WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

It's always disappointing to watch the team you root for lose at Muskingum.  Their gym is like a shrine to the decades-long mediocrity of Muskie athletics.  They have a banner for each sport, listing the years in which Muskingum has won an OAC crown.  With the notable exception of softball, in which they are dominant, these banners recount a staggering amount of futility.  In most sports, the last conference title was in the 1980s or even earlier.  All of the banners, except softball, have lots and lots of blank space on them.  If I were a Muskingum athlete, I'd be pretty embarrassed.  So it hurts a little more when the NCAC's odds-on favorite goes into that gym and leaves with an 'L.'

Such was the case with Denison tonight, bested 70-64 by the Muskies.  This was a game that the Big Red could have, and probably should have, won, but they had no answer for Tiffany Youel and her school-record 37 points.  Both teams started slowly, but Denison was able to build a 6 point lead in the first 5+ minutes, then expand it to as much as 12, only to ease up and let Muskingum go on a 14-3 run to get right back in the game.  DU then sleepwalked through the first ten minutes of the second half, watching a one-point lead turn into 13 point deficit at the 9:40 mark.  It was only then that the Big Red got their edge back, and they got it from an unlikely source: a couple of breathtakingly horrible calls by one ref.  Re-inspired, Denison went on a 15-2 run over the next 5:13 to tie the game.  The rest of the way it was nip and tuck, but the visitors were never able to regain the lead and eventually had the clock slip away.

The game's stats were pretty even--Musky had slim edges in FG% (38%-37%), rebounds (41-39), and turnovers (9-10)--and Muskingum had almost as many fouls (15) as did the Big Red (18).  But the circumstances of those fouls were completely different.  Under Denison's hoop, the refs let the home team throw their opponents around like rag dolls, leading to 9 steals by the hosts, while at the opposite end, the least contact would invariably send a Muskie to the line.  The Muskies were a calm 19 of 22 from the line, while Denison attempted just 10 free throws all night (making 7). 

Special mention has to be made of the performance by Ms. Youel.  After misfiring on her first three long-range attempts in the first half she found her range, hitting six straight bombs from the arc, or well beyond it--on one play, she just calmly dribbled up the center of the court and let fly from at least 25 feet before anyone was even paying attention.  Muskingum did an excellent job of setting screens to get her open on the perimeter, but she didn't need them, as she was hitting even with a hand in her face.  DU did a better job keeping her bottled up in the second, thereby opening up the paint a bit for her teammates.  Unable to get anything going from the arc, she did her damage at the stripe, hitting 6 of 7 with a very smooth stroke.  She was complimented by a double-double by teammate Jessica McKenzie, with 22 points and 14 boards.  Both of these women will reach the 1,000 point milestone in the near future: Youel is now at 991, while McKenzie is at 959 for her career.

Still, if Denison had played a full 40 minutes, neither the officials not the otherworldly play of Tiffany Youel would have overcome them.  They have only themselves to blame.  Haley Dahlgard led the visitors with 14 points, all of them in the first half.  Denison falls to 1-2 and next faces Marietta in the Big Red's home opener next Wednesday.  Box; recap.

Elsewhere around the NCAC:
Washington & Jefferson 73, Allegheny (1-2) 68
Bluffton 81, Earlham (0-3) 59
Capital 77, Kenyon (0-3) 41
John Carroll 94, Oberlin (0-3) 39
Franklin 83, Ohio Wesleyan (0-3) 79
Wittenberg (3-0) 52, Ohio Northern 44

[David Collinge]

Congratulations to Wittenberg junior Stephanie Boardman, named as the first NCAC Women's Player of the Week for this season.  Boardman, the MVP of the season-opening Jackie Ammons Memorial Tournament at Peace College, poured in 52 points as the Tigers cruised to the tournament title.  Stephanie added a team-high 12 points in Witt's impressive win at ONU on Tuesday.

[David Collinge]

A nearly full slate of games on tap this afternoon and evening, with only the Denison Big Red getting the day off:
* Both Allegheny and Hiram will be participating in the 24th Annual Jim Meagle Turkey Shoot Tournament at Marietta College.  Hiram kicks things off with the host Pioneers, followed by Allegheny taking on Penn St.-Beaver.  Despite the presence of conference foes, this is a regular tournament (i.e., not classic format), making it possible for an Allegheny-Hiram non-conference matchup on Sunday.
* Ohio Wesleyan hopes to get off the schneid against Notre Dame (O.) in the Olivet College Thanksgiving Tournament.  The other participants are Carnegie Mellon and the host Comets, one of whom will be privy to the Bishops' Sunday sermon.
* Wittenberg puts their 3-0 record on the line in Wilmington's Fred Raizk Thanksgiving Tournament, where they will face Bethany College Saturday and either Pitt-Bradford or the host Quakers on Sunday.  Both Bethany and Pitt-Bradford participated in Wooster's Nan Nichols Classic last weekend, where they finished third and fourth, respectively, so there's good reason to anticipate a Witt/Wilma matchup on Sunday.  Such a game would provide a good early measuring stick for the conference race, given that Wilmington dumped Denison last weekend by 26 points.

In non-tournament action,
* Earlham hosts Mt. St. Joseph;
* Kenyon travels to Thiel;
* Oberlin visits LaRoche; and
* Wooster welcomes Bluffton.

[David Collinge]

Allegheny 77, Penn St.-Beaver 67...Four Gators in double figures, led by Britni Mohney's 17 and Emilie Simone's double double (16/11).  'Gheny faces host Marietta tomorrow.
Marietta 78, Hiram 56...Hiram with 20 turnovers and -12 rebound margin; Brittany Mayle leads with 16 points.  Hiram will play Penn St.-Beaver tomorrow.
OWU 86, Notre Dame 78...Pam Quigney with 32 and Kayla Gordon with 30 to lead the Bishops to their first win of the season.
Mt. St. Joseph 71, Earlham 64...Tasha Merrill scores 22, and first-year Nikki Darrett adds 18 plus 9 rebounds.
Thiel 72, Kenyon 62...Four Ladies in double figures, but turnovers remain a big problem.
Bluffton 73, Wooster 70...Career game for Kaitlin Krister with 26 points, 11 boards, 3 steals.
Wittenberg 75, Bethany 50...Witt scores game's first 12 points and never look back.  Tigers led by posts Sarah Watson (17 points) and Stephanie Boardman (13 points/13 boards).  Witt will face unbeaten Wilmington tomorrow.
LaRoche 60, Oberlin 53

[David Collinge]

Today's results:
Wilmington 82, Wittenberg 74...This one reads like it was a good game.  Witt is still having turnover problems (21 yesterday, 25 more today) and could not hope to overcome Kortney Kim's school-record 45 points.  But Witt did have the lead late (66-60) and, FWIW, did better at Wilmington than Denison did last week (88-62).
Allegheny 64, Marietta 53...Gators win the Turkey Shoot Tournament behind a double-double (15/10) from tournament MVP Jill Gregory.
Penn St.-Beaver 73, Hiram 67 (at Marietta)...Caitlyn Ruese's double-double (16/11) was not enough to keep the Terriers from a fourth-place Turkey Shoot finish.
OWU 97, Olivet 75...Bishops claim the Olivet Thanksgiving Tournament title with ease.  Tyler Cordell had 25 on 8/12 shooting, while tournament MVP Pam Quigney added 16 to give her 48 for the weekend.

Two more non-conference games (Oberlin at Heidelberg on Monday and Wittenberg at Baldwin-Wallace on Tuesday) before Wednesday's conference openers.

[David Collinge]

Congratulations to OWU's sophomore guard Pam Quigney, this week's NCAC Player of the Week.  Quigney tallied 79 points in three games, leading the Bishops to their first two wins of the season. 
Edit: it seems that the conference couldn't locate a photo of Pam.  Here's one from the OWU website, taken last season when she still sported #12:

[David Collinge]

Despite Alyssa Clark scoring 28 on 10 of 20 shooting (4 of 8 from the arc), Heidelberg sends Oberlin to their fifth straight defeat tonight, 74-65, in Tiffin.  The Yeowomen scored the game's first six points and led by as many as nine until the Berg ended the half on a 9-2 run, slicing the Oberlin lead to just two points.  A 14-2 Heidelberg run opened the second half, but Oberlin battled back to within two points on a Katie Thompson triple with 11:18 remaining.  The locals pushed the lead back out to as many as 9 with 5:52 remaining, and Oberlin answered with a 9-2 run over the next 3:35, capped by a trey from Clark.  Heidelberg's Stacy Richard answered with a three-pointer of her own, and the hosts sealed the deal with five free throws and two fast break layups down the stretch.  For the game, the Yeowomen hit a respectable 37% from the arc, including 6 of 13 after the break, but were just 15 of 48 (31%) inside it.  Heidelberg was no better, held to 32% shooting by the Oberlin defense, but they outscored their guests by 10 points from the free throw line, and that was the difference.  Box.  Oberlin returns home to open NCAC play against Wooster on Wednesday.

[David Collinge]

Wittenberg stepped up in class tonight to take on Baldwin-Wallace, and came up on the short end of a 77-57 decision.  The Yellow Jackets got out to a quick two touchdown lead an maintained it for most of the the rest of the contest.  B-W had an answer for everything the Tigers tried on offense, and found numerous holes in the Tiger D, leading to a 22-point halftime advantage.  In the decisive first half, the Jackets shot a blistering 63%, connecting from inside and out (4/8 from the arc), while holding the Tigers to just 35%, allowing 8 field goals but forcing 13 turnovers.  Wittenberg ended up shooting just 29% for the game, but that number was dragged down by 2/17 desperation shooting in the last 5 minutes (1/12 from the arc).  Witt committed 22 turnovers, but most of these were of the "forced" variety (B-W recorded 9 steals on the night.)  The visitors had the better of play through most of the second half, but it was not enough to make a significant dent in the Jacket lead (Witt never got closer than 14 after the half.)  Make no mistake, Baldwin-Wallace is several notches above the best that the NCAC has to offer.  Box; recap. 

On Saturday, we take the first large step towards deciding just who is the best that the NCAC has to offer when Denison travels to Springfield to face Wittenberg.  In the meantime, NCAC competition begins tomorrow night with games at Earlham, Hiram and Oberlin as well as two more non-conference tilts:
NCAC games:
Allegheny at Hiram
OWU at Earlham
Wooster at Oberlin
Non-conference games:
Marietta at Denison
Case Western Reserve at Kenyon

[David Collinge]

Tonight's results:
Hiram 68, Allegheny 62...not sure what to make of this score, considering that 'Gheny beat two teams that beat Hiram this past weekend.  This could be a bad loss for the Gators, or it could signify that Hiram is getting better.
Wooster 74, Oberlin 57...career-best 33 points from Kym Wenz, who was 6-for-11 from the arc.  Oberlin gets a double-double (10/10) from January Baker, but shoots just 21% in the second half.
OWU 97, Earlham 44...Bishops put four in double figures, including a double-double (11/13) from Kayla Gordon.  22-0 run during the first half made the outcome academic.
Case 60, Kenyon 46...Ladies with 24 more turnovers, right on their season average.  Looks like Coach Helfant is tinkering with the lineup, looking for an answer.
Denison 74, Marietta 63...Come-from-behind victory at home against a team that 'Gheny beat on the road by 11...and 'Gheny lost to Hiram (who lost to Marietta by 22).  So much for the "comparative scores game."

Standings:
Ohio Wesleyan 1-0 (3-3 overall)
Hiram 1-0 (2-2)
Wooster 1-0 (2-2)
Wittenberg 0-0 (4-2)
Denison 0-0 (2-2)
Kenyon 0-0 (0-5)
Allegheny 0-1 (3-3)
Earlham 0-1 (0-5)
Oberlin 0-1 (0-5)

Saturday's games:
Hiram at OWU
Denison at Wittenberg
Kenyon at Allegheny
Earlham at Oberlin
Case Western Reserve at Wooster

[woosterbooster]

See, this is the major difference between men's and women's sports.  There are NO women in here!

It's not so much the difference in skill levels or athleticism on the playing fields.  It's the lack of a serious following by women, especially away from the grandstands.  Where are the partisan discussions that permeate men's sports (albeit too often to too high a degree)?  They just don't seem to exist, even as we begin to get into a third generation of the existence of women's and girl's athletic teams.  I like watching women's sports, and a certain proportion of male sportsfans do, but where is the interest from those women that participate, or participated, in arguing whose team is better, or which shooting guard can best bury the three?  It still ain't happening.

Prove me wrong, ladies!

[David Collinge]

Denison gets the key road victory at Wittenberg, 58-54.  Big Red dominated the first half, leading by 11 at the break, but the Tigers clawed back into the game on the back of tenacious defense that contributed to icy Denison shooting.  Witt actually took a 1-point lead a couple of times down the stretch, but was unable to seal the deal.  Denison was led by Ellen O'Brien with 14 points (12 in the first half) and 4 assists, while Wittenberg got huge games from Stephanie Boardman (22 points, 13 boards) and Katherine Hueter (12 pts, 8 rebounds, 4 assists).  Box.

Oberlin nips Earlham, 52-50.  More than half of Earlham's shots came from downtown, but they hit just 8 of them (27%) when what they needed was nine.  Alyssa Clark led the Yeowomen with 17 points and 10 boards, while Earlham's Nikki Darrett had a huge game with 23 points and 12 rebounds.  Box.

Allegheny rebounds from their unexpected loss to Hiram to knock off winless Kenyon, 51-47, at Meadville.  The Ladies held the Gators to a measly 29% shooting, but committed 22 turnovers and 21 fouls, leading to a Gator surplus in field goal (+5) and free throw (+17) attempts. Allegheny outscored Kenyon by 13 at the line, as the Gators committed just 12 fouls, leading to a mere four free throws for the Ladies.  Kenyon actually scored the game's first seven points, expanding their lead to as many as 10 before settling for a six-point halftime advantage.  Allegheny made a couple of runs, which were countered by Kenyon, until Hillary Collins nailed a three-pointer with 3:06 remaining to give the hosts their first lead of the day.  The Gators then hit five free throws while holding their guests to 1-for-5 shooting down the stretch to claim the victory. Box.

OWU takes down Hiram 78-50.  The Bishops shot 48% while holding the Terriers to 26% shooting.  Kayla Gordon (17 pts., 9 reb.) led four Bishops in double figures.  Hiram got points from all 10 players who saw action, but none had more than Tiffany Shields' 11.  Box.

In the lone non-conference game of the day, Case Western Reserve defeated Wooster 89-73 at Timken Gym.  The Scots led by 13 points about 5 minutes into the second half, and then CWRU exploded for a game-ending 47-18 run, with the final score matching the game's largest lead.  The usual suspects led the Scots on the scoreboard: Kym Wenz 20, Kaitlin Krister 19, Meridith Wilson 13.  Woster shot 49% overall, but turned the ball over 21 times (vs. 14 for the Spartans) and allowed Case to sink more free throws than the Scots attempted, the classic formula for victory. 

Standings:
Ohio Wesleyan 2-0 (4-3 overall)
Denison 1-0 (3-2)
Wooster 1-0 (2-3)
Allegheny 1-1 (4-3)
Hiram 1-1 (2-3)
Oberlin 1-1 (1-5)
Wittenberg 0-1 (4-3)
Kenyon 0-1 (0-6)
Earlham 0-2 (0-6)

There are no more conference games until January.  This week's non-conference slate includes:
Mon: Allegheny at Penn St.-Behrend
Wed: Allegheny at Grove City
Wed: Denison at Bethany
Thu: Oberlin at Ursuline

[woosterbooster]

Not that I believe anyone will read this but Collinge, but here are some observations after watching Case Western at Wooster.

1.  Wooster really needs to use a more staggered approach to substituting.  With a serious lack of depth, it's imperative that they keep at least two starters on the floor at all times, and preferably three.  Sitting four, or worse yet five, of them down at the same time is why they are giving up monstrous runs that lead directly to the loss of ballgames.  I've seen it before, and I saw it again yesterday.  By the time they got their first string back into the game, not only had Case regained their lost confidence, but their whole team had lost theirs, and the game was gone.

No starter needs to have reduced minutes.  As a matter of fact, the minutes of starting point guard Keshia Butler and Deanna Pickett (who needs to be the fifth starter) should be increased.

Example of players on the court by clock increments:

20-16: Krister, Wenz, Wilson, Butler, Pickett.
16-13: Wenz, Wilson, Butler (resting Krister and Pickett).
13-10: Wenz, Krister, Pickett ( resting Wilson and Butler).
10-7: Krister, Wilson, Butler (resting Wenz and Pickett).
7-4: Wenz, Pickett (resting Krister, Wilson, and Butler).
4-0: Krister, Wenz, Wilson, Butler, Pickett.

Using the same pattern for both halves would give the following minutes to the starters:
Krister: 28
Wenz: 34
Wilson: 28
Butler: 28
Pickett: 28

Wenz could (and probably should) be pulled for a quick break sometime during her 10 minute stretch, which is the longest that anyone would be consecutively on the court.  Other minor adjustments can be made based upon the stamina of the individuals, how they're playing, foul trouble, and the game situation.  But that's the idea, that being that there is never a really weak team, and especially a lack of some scoring threats, on the floor.

2. When the game is over, the game is over.  If you're down by fifteen points with a couple of minutes to go, call off the dogs, and STOP FOULING!  You aren't going to catch up, nobody can.  Accept the loss and show good sportsmanship by allowing the game to end.   

[David Collinge]

Allegheny gets a double double-double (with sprinkles, please!) from Lauren Donahoe (19/10) and Stephanie Wolf (10/13) and drops Penn St.-Behrend 75-65.  The Gators shot 41%, nearly all of them from inside the arc (whatever happened to Brittany Bell, anyway?), and overcame a breathtaking 36 turnovers (20 of them steals) to post the road win.  The Gators held the Lions to just 32% shooting, forced 27 turnovers, and won the battle of the boards by a staggering +24.  'Gheny moves to 5-3 and next travels to Grove City for a contest Wednesday.  Box; recap.

[David Collinge]

Wooster sharpshooter Kym Wenz has been honored with the NCAC Player of the Week award for Dec. 8.  Wenz poured in 33 points and grabbed 5 steals in the Scots' victory at Oberlin, and added another 20 points in Wooster's loss to Case.  Congratulations, Kym!

[David Collinge]

Tonight's unpleasant non-conference action:
Grove City 54, Allegheny 51...The Gators trailed by 11 at the half, but managed to force a tie which lasted inside the final minute of play, but an old-fashioned three-point play gave the Wolverines the lead, and two free throws iced it.  Allegheny shot just 29% in the first half while their hosts canned 52% of their shots.  For the evening, the Gators shot at a 37% clip, failed to sink a three-pointer all night (whatever happened to Brittany Bell, anyway?), and recorded a paltry 3 assists on 22 buckets.  They did force 23 turnovers and held GCC to 33% shooting during their second-half comeback, but it came up just short.  Recap; box.

Bethany 76, Denison 63...Geez, DU is one enigmatic ballclub.  I've seen Bethany twice, and they're not a good basketball team.  Wittenberg punished the Bison by 25 points less than two weeks ago, before losing--at home--to the Big Red.  Frankly, Bethany is an opponent that Denison should beat with ease, but instead they were outscored by better than a point per minute for most of the first half.  After missing 71% of their first-half shots, including making just one of 10 treys, Denison put together a 16-2 run over a 5:47 span in the 2nd half, cutting the lead to just four, but the comeback ran out of steam and the Bison gradually pulled away.  The Big Red had three players score in double figures, led by senior post Carolyn Simpson, whose 16 points included her 1,000th career point.  Congratulations, although I'm certain she'd have preferred her achievement to have been under happier circumstances.  Recap; box.