsaps won the game at the free throw line, hitting 21 of 29 compared to 7 of 10 for MS College.  Crystal Dickerson was the leader in the game in both scoring (16 points) and rebounding (11), and Millsaps also got 11 points from Jessica Bowie and Krista Clark.
Box Score:  http://www.gochoctaws.com/sports/wbball/2007-08Stats/milvsmc.htm

[goldnblack]

Congrats to DePauw in winning the Amy Hasbrook Tip Off tourney. They handled a good Illinois Wesleyn team who is probably a top ten team after easily beating Wash U the night before. DePauw was ready and guarded the perimeter game well. It was a great team effort and the special bonus is that a several Freshman came in and played extremely well. DePauw is the real deal again this year.

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity wins their tipoff tournament, 65-53 over Ohio Wesleyan in the opener and 70-51 over Hardin-Simmons in the championship. 

[Ralph Turner]

Impressive win by Trinity over HSU!

[HunterT]

Like I said before, I'm not the most informed, but I'm learning.

The Lady Lynx are looking strong this year at the start. A close 3 point loss to the University of Memphis (yes, that D1 school down the street from us), followed by two fairly impressive wins (68-55 over Westminster, 76-21 over Rhema). I think beating a team by 50 pts really shows how the defense has stepped up this year. I know nothing of Rhema, so I will also assume they don't have the best team ever, but still... over 50! that's impressive any way you slice it.

Tomorrow night starts the real part of the season for the girls. Mississippi College at home, then Hendrix. Then on the road for the first SCAC games. I know it's still early, but I think if we get a good start, the girls will feel good and start to play even better. I'm kinda excited. not gonna lie about it. 

[FlightofthePetrel]

Oglethorpe Opened the season with 2 wins in Emory, Virginia over  Methodist (81-45)    and Meredith  (96-54).  From what I've heard neither team they played was all that good although Methodist is picked to finish 3rd in their conference and had the second most first place votes received.  Meredith on the other hand was picked to finish a little lower in the pack at #6.  Guess this doesnt exactly say much for USA South basketball...

All 15 players saw plenty of action as no one played more than 19 minutes in the first game and 21 in the second game.

Pre Season All American Katie Kulavic averaged 15.5 pts.   5.5 reb.   2 steals   2.5 Assists in only 17 minutes of play.  Anna Findley also averaged 15.5 points in only  18 minutes of action.

OU's fullcourt press defense forced a combined  38 steals and 78 turnovers in the 2 games.