WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

frank_ezelle · November 24, 2007, 07:44:36 AM

I see that MS College won 60-56 at Rhodes yesterday to even their record to 1-1 after their 57-55 loss at Millsaps. It is a highly inaccurate science to try and compare teams by looking at their results against a common opponent, but this seems to add some perspective to the Millsaps win in their opener.

Millsaps has a tough stretch coming up with a road game to LA College today, a rematch over at MC on Monday, and then a road trip to Hendrix next Saturday. I suspect they'll only dress 8 for those games with Adams still out rehabbing an injury. I think they may have another new player added to the rotation in a couple of weeks which would certainly help the numbers. Obviously this will be a year where success hinges a great deal on keeping everyone healthy and avoiding foul trouble during the games.

frank_ezelle · November 24, 2007, 09:04:00 PM

Millsaps went on the road to LA College this evening and fell behind by 22 at the half (39-17). They basically reversed the game in the second half, outscoring LC by 39-19 in the second half to drop a close 58-54 game. Millsaps only hit 20-60 from the field, 1 of 13 from behind the arc, but they won the rebounding battle 48 to 30.

Crystal Dickerson was far and away the leading rebounder with 18 and Jessica Bowie had a double-double with a game leading 20 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Ronda Webb came back from a 5 fouls in 4 minutes performance against MC and scored 14 points in 31 minutes of actions (with only 1 foul). I was surprised to see that LaReina Adams came off the bench for 23 minutes of action--I thought she wasn't going to play until January. Not surprisingly, her shooting was off with a 1 of 7 performance but she did pull down 7 rebounds. Here's a link to the box score:

http://www.lcwildcats.net/sports/wbball/2007/2007/lcmlspw.htm

frank_ezelle · November 26, 2007, 10:25:01 PM

On Saturday, Millsaps was outscored by 22 in the first half at LC and then outscored LC by 18 in the second half. Monday evening, Millsaps went to MC and took a 15-5 lead, then watched MC go on a 31-6 run for the rest of the half. Trailing by 15 at halftime, Millsaps then outscored MC by 10 in the second half in a game that MC won 60-55.

The bipolar mood swings of the Millsaps team can be explained by a lot of talent combined with very little experience. The 10 player roster consists of 4 players with no previous college experience (3 freshman and a player who was injured last year), 2 transfers new to the team, and 4 returning players with LaReina Adams just getting back from an injury rehab. Here's my early season observation:

--At times, Millsaps looks like they have 5 players on the court who have hardly played together--which of course is the reality of the situation regardless of which 5 are on the court. The 10 player roster has probably limited the amount of scrimmage time in practice and that doesn't help.

--When Millsaps plays bad, it seems like the problem is players being too hesitant instead of too aggressive. Everyone seems to be waiting for someone else to make things happen. Also, with the lack of experience, it seems like bad stretches seem to snowball into really bad stretches.

--My prediction: Millsaps has 5 games in December with only one being a SCAC game. If the players start playing 40 minutes like they play when they get almost hopelessly behind, then they will be a very good team in January and February. Millsaps hasn't finished in the top half of the SCAC standings since the 1995-96 season, but I think this team has the talent to break into that upper half if they can just find the confidence to play like a team that belongs in the upper half.

FlightofthePetrel · November 28, 2007, 10:32:29 AM

Oglethorpe destroyed a Piedmont team yesterday that made the national tournament last year, 86-67 I think. Oglethorpe was up by as many as 30 (74-44) before Piedmont went on a lil run with some bench players in. With the win OU improves to 3-0 and in the latest poll they moved up to a tie for 27th. The ladies are playing well but still are a ways away from playing up to their potential. Keep it up!

Bubba the Petrel · November 28, 2007, 11:55:50 AM

Quote from: FlightofthePetrel on November 28, 2007, 10:32:29 AM
Oglethorpe destroyed a Piedmont team yesterday that made the national tournament last year, 86-67 I think. Oglethorpe was up by as many as 30 (74-44) before Piedmont went on a lil run with some bench players in. With the win OU improves to 3-0 and in the latest poll they moved up to a tie for 27th. The ladies are playing well but still are a ways away from playing up to their potential. Keep it up!

Average margin of victory is, what, 33 points and they're not playing up to their potential? Sweet.

(assuming, of course, that they do play up to potential during the conference schedule...)

FlightofthePetrel · November 28, 2007, 05:15:45 PM

Bubba, a prime example of what I was thinking about when making that comment was the number of turnonvers they had. I understand that with their fast pace of basketball turnovers will be common but alot were unforced. I know they'll be able to sharpen up that aspect of their game and when they do... Look OUt!

Also for any OU fan... or SCAC for that matter check out the Lady Petels Blog hosted by alumni Brett Wise and Kim Wiley who do the broadcasting for the Lady Petrel games. Feel free to comment and click on the links as it helps pay for gas money for those two individuals to cover away games.

http://ladypetrelshoops.blogspot.com/

Bubba the Petrel · November 29, 2007, 11:27:34 AM

Nice - thanks for the blog link, FotP.

frank_ezelle · November 29, 2007, 11:24:42 PM

I'm looking forward to following the Millsaps at Hendrix game this Saturday. The Millsaps team is much improved over last year's team which finished last in the SCAC, but how much of the gap have they closed? Millsaps has split with MC this year, MC beat Rhodes, and Rhodes beat Hendrix--a very unscientific way of making me think that this will be a competitive game. That would be news since Millsaps lost by 29 at Hendrix last year.

The most telling stat of the first three Millsaps game is the scoring breakdown by halves. Millsaps has been outscored 110-75 in the first half and they have outscored their opponents by 91-63 in the second half. The key to Saturday's game will be how quickly Millsaps can get in sync, not always an easy thing to do when you have so many new players. I have a gut feeling that they will be a more settled team going into this week's game and that they'll show improved team play.

It looks like there will be a live stats link at this page for the game that starts at 1 on Saturday:

http://www.hendrixwarriors.com/team.aspx?s=2

HeadingForHome · November 30, 2007, 11:29:53 AM

Tonight we get to see Birmingham Southern's first "conference" game against one of the top teams in the conference. I see that Birmingham Southern is 4-1 this year, so I assume this will be a good game at Oglethorpe tonight.

What do we know about Birmingham Southern's style of basketball?

I guess I'll know tonight, but I am just trying to get some insite before hand.

Ralph Turner · November 30, 2007, 12:31:09 PM

Quote from: HeadingForHome on November 30, 2007, 11:29:53 AM
Tonight we get to see Birmingham Southern's first "conference" game against one of the top teams in the conference. I see that Birmingham Southern is 4-1 this year, so I assume this will be a good game at Oglethorpe tonight.

What do we know about Birmingham Southern's style of basketball?

I guess I'll know tonight, but I am just trying to get some insight before hand.

Only a 3-point loss to D-1 Centenary
Great post in Reba Ross
Good outside shooter in Mallory Moring
Has the fundamentals of a mid-level mid-range D-1 team.

McMurry could hang within 3-8 in the second half, but Greensboro and Maryville were beaten solidly.

FlightofthePetrel · November 30, 2007, 12:47:47 PM

Should be a good game tonight. OU will be on their game, as will the Petrel Nation.

Ralph Turner · November 30, 2007, 08:31:15 PM

Quote from: FlightofthePetrel on November 30, 2007, 12:47:47 PM
Should be a good game tonight. OU will be on their game, as will the Petrel Nation.

Big win for the Petrels!

OU 75, BSC 72!

Congatulations!

FlightofthePetrel · November 30, 2007, 11:39:49 PM

Thanks for the praise Ralph. The ladies played hard tonight and came away with a big win over a good Birmingham Southern team!

OU was led by Kulavic with 17 pts. 11 Reb and 5 ast. Findley chipped in 16 pts. 4 reb and 4 assists while Jamie Osmanson had a career high 13 points.

The whole team played great D and stayed focused, even after losing a 7 point lead going into the half and shortly after halftime going down by as many as 8 themselves. This team is really maturing and I can't wait to see what they can do the rest of the season. Go Petrels!

FlightofthePetrel · November 30, 2007, 11:55:57 PM

I know Birmingham is not elligible for the conference title, or NCAA tournament for that matter, for a few years. Their wins and losses do not effect their conference opponents, but does this still count as a South Region win? Any help would be appreciated...

Ralph Turner · December 01, 2007, 03:19:58 PM

Petrel, congratulations on the win.

The games versus B-SC will not count as in-region, until they are in the third year of provisional status.

I hope that the Athletic Department at BSC has its act together so well, that they can complete the 4-year process in 3.

The fact that the games don't count are why I think that they are so valuable. That was a good home win. We can compare BSC with McMurry, OU, Trinity, DPU, etc.

OU is on my radar screen among South Region teams.