WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[Tennessee_papa]

Hendrix has Byler who may be the best player in the Conference have they added any transfers or Freshman that will help.

Since last year's freshman class (this year's sophs) was relatively large - they've got 9 or 10 sophomores - this year's freshman class is relatively small.  I believe they have 3 freshman.

As to the impact of the freshmen, they've just started practicing so I assume they're in the process of figuring that out.  I don't know.

No transfers.

How about Trinity?  Do they have any stud freshmen?

[tigerbacker]

They had 5 or 6 first years but a couple have knee problems don't know how much they will help.  Trinity will go as far as Hubenak, Marzella and Dietert can take them.

[pbrooks3]

Tigerbacker, I like Hubenak.  She is a bulldog on the floor, and has takeover ability as well.  If she polishes a few aspects of her game and reduces her turnovers, she might be the best player this season.

[tigerbacker]

I agree, there are a few players that can really make a difference in any game Hebenak is one, also Byler of Hendrix and  Goodman of Centre. I am sure i am leavig a few out but All 3 of these aforementioned women can play.

[pbrooks3]

I will look forward to seeing Centre suit up & hit the floor. Goodman is poised to finish her career as one of Centre's best.  It should be fun to see how super sophs, Prewitt and Huter play. Huter has a chance to be one of the truly great post players in the SCAC with her length & athleticism. Prewitt is a coach's daughter with drive; need I say more.

[tigerbacker]

Trinity has to come to Centre again this year and after last years thriller it should be a great game.

[FlightofthePetrel]

I was looking at the list of notable players and noticed that under Depauw Jenna Fernandez was not listed.  I know she was injured last year and the school had her listed as a Junior so I figured she would be coming back for her senior season this year.  If she's coming back I would say she would have to be on the top of the list and possibly a POTY candidate.

Does anyone from DPU know the story there?

Even if Fernandez does come back I see Trinity being the class of the SCAC once again... I believe their trio of Marzella, Hubenak and Dietert is to much to overcome.

[tigerbacker]

How will Ogelthorpe be this year?  What a great group they lost, but I suspect They will reload and be a factor again this year.  A very well coached team.

[pbrooks3]

I was looking at the list of notable players and noticed that under Depauw Jenna Fernandez was not listed.  I know she was injured last year and the school had her listed as a Junior so I figured she would be coming back for her senior season this year.  If she's coming back I would say she would have to be on the top of the list and possibly a POTY candidate.

Does anyone from DPU know the story there?

Even if Fernandez does come back I see Trinity being the class of the SCAC once again... I believe their trio of Marzella, Hubenak and Dietert is to much to overcome.

Maybe Wes Anderson can respond to this.  I don't know if she's even on the active roster this season.

[Tennessee_papa]

Even if Fernandez does come back I see Trinity being the class of the SCAC once again... I believe their trio of Marzella, Hubenak and Dietert is to much to overcome.

You think?  I see Depauw as being the team to beat, with Trinity, Centre, and Hendrix in a cluster behind DPU.  Trinity is historically the best program of the three, but you could argue that the three were somewhere around even last year (Trinity and Hendrix split, Centre beat TU in a very close game without KPM) and Trinity lost more than the other two did.  

The difference maker between TU, Centre, and HC will be freshmen and injuries, both of which are unknowable right now.

Again, no offense to Oglethorpe, but at this point in time with what they graduated they're a complete black box.  I have a suspicion that Austin could be better than we all think as well.

[pbrooks3]

Agreed OU is unclear but I suspect they'll be competitive. Not as good as last season, but formiable. Austin's Williams along with some decent guard play can make things interesting, too.

[BBallFanHC]

Hello all! New poster to the Women's board. I am a follower of Hendrix and the SCAC. I think Hendrix will surprise the league this year with a new coach and style. Hendrix has always had top tier talent but always seemed to underperform down the stretch. Didn't know too much about the previous coach but it seemed that alot of supporters were in favor of the decision for a change. Byler is obviously an elite player in the SCAC but with word of injury issues HC might need to look elsewhere early in the year. Morris, the point guard, hopefully will be 100% after she lost her sophmore season to a knee problem. She is a guard that for her size can really score and run an offense. She is a small guard but is crafty and is lights out with deep range at times. With experienced players inside, White, Merritt and Hensy, the front court needs one or two scorers to emerge and HC will be a force in the West. I am looking forward to see what the new coach will be doing offensively and defensively. Some early season scrimmages and exhibitions should be key to getting their season off right.

[Ron Boerger]

You think?  I see Depauw as being the team to beat, with Trinity, Centre, and Hendrix in a cluster behind DPU.  Trinity is historically the best program of the three, but you could argue that the three were somewhere around even last year (Trinity and Hendrix split, Centre beat TU in a very close game without KPM) and Trinity lost more than the other two did.  

The difference maker between TU, Centre, and HC will be freshmen and injuries, both of which are unknowable right now.

Again, no offense to Oglethorpe, but at this point in time with what they graduated they're a complete black box.  I have a suspicion that Austin could be better than we all think as well.

The only player TU graduated was KPM.   She's going to be hard to replace, true, but the other four starters are all back per the TU web site. 

Trinity brought in five freshmen (sorry, no details yet); eight of ten from last year's team are back.   Further details here.  Don't know that I would say that makes them favorites, but with so much youth on the team and only one senior this year (Alexandra Blake) the future looks good. 

[Tennessee_papa]

The only player TU graduated was KPM.   She's going to be hard to replace, true, but the other four starters are all back per the TU web site. 

Trinity brought in five freshmen (sorry, no details yet); eight of ten from last year's team are back.   Further details here.  Don't know that I would say that makes them favorites, but with so much youth on the team and only one senior this year (Alexandra Blake) the future looks good. 

Trinity only lost one (as did Hendrix), but the one they lost was a really, really good one.  A lot of points and a lot of rebounds headed off to med school.

Similar to Colorado College - they only lost one too but what a one they lost, which is why CC will probably struggle to even qualify for the conference tourney this year.

I'm not saying that Trinity won't compete for the conference championship, as they're gong to be very good.  I was merely trying to say that whatever gap existed between Trinity on the one hand and Hendrix/Centre on the other has probably closed some.  Both Hendrix and Centre also have four starters back, and included among those four starters are their leading rebounders and scorers from last year.

If I had to rank the top four in the conference coming in, I'd say Depauw, Centre, Trinity, Hendrix in that order, with a fairly big gap between #1 and #2 and right now I'd throw a blanket over #2-#4.  If one of those four come up with a contributing freshman or two or suffers a key injury, the order could change.

Of course, the d3hoops voters don't agree with me either, and as always I reserve the right to be wrong.

[scacbballfan]

Hello all! New poster to the Women's board. I am a follower of Hendrix and the SCAC. I think Hendrix will surprise the league this year with a new coach and style. Hendrix has always had top tier talent but always seemed to underperform down the stretch. Didn't know too much about the previous coach but it seemed that alot of supporters were in favor of the decision for a change. Byler is obviously an elite player in the SCAC but with word of injury issues HC might need to look elsewhere early in the year. Morris, the point guard, hopefully will be 100% after she lost her sophmore season to a knee problem. She is a guard that for her size can really score and run an offense. She is a small guard but is crafty and is lights out with deep range at times. With experienced players inside, White, Merritt and Hensy, the front court needs one or two scorers to emerge and HC will be a force in the West. I am looking forward to see what the new coach will be doing offensively and defensively. Some early season scrimmages and exhibitions should be key to getting their season off right.

New to the board but I've been following Hendrix athletics for about 7 years now and enjoying following them and watching them play. Just a few comments to add to this post. The first 2 weeks under a new coach has everyone (players and fans) excited about Hendrix basketball. The first scrimmage of the year waS only 6 practices in and there was already many dramatic improvemts. Yes, Byler has been out for most of preseason and early practice due to some surgical hardware removal complications from the summer. However, she has dropped 40 pounds since the beginning of last year, increased her vertical and her speed durig rehab an will be good to go by tip off in Memphis barring a drastic setback.

As for the point guard situation, sophomore Katy Ashley-Paulet would havey nod forthe starting point guard right now. Quicker with the ball in her hand, improved stamina and defense, more size and consistanrt shooting.  Hendrix will have two graduating seniors this year (White and Merritt) and two third year players that can graduate or stay a fifth year (Byler and Morris). There are no juniors on the roster and all 8 sophomores are returning. 3 freshmen complete the roster but only one saw action in the scrimmage (1 out with foot injury and the other playing field hockey). This is a team that has a string chemisty and with the coaching change looks to be very dangerous.

I believe the SCAC West is going to be a very close race between Hendrix and Trinity with the season series ending in a tie. It seems like Trinity will be slightly more guard oriented than in previous years. On the East side I believe DePauw will end up the number 1 seed followed by Centre and Oglethorpe in no certain order. I too am curious about Jenna Fernandez. DePauw will have some tough shoes to fill without All-SCAC performer Cassie Pruzin, but I have no doubt Coach Huffman has found the perfect new floor commander. It will be anxious to see how Oglethorpe reloaded.

As for player of the year...based on last years all SCAC performers, Byler from Hendrix is the highest vote receiver returning. I like her chances this year if she can stay healthy. Last years numbers were slightly lower than her first year...chalk it up to a sophomore slump of early season injury but the slump only resulted in a 1 ppg avg from and a 2% drop in free-throw percentage, both of which were still in the top 5. If Katy Williams worked in the off season to improve her defense and mid-range game I think she can put up numbers similar to her sophomore year an also be considered in that conversation. Chelsea Goodman is another experienced player for a very capable Centre team. Danielle Hubenak will be a key factor in Trinity's success this year.  She is very dangerous withthe ball in her hand both as a scoring threat and a passing threat.