NCAC

[David Collinge]

Not a bad day at all:

Kenyon 68, Case 63
Hiram 66, Westminster 55
DePauw 67, Ill. Wesleyan 54
Allegheny 84, Waynesburg 74
Denison 63, Carnegie Mellon 58
Otterbein 65, Ohio Wesleyan 50

A 5-1 day brings us back to 21-17 for the season. And we take a 2-0 lead in the UAA/NCAC Challenge. 

Sunday's games:
Denison at Case Western (UAA/NCAC Challenge)
DePauw at Washington Univ. in St. Louis
Thiel at Hiram
Kenyon vs. Carnegie Mellon (at CWRU, UAA/NCAC Challenge)
Earlham at Oberlin
Ohio Wesleyan at Ohio Northern

[David Collinge]

A big win counterbalances a big upset:

Kenyon 87, Carnegie Mellon 72
Earlham 57, Oberlin 44...ouchie.
Hiram 61, Thiel 59
Ohio Northern 64, Ohio Wesleyan 42
Case Western Reserve 56, #12 Denison 53...double ouchie. But we still win the UAA/NCAC Challenge 3-1
DePauw 69, Washington University in St. Louis 57

Wash.U. was ranked #7 in the nation and still celebrating coach Nancy Fahey's 600th career win when #10 DePauw stole the win...on the Bears' home floor, no less!  That's the second huge NCAC victory on that floor in a week, as it is the site where Wittenberg won the 2011 national championship in volleyball. It's a good floor for Tigers, I guess!

NCAC non-conference record: 24-20.

[David Collinge]

The new poll is out. Not surprisingly, Denison's stay in the top 25 is a short one, falling into the "also receiving votes" category after a relatively rough 4-2 start. DePauw stays more or less where they were, dropping one spot to #11 but gaining 29 points. The Tigers were upset by Franklin (now #22) but made amends by winning the tournament at WashU by beating two then-top 25 teams (#17 IWU, now ARV, and #7 WashU, now #12).

Four other Great Lakes squads are ranked--#4 Calvin, #9 Mt. Union, #24 Hope, and #25 Capital--and two others (Thomas More and St. Vincent) are right on the periphery. Baldwin-Wallace, Otterbein, and Transylvania were also in the ARV category, all south of Denison at would-be #34.

[David Collinge]

Today the sun rises on conference play. Like always, the sun rises in the east:
Wooster at Allegheny

Most of the rest of the league kicks off on Saturday (Kenyon's first league game is not until Pearl Harbor Day), leaving time for several more warmups this evening:
Millikin at DePauw
Heidelberg at Kenyon
Oberlin at Otterbein
Earlham at Wittenberg

[David Collinge]

Allegheny eases past Wooster, 57-56, to take the early conference lead.
Elsewhere:
Kenyon 71, Heidelberg 49
DePauw 64, Millikin 41
Otterbein 60, Oberlin 45
Wittenberg 80, Earlham 65

NCAC non-conference record: 27-21. Not too shabby.

[David Collinge]

The early showdown for NCAC supremacy goes DePauw's way, while Wooster moves to 0-2 by a collective 2 points:

Depauw 58, Denison 45
Hiram 54, Wooster 53
Wittenberg 67, Oberlin 50
Allegheny 60, OWU 45

Conference standings:
Allegheny 2-0
DePauw 1-0
Hiram 1-0
Wittenberg 1-0
Kenyon 0-0
Denison 0-1
Oberlin 0-1
OWU 0-1
Wooster 0-2

[David Collinge]

Two games on the schedule for this evening:
Allegheny at SUNY-Fredonia
Bluffton at Wooster

[David Collinge]

New Top 25:
DePauw moves up to #9 and is the highest-ranked team with a loss.
Denison loses the support they had and is now absent from the voting.

[David Collinge]

Fredonia dumps Allegheny, 77-62.
Bluffton trumps Wooster, 53-50.

NCAC non-conference records slumps to 27-23.

[David Collinge]

Tonight's scores:

Oberlin 73, Hiram 60
Kenyon 66, Wittenberg 62
Denison 66, OWU 58

Updated standings:
Allegheny 2-0
DePauw 1-0
Kenyon 1-0
Denison 1-1
Hiram 1-1
Oberlin 1-1
Wittenberg 1-1
OWU 0-2
Wooster 0-2

[David Collinge]

Carnegie Mellon 69, Oberlin 46

NCAC non-conference record slips to 27-24.

Saturday's schedule:
Oberlin at Allegheny
OWU at DePauw
Wooster at CWRU

[David Collinge]

Allegheny 74, Oberlin 59
DePauw 79, Ohio Wesleyan 52
Case 68, Wooster 37

Getting perilously close to .500, ladies. Now at 27-25.

Conference race:
Allegheny 3-0
DePauw 2-0
Kenyon 1-0
Denison 1-1
Hiram 1-1
Wittenberg 1-1
Oberlin 1-2
Wooster 0-2
OWU 0-3

[David Collinge]

I'm a day late with these, but happily not a dollar short:

Denison 66, Grove City 45
Allegheny 91, Mt. Aloysius 89

Back up to 29-25.

[David Collinge]

Kenyon drubs Hiram 63-40. Ladies move to 7-2 and are looking pretty good early on.

Updated conference standings:
Allegheny 3-0
DePauw 2-0
Kenyon 2-0
Denison 1-1
Wittenberg 1-1
Hiram 1-2
Oberlin 1-2
Wooster 0-2
OWU 0-3

Thomas More sinks Wittenberg 78-62 as the NCAC slips to 29-26 in non-conference action. Our next games are on Monday and Tuesday, days I am unlikely to be able to post scores in here.  Here's the lineup:
Monday:
Hiram at Waynesburg
Kenyon vs. Maryville (TN) at Transylvania
Wooster at Albion
Tuesday:
DePauw vs. Hanover at Wilmington
Wooster at Trine
Kenyon vs. TBA (Transy or St. Mary-of-the-Woods) at Transylvania
Wednesday:
DePauw vs. TBA (Wilma or Kalamazoo) at Wilmington

[David Collinge]

Okay, let's fill in the blanks together. All I know so far, thanks to email updates from Hugh Howard and Marty Fuller, is that Wooster lost twice and Kenyon won twice.

Monday:
Waynesburg 58, Hiram 54
Kenyon 66, Murvul 56
Albion 73, Wooster 41 (gulp!)
Tuesday:
DePauw 72, Hanover 38 (zounds!)
Trine 69, Wooster 56
Kenyon 49, Transylvania 45
Wednesday:
DePauw 64, Wilmington 59

4-3 overall, thanks to #9 DePauw and Kenyon, putting us at 33-29.

The loop now goes on hiatus for just over a week, reconvening next Thursday with games at Denison (Hanover), DePauw (Alma), OWU (Penn St.-Du Bois [pronounced DOO-Boys, no really, it is]), and Wittenberg (Rose-Hulman). Don't our programs know what a "snowbird" is? Hiram will be the only snowdogs this season as they will head to the Southland that same day for games at Occidental (12/30) and Chapman (12/31). In the meantime, Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays, ladies!