WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Denison 64, Oberlin 41...Denison, leading by just one at the half, opens the second half with a 16-2 run to put this game on ice.  The Big Red shot just 22% in the first, but improved that to 42% in the second, while limiting Oberlin to 23% second-half shooting.  DU also converted +11 rebounding and +8 turnover advantages into a +12 edge in shots taken, and hit a sizzling 18 of 22 free throws.  The victors also recorded 16 assists on just 19 baskets.  Denison had three players in double figures, including another big game from senior post Varolyn Simpson (11 pts., 8 of 10 from the line, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks.)  Oberlin was led by Alyssa Clark with 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Ohio Wesleyan 84, Earlham 60...The Bishops raced out to a 19-point halftime advantage and despite shooting just 30% after the break, never led by less than 17 in securing the home-court win.  OWU recorded 18 steals and outrebounded the Quakers by 11, and on the other end notched 19 assists on 32 hoops.  Tyler Cordell was 10 of 15 from the floor for a game-high 24 points, and added 6 rebounds and four assists.  Kayla Gordon had a huge game with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals, and 4 assists.  Tasha Merrill led the EC with 18 points and seven boards.
Allegheny 58, Kenyon 52...Similar to Denison, Allegheny used a 16-3 run at the start of the second half to break open a close game, then held off the scrappy Ladies the rest of the way in Gambier.  Allegheny applied a smothering full-court defense that gave Kenyon fits all afternoon.  Still shorthanded, the Gators did see the return of Stephanie Wolf, who recorded 14 points and 8 rebounds in 36 tough minutes.  Jill Gregory led the Gator attack with 21 points, shooting 6 of 9 from the field and 8 of 9 from the line.  Shannon Culbreath hustled her way to a game-high 13 rebounds.  Kenyon, also shorthanded, got Kat Powers back into the lineup, but for just 10 mostly ineffective minutes.  Kathleen Williams was the only reliable scoring threat for the Ladies, tossing in 15 points on 7/14 shooting.  Suzanne Kahle added 10 points and 4 assists.
Wooster 70, Hiram 61...Following the same pattern as Denison and Allegheny, Wooster opened the second half with a 12-2 run that erased a three-point deficit, then survived several Terrier runs to hang on for the victory.   Kym Wenz was not at her best, shooting just 6 for 18 from the floor, but made up for it with a 12-for-15 performance from the line, giving her 26 points to go along with 11 rebounds.  Kaitlin Krister was just one carom short of a double-double herself, with 17 points and 9 boards.  Hiram's Ashley Drum came off the bench to get her own double-double (13 pts., 12 reb.), while three other Terriers scored in double figures.  Both teams were efficient moving the ball, as Wooster recorded 17 assists on 22 baskets, while Hiram was credited with 13 assists on 21 hoops.

Standings:
Denison 6-0 / 8-6
Ohio Wesleyan 5-2 / 9-6
Wittenberg 4-2 / 9-5
Allegheny 4-3 / 8-8
Kenyon 4-3 / 5-10
Wooster 3-3 / 5-8
Hiram 2-4 / 3-11
Oberlin 1-5 / 3-11
Earlham 0-7 / 1-14

This week's schedule, with a few non-conference games for added flavor:
Monday:  Carnegie Mellon at Oberlin
Wednesday:
Denison at Kenyon
Earlham at Wittenberg
Oberlin at Hiram
Wilmington at OWU
Wooster at Lake Erie
Allegheny is idle

[David Collinge]

For the second time this season, the NCAC has tabbed Wooster's Kym Wenz as the Player of the Week.  Kym poured in 39 points in two games this week, which would be a huge week for most anyone else but actually reduced Kym's scoring average to 21.0.  Still that's good enough to lead the loop by 3.6 ppg.  Kym matched her league-leading 3.0 steals per game average with 6 steals vs. Hiram and Denison.and also ranks in the league's top 10 in five other offensive categories as she puts together another outstanding season.  Congratulations, Kym!

[David Collinge]

 
I forgot all about that CMU-Oberlin game Monday, which was won by CMU 52-47.  Sorry.

Moving on...
Denison 71, Kenyon 49...Down 6-2 early, Denison held the Ladies without a field goal during a 17-2 run over the ensuing 8:30, and Kenyon never got closer than 7 the rest of the way.  Carolyn Simpson had a huge night with 16 points and 14 boards, while teammate Katie St. Clair just missed a double-double of her own with 16 and 9.  KC's Kathleen Williams had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but overall the Ladies were outshot 45% to 26% and outrebounded 48-36.
Wittenberg 73, Earlham 64...Wittenberg has had a nasty habit this season of falling into an early hole and playing catch-up, but this really takes the cake.  When the horn sounded ending the first half, the scoreboard showed 1-14 Earlham with a 37-29 lead on the 9-5 Tigers.  The Quakers, who have caught a certain amount of grief from these quarters for taking too many threes, connected on a blistering 6 of 13 in the first half, including four of six by Katy Buda.  With Wittenberg having to respect the longball, Earlham was also proficient inside, knocking down eight of 11 shots with five assists.  The Tigers had a good shooting half themselves, hitting 42% including 3 treys, enabling them to stay in touch with the red-hot Quakers.  After the half, Witt inherited the hot end of the court, hitting better than 51% of their second-half shots, while holding the rapidly cooling Quakers to 36% and just a single three-pointer.  EC took a two point lead on Tasha Merrill's trey with 9:04 left before halftime, and held the lead for the next 16 minutes, until a Victoria Leali trey capped a 14-5 Witt run to begin the half and gave Witt the lead.  The lead changed hands a couple of times before Carrie Dyer's layup at 8:45 put the Tigers on top for good.  Leali and Dyer led a balanced scoring attack with 14 and 12, respectively, and Dyer added a game-high 7 rebounds.  Buda ended up with 20 points, including 5-of-9 shooting from the arc, and Tasha Merrill led all scorers with 23 points to go along with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. 
Hiram 65, Oberlin 49...Hiram dominated the paint with a +13 rebound margin, 32 points in the paint, and 17 second-chance points, and knocked down six three-pointers to fend off the Yeowomen.  Hiram recorded 17 assists on 24 baskets, and converted 18 Oberlin turnovers into 18 Terrier points.  Jess Cowan led the victors with 12, while Ashley Drum contributed 11 points and 10 boards.  Alyssa Clark led the Yeowomen in three categories with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Wilmington 70, Ohio Wesleyan 59...OWU fell behind by 17 at the half and trailed by 25 with 11:32 to go before mounting a roaring comeback to at least make a game of it.  The Bishops scored the next 10 points and held the Quakers to just four field goals over the last 11:32 (one a buzzer-beater), but there just wasn't enough time to overtake the 12-4 Quakers.  Tyler Cordell led OWU with 18 points on 5 of 7 shooting and 7 of 8 from the stripe, while Kayla Gordon grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. 
Lake Erie 68, Wooster 43...The Storm scored the game's first 12 points, and it was all downhill from there for the Fighting Scots.  Wooster turned the ball over 25 times leading to 28 LEC points, and the Scots were outscored in the paint by a decisive 36-8 margin.  Kym Wenz and Kaitlin Krister were held to just seven points between them.  First-year Keshia Butler was the Scots' leading scorer with 8, while Lake Erie had three players score 15 points or better. 

Standings:
Denison 7-0 / 9-6
Wittenberg 5-2 / 10-5
Ohio Wesleyan 5-2 / 9-7
Allegheny 4-3 / 8-8
Wooster 3-3 / 5-9
Kenyon 4-4 / 5-11
Hiram 3-4 / 4-11
Oberlin 1-6 / 3-13
Earlham 0-8 / 1-15

Saturday's games:
Allegheny at Denison
OWU at Wittenberg
Wooster at Earlham
Kenyon at Oberlin
Mt. St. Joseph at Hiram

[David Collinge]

Denison 73, Allegheny 53...The Big Red led the whole way, and enjoyed a 20+ point lead for the last quarter as they cruised to victory.  DU shot an even 50% on the afternoon, including a 10-for-20 performance from the arc, while holding the visiting Gators to just 34.5%.  Shaina Kaiser led all scorers with 15 points, and Ellen O'Brien notched 6 assists, raising her average to almost 4.2 apg with a better than 3-to-1 assists to turnover ratio.  Carolyn Simpson grabbed eight rebounds, pushing her career total over the 700 mark; she becomes just the third Big Red player to record 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in her career.  Allegheny welcomed back Hilary Collins for the first time in over three weeks, and she responded with 8 points in 12 minutes of action.  Shannon Culbreath came off the bench to snatch a game-high 9 rebounds, giving her 45 boards in her last five games.
Wittenberg 73, Ohio Wesleyan 72...Katherine Hueter, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds, hit a runner in the lane with 0:03 remaining to give Wittenberg yet another come-from-behind victory.  With the win, the Tigers move past the Bishops into sole possession of second place.  After a game-opening bucket by Witt's Rachel Dixon, OWU got a pair of layups to take the lead, expanding it to eleven at the half.  The Tigers regained the lead on a Carrie Dyer jumper with 7:11 remaining, setting up a stretch run that saw four ties and 12 lead changes with the teams never separated by more than 3 points.  The Bishops took their last lead on a hoop-and-harm by Rachel Seibel with 0:09 left, but she missed the free throw, which became one of Stephanie Boardman's 9 rebounds and gave Witt a chance to run the winning play.  Boardman had a career-high 31 points on 13 for 22 shooting, while OWU got a big afternoon from Pam Quigney (23 points, 6 boards.)  Witt got a season-best 51% shooting afternoon, negating +5 advantages for OWU in both rebounding and turnover margin; the Bishops took ten more shots but made four fewer than their opponents.
Wooster 66, Earlham 50...The first half was a series of runs: 9-0 Wooster, 11-0 Earlham, then 11-0 Wooster, all leading up to an 8 point Scot lead at the half.  After trading baskets for the first 7:00 of the second period, Wooster started building their lead and eased to the road victory.  Kym Wenz had another huge game with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists; three other Scots contributed 10 or 11 points apiece.  Earlham returned to their usual plan of taking half of their shots from beyond the arc, but today they were as proficient from long range (24%, 21 points) as from inside (29%, 16 points).  Tasha Merrill contributed 16 points to the tally, while Tracy Hill was the game's top rebounder with 11. 
Kenyon 55, Oberlin 27...Oberlin's shooting woes continue as the Ladies hold the Yeowomen to just 20% this afternoon and just 11 first-half points in notching the road victory.  Kenyon could only manage 29% shooting themselves, but it was more than enough to ring up double-digit margins in each half.  Kenyon got scoring contributions from 14 players, led by Laura Goehrke's 13, while Taylor Lenci donated 6 assists to the cause.  Oberlin, which had 25 turnovers vs. just nine baskets, had no players score more than 5 points or two baskets.
Hiram 72, Mt. St. Joseph 63...The Terriers won this free-throw shooting festival, hitting 28 of their 32 attempts (87.5%) while the Lions could manage just 15 of 20 (75%).  Hiram was outshot from the floor by a 42%-35% margin and was outrebounded by 8, but took excellent care of the ball (9 turnovers vs. 21 for MSJ, and 14 assists on 20 baskets), allowing the free throws to be decisive.  Ashely Drum matched her season high with 17 points, while Brittany Mayle (15 points) and Jess Cowan (12) combined to go 18-for-18 from the line.

Standings:
Denison 8-0 / 10-6
Wittenberg 6-2 / 11-5
Ohio Wesleyan 5-3 / 9-8
Wooster 4-3 / 6-9
Kenyon 5-4 / 6-11
Allegheny 4-4 / 8-9
Hiram 3-4 / 5-11
Oberlin 1-7 / 3-14
Earlham 0-9 / 1-16

Wednesday's Games:
Wittenberg at Denison
Ohio Wesleyan at Oberlin
Wooster at Allegheny
Hiram at Kenyon
Earlham is idle

[David Collinge]

Hiram's junior pivot Ashley Drum is this week's NCAC Player of the Week.  Ashley had a double-double against Oberlin and a game-high 17 points vs. MSJ to lead the Terriers to a 2-0 week.  Congratulations, Ashley!

[David Collinge]

The Columbus Dispatch published a laudatory article by Mark Znidar about the NCAC last Thursday, focusing on the conference's leadership role in ensuring equity for women's athletics.  As NCAC Commissioner Dennis Collins points out, "[p]roviding opportunities for women was the biggest thing for the [formation of the] NCAC."  This is a goal that the conference has pursued throughout its 25 year existence, Wabash College notwithstanding. 

Link to the article.

[David Collinge]

The Denison doubleheader (Wittenberg women, Earlham men) is off; the women's game will be held tomorrow, while the men's game is still up in the air.
Kenyon's games with Hiram (men at Hiram, women at Gambier) are off until tomorrow; the women will tip at 7:30 while the men's tip is TBA.
The Oberlin/OWU games (men at Delaware, women at Oberlin) and the Wooster/Allegheny games (men at Wooster, women at Meadville) are still on at the moment, or at least none of the websites have announced a postponement.

UPDATE:
All men's and women's games are now off for tonight and rescheduled for tomorrow night.

[David Collinge]

Denison 74, Wittenberg 51...Denison makes a statement while grabbing a three-game lead in the conference standings, throttling second place Wittenberg to earn the season sweep.  Leading by just five at the half, the Big Red went on a 20-4 run, and the Tigers never got closer than 19 points the rest of the way.  Denison shot a respectable 42% in the first 20:00, then scorched the second half nets at a 55% clip while holding their guests to 36% accuracy on the evening.  DU's leading scorer, Shaina Kaiser, again led the Big Red with 21 on 9/14 shooting.  NCAC assists and A/TO leader Ellen O'Brien padded both stats, recording a dozen assists vs. just a single turnover; Denison as a team had 21 assists on 30 baskets.  Witt was even more efficient, with 18 assists on their 21 hoops.  Witt's Stephanie Boardman, the league leader in FG%, hit seven of 10 shots for 15 points to lead the Tigers.
Ohio Wesleyan 74, Oberlin 60...The Bishops stay even with Wittenberg in the battle for second place, withstanding a late Yeowoman run to notch the road victory.  OWU led by 16 at the half, backed by eight first-half treys (four by Pam Quigney), then stretched the lead to 21 with 6:50 remaining.  Oberlin got back into contact with a 9-0 run over the next four-plus minutes, but the Bishops calmly hit their last eight free throws to ice the victory.  Quigney ended up with 19 points, including 5/7 from the arc, while Kayla Gordon led the victors with 21.  Oberlin, which outrebounded their guests by 13, got a double-double from thousand-point scorer Alyssa Clark (25 pts., 12 reb.)
Allegheny 66, Wooster 45...The Gators used a huge second half to pound the Scots and slip past them in the conference standings.  After a back-and-forth first half (four lead changes, six ties) in which neither team led by more than six, Wooster got back to within two on a Meridith Wilson trey with 17:20 left.  The Gators then scored fifteen of the next 17 points, then followed that up with a 12-1 run that erased any doubt as to the outcome.  In that decisive second half, Allegheny netted 53% of their shots including 3 of 5 from the arc; they recorded nine assists and seven steals against just five turnovers; and held the Fighting Scots to just eight baskets (26%) while forcing nine turnovers.  Emilie Simone and Jill Gregory paced the Gator attack with matching 16-point efforts, while holding NCAC scoring leader Kym Wenz to just 12 points, eight below her average.  Kaitlyn Krister notched a double-double with twelve points and eleven rebounds, enough to push her into the conference lead in rebounding.
Kenyon 56, Hiram 55 (OT)...Kenyon was outshot (40% to 31%) and outrebounded (44-39) but still came away with the nailbiting victory in Gambier.  Neither team was able to build lead larger than eight points all evening.  Hiram, which led at the half by one, led for most of the second half by small margins, but the Ladies got even on a layup by Kathleen Williams with 4:13 remaining.  Williams dropped in another layup, putting the finishing touches on a 21-10 run and giving Kenyon a three-point edge with 2:11 left, but Hiram's Brittany Mayle answered with a trey, and the game was headed to an extra session.  Kenyon got a three-pointer from first-year Suzanne Kahle to take a one-point lead, then stymied the Terriers over the final 2:09 for the victory.  Williams led all scorers with 17 and added nine rebounds.  Hiram got 10 points from reigning NCAC Player of the Week Ashley Drum, and a huge 10 point, 15 rebound evening from Alex Dellas, but in the end could not overcome 26 turnovers as the Ladies take over fourth place in the conference standings.

Standings:
Denison 9-0 / 11-6
Wittenberg 6-3 / 11-6
Ohio Wesleyan 6-3 / 10-8
Kenyon 6-4 / 7-11
Allegheny 5-4 / 9-9
Wooster 4-4 / 6-11
Hiram 3-5 / 5-12
Oberlin 1-8 / 3-15
Earlham 0-9 / 1-16

Saturday's games:
Denison at Hiram
Wittenberg at Wooster
Kenyon at OWU
Oberlin at Earlham
Allegheny is idle

[David Collinge]

Denison 83, Hiram 64...In an afternoon of interesting results, this one is strictly according to Hoyle.  After a back-and-forth first 16:00, Denison closed the half on a 10-0 run, giving them an eight point advantage, then patiently worked the advantage to as much as 25 before settling for the 19 point victory.  Carolyn Simpson led the Big Red with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while Jess Cowan had 16 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead the Hiram scoresheet.  Denison had another excellent ballhandling performance, committing just eight turnovers while recording 19 assists.
Wooster 75, Wittenberg 67...In the afternoon's biggest surprise, Wooster used 54% shooting and a 20-7 run midway through the second half to dispose of archrival Wittenberg and join a five-way tie (in the loss column) for second place in the conference.  The Fighting Scots shot a blistering 61% in the first half, and forced 14 Witt turnovers leading to 23 points, but found themselves with just a four-point halftime lead, thanks in part to Wittenberg's dominance on the boards.  The Tigers recorded 23 first-half rebounds, including 13 on the offensive glass leading to 12 second-chance points.  Wooster had more success on the boards after the break (18-17 Witt) and got a dominant performance in the paint by Kaitlyn Krister, whose 16 second-half points were part of an 18-10 Scot advantage in the paint.  Krister ended up one rebound shy of yet another double-double, recording 21 points and 9 boards, while Kym Wenz had 26 points (10 for 10 from the line) and 5 steals, adding to her conference lead in both categories.  Stephanie Boardman headlined the Tiger scoresheet with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Kenyon 73, Ohio Wesleyan 72...The defending champions survived a thriller in Delaware, earning a season sweep of the Battling Bishops and putting both teams into the second place mix.  The game was fast-paced and rough-edged from the outset, with neither team able to establish a firm grasp on the lead.  Kenyon'g guards were able to get the ball inside to Kathleen Williams, who used her strength and finesse to roll in nine of 11 shots for 18 points, as well as score for themselves from the arc.  Suzanne Kahle, Elana Carlson, and Laurel Stokes combined to go 8 for 17 from the arc, score 34 points, and record ten assists.  On the other end, Katie Hamilton had a huge afternoon with 17 points and 15 rebounds, and Kayla Gordon had another big game, scoring 21 points including five three-pointers.  However, both Hamilton and Gordon misfired on potential game-winning shots in the final seconds and Kenyon escaped the chippy final moments with the victory.  Overall, Kenyon hit on 48% of their field goal attempts while holding OWU to just 37%, while rebounding (OWU 38-36) and turnovers (Kenyon 16-15) were nearly even.
Oberlin 76, Earlham 73 (OT)...Trailing by 12 with 5:46 remaining, the Yeowomen rallied to force overtime and then push Earhlam to the brink of elimination from tournament contention.  In the overtime period, The Quakers were unable to connect from the floor, but used five free throws to grab a 73-72 lead with 0:24 left.  Syrea Thomas gave Oberlin the lead with a three-pointer with 0:14 left, and a Quaker turnover on the ensuing possession sealed the victory for the visitors.  Oberlin had four scorers in double figures, including double-doubles from Thomas (12 pts. and 10 reb.) and Fran Holoman (18/10), and dominated the glass by a 47-33 margin, including 23 offensive rebounds.  Earlham was led by Tasha Merrill (15 pts. but just 3 of 14 from the floor) and Katy Buda, whose 14 points included three buckets in the final 3:12 of regulation, Earlham's last three baskets of the game. 

Standings:
Denison 10-0 / 12-6
Kenyon 7-4 / 8-11
Wittenberg 6-4 / 11-7
Ohio Wesleyan 6-4 / 10-9
Allegheny 5-4 / 9-9
Wooster 5-4 / 7-11
Hiram 3-6 / 5-13
Oberlin 2-8 / 4-15
Earlham 0-10 / 1-17

This Wednesday is National Girls & Women in Sports Day, celebrating 30 years of Title IX.  Unfortunately, this coming weekend is when Allegheny and Hiram make the long trip to Earlham and Wittenberg, which is always done as a two-game road trip (Fri. & Sat.), and as a consequence the weekday games are moved from Weds. to Tues.  So we'll be celebrating NGWSD a day early, with the following slate of games that will start to break up the second-place logjam:
Earlham at Denison
Kenyon at Wittenberg
OWU at Wooster
Hiram at Allegheny
Oberlin is idle

[David Collinge]

Oberlin 76, Earlham 73 (OT)...Syrea Thomas gave Oberlin the lead with a three-pointer with 0:14 left, and a Quaker turnover on the ensuing possession sealed the victory for the visitors.  Oberlin had four scorers in double figures, including double-doubles from Thomas (12 pts. and 10 reb.) and Fran Holoman (18/10)

Thomas' first career double-double not only netted a victory for her team, it also netted her the NCAC Player of the Week award.  Congratulations, Syrea!

[David Collinge]

Denison 90, Earlham 51...Denison never trailed and dominated every aspect of this game.  Try these on for size: Rebounds--DU 47-29.  Points in the paint--DU 62-26.  Fast break points--DU 22-2.  The Big Red hit 51% of their shots, recorded assists on two-thirds of their baskets, had more steals (13) than turnovers (11), and blocked nine Quaker shots.  Everyone played at least three minutes, and 15 DU players scored, led by Haley Dahlgard's 15.  Tasha Merrill, held well below her average, still led the EC with 11 points.
Kenyon 71, Wittenberg 57...Kenyon completes the season sweep at Wittenberg, sending the Tigers to their third straight defeat.  Kenyon's fourth consecutive victory puts them firmly into second place; they're still tied in the loss column with OWU, but the Ladies also swept the Bishops.  Wittenberg held the KC starting five to a measly 17 points, but got burned by frosh Morgan Korinek and Suzanne Kahle off the bench.  Korinek, recently back in uniform after missing nearly a month with a foot injury, led the visitors with a career best 25 points and seven rebounds.  She hit seven of her nine shots and added eleven free throws.  Kahle also had a career high, hitting five of six three-pointers en route to 24 points.  Witt led for most of the first half, until Kahle drained back-to-back three pointers to give KC a two-point lead inside the final minute.  The Tigers regained the lead and went to the locker room up by one, but surrendered it for good on another Kahle trey four minutes later.  KC built the lead up as high as 20 before settling for the two-touchdown victory.  Both teams shot equally well, with each squad making 22 hoops in 54 attempts (41%); the key difference was that nine of the Ladies' baskets were from beyond the arc, six more than their hosts.  Kenyon also connected on more free throws (18-26) than the Tigers attempted (10-17).  Wittenberg was led in scoring by Stephanie Boardman's 17, and got a double-double from Carrie Dyer (13 pts., 10 reb.)
Ohio Wesleyan 84, Wooster 67...For all but about six and a half minutes of this contest, it was a battle with Wooster actually having a slight advantage.  But it was those six and a half minutes that rendered the rest of the game moot.  Starting at the 17:36 mark of the first half, the Bishops extended a narrow 11-8 lead into a 35-8 laugher.  The twenty-four point run seemed like the same play over and over: a Wooster miss (or turnover), followed by an OWU runout leading to an uncontested fast break layup or wide open three-pointer.  Wooster finally managed to stop the bleeding with eleven minutes left, then outscored their guests by ten over the remaining 31 minutes, miraculously drawing to within ten points midway through the second half.  But consecutive treys by Tyler Cordell (2) and Rachel Seibel built the lead back to 17, and OWU was able to ease into the locker room with the win.  OWU shot 53% in the decisive first half, including seven treys, then withstood a Wooster 55% shooting barrage, including five of nine from the arc, in the second.  The Bishops were led by Pam Quigney's 22 points and got another outstanding game from Kayla Gordon, who had 19 points (including five treys), 10 rebounds, and four steals.  Kym Wenz recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but Kaitlyn Krister, who struggled with foul trouble courtesy of Katie Hamilton (18 pts., 9 reb., 3 blocks), was held to just six points and six boards.  Wooster's leading scorer was Taylor Keegan with 14.
Hiram 63, Allegheny 60...Hiram completed the surprise season sweep, overcoming a 13-point deficit to overhaul the Gators.  Allegheny opened the game on an 11-2 run and shot 50% en route to a 10-point halftime lead.  After Hilary Collins (17 pts.) opened the second half with a trey, Hiram scored 15 of the next nineteen points to close to within a bucket.  Allegheny briefly built the lead back to seven on another Collins trey with 7:33 left, but the Gators didn't make another field goal until Collins' hit another three at the horn.  In the meantime, Hiram connected on five of their last seven attempts, grabbing their first lead with 4:10 remaining on a layup by Ashley Drum, two of her game-best 23 points.  A free throw by AC's Lauren Donahoe re-tied the game, but Jess Cowan (14 pts.) responded with a three-pointer that gave Hiram the lead for good.  The Terriers blistered the nets at a 62% clip in the second half, while Allegheny hit a chilly 25%, negating a +11 advantage in field goal attempts.

Standings:
Denison 11-0 / 13-6
Kenyon 8-4 / 9-11
Ohio Wesleyan 7-4 / 11-9
Wittenberg 6-5 / 11-8
Allegheny 5-5 / 9-10
Wooster 5-5 / 7-12
Hiram 4-6 / 6-13
Oberlin 2-8 / 4-15
Earlham 0-11 / 1-18

This weekend's games:
Friday
Denison at OWU
Allegheny at Wittenberg
Oberlin at Wooster
Hiram at Earlham
Kenyon is idle

Saturday
Oberlin at Denison
Wooster at Kenyon
Hiram at Wittenberg
Allegheny at Earlham
OWU is idle

[David Collinge]

Many congratulations to Denison seniors Ellen O'Brien and Sarah Perrine for being named to the the ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for District 4, College Div.  Both were named to the third team.  O'Brien is a double major in Psychology and Sport Management, and carries a 3.63 GPA, while Perrine is a biology major with a GPA of 3.88.  This award recognizes excellence both on the court and in the classroom, and is a very great honor.  Many congratulations!

DU Press Release
CoSIDA Press Release (pdf)

[David Collinge]

Denison 76, OWU 71...Denison prevails in a tough battle at Delaware, and clinches at least a share of the NCAC title.  Denison had fits with OWU's defenese all evening, and most especially with their press in the last few minutes of the game, and had an uncharacteristic 19 turnovers, but still managed to hit 46% of their shots (54% in the second half).  Shaina Kaiser provided the offensive spark for the Big Red, hitting from inside (6 for 9) and outside (4 for 6) the arc while piling up 30 points.  Despite game-long taunting by the OWU student section, Ellen O'Brien was her usual unflappable self, recording six steals and six assists without a single turnover, and contributing 14 points.  OWU got another huge game from Katie Hamilton, who helped put DU's Carolyn Simpson (9 pt.s, 8 reb.) on the bench with foul trouble and took advantage of her absence to score 18 points, grab 15 rebounds, and record four of OWU's nine blocked shots, but the rest of OWU's offense suffered from off-target shooting and a Denison hand on every pass.  Kayla Gordon, a strong candidate for NCAC Player of the Year, was a non-factor, hitting just two treys and missing badly on several more, until she hit back-to-back threes to cut a DU 7-point lead to just one with 2:17 remaining.  Kaiser answered with a three-ball of her own off another pinpoint pass by O'Brien, and the senior point guard secured the win with three free throws in the final 0:30.  Denison now holds a four-game lead on second-place Kenyon with four games to play; Kenyon could theoretically catch the Big Red, and in so doing would earn a season split with their rivals, so the tournament #1 seed may still be in play--it's too late to research tiebreakers for so unlikely a scenario!  In any case, Denison can now do no worse than tie for the conference championship, so congratulations to the Big Red!
Allegheny 58, Wittenberg 52...Allegheny scores the huge road victory, moving into fourth place while handing the sliding Tigers their fourth consecutive loss.  The Gators shot 53% and forced 15 Tiger turnovers in the first half, and still trailed by four at the break, due in part to a 20-8 rebounding advantage and in part to 12-of-13 free throw shooting for the hosts.  The free throw balance was redressed after the half, as Witt made just two of four second half attempts, while Allegheny was awarded 15 tries, making 11.  The second-half shooting was also roughly equal, with Witt holding a 39%-36% advantage, but 'Gheny did a better job on the boards (20-15 Witt) and a much better job handling the ball (6 turnovers vs. 16 more for Witt, giving the Tigers 31 for the contest), and that turned into five extra field goal attempts, just enough to secure the victory.  Hilary Collins topped Allegheny's stat page with 19 points, four assists, and three steals.  Witt's Rachel Dixon recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Tigers in both categories.
Oberlin 68, Wooster 62...Oberlin scored the last eight points of the contest, all on free throws, to erase a late Wooster lead and record the mild upset over the Scots at Timken Gym.  After Keshia Butler gave Wooster a 62-60 lead with a layup at 1:33 remaining, the Scots missed four shots, committed a turnover and five fouls; during that span Oberlin didn't even attempt a field goal, but grabbed three of those four Wooster misses and paraded to the free throw line, where they connected on eight of 10 tries to notch the win.  Alyssa Clark was held to just four field goals in 16 attempts, but more than made up for it by nailing all 14 free throws she attempted, giving her 25 points to go along with 14 rebounds.  On the other end, Wooster's Kym Wenz had a miserable 2-for-12 shooting performance for a measly (for her) nine points.  Kaitlin Krister led the Scots with 14 points and seven rebounds, while first-year Kinsey Walker contributed 10 points, her first double-figure effort of her career.  Wooster only committed 13 turnovers, but made just two three-pointers while surrendering seven to the Yeowomen.  Oberlin won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Scots 44-33 including a 15-11 edge on the offensive boards.
Earlham 65, Hiram 51...In another mild upset, Earlham ran out to a big halftime lead and held on to record their first conference victory of the season.  The game was back and forth for the first 10 minutes, then the Quakers edged out to a 23-19 lead with just under 4:00 left.  Earlham then got back-to-back triples as part of a half-ending 11-2 run, and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.  Earlham committed just 10 fouls on the evening, while Hiram's 19 fouls sent the Quakers to the free throw line 24 times, resulting in a nine-point advantage for the hosts.   Earlham also decisively outrebounded their guests, 43-31, and marginally outshot the Terriers, 39%-35%.  Tracy Hill had a career night for the EC, with 20 points on 9 of 14 shooting, together with 17 rebounds, seven of them on the offensive glass.  Hiram's Jess Cowan also had a career-high 20 points to lead the Terriers.

Standings:
Denison 12-0 / 14-6
Kenyon 8-4 / 9-11
Ohio Wesleyan 7-5 / 11-10
Allegheny 6-5 / 10-10
Wittenberg 6-6 / 11-9
Wooster 5-6 / 7-13
Hiram 4-7 / 6-14
Oberlin 3-8 / 5-15
Earlham 1-11 / 2-18

Saturday's games:
Oberlin at Denison
Wooster at Kenyon
Hiram at Wittenberg
Allegheny at Earlham
OWU is idle

[David Collinge]

Congratulations to the 2008-09 NCAC Champions, the Denison Big Red!

Denison 82, Oberlin 47...Denison clinches the conference title and tournament #1 seed with the easy home victory over the Yeowomen.  The Big Red shot 56% in the first half, including a 6 of 14 performance from beyond the arc, and took a 19 point lead into the locker room.  Neither team could hit anything after the intermission.  However, Denison grabbed an astounding 41 rebounds in the second half alone, enabling them to take a ridiculous 47 shots.  Despite hitting just 26% of them, DU was able to score 40 second-half points and win the game--and the conference--by a very comfortable margin.  For the game, Denison put up a "system"-like 79 shots, hitting 30 (38%), and destroyed their guests on the glass by a 61-35 margin (29-11 on the offensive end).  With most of the regulars sitting for long portions of the second half, Denison got contributions from everyone in uniform.  Carolyn Simpson topped the charts with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks in 24 minutes, while Caitlyn Graessle scored a point for each of her 16 minutes of action.  At the other end, Alyssa Clark chipped in 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Yeo in both categories. 
Kenyon 72, Wooster 59...Kenyon ran past an ice-cold Wooster team in the first half, then held on for the home victory.  Wooster was held without a field goal for the first 7:10 of the contest, and Kenyon tacked on a 12-2 stretch a couple of minutes later to open up a double-digit lead at the 8:05 mark of the opening period.  Wooster, which finished the half with just seven field goals (25%), was never again able to get the deficit under eight points.  With post Kathleen Williams in early foul trouble, first-year Morgan Korinek stepped up and had a dominant game in the low post, scoring 18 points on 8-12 shooting and grabbing three offensive rebounds, while at the other end helping to hold Kaitlin Krister to just five points on two of seven shooting and five rebounds in 27 foul-plagued minutes.  Taylor Lenci had an excellent game all over the court, with seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals.  Suzanne Kahle added 15 points including three buckets from beyond the arc.  Wooster's Kym Wenz was held mostly in check in the first half, hitting just two of nine shots, missing all four of her three-pointers.  She came alive in the second half, scoring 16 of her game-high 25 points on six of nine shooting, but mostly it was too little, too late.
Allegheny 88, Earlham 65...After an exciting 90-point first half which features a combined 58% shooting performance by the two teams, Allegheny put the defensive clamps on Earlham, holding the Quakers to just nine second-half baskets while running away with the road victory, grabbing a share of third place in the bargain.  The Gators outrebounded their hosts 36-28 (19-9 on the offensive glass) and forced 22 turnovers while committing just 7 themselves.  These advantages turned into a +25 margin in shots attempted, and 'Gheny cashed in, hitting better than 50% on the afternoon.  Allegheny got 23 points from Jill Gregory and 16 apiece from Stephanie Wolf and Emilie Simone; these three combined to hit 24 of 44 shots (55%), dish 9 assists, and grab 16 rebounds.  Earlham, which shot an even 50% for the game but just 36% after the intermission, had four players in double figures, led by Nikki Darrett's 15.  The two teams combined for just 15 personal fouls leading to just 14 free throws in what must have been a quickly-played game.
Wittenberg 74, Hiram 46...Wittenberg snaps their four-game losing streak by thrashing the Terriers in Springfield.  Wittenberg, which never trailed in the contest, opened up a ten-point lead in the first 8:30, then used an 11-0 run to push the lead to 25 before settling for a 20-point halftime edge.  Hiram was unable to shave more than a bucket off that lead in the second half as the Tigers cruised to the victory.  Stephanie Boardman had 22 points on 8 of 13 shooting to lead the Tigers, who recorded 19 assists (on 27 baskets) while committing just 12 turnovers.  The Tigers also outrebounded their foes 44-32, led by Rachel Dixon's nine boards.  Ashley Drum led the Terriers with 14 points.

Standings:
Denison 13-0 / 15-6
Kenyon 9-4 / 10-11
Ohio Wesleyan 7-5 / 11-10
Allegheny 7-5 / 11-10
Wittenberg 7-6 / 12-9
Wooster 5-7 / 7-14
Hiram 4-8 / 6-15
Oberlin 3-9 / 5-16
Earlham 1-12 / 2-19

This week's games--please note the special Tuesday affair:
Tuesday:  Allegheny at Oberlin
Wednesday:
Kenyon at Denison
Wittenberg at OWU
Wooster at Hiram
Earlham is idle

[David Collinge]

Although Denison has won the last four NCAC Tournaments, this season's team is just the second to win the (regular-season) conference championship.  (The other was 2006-07, when Ellen O'Brien, Carolyn Simpson, et al., were sophomores.)  One of the biggest reasons that Denison has been able to get through their first 13 conference games unscathed is sophomore guard Shania Kaiser, this week's honoree as the NCAC Player of the Week.  Kaiser poured in 30 points in the Big Red's victory at OWU, and now ranks first on the squad and fourth in the NCAC in scoring at 15.3 ppg in conference games.  A deadeye shooter from anywhere on the court, Shaina ranks first in the NCAC in field goal percentage (.565), first in three-point field goal % (.553), and second in free throw % (.857) in conference action.  Congratulations to Shaina on this latest honor!