WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

jekelish · November 25, 2019, 10:25:31 AM

It'll definitely be a huge test for Austin College tomorrow, that's for sure. Polly over at UTD has always seemed to have AC's number a little more than anyone else -- fitting, since she's an AC alum. I'm thinking about trying to catch that one live, I'll be curious to see how the 'Roos look against top 25 competition. First REAL test without Bryce.

Ron Boerger · November 26, 2019, 09:00:05 AM

Trinity #20, Austin RV in the first D3hoops.com poll of the season. A bit disappointing to see Trinity there given that they absolutely throttled George Fox (#11), came within 3 of St. Thomas (#6 with one first-place vote), have given HSU (now 5-1) their only loss of the season, and have a win against ETBU which is also RV. But, as the guys said in the podcast, for many voters this is the part of the year when past performance is given as much or more credence than current results. It'll be interesting to see where Trinity and AC are by mid-December should they both continue winning.

Happy Thanksgiving to jekelish and any other souls who may wander in here.

jekelish · November 26, 2019, 04:41:55 PM

Not the prettiest win for Austin College, but the 'Roos escape Richardson with a 58-57 win. 'Roos led basically the whole game but needed a last second miss from UTD to secure the win. 3-0 for the 'Roos and still a big win. Second in a row over UTD, which hasn't happened in awhile.

jekelish · November 30, 2019, 08:19:20 AM

Interesting game today for Austin College, playing a neutral site game against Millsaps. I'm not sure what to make of the Majors this year, as they're 4-2 but their wins have come against teams that are a combined 3-18. If the 'Roos pick up the win today, they SHOULD be able to head into their game against St. Thomas - who is looking to be pretty formidable as they transition from NAIA to D3 - at 7-0. Get through St. Thomas, and suddenly you're looking at 8-0 heading into a home game against Mary Hardin-Baylor. That would set up a heck of a game right before the New Year.

jekelish · December 15, 2019, 12:13:43 PM

Couple intriguing games I know I'll be keeping an eye on today... Trinity vs UTD, obviously, for the sake of SCAC standings (and, if UTD is able to win, boosts that road win for the 'Roos in Richardson), and then a non-SCAC game with Rhodes vs UMHB since AC beat Rhodes earlier this year and hosts UMHB at the end of December. Another good measure of how everyone stacks up and, again, if Rhodes can knock off UMHB it's another boost for AC's strength of schedule.

Ron Boerger · December 24, 2019, 11:22:57 AM

Jekelish got his wish when Trinity couldn't get it done down the stretch against UT-D, whose G Raenett Hughes went off for 37 on 14-17 shooting in the Comets' 72-68 win. Tigers rebounded with a couple of nice wins in a tournament in Washington, 70-61 over Puget Sound (6-3) and 75-40 over shorthanded PLU (5-4).

One encouraging sign in the two wins for the rest of the season was Anna Muller pulling down 9 and 11 rebounds. Rebounding is always problematic for Trinity, which puts so much effort into their full-court press in lieu of crashing the boards. Muller transferred to TU from Rhodes as a junior last year but has seen limited playing time (I believe she suffered a knee injury as a sophomore at Rhodes that cost nearly an entire season). The 18 & 16 minutes represented the most playing time by far since a 23 minute effort last December vs. Austin. Obviously this is only two games, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone 6'3" on the floor to clean up the glass and draw some of the double teams Abby Holland sees when she posts up. Muller was named to the Pacific NW all-tourney team, of which Abby was named MVP.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, y'all.

Ron Boerger · December 30, 2019, 11:22:52 AM

AC has a great opportunity to put themselves in the national picture (as if 8-0 isn't good enough) with a home tilt vs. #5 UMHB this afternoon. The Lady Cru had to go to OT to get past St. Thomas, who the Roos beat fairly handily, the Lions' huge comeback in that game notwithstanding. IMO with the exception of an impressive win over #13 Whitman, UMHB has not played like the #5 team in the country; besides the OT win over St. Thomas they had a narrow escape early in the season against Concordia. Austin will have to overcome a bit of rust with their last game coming 9 days ago and UMHB having played on Saturday in a win over Illinois Wesleyan.

Trinity started their part of the SCAC season with a closer-than-it-needed-to-be win yesterday at TLU, 60-51. The Tigers struggled from beyond the arc, shooting under 20% (5-26); winning the battle on the boards 44-38 with an 18-9 edge on the offensive glass helped make the difference. Abby Holland had 25 points to lead all scorers along with 6 boards and 4 steals, and Anna Muller added 11 points and a game-leading 9 boards (EDIT: in just 19 minutes). Trinity makes the short trip to Georgetown this evening to take on Southwestern.

Ron Boerger · December 30, 2019, 05:22:41 PM

'Roos up 63-51 with just under 5:00 remaining.

jekelish · December 30, 2019, 06:34:57 PM

Big win for Austin College - they pretty much dominated UMHB (who, in fairness, was without their second leading scorer today). Balanced effort for the 'Roos, as all of their games have been so far this year. 9-0 and I have to imagine if they can take care of business this weekend in Colorado, they'll vault into the Top 25.

Ron Boerger · December 31, 2019, 08:23:40 AM

Congrats on the big win, jekelish. AC definitely should be in the Top 25 and may bow higher than Trinity, #22 in the last (now two week-old) poll. Maybe we get a new one today - I have doubts given the holidays

- but that wouldn't include the big win.

Trinity rushed out to a 14-2 lead at Southwestern last night and never really looked back in a 84-51 win. Kelly Simmons had the best game of the her career; the 6-1 sophomore center scored 22 points in 20 minutes, surpassing her previous high of 16 set against ETBU last month. Many of her points came on open cuts to the basket when other players were double-teamed, but she also showed a nice touch from deep, hitting 2-3 from beyond the arc for her first threes of the season (and doubling her career total, LOL). Abby Holland added 17 and 9. The Tigers head home for games with St. Thomas and Centenary before heading on the road next weekend for the first matchup with the 'Roos which should be a fun one to watch.

jekelish · December 31, 2019, 09:15:11 AM

It's interesting seeing this season play out. It certainly hasn't gone exactly as many probably expected, with TLU and Southwestern both taking a big step backward (so far) this year. It's still playing out the way the last few years have, with Trinity and AC at the top of the pack and a couple teams that could play spoiler right in behind them with St. Thomas and Colorado College, though obviously UST isn't eligible for the conference tournament this year. Still, with Trinity playing UST and AC playing at Colorado College, this weekend could tell us quite a bit about just how much space there is between that (perceived) first and second tier, if there is any at all.

ronk · December 31, 2019, 10:32:57 AM

Quote from: Ron Boerger on December 31, 2019, 08:23:40 AM
Congrats on the big win, jekelish. AC definitely should be in the Top 25 and may bow higher than Trinity, #22 in the last (now two week-old) poll. Maybe we get a new one today - I have doubts given the holidays - but that wouldn't include the big win.

Trinity rushed out to a 14-2 lead at Southwestern last night and never really looked back in a 84-51 win. Kelly Simmons had the best game of the her career; the 6-1 sophomore center scored 22 points in 20 minutes, surpassing her previous high of 16 set against ETBU last month. Many of her points came on open cuts to the basket when other players were double-teamed, but she also showed a nice touch from deep, hitting 2-3 from beyond the arc for her first threes of the season (and doubling her career total, LOL). Abby Holland added 17 and 9. The Tigers head home for games with St. Thomas and Centenary before heading on the road next weekend for the first matchup with the 'Roos which should be a fun one to watch.

I follow my former prospects(Kelly Simmons, in this case) to see how they do in the collegiate level. Felt she'd be a quality D3 player.

Ron Boerger · December 31, 2019, 11:30:59 AM

Quote from: ronk on December 31, 2019, 10:32:57 AM

I follow my former prospects(Kelly Simmons, in this case) to see how they do in the collegiate level. Felt she'd be a quality D3 player.

Talent there to be sure! Always hard to break into the lineup at Trinity - 18 on the roster this year, and all of last year's starters returned - but she's been starting since the ETBU game around Thanksgiving and has been in double figures 3 of 6 games since, averaging almost 12 points and a little over 6 rebounds per game. Had a little foul trouble last night as SW has a couple of physical posts, but happy with what I've been seeing and looking forward to continued growth.

gordonmann · December 31, 2019, 06:08:50 PM

Yeah, the new poll comes next week. Mid-week holidays have really messed up the regular flow of the Top 25 polls.

Ron Boerger · January 02, 2020, 12:47:29 PM

I was trying to understand why Southwestern is struggling so this season - it seemed that they returned a decent amount of talent - and in reading their pre-season release came across one tidbit. Their starter at PG, Cydnee Lester, is no longer listed in the team stats or on-line in the roster (though her bio is still on the site) - her last appearance in a box score was against UMHB on Nov. 26th. No idea what happened there, though she didn't seem to contribute much stat-wise after the season opener. That leaves the Pirates with 11 on the roster, probably a few short of where they'd like to be.

This is also the third year under Greta Grothe, who I thought at the time a somewhat surprising hire for a program that had some success in the past (but has struggled since Kerri Brinkoeter departed to spend more time with family after the 2015 season). Her prior head coaching experience - two years at Dallas where her teams struggled to win more than one game out of three - didn't seem promising. The Pirates managed a .500 season her first year, were two games under .500 last year, and at 3-8 will have their work cut out for them to come close to either of those seasons this year. If the team continues on the pace it has shown to date, you wonder if there will be a fourth season under her direction.