WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Thursday, take two on Waynesburg v. Hiram:

Waynesburg at Hiram, 7pm -- live stats

[David Collinge]

The 6-1 Yellow Jackets come into chilly Hiram and escape with a 73-68 victory.  Hiram held a 5-point lead with about 3 minutes left, but their guests ended the game on a 12-2 run to grab the road W.  Tiffany Shields led the Terriers with 20, while Emily Smerchansky drained five three-pointers en route to a career-high 17 points. 

NCAC non-con: 28-24.

[David Collinge]

Two NCAC teams hit the road for holiday tournaments beginning Friday:

Wittenberg vs. Kalamazoo, 6pm (at Hope College, Holland MI) -- audio and live stats
Allegheny at Defiance, ~8pm -- video and live stats

[David Collinge]

Chalk up two for the Good Guys!

Wittenberg 65, K'zoo 53 -- The Tigers got double-doubles from veterans Sarah Watson (16 & 12) and Katherine Hueter (15 & 10) to swat the Hornets.  Neither team shot well (Witt 35%, Kzoo 34%) and both bricked a lot of free throws (they combined to make 18 of 34 attempts); the Tigers prevailed by scoring slightly better at the line (+8) and by somehow getting seven more attempts than their opponents (I say "somehow" because the turnover and rebounding stats, both offensive and defensive, were essentially even.)

Allegheny 103, Defiance 100 (OT) -- Now that's a score!  Gheny wins this one with a stellar come-from-behind effort.  The Gators trailed by 14 at the half and by 12 with 15:00 left before leveling an 18-4 barrage over 3:05 to take their first lead of the ballgame.  Neither team could break free after that, with the lead passing back and forth until a missed free throw by DC's Erica King at 0:04 forced the OT.  Defiance scored on a fastbreak off the OT tip, but Allegheny scored on each of their first three OT possessions, and never trailed again.  Heidi Goeller, who fouled out midway through the extra period, led five Gators in double figures with 26.

That brings us to 30-24 as a conference!  Woo-hoo!

[David Collinge]

Saturday's action, all non-conference:

Kenyon at Waynesburg, 2pm -- audio and live stats
Wooster at Bluffton, 2pm -- live stats
Allegheny vs. Indiana Wesleyan, ~3pm (at Defiance) -- live stats
Wittenberg at Hope, ~3pm -- audio (H) and live stats; audio (W)

[David Collinge]

Bluffton 73, Wooster 56...Lights-out shooting by the Scots was undone by excessive turnovers
Kenyon 64, Waynesburg 52...Morgan Korinek 22 & 12

Both 'Gheny and Witt are being pounded by nationally-ranked opponents at the half.  (Hope is #2 in D3; Ind. Wes. was #4 in NAIA-2 until this week, when they inexplicably dropped out of the voting altogether.)

Hope 69, Wittenberg 48...not much you can do when the #2 team in the nation hits 50% and forces 25 turnovers.  Sarah Watson (13) was the only Tiger in double figures.
Indiana Wesleyan 89, Allegheny 58...Worse still, the Wildcats hit 56% of their shots and had a +9 turnover margin.  Allegheny got 17 from Ann Ryan.

Non-con record: 31-27.

[David Collinge]

Two more non-cons about to tip:

Hiram at Thiel, 1pm -- live stats
Case Western Reserve at Wooster, 2pm -- live stats

[David Collinge]

Hiram 66, Thiel 42...Close at the half, Hiram took the ball and went home in the second.  Tiffany Shields had 15 & 10 for the Pups.
CWRU 81, Wooster 49...This one was never close, just another brick in the construction of Wooster's long season.  Kristen Schwartz went for 16 & 7 for the Scots.  CWRU snaps a three-game losing streak against NCAC foes.

Non-con: 32-28. 

[David Collinge]

Hiram laces 'em up for the third time in five days tomorrow:

Bluffton at Hiram, 6pm -- live stats

[David Collinge]

Hiram 74, Bluffton 55 -- Another big game from Tiffany Shields, who had 25.  Chelsea Kovach knocked down five treys en route to 21 points.

NCAC record: 33-28. 

[David Collinge]

All of the NCAC women's teams are now done for the holidays.  The next scheduled games are on the 28th, when Denison and Kenyon head for snowbird destinations (Daytona Beach and Las Vegas, respectively) to participate in holiday tournaments (Kenyon is participating in the D3hoops.com Classic!)  Allegheny is done for an even longer spell; their next game is scheduled for Jan. 5 at OWU.

So I probably won't be posting much in here for the next week.  Happy holidays to all (both?) of you out there in Silent Majority Land!

[Wydown Blvd.]

Merry Christmas D. Collinge!!! 

[David Collinge]

Thanks, Wydown.  BTW, did I ever tell you that I used to live very close to your nom de keyboard, on Delmar in U. City?  It always twinges a little part of my memory when I see a post with your autograph.

I interrupt the solitude of the Christmas holidays to take note of the fact that Denison has endured another Top 25 poll without a single vote.  That is all, you can go back to your eggnog now.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Merry Christmas, David.

(I hope Wydown and I are not the entire "both" of your readership! )

[David Collinge]

Kenyon is participating in the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas this week, but it appears that the weather-related travel problems have forced the Ladies to delay their participation.  Their opening game, scheduled against #1 Amherst for Tuesday, has been canceled (not sure which team, or both, had the problem).  Kenyon will now take on Bates on Weds. and St. Norbert on Thursday.

No word yet whether Denison has made it safely to Daytona Beach for their snowbird tourney.  Or rather, I have not heard that they have not made it.  The Big Red are scheduled to take on Susquehanna tomorrow morning:

Denison vs. Susquehanna, 11:45am (at Daytona Beach) -- video and live stats, as far as I can tell (their schedule calls for video of DU/SU men's basketball, but there is no such game, DU men are playing Buena Vista)