WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[airball1]

DePauw has jumped to a well deserved #5. Balanced, well coached team. Oglethorpe played them even for 20 min. and forced 24 turnovers well above DPU's average but OU could not execute in the second half and DPU did. Of course, DPU's defense had a lot to do with it. If OU gets a couple more pieces of the puzzle, watch out. Starting 4 freshmen and the first two off the bench are freshmen, they might not need any more pieces and next season Corbett returns after ACL surgery and she has two years remaining. It seems some additional depth inside would be the answer.

[moseshightower]

At the halfway point of the conference season, it's looking like once again Depauw and Trinity are the favorites and this weekend should tell us who the frontrunner is, I know Depauw is ranked highly but I still don't think they have much more talent than Trinity, they definitely have more experience and I think Kris Huffman is the best coach in the league.  Oglethorpe has been the biggest surprise this season.  Southwestern is coming along nicely and if Pam Ruder can get some players there, they could be very good in the next couple of seasons.  I gotta admit I'm a little disappointed in Rhodes so far, they returned everyone from last year and after a close loss to Depauw they have dropped a number of games by wide margins, I wonder if there is something going on there.  That being said, with the talent at Rhodes, Hendrix, Rose Hulman and Sewanee and the improved play of Southwestern, this year's SCAC tournament should be the most competitive yet and while it may still end up being Trinity vs. Depauw on that last Sunday I think they will have to work much harder to get there than they have in past years.

[Ron Boerger]

Congrats to Trinity for breaking into this week's D3hoops.com Top 25, at #22 ... too bad they have to play DePauw in Greencastle this weekend.     

Moses, Coach Huffman has done an excellent job for years and I would agree she's the best coach in the league.  At the same time, I am impressed by the job that Coach Sattele is doing at OU, and by Coach Bradley at TU.  Both need a few more years under their belts until either can dethrone Huffman. 

It will be interesting to see how well Coach Ruder will be able to recruit at Southwestern over the next couple of years.  It will take her a little while to build up her local contacts having spent so many years at UW-O.  Her hiring was a coup for the Southwestern women's athletic program and I expect the program to improve as she brings in her players and injects her style into the program.  She only has one first year in the program this season .. Natasha Azizi, who at 11.6 ppg is the team's #2 scoring option.  Her 26 steals, 17 blocks, 53.1% shooting, and 5.6 rpg all lead the team.   If she is indicative of the type of player Coach Ruder can recruit, things will be looking up for the Lady Pirates. 

A more competitive SCAC is a good thing. 

[Ralph Turner]

My thoughts about Southwestern and Coach Ruder is how easy will it be to fly some Wisconsin players and families from Chicago O'Hare to Austin in February.  Dad brings the golf clubs.  Mom does some serious Texas-style shopping.  Daughter gets an education that is comparable to the CCIW or MWC or MIAC, and 30 degrees warmer and maybe a little less expensive.  (Please help on the costs of those 3 conferences vs. Southwestern.)

[piratefan]

  As most of you probably know, Austin College will be joining the SCAC next year.  It is with regret that my first posting to this site is to share the sad news that a member of the AC women's basketball team, Brittany Simpson, was killed in a car accident on Tuesday, January 25th.  Brittany was a first year player from The Woodlands.  Knowing that the institutions in the SCAC are class acts, I thought that we as a conference should extend our condolences to the Austin College community and the women's basketball team in particular.
  Those wishing further information on the incident may want to check out the America Southwest "Posting Up".

   The following is a blurb from a local paper:

Updated 8:11 AM on Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Woman, 18, killed in I-45 accident

Eagle Staff Report



An 18-year-old resident of The Woodlands was killed Tuesday when her car ran off the road and into oncoming traffic in Madison County.

Brittany Simpson was northbound on Interstate 45, about 2 1/2 miles north of Madisonville, according to a Department of Public Safety report.

Simpson lost control of the vehicle, which crossed the center median and was struck on the driver's side by a southbound vehicle, the report states. She died at the scene.

The driver of the second vehicle, Deshine Jordan of Houston, and her four passengers suffered cuts and bruises, according to DPS.

[airball1]

So sorry to hear about the young lady from Austin.
Rebecca Forsyth, the leading scorer and rebounder from Rose-Holman lost her 22 year old brother last week in a house fire. He was buried last friday. We mourn the passing of anybody but especially the young.

[tigerdadplm]

hmmmm

[Ron Boerger]

Poor free throw shooting (11-23) cost Trinity another game tonight, as the women were upset by Rose-Hulman 53-51.   There is simply no excuse for shooting less than 50% from the charity stripe!

Rebekah Forsyth led all players with 20 points and 16 rebounds as the Lady Engineers won despite having to play their five starters at least 30 minutes each; only two subs saw any playing time.  Congrats to Rose-Hulman. 

[Ralph Turner]

That Trinity loss may even impact the seedings!

[Dirty_South]

If Trinity falls to Depauw on Sunday the rematch on 2/10 in Atlanta with Oglethorpe will be huge....Was Trinity overlooking RHIT??

[OUfan22]

does anyone have more details on the trinity/rose hulman game?  without knowing anything, its a probability that trinity came in too cocky and gave the game away...trinity is clearly the better team overall but a big pat on the back to the engineers....especially playing 40 min, that's so impressive that they managed to beat a great team with no big subs...for Carlson and Forsyth, the win was well deserved as far as this season is concerned...this certainly makes the OU/trinity game a crucial one for seeding if trinity loses to depauw...I don't think trinity will upset depauw but you never know...

[OUfan22]

i'm all for girl's basketball and a big women's athletic supporter but at the college level the difference of men's and women's height and athletic ability is too much for depauw's women to hang with them...that being said, i think the women's depauw team is great and i'd take them over a lot of D2 schools

[Ron Boerger]

Tough weekend for the ladies from San Antonio.  It looked like today's game was much more representative of their potential than Friday's.  Congrats to DePauw for pulling the W out at home. 

[scaccommish]

HENDRIX'S TURNBOW; DEPAUW'S ARGETSINGER; CENTRE'S AUSTIN LEAD VOTING FOR SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE'S 15TH ANNIVERSARY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

SUWANEE, Ga. – Hendrix College guard Lauren Turnbow, DePauw University forward Amy Argetsinger and Centre College center Wendie Austin - all two-time SCAC Players-of-the-Year - highlight an impressive list of past standouts named to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's 15th Anniversary women's basketball team.

For complete release, click link:
http://www.scac-online.org/anniversary15

[moseshightower]

Great to see Jenna Smith on the Anniversary team, she didn't always put up huge numbers (except for steals) but she was undoubtedly a huge part of Trinity's run the past few seasons.  I would venture to say that she had an impact on the conference improving over the past few years as well. Kind of surprising that Depauw only placed two on the team, not that I would argue with Zondor and Argetsinger, I just think there were some great players on those Depauw teams that were unbeatable when they first joined the conference.