WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Denison dips to #4 in the latest GL regional rankings, slipping behind Hope and Calvin.  Although I can't pinpoint what happened this week to cause such a shakeup, I will admit that this looks a little more reasonable.  Home NCAA games at Livingston Gym look a lot less likely now.  DU is just going to have to keep proving it on the court.

[David Collinge]

Allegheny 67, Hiram 55...Hiram gave the Gators a battle, holding a lead as late as 14:17 in the second, but 'Gheny steadily pulled away after that.  Neither team shot well, with the hosts holding a 32%-24% edge, and the Gators prospered at the free throw line, sinking 27 of 30 attempts.  Erica Restich led all scorers with 19, while Heidi Goeller contributed a double-double (14 & 11).  Hiram got their usual balanced effort, with ten Terriers scoring between 1 and 11 points.

OWU 75, Wittenberg 69...OWU roared out of the gate, taking early leads of 7-0 and 12-3 and pushing the lead to as many as 18 before settling for a 12-point halftime lead.  Witt fought their way back into the match, tying the game at 4:54 on a layup by Lauren Cassel, but the Tigers could never wrest the lead from their hosts.  OWU got 54 points from the Usual Suspects (Cordell 21, Quigney 20, Gordon 14) and overcame a -13 on the boards to secure the win.  Jaclyn Willoughby led the Tigers with 17 points and nine boards.

Denison 74, Kenyon 67...This was a nip and tuck game throughout the second half, but Denison executed better down the stretch to stay unbeaten.  Shaina Kaiser had 21 as DU shot 56% on the night.  Kenyon had four in double figured (Ernst 17) but shot only ("only") 41%.  Denison clinches at least a share of the NCAC Championship--congratulations!

Wooster 66, Oberlin 57 (OT)...Congratulations to the Scots, getting the first NCAC win of the Ashley Reid era.  Wooster shot 39% and were torrid from the free throw stripe, hitting 20 of 21.  Oberlin, which didn't make quite so many trips to the line (10/12), took more than half of their field goal attempts from long distance, making about a third of them from either distance (32% 3pFG%, 35% overall.)  Wooster's Jessica Wingen and Oberlin's Syrea Thomas were co-high scorers with 19.

Updated standings:
Denison 11-0
Allegheny 8-3
Ohio Wesleyan 7-4
Kenyon 6-5
Wittenberg 5-6
Hiram 4-7
Oberlin 2-9
Wooster 1-10

[David Collinge]

Saturday's action:

Denison at Allegheny, 1pm -- live stats -- Game 1 of W/M doubleheader
Kenyon at OWU, 1pm -- live stats -- Game 1 of W/M doubleheader
Oberlin at Hiram, 1pm -- live stats
Wooster at Wittenberg, 2pm -- video, audio, and live stats -- Game 1 of tripleheader; men's JV at 5:30 and varsity at 7:30

[David Collinge]

Denison 78, Allegheny 55 -- Congratulations to the 2010-11 NCAC Champions, the Denison Big Red!  Once again DU comes up big in a big road game, clinching the outright title while relegating the Gators into a second-place tie.  Denison jumped out to a 13-point halftime lead, then clamped down on 'Gheny, holding the Gators to just 27% shooting in the second period.  Serafina Nuzzo led five of the Big Red in double figures today, with 16 points to go along with six assists and just one turnover.  Heidi Goeller led the hosts with an even dozen.

Oberlin 64, Hiram 49 -- Oberlin rebounded from their loss to Wooster, holding Hiram to just 20% shooting in opening up an 11-point halftime lead.  Hiram could get no closer than seven after the break, which was immediately followed by a game-clinching 16-6 run by the Yeo.  Syrea Thomas had 18 to lead the victors, with Kelly Warlich adding 16 points and a dozen rebounds.  Jess Cowan's 12 points and 12 rebounds led the typically balanced Terrier attack.

OWU 78, Kenyon 67 -- The Bishops blew up the usually stalwart Kenyon defense, scoring 55 second-half points on 62% shooting to move into a second-place tie with Allegheny.  Kenyon actually led by 16 at the break, holding OWU to 29% shooting while connecting on 50% of their own attempts.  OWU forced 22 KC turnovers, converting them into 26 points, a 15-point advantage on their guests.  The Bishops also dominated the paint, outscoring the Ladies 40-20 under the hoop.  Kayla Gordon and Tyler Cordell led the way with 26 and 23 points, respectively.  Maureen Hirt, who hit half of her 8 three-point attempts, took high honors for Kenyon with 17.

Wittenberg 79, Wooster 50 -- Katharine Hueter, Witt's lone senior, celebrated Senior Day by dominating the Scots, recording 19 points, 10 rebounds, and eight steals as the Tigers moved into a fourth-place tie with Kenyon.  Wittenberg forced 27 Wooster turnovers, fifteen of them steals, and outshot the Scots 43%-36% overall and 44% to 20% outside the arc.  Jaclyn Willoughby also contributed 19 points, while Taylor Keegan was the high scorer for Wooster with 14.

Updated standings:
Denison 12-0
Allegheny 8-4
Ohio Wesleyan 8-4
Kenyon 6-6
Wittenberg 6-6
Hiram 4-8
Oberlin 3-9
Wooster 1-11

[David Collinge]

Denison moves up to #11 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, staying one place ahead of DePauw.

[David Collinge]

Tonight's Pink Zone games, promoting breast cancer awareness:

Allegheny at Wooster, 7:30pm -- live stats
Hiram at Kenyon, 7:30pm -- video, audio, and live stats
OWU at Oberlin, 7:30pm -- video and live stats
Wittenberg at Denison, ~8pm -- video and live stats; audio (Witt) -- Game 2 of a doubleheader, men vs. OWU at 6pm

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Week 3 Regional Rankings are out: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2011/02/16/ncaa-2011-regional-rankings-week-3/

[David Collinge]

Week 3 Regional Rankings are out: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2011/02/16/ncaa-2011-regional-rankings-week-3/

Denison remains #4 in the region.

[sumfun]

Shouldn't be a problem.  They ought to get the automatic bid from winning conference tourney?   The interesting thing will be where the NCAA places them and will they have to play Hope or Thomas More early in the tourney.

[David Collinge]

The #1 seed rarely wins the conference tournament, at least lately.  Who knows why.  I think Denison is in fairly good shape for a Pool C bid if they need it, although nothing is guaranteed.  I'm more interested in whether they will get to host a regional if they finish the season 28-0.  Being #4 in the region, and prospectively #3 (assuming that at least one MIAA squad will slip behind them by losing in their tournament), makes it touch and go.

[David Collinge]

It may be a moot point, however, as Wittenberg has had Denison's number all night tonight...

Elsewhere,
Kenyon 70, Hiram 58...Kayla Ernst with 17
Allegheny 65, Wooster 46...Erica Restich with 24
OWU 64, Oberlin 49...OWU trailed by 1 at the half.  Pam Quigney with 19 & 10.

Denison takes their first lead of the evening on a three-point play by Christina Myers, off a beautiful pass from Shaina Kaiser, with 0:39.8 left.  DU's defense then forces a held ball (arrow to Witt) and then a turnover with 0:19 left.  Serafina Nuzzo hits two FTs with 0:17.9 left and DU extends the lead to 3.  Witt fails to score on their next possession, and two more Nuzzo FTs seal the game in Denison's favor, 62-60.  Myers and Nuzzo lead with 13 points apiece, the same total as Witt's co-leaders Sarah Watson and Jaclyn Willoughby.

[sumfun]

Good teams win, even when they are having a bad night.  Good come back win for Denison.  Wittenberg gave their all.

[David Collinge]

Updated standings:
Denison 13-0
Allegheny 9-4
Ohio Wesleyan 9-4
Kenyon 7-6
Wittenberg 6-7
Hiram 4-9
Oberlin 3-10
Wooster 1-12

Seedings for the conference tournament:
#1: Denison
#2-#3: Gheny and OWU split.  Gheny plays at Kenyon Sat., while OWU travels to Wooster.  If Allegheny loses, OWU is the #2 seed.  If they both win, it looks like it'll come down to a coin toss, as the teams split with each other, lost twice each to Denison, and each split with Kenyon and swept everybody else.
#4-#5: Wittenberg holds the tiebreaker (swept the Ladies), and would be the #4 if they beat Hiram while Kenyon loses to Allegheny.  Otherwise Kenyon is the #4.  These teams will meet in the quarterfinals.
#6-#7: If Oberlin and Hiram are tied, it means that Oberlin beat Denison on Saturday, at Denison, while Hiram was losing to Wittenberg at home.  If so, that victory over DU would make Oberlin the #6 (by virtue of being 2-8 vs. the top 5 while Hiram is 1-9.)  Otherwise Hiram is the #6.
#8: Wooster

[David Collinge]

Final day of the regular season, and every game has an impact on the final standings:

Allegheny at Kenyon, 1pm -- video, audio, and live stats -- Game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
Wittenberg at Hiram, 1pm -- live stats; audio (W) -- Game 1 of a W/M doubleheader
Oberlin at Denison, 2pm -- audio and live stats
OWU at Wooster, 5:30pm -- live stats -- Game 1 of a W/M doubleheader

[David Collinge]

Wittenberg 72, Hiram 61 -- Lauren Cassel leads Witt with 17 points and a dozen rebounds.  The Witt 'D' held Hiram to just 33% shooting and controlled the boards by a 46-33 margin.

Kenyon 73, Allegheny 44 -- Kenyon's defense dictated the game, recording 16 steals and holding the Gators to 33% shooting.  Morgan Korinek led the way with 15 points and 13 boards.  With the victory, Kenyon secures a fourth-place finish for themselves and the tournament #2 seed for OWU.

Denison 86, Oberlin 62 -- Denison puts the finishing touches on a 25-0/16-0 masterpiece, easily handling Oberlin today.  Any lingering doubts there may be about the NCAC Player of the Year were also put to rest, as Shaina Kaiser dominated with 28 points (9/11 shooting), 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.  Oberlin fails to catch Hiram for the #6 seed, and will face #2 OWU on Tuesday.

The tournament seedings are now decided, before tonight's OWU/Wooster game (during which I will be at work; recap will be late tonight).
Tuesday quarterfinals:
#8 Wooster at #1 Denison (Denison swept the season series)
#7 Oberlin at #2 OWU (OWU swept the season series)
#6 Hiram at #3 Allegheny (Allegheny swept the season series)
#5 Wittenberg at #4 Kenyon (Wittenberg swept the season series)
OWU will be the only conference school to host a quarterfinals doubleheader.