WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Tonight:
Kenyon 54, Mt. Vernon Nazarene 52...Ladies get off the schneid, and they do it on the home court of an unbeaten NAIA school.  Go figger...
Thiel 51, Hiram 37...Terriers shoot just 24%, and their leading scorer (Tiffany Shields) had just 7 points.
Earlham at St. Mary-of-the-Woods, no score reported.

[David Collinge]

Today:
Wooster 74, Pine Manor 30...what can be said about a game like this?  PMC (1-6) shot under 20%, missed 10 of 14 free throws, surrendered 66 rebounds, and allowed 40 Scot points in the paint.  Wooster turned the ball over a shocking 26 times, but the Gators could only muster 6 points off those turnovers.  Kym Wenz (20) and Kaitlin Krister (11) outscored PMC all by themselves; Wenz also racked up 10 rebounds and 5 steals.

Yesterday:
Still no result from the Earlham/SMWC game.

[David Collinge]

THIS JUST IN...
Saturday's result: Earlham 84, St. Mary-of-the-Woods College 73....details [probably not] forthcoming, film at 11!

Elsewhere (and elsewhen):
Worcester St. 82, Wooster 63...although I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility that those scores got mixed up along the line. Kym Wenz had 22, including a perfect 3-for-3 from the arc, and frosh post Christina Cruce had her second consecutive career-best performance with 16 points.  Worcester St. trailed by 1 at the half but shot better than 58% in the second to seize the win.  Also pivotal were the results from the free throw line, where WSC was 13 for 17 while COW was a piteous 4 of 11 (and just 1/6 in the second half).  Box.
Bluffton 58, Hiram 57...trailing by nine at the half, Hiram came all the way back to grab the lead with 0:08 left...only to be thwarted by a pair of free throws with 0:03 remaining.  The Terriers had three players score in double figures, abetted by Caitlyn Ruese's 9 points and 12 rebounds.  Box.
Adrian 76, Earlham 49...Tasha Merrill scored 15 and grabbed 10 boards, but it wasn't enough against the now 6-1 Bulldogs.  The Quakers made a healthy 56% of their shots taken inside the arc, but just 19% of those from beyond it...and they took roughly the same number of each (27 and 26, respectively).  Adrian's shooting was both better (48% overall, 52% from downtown) and more selective (21 treys, 41 two-pointers), and that spells victory.  Between them, these two teams misfired on 20 of 29 free throws...!  Box.

[David Collinge]

Earlham may not report scores, but the do nominate players, and this week one of their nominees has been homored as the NCAC Player of the Week.  First-year Nikki Darret copped the award by virtue of her 22-point second half at SMWC, leading the Quakers to their first win of the season.  Congratulations, Nikki!

[David Collinge]

Tonight:
Pitt-Greensburg 82, Allegheny 62...'Gheny gets 22 from Stephanie Wolf but can't overcome 57% shooting by the 9-1 Bobcats.  The Gators shot a respectable 43%, but made just three baskets from beyond the arc...say, whatever happened to Brittany Bell, anyway?
Ohio Wesleyan 95, Otterbein 86...this was a great one.  The halftime score was 51-51, if that tells you anything.  Otterbein shot 55% overall and had four double figure scorers, but OWU also had four in double figures and hit 49% of their attempts.  The difference was that OWU dominated the glass (39-27, 17-9 on the offensive glass) and that Ott finally went cold down the stretch (they hit just 1 of 8 treys in the second half.)  Ott had a beautiful 24 assists on 38 baskets, while OWU was almost as effective with 19 assists on 33 hoops.  This was not a game of poor defense, it was rather a combination of excellent offense and hot shooting, and a joy to watch.  OWU's Kayla Gordon led all scorers with 31 on 10-of-14 shooting (3/3 from the arc, 8/8 from the stripe), and was also the game's top rebounder with 11 (6 offensive).  Otterbein's Laura Roth recorded an unusual double-double with 26 points and 11 assists.  Box.

[David Collinge]

Today:
Anderson 71, Earlham 60...the EC led 57-55 with 6:42 left before the wheels came off.  Tasha Merrill had 23 points and 8 boards to lead the Quakers, who went 8 for 27 from the arc.  I'm interested to see this team play to try to figure out why they take so many threes.  In the first nine games, they've averaged 23.1 three-point attempts per game, which is more than 42% of their total FG attempts.  The thing is, they're not very good at it, hitting just 24%.  Is this a pseudo-Grinnell strategy, or does it suggest troubles getting the ball into the post?  Inquiring minds want to know!

[woosterbooster]

With courts now having multiple three-point lines, there is quite a bit of confusion out there.  The Earlham players may be feeling, after successfully working the ball across so many demarcations, that they MUST BE in the paint, when actually they've only crossed over the NBA, men's NCAA, and international three-point lines.  A sad state of affairs, if you ask me, which I'm sure nobody will.

[David Collinge]

To Wooster Booster and the other thousands of you that constitute the silent majority of my readership, I wish the happiest of holidays.  May your new year be filled with buzzer-beaters, behind-the-back assists, and Brittany Bell sightings. 

[woosterbooster]

Happy Holidays, DC.  May the new year show an upturn to the economy but a continued downturn to the fate of the Wittenberg men hoopsters.  And here's hoping that you decide to broaden your basketball horizons with sightings of Samantha P., Jena S., and even the current version of your neighboring Hiland Hawks at the CintheC.

[Mr. Ypsi]

To Wooster Booster and the other thousands of you that constitute the silent majority of my readership, I wish the happiest of holidays.  May your new year be filled with buzzer-beaters, behind-the-back assists, and Brittany Bell sightings. 

Merry Christmas, David!

signed,

one of the silent majority

[woosterbooster]

To Wooster Booster and the other thousands of you that constitute the silent majority of my readership, I wish the happiest of holidays.  May your new year be filled with buzzer-beaters, behind-the-back assists, and Brittany Bell sightings. 

Merry Christmas, David!

signed,

one of the silent majority

Aww, I seen you in action in the Political Forum.  You ain't that silent.

[Mr. Ypsi]

To Wooster Booster and the other thousands of you that constitute the silent majority of my readership, I wish the happiest of holidays.  May your new year be filled with buzzer-beaters, behind-the-back assists, and Brittany Bell sightings. 

Merry Christmas, David!

signed,

one of the silent majority

Aww, I seen you in action in the Political Forum.  You ain't that silent.

Merry Christmas to you, too, WooBoo!

[David Collinge]

Staten Island 74, Denison 64 (at San Diego)...The Big Red trailed by 13 at the half, but pulled themselves back into the contest, forcing a tie on three separate occasions, the last with 3:54 remaining.  But down the stretch DU missed five straight field goal attempts and four consecutive free throws, allowing the Dolphins to cruise out to a ten-point lead while simultaneously running out the clock.  Shaina Kaiser and Sarah Perrine led the Big Red with 20 and 19 points, respectively, and Carolyn Simpson ripped down 16 rebounds, but the Granvillians turned the ball over 28 times and shot just 53% (9/17) from the line.  Denison returns to action on Monday when they face tourney host Point Loma Nazarene.  Box.

[David Collinge]

Westfield St. 72, Kenyon 64...Despite 21 steals leading to a +20 FGA margin, Kenyon falls to the hot-shooting and non-fouling Owls.  The Ladies' advantage in shots attempted resulted in just a two-point edge, as Westfield St. shot a blistering 54% from the floor.  The foul discrepancy (18-10) was converted by the Owls into a +10 margin at the free throw line.  The good news is that the game was over before noon, leaving the Ladies plenty of time to enjoy a sunny 78 degree Daytona Beach afternoon.  Dark clouds, in the form of #10 Amherst, loom on tomorrow's forecast, however.  Box.

[David Collinge]

Five games on Monday:
Denison at Point Loma Nazarene
Kenyon vs. Amherst (at Daytona Beach)
Heidelberg at OWU
Mt. St. Joseph at Wittenberg
Wooster at Westminster
I'll be traveling all day, and won't be able to provide my customary updates until Tuesday.  So please, just sit quietly, with your hands folded on your desks, and wait patiently until I return.