WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

David Collinge · November 19, 2009, 01:33:21 AM

Bluffton rides a wave of hot shooting (58% for the evening) to a 79-67 victory over Hiram tonight in Bluffton. The Terriers got a team effort on the offensive end, with nine players in the scorebook, led by Alex Dellas' 12 points, and committed just a dozen turnovers, but there's just so much you can do when your opponent can't miss the bucket. (For the record, Hiram shot a respectable 39%.) Hiram drops to 0-2 and will next suit up in ten days at Mt. Union College.

David Collinge · November 20, 2009, 05:03:22 PM

If there are no more mistakes on my composite schedule (and honestly, who's here to find them?), here's this weekend's action:

Today:
Pitt-Greensburg at Allegheny...Allegheny 58, Pitt-Greensburg 57 (final score was AC's only lead of the night; frosh Heidi Goeller with a putback at 1:40 for the win)
Denison vs. Webster (at Anderson)...Denison 89, Webster 74
Franklin at Earlham (Quakers' season opener)...Franklin 69, Earlham 54
Kenyon vs. Grove City (at Penn St.-Behrend, Ladies' season opener)...Kenyon 59, GCC 52 (OT)
Oberlin at Bluffton (Yeowomen's season opener)...Bluffton 70, Oberlin 50
OWU vs. Centenary (at Hunter College, Bishops' season opener)...OWU 91, Centenary 87 (OT)
Wittenberg vs. Robert Morris-Springfield (at Hope, Tigers' season opener)...Witt 66, RMC 53

5-2--not bad!

Tomorrow:
Denison vs. Muskingum (at Anderson)...Denison 73, Muskingum 57
Manchester at Earlham...Earlham 67, Manchester 62
Kenyon vs. Fredonia St (at Penn St.-Behrend)...Kenyon 70, Fredonia St. 52
Oberlin vs. St. Mary's (at Bluffton)...St. Mary's 74, Oberlin 37
OWU at Hunter College...OWU 77, Hunter 71...Nan Carney-DeBord's 400th career coaching victory--congratulations, Coach!

Wittenberg at Hope...Hope 80, Wittenberg 49
Franciscan at Wooster...Wooster 80, Franciscan 38...Scots scored the game's first 35 points and led 42-5 at halftime.

Back-to-back 5-2 days!

Sunday:
Westfield St. at Allegheny...Westfield St. 68, Allegheny 54
Mt. Union at Wooster...Mt. Union 64, Wooster 55

10-6 for the weekend.

Mr. Ypsi · November 22, 2009, 01:03:09 AM

David, you seem so lonely in here - just wanted to assure you that at least one person pretty regularly reads your stuff!

I was very worried that IWU was getting the women's Final Four a year too late (we graduated 3 really talented senior starters last spring), but Saturday evening #6 IWU took down #1 WashU - I'm back to very hopeful! (Though we also beat #1 WashU in the regular season last year, only to have them knock us out in the Elite Eight.

) Does the NCAC have any teams I should be watching for on the national scene?

David Collinge · November 22, 2009, 01:20:31 PM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on November 22, 2009, 01:03:09 AMDoes the NCAC have any teams I should be watching for on the national scene?

Okay, how do I answer that and stay positive?

If by "national scene" you mean "top 25 poll," consider that we had undefeated conference champions each of the past two seasons, and in neither case did they receive so much as a single vote in the top 25 poll. Such is our national profile. The only NCAC contender that has a tough enough non-conference schedule to make a voter take notice is Wittenberg, and look what happened to them yesterday. Barring an undefeated season by OWU or perhaps Kenyon, you won't see an NCAC team tickling the poll this year.

If instead you mean "NCAA tournament," well, neither of those 16-0 teams even made the tournament, as both lost in the NCAC tournament semifinals, and we don't get any Pool C love here. The team favored by all to win the NCAC this season, Ohio Wesleyan, is practically the same team that got soundly beaten by IWU last season in the NCAA's first round. And OWU was on a serious roll at that time.

What we have here is a very competitive and spirited conference race, with the conference title really being the ultimate prize.

Hey, at least we're not Franciscan!

Mr. Ypsi · November 22, 2009, 02:22:34 PM

I only fairly recently started paying much attention to women's bball, so (aside from a few of the perennial top teams) I just don't really know the strength of the various conferences. That is such a contrast to the national stature in men's bball of Woo and Witt (and sometimes Wabash and OWU); any obvious reason(s) for such a disparity?

David Collinge · November 22, 2009, 03:58:25 PM

Why does the NCAC dominate in Swimming? Who can answer such questions?

One factor is surely the looming presence of the OAC in the battle for recruits. Dixie Jeffers' Capital teams have been dominant for many years, and both Wilmington and Baldwin-Wallace have rich traditions as well. NCAC teams tend not to fare too well against OAC opponents on the floor, and that probably extends to the recruiting trail as well.

Ohio Wesleyan was in the Final Four as recently as 2001, and WIttenberg reached the Sweet Sixteen in 2004.

The NCAC has the two winningest men's basketball programs in D3 history; that's a tough standard for the women to measure up to.

Mr. Ypsi · November 22, 2009, 06:25:15 PM

Quote from: David Collinge on November 22, 2009, 03:58:25 PM
Why does the NCAC dominate in Swimming? Who can answer such questions?

One factor is surely the looming presence of the OAC in the battle for recruits. Dixie Jeffers' Capital teams have been dominant for many years, and both Wilmington and Baldwin-Wallace have rich traditions as well. NCAC teams tend not to fare too well against OAC opponents on the floor, and that probably extends to the recruiting trail as well.

Ohio Wesleyan was in the Final Four as recently as 2001, and WIttenberg reached the Sweet Sixteen in 2004.

The NCAC has the two winningest men's basketball programs in D3 history; that's a tough standard for the women to measure up to.

Oh, totally agree. Overall, the CCIW women have no where near the 'profile' of the men. Until recently, the CCIW was the Big Ten of the 1970s - Wheaton, Millikin, and the 6 dwarfs. (I'd have to look it up for sure, but I think between them they had every single title for the first 20 years of CCIW women's competition, and usually the other one was 2nd.) Mia Smith has created a national power in Bloomington out of no tradition whatsoever.

Since I have so little knowledge of women's bball history, I'm happy to see the NCAC has some positive history. Seems to make it more likely they could get it back.

David Collinge · November 23, 2009, 03:25:47 PM

Tuesday's slate:
Washington & Jefferson at Allegheny (2-1)
Earlham (1-1) at Bluffton...we're certainly seeing a lot of Bluffton this November
Ohio Northern at Kenyon (2-0)
John Carroll at Ohio Wesleyan (2-0)
Wittenberg (1-1) at Capital

David Collinge · November 24, 2009, 04:29:36 PM

Just a heads-up that today's ONU/Kenyon game (5:30 tip) will be videocast live (and without charge) from Kenyon's website. In fact, Kenyon plans to provide video coverage of every Ladies home game this season (Lords, too). Brava, KC!

David Collinge · November 24, 2009, 04:47:36 PM

OWU junior Tyler Cordell, the MVP of Hunter College Tipoff tournament, has been named the first recipient of the NCAC Player of the Week Award for the 2009-10 season. Tyler had 38 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists in leading the Bishops to the tournament title. Congratulations, Tyler!

David Collinge · November 24, 2009, 07:18:06 PM

Kenyon 58, Ohio Northern 55...A nice defense-first win for the Ladies in their home opener. Morgan Korinek and Kathleen Williams led a balanced scoring attack with 12 apiece--Morgan was 6 of 9 from the floor, while Kathleen made 8 free throws in 12 attempts. Kenyon forced 21 turnovers, held the Polar Bears to 34% shooting, and generally harassed their foes into bad passes and bad shot attempts. Kenyon moves to 3-0 on the young season.

Washington & Jefferson 53, Allegheny 39...The Gators came out ice cold, hitting just 5 of 23 first half field goal attempts, but were down just 5 points at the half. However, a half-opening 11-1 run by the Presidents sealed the outcome. For the evening, the homestanding Gators connected on just 28% of their field goal attempts, and a woeful 57% of their free throws. Allegheny's record evens up at 2-2 with the loss.

Ohio Wesleyan 80, John Carroll 67...The high-octane OWU offense put up 53 in the first half to lead by 18, and coasted to the victory. JCU scored the game's final seven points--against the end of the OWU bench--to make the score somewhat respectable. Four OWU starters scored in double figures, led by sixteen apiece from Kayla Gordon and Tyler Cordell. Dany Finck could only manage 14 points, but compensated with 15 rebounds. Like Kenyon, the Bishops stay perfect at 3-0.

Bluffton 79, Earlham 75...Bluffton completes a sweep of the predicted bottom third of the NCAC, thanks to a 19-6 run early in the second half that converted an Earlham lead to a double-digit deficit. The EC managed to cut an eight-point Bluffton lead with 0:31 left to just 3, but couldn't get over the final hump. Nikki Darrett led four Quakers in double figures with 17. Earlham falls to 1-2.

#22 Capital 55, Wittenberg 49 (OT)...Heartbreaker for the Tigers, who fall to their I-70 rivals at the Cap Center. Witt dominated the glass, as usual, but could only turn 18 offensive rebounds into just eight second-chance points. Making just one of sixteen attempts from the arc didn't help, either, and the hosts made more free throws (17) than Witt attempted (13). Still, this was a nailbiter throughout, as the final score was the largest lead that either team held. Stephanie Boardman, in her first action of the year, led the Tigers with 15 on 6 of 10 shooting, and contributed 8 rebounds. Wittenberg drops to 1-2.

David Collinge · November 25, 2009, 11:58:22 PM

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my thousands of loyal readers!

See you on Saturday, when we have a nearly full slate on tap:

Allegheny vs. D'Youville (at St. John Fisher)...Allegheny 68, D'Youville 49
Denison at Chatham*...Denison 71, Chatham 69
Hiram at Mt. Union...MUC 90, Hiram 52
Kenyon vs. Carnegie Mellon (at Chatham)*...Kenyon 58, CMU 47
Oberlin at Marietta...'Etta 76, Oberlin 69
OWU at Pitt-Johnstown...UPJ 73, OWU 61
Cedarville at Wittenberg...Cedarville 75, Wittenberg 63
Wooster at Case Western Reserve...CWRU 78, Wooster 46
Earlham is idle

*Note that backyard rivals Kenyon and Denison are sharing the floor in this holiday classic in Pittsburgh. It is a "classic" format, so, win or lose, they won't meet on Sunday. Still, it's a good scouting opportunity in advance of their first meeting, Dec. 9 in Gambier.

Sunday's lineup:
Allegheny at St. John Fisher...Fisher 83, Allegheny 72
Denison vs. Carnegie Mellon (at Chatham)...Denison 76, CMU 57
Kenyon at Chatham...Kenyon 70, Chatham 64
Oberlin vs. Thiel (at Marietta)...Thiel 75, Oberlin 63

Overall 5-7, thanks mostly to the Chatham University Thanksgiving Classic. I guess those Pittsburghers will think twice before inviting NCAC Powerhouses to their tournaments next time!

David Collinge · November 29, 2009, 05:07:23 PM

This week in the NCAC:
Conference action kicks off this Wednesday when Wooster travels northeast to face Allegheny in Meadville. That same evening Kenyon will bus up to University Circle to face Case Western Reserve. Then on Thursday, Oberlin attempts to pick up where Denison and Kenyon left off, traveling to Carnegie Mellon to face the Tartans. We close the week on Saturday with a full slate of action, featuring four conference games (OWU at Allegheny, Denison at Hiram, Oberlin at Earlham, and Wittenberg at Wooster) as well as one more OAC/NCAC tilt (Baldwin-Wallace at Kenyon.)
Have a good week, everyone!

David Collinge · November 30, 2009, 09:11:42 PM

Congratulations to Denison junior Shaina Kaiser, this week's NCAC Player of the Week. Shaina had 56 points, including a career-best 32 against Carnegie Mellon, at the Chatham Thanksgiving Classic, leading the Big Red to two wins. This week's trophy will find a home in her dorm room next to her NCAC Player of the Year trophy, awarded last season. Congratulations and keep up the good work, Shaina!

David Collinge · December 02, 2009, 08:16:20 PM

Case Western Reserve ends Kenyon's perfect season 61-48 in Cleveland. Kenyon trailed by just 3 at the half but went ice cold, shooting just 27% in a 19-point second period.

Allegheny seizes the early conference lead by virtue of a 68-55 victory over Wooster. The difference in the game was mainly from the free throw line, where Allegheny hit 15 of 20 chances, versus a 5-for-9 performance for the Scots. Jill Gregory led three Gators in double figures with 21.