WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[SUfan]

Wild finish at Dallas tonight as Southwestern entered the game needing the win to secure the top seed in the west. Likewise, Dallas needed the win to make the SCAC tourney. After pulling ahead early, the Pirates found themselves down 13 after a run by Dallas. It took SU the rest of the first half to claw their way back to within 1. Dallas struck early in the second half pushing the lead back to as much as 12 before the defensive pressure forced some timely turnovers. Chelsea Leeder took over in the final few minutes to score what seemed like half of her game high 27 points. It was a hard fought victory. The Pirates are looking forward to matching up against Birmingham after a convincing 13 point win at home on Jan. 13th. Both teams are coming off nice winning streaks and are shooting the ball well. It should be an exciting game.

[pbrooks3]

Sort of a ho-hum performance from Centre today in closing out the regular season with a 58-56 home loss to Rhodes.  Hand it to the Lynx - they played well against a strong contingent of Centre seniors not used to losing tight games let alone games period this season.  Lauren Avant (19 pts) and Sharwil Bell (16 pts) were warriors in leading the Rhodes women.   Lauren Huter played a tremendous game for the Colonels with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Centre will need to shoot the ball better come SCAC tournament-time.

[SUfan]

Centre's lackluster final two weekends, Rhode's new weapon in Avant, and Southwestern and Birminham's run of victories at season's end are setting up a very interesting SCAC tourney. Some teams seem to be peaking at the right time while others are fading.  Looks like it could be anyone's tournament at this point...

[pbrooks3]

Centre's lackluster final two weekends, Rhode's new weapon in Avant, and Southwestern and Birminham's run of victories at season's end are setting up a very interesting SCAC tourney. Some teams seem to be peaking at the right time while others are fading.  Looks like it could be anyone's tournament at this point...

Agree SUfan.  Think the tournament is up for grabs.  I will tell you this Rhodes team is for real.  Bell and Avant  are athletic, talented players.  They are surrounded by some other nice players.  Rhodes likely sees Centre again in the 2nd round if each can win its opener.   The Lynx are my so-called sleeper.  Birmingham Southern is also capable, especially given that they play on their homecourt.  I am partial to the east based on what I have seen. The thing you must keep in mind about the tournament is it usually takes consistently good play over three games for a team to emerge a winner. If a team lets down its guard, it is over.

[pbrooks3]

Centre has gotten through the opening round of the SCAC by defeating Hendrix 65-46.  Maggie Prewitt led the charge with 18 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds.  Bridget Winstead scored 12 with 4-7 from beyond the arc.  Jane Goatley chipped in two 3s for 8 points.  Hendrix was led by Avery Roller with 15 and Jamie Tate's 9 points (8 rebounds).  Next up for the Lady Colonels will be a Saturday afternoon tilt against the winner of today's 2nd game between Colorado College and Rhodes.  Think this next game today will be one worth watching.

[SUfan]

The third game of the SCAC women's tourney lived up to its billing.  The two hottest teams in the conference (Southwestern and Birmingham Southern) met up in a barn burner of a game in a raucous Homewood HS gym.  Southwestern may have been home on the scoreboard but they were most definitely the visitors in that environment.  The two teams would ultimately set the SCAC tournament record for combined points in the first ever double overtime thriller which saw 11 lead changes and several clutch shots down the stretch.  Neither team gave up fighting for this one as it came down to a last second layup by first year Madison Eschle (pronounced 'ashley') to seal the win for SU 96-95.  Three players for SU had 20+ points as senior Anna Fareed put up 28 on 8 of 14 shooting (4-8 3pt) and 8-10 from the charity stripe.  She was followed closely by first year Jordan Owens who added 25 points on 9 of 20 shooting (0-2 3pt) and 7-10 from the line.  The team's leading scorer on the season, Chelsea Leeder, added 24 points...also on 9 of 20 from the floor (2-8 3pt) and 4-4 from the line.  She also posted 6 assists and 5 steals on the night. 

The question is, after 50 minutes of all out effort do they have anything left for the second round against Millsaps.  The Pirates are used to playing back-to-back having done it 6 out of their 7 conference double-headers.  But I daresay they were not tested in the first of those games quite like they were tonight.  Millsaps on the other hand played no back-to-back conference games this season and only scheduled 3 back-to-back games all year...the last back at the end of December 2011.  Granted, they didn't have to work quite as long as the Pirates did tonight, but Trinity still made them work for the win (unlike Hendrix and Colorado). 

Southwestern is the lone remaining hope for the west to bring home a championship before the west becomes the SCAC outright later this year.  Go Pirates!!

[pbrooks3]

Centre played a fantastic opening half of basketball against Rhodes in opening up a 22-point lead. It was a good thing for the Lynx came out playing lockdown defense the final 20 minutes and they made a game of it. There were stretches where Rhodes' defense was so good Centre couldn't get any looks and the possession resulted in a shot clock violation. Way to go Centre but hats off to Rhodes on a heck of an effort.

[frank_ezelle]

Two years ago I was relieved when Millsaps won a game late in the season--that turned out to be the only win of the 2009-10 season.  Now they are in the SCAC Championship game with a 20+ win season.

It is a turn around just as remarkable as when Mike DuBose revived the Millsaps football program.  This success story won't get the attention that it deserves, certainly no where close to the attention football got, but it has been an amazing turnaround.  Congratulations to the coaches and players for the success resulting from their hard efforts.

Now I'm once again just hoping for a single win as the Lady Majors take on Centre for the SCAC Championship.  No doubt that Millsaps has to be considered the underdog in this game, but they have already proven that the seemingly impossible is very much a possibility.

[pbrooks3]

Centre had their hands full with a talented athletic Millsaps squad today.  Fortunately Centre's coaching staff had a good game plan and the players executed it beautifully.  The press and the constantly changing defenses were the tickets to victory in Centre's 60-48 championship win.  Coach Austin-Robinson has the double-good fortune of having lots of seniors (8) and plenty of depth.  This was critical for the Colonels against the Majors. A tremendous season for both teams, and Millsaps was the most improved team I saw play in the SCAC season.  Now the Centre faithful await the team's slotting in the D3 tournament later this week.  Given circumstances in the South Region, Centre has been elevated to the #1 spot in the Regional Rankings by virtue of their 3-win weekend and Louisiana College's loss in their league tournament final.  The Colonel ladies hope they might get to host next weekend; think this is a good possibility.

Congratulations to the SCAC family for another great tournament.  Things will never be the same.

Finally, best of luck to Centre next weekend wherever and whomever you play.

[pbrooks3]

For those interested, the tournament games at Centre tonight have been delayed due to inclement weather.  The Washington University/ Ferrum game will begin at 7:30 pm ET (2 hours behind the regularly scheduled time); the Centre/Guilford game starts at 9:30 pm ET.

[Ralph Turner]

For those interested, the tournament games at Centre tonight have been delayed due to inclement weather.  The Washington University/ Ferrum game will begin at 7:30 pm ET (2 hours behind the regularly scheduled time); the Centre/Guilford game starts at 9:30 pm ET.

Travel safely, one and all.

I hope that the Danville area misses the really bad storms.

[pbrooks3]

Most of the severe stuff at the moment is northeast of Danville having passed through the Lexington area a short time ago.  Tornado watches are in effect all over the extended Ohio Valley until 9 pm local time.

[pbrooks3]

Centre Lady Colonels shook out the cobwebs coming out of the locker room at half to overcome a 4 pt deficit and win their 1st round game 59-47 against Guilford.  Centre really got after it defensively in the final 20 minutes holding Guilford to 22% shooting, 17 points and 6 1/2 minutes of futilty on the offensive end midway through the half.  Maggie Prewitt played the entire game except the final 40 seconds.  She led the team with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 turnover.  Lauren Huter tallied 13.  Bridget Winstead chipped in 2 huge 3's in the 2nd half to help at critical junctures. It was a complete team effort, particularly on the defensive side.  Centre is now 25-3 and faces Washington U tomorrow night in the 2nd round game from Danville.  Credit the Guilford Quakers for being a forceful opponent tonight.  Go Lady Colonels!

[pbrooks3]

One heck of a basketball game @ Centre tonight as the Lady Colonels prevail 57-55 over #9 Wash U. This was a nail-biter down the stretch as small leads were had by both teams. Centre was dominated in the 1st half for the second night in a row as the Bears took a 32-20 lead to the locker room. Wash U simply enforced their will with patience and solid rebounding, and Centre was helter-skelter most of the first 20 minutes. The Colonels came alive early in the 2nd stanza by making a few 3's to cut into the Bears lead. Centre actually took as much as a 3-point lead in the final 10 minutes, but the experienced Bears weathered the storm by making several offensive conversions to gain a 53-49 advantage with about 3 minutes to play. Centre got some big plays from Lauren Huter and Chelsea Benham to tie the score at 55.  Centre ended up with the ball with about 25 seconds remaining. Benham made another big move in the post to take a shot & got fouled. She drained 2 free throws with 14 seconds left. Wash U got positioned to go for a tying basket but lost possession to the Colonels with 1.6 secnods to play. Centre somehow survived an offensive foul by Maggie Prewitt with 1.3 seconds to play to win an exciting 2nd round game. Prewitt led Centre with 21 points and 6 rebounds. Benham in coming up big when it counted tallied 12 points.  This was a defensive tussle tonight. The Colonels shot a miserable 29% from the field but knocked down several critical 3's when needed. They relied on their strong free throw prowess by draining 17-18, none bigger than Benham's to get the final 2 points of the contest. This was one tremendous tournament game to witness regardless of which team you were supporting. Both squads were spent and totally left it out on the Memorial Gym floor. Now we Centre partisans celebrate making the sweet 16 & awaiting where the Lady Colonels play Carthage next weekend. I for one would love to see more basketball in Danville.

[pbrooks3]

Pretty amazing atmosphere during the Centre Wash U game last night at Danville, especially in the 2nd half.  Even the Centre first family got into some serious cheering.  President Roush and his wife led the faithful during one timeout with the spelling of Centre.  What a fun game and venue to have been a witness to Saturday evening.