WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Here's this week's upcoming games.  I probably won't be in here much between now and Wednesday, so I'll go ahead and post both game days.

Saturday 1/15:
Wooster at Denison, 1pm -- live stats -- Game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
OWU at Hiram, 1pm -- live stats -- Game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
Wittenberg at Kenyon, 2pm -- audio/video and live stats
Allegheny at Oberlin, ~3pm -- video and live stats -- Game 2 of a doubleheader; men vs. Kenyon at 1pm

Wednesday 1/19:
Denison at Wittenberg, 6pm -- video, audio, and live stats -- Game 1 of a doubleheader, men vs. Wabash follows
Oberlin at OWU, 6pm -- Audio/video and live stats -- Game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
Wooster at Allegheny, 7:30pm -- live stats
Kenyon at Hiram, 7:30pm -- live stats

[kiltedbryan]

Addendum to previous claims that Wooster/Denison will split 50/50 on Saturday:

I'll give the Big Red better than 50/50 odds of ending up with a larger overall point total.  It seems that the difference between DU's women and Wooster's women might be an order of magnitude larger than the difference between DU's men and Wooster's men...

Denison has a very long roster.  Shaina Kaiser, Serafina Nuzzo, and co. may be selling popcorn in the lobby during the second half on Saturday.  DU can probably name their own score, but I wouldn't be surprised if that score is in the +30 range and not 107-32.

It still might be enough to outdo the Wooster men.  (Typed with fresh memories of the 2OT game of Feb. 2009.)

Yeah, selling popcorn in the lobby is more or less what the Scots men were able to do tonight with the Yeomen.  And that did serve to keep the margin more in the 30ish range when they clearly could've pushed it out farther.

Still, I too don't see the Wooster men as 30+ point favorites on Denison's home court.  So overall point advantage favors Denison.  Maybe they should work out an arrangement to have the DU women lend some over.   

Women's final
Wooster 61
Denison 73

Men's final
Wooster 72
Denison 64

Well, both games end up closer than anticipated, with the Wooster women and the Denison men putting a bit of a scare into their unbeaten and favored opponents.  Impressive performances by the underdogs, especially the Woo women, whose 14 turnovers were a season low and whose 44% shooting beat out their male counterparts, who didn't even manage to hit at a 40% clip on the day.

Denison does end the day winning the combined score, but barely.  Denison 137, Wooster 133.

[David Collinge]

Quick score/standing update:

Denison 73, Wooster 61 -- happy to eat my words on this one; great effort by the Scots!
Wittenberg 74, Kenyon 65 -- huge road win for the Tigers
Allegheny 71, Oberlin 45 -- A² misses her second straight game
OWU 79, Hiram 68 -- Bishops move into solo 2nd place

Updated standings:
Denison 5-0
Ohio Wesleyan 4-1
Allegheny 3-2
Kenyon 3-2
Wittenberg 3-2
Hiram 1-4
Oberlin 1-4
Wooster 0-5

Wednesday 1/19:
Denison at Wittenberg, 6pm -- video, audio, and live stats -- Game 1 of a doubleheader, men vs. Wabash follows
Oberlin at OWU, 6pm -- Audio/video and live stats -- Game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
Wooster at Allegheny, 7:30pm -- live stats
Kenyon at Hiram, 7:30pm -- live stats

[GoRed]

Denison 73, Wooster 61 -- happy to eat my words on this one; great effort by the Scots!

Shaina Kaiser photo featured on D3hoops:

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2011/01/wrapup-jan15-women

BTW - point guard Serafina Nuzzo DNP - perhaps accounting for the score being more respectable for the Scots.  On the other hand, the Wooster men had a full complement, but weren't quite all there.  An excellent showing by both DU teams in my book!  Keep it up ladies!!

[overlooked]

Does anyone know the rules of practicing against a mens scout team?    I heard it could be only three men and once a week.   Is this accurate?

[Pat Coleman]

Male practice players must be eligible and have a season of competition available in the sport in question.

This is from the NCAA web site:

At the 2008 NCAA Convention, Division III approved legislation stating the use of male practice players in a women's team sport is permitted only in the traditional segment in the women's sport for one practice per week and that the number of male practice players involved during any particular practice may not exceed half the number of student-athletes of a typical starting unit in that sport (rounded up). For example, there could be up to three male practice players practicing with the women's basketball team since a starting unit would be made up of five student-athletes.

By the way, some conferences prohibit the use of male practice players altogether. The PAC is one of them, according to a conference handbook I saw in researching this answer. I do not know if the NCAC has any restrictions.

[David Collinge]

Denison 60, Wittenberg 49 -- DU opens a large first half lead, then withstands a Wittenberg run, picking up yet another key road win over a title challenger.  

OWU 66, Oberlin 62 (OT) -- FLASH -- OWU, at home, is struggling with Oberlin.  Oberlin had a good look at a potentially winning basket, but couldn't convert, and we're going to overtime in Delaware!  OWU survived the overtime, helped out when A² fouled out.  Kayla Gordon also fouled out, with 2:05 left in regulation, on what became a 4-point play by Syrea Thomas (19 points) to tie the game.   Tyler Cordell had 23 points to lead all scorers.

Hiram 68, Kenyon 59 -- FLASH -- Kenyon is struggling at Hiram.  With 9:01 left, Hiram is leading by a crisp 11 points, 44-33.  Kenyon is hitting just 20% from the field so far.  Kenyon ended up at 29%, but never got closer than 6 after that.  Hiram, on the other hand, shot 45%, actually scoring more field goals (24 to 21) despite taking 20 fewer shots (53-73).  Tiffany Shields led all scorers with 24.

Allegheny 80, Wooster 46 -- 'Gheny crushes the Scots on the glass, 53-38, and has five scorers in double figures.

Updated standings:
Denison 6-0
Ohio Wesleyan 5-1
Allegheny 4-2
Kenyon 3-3
Wittenberg 3-3
Hiram 2-4
Oberlin 1-5
Wooster 0-6

[David Collinge]

Allegheny's game at Buffalo St., originally scheduled for Dec. 7, appears to have been canceled, as it no longer appears on either team's schedule (not even on Dec. 7).  

Saturday's games, with video from everywhere except Wooster :

OWU at Kenyon, 1pm -- audio/video and live stats -- game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
Allegheny at Denison, 1pm -- video and live stats -- game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
Wittenberg at Wooster, 2pm -- audio (Witt) and live stats -- essentially, game 1 of a tripleheader (jayvee men at 5:30, varsity men at 7:30)
Hiram at Oberlin, ~3pm -- video and live stats -- follows immediately after OC/Wabash men's game (tips at 1pm)

[David Collinge]

Denison 79, Allegheny 59 -- Both teams were tight to begin the game, but the Gators were tighter as Denison struggled to an early 10-1 lead.  'Gheny got back into the game and only trailed at six at the half, and briefly took the lead in the second half.  But Denison then woke up and sprinted to the finish line to extend their streak to 18 straight.  Shaina Kaiser, the key catalyst in the late-game runaway at both ends of the floor, finished with 21.

Kenyon 75, OWU 52 -- Atoning for their shocking loss at Hiram, Kenyon throws a monkey wrench into the battle for second place, shutting down the Bishops with their trademark defense.  Kenyon forced 22 turnovers (13 steals), outrebounded the Bishops 37-29, and held their guests to 36% shooting (20/55).  On the other end, Kenyon was a sizzling 49% (29/59), with Kayla Ernst and Maureen Hirt tossing in 25 and 18, respectively.  And Morgan Korinek had a healthy stat line: 9 points, 10 boards, 4 steals, 3 assists, and 1 block.  

Wittenberg 61, Wooster 46 -- Neither team lead by more than 3 points in the first 31 minutes of this one.  Trailing by one with 9:17 remaining, Wittenberg embarked on a game-clinching 10-0 run, expanding it to 20-3 while holding the Scots to a lone field goal over the next eight-plus minutes.  Katherine Hueter had a double-double, with 14 points and 16 boards, as did Jessica Wingen (15 & 10) for the Scots.

Hiram 61, Oberlin 58 -- A statistically even game decided by Hiram's long-range shooting; each team made the same number of field goals, but Hiram connected nine times from the arc, vs. just five times for the Yeowomen.  Oberlin had 20 from Kelly Warlich and 17 from A² while Hiram had a balanced scoring effort led by Tiffany Shields' 12.  Warlich and Shields each had ten rebounds as well.

Updated standings:
Denison 7-0
Ohio Wesleyan 5-2
Allegheny 4-3
Kenyon 4-3
Wittenberg 4-3
Hiram 3-4
Oberlin 1-6
Wooster 0-7

[David Collinge]

Denison moves up to #15 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll...  ..where they are now one spot ahead of DePauw. 

Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!

[David Collinge]

The conference takes a break tomorrow, giving teams a chance to sneak in a last non-conference game.  Two teams are doing just that tonight.

Wittenberg at Cedarville, 7pm -- video and live stats; audio (W)
Hiram at Ursuline, 7pm -- audio

As far as I can tell, these are the final two non-conference games of the season in the NCAC.  Our composite record stands at 41-36.

[David Collinge]

Cedarville 72, Wittenberg 61 -- This, despite Katharine Hueter's huge 22-point, 11-board, 4-steal, 3-assist evening.  Cedarville is ranked 15th in NAIA-II.

Hiram 70, Ursuline 68 -- Tiffany Shields scored the last two of her game-high 20 points on free throws with nine seconds remaining, and the Terrier defense prevented Ursuling from getting a potential game-tying or -winning shot off on the ensuing possession.

The NCAC ends the season with a stellar 42-37 record in non-conference action.  Way to go, girls! 

[kiltedbryan]

Denison moves up to #15 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll...  ..where they are now one spot ahead of DePauw. 

Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!

It'll be fun when this becomes the insta-rivalry next year, yes?

[David Collinge]

Denison moves up to #15 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll...  ..where they are now one spot ahead of DePauw. 

Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!

It'll be fun when this becomes the insta-rivalry next year, yes?

I hope so.  DePauw is a national power and has been for some time.  Denison is a newcomer to the upper echelon of D3 hoops, and will be losing two key seniors in Shaina Kaiser and Haley Dahlgard.  Ever since the announcement that DPU is joining our conference, I've been hoping that the effect will be of the proverbial rising tide lifting all boats.  Not only Denison but OWU, Wittenberg, Kenyon, and/or Allegheny could take that extra step and be competitive with DePauw and, by extension, the elite teams in D3.  Let's hope that happens.

[David Collinge]

Three doubleheaders tomorrow in the northeast corner of the conference--a great day to get out there and catch some hoops!

OWU at Allegheny, 1pm -- live stats -- Game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
Wittenberg at Oberlin, 1pm -- video and live stats -- Game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
Denison at Hiram, 2pm -- live stats -- Game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
Kenyon at Wooster, 2pm -- live stats