Seasons resume for men's and women's basketball
Glasgow could record 400th win

Release Date: January 6, 2000

There will be something for everyone in the four home basketball games at Monmouth College this weekend – including plenty of parking.

While most of the student body remains away on Christmas break, the Fighting Scots men’s and women’s basketball teams will play doubleheaders Friday, Jan. 7, and Saturday, Jan. 8. The women will play first on both days.

The women’s 6 p.m. game Friday will feature Lake Forest, last year’s regular-season Midwest Conference champion. The Foresters, led by 1997-98 MWC Player of the Year Alison Grubbs, were 15-1 in the loop last season, and they’ll bring a 7-1 record into Glennie Gymnasium. One of those wins was an 83-71 decision over Monmouth Dec. 1, as Grubbs scored a team-high 16 points and dished off two key assists down the stretch. The Foresters’ only loss was to ninth-ranked Scranton at the UC-San Diego holiday tournament.

The men also will be looking for revenge against Lake Forest when they tangle at approximately 8 p.m. The Scots, who were upset by the Foresters 101-85 in November, will be looking for something even more special, as they’ll make their first attempt at the 400th victory of coach Terry Glasgow’s illustrious 28-year career.

Glasgow, who began coaching at Monmouth in the 1972-73 season, will bring a record of 399-213 into the contest. He currently stands tied for 14th on the active all-time winning list for Division III coaches with Aledo native Jon Davison, who coaches at Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa. Glasgow has coached over one-third of the program’s 1,047 victories.

The Scots may make history against Lake Forest, but if they don’t, they’re a virtual shoo-in to break some record Saturday against Grinnell and its "running to extremes" offense. It’s not unusual for both teams to finish with over 100 points in the contest, as was evidenced in last year’s 140-107 Monmouth win in which the Scots set team marks for points and field goal accuracy (58-of-68, 85 percent).

Grinnell has led the nation in three-pointers and total points the last six seasons, and the Pioneers are no different this year, hoisting roughly 60 treys per game and making 20. Cody Skarning has played much larger than his 5-foot-5 stature and is averaging 25.9 ppg to go with 9.1 assists per game and 3.9 steals. The guard is hitting 56 percent of his three-pointers.

The men’s game with Grinnell starts at approximately 3:30 p.m. While offense will be its trademark, defense is likely to take certain stage in the 1:30 p.m. women’s game. In recent years, Monmouth has set two marks against Grinnell, holding the Pioneers to 17 points in one game and beating them 36-35 in another to set the record for fewest points scored in a win.

Look for the Scots to notch much more than 36 this time around, though, as the team has been hitting on all cylinders during its current three-game winning streak. Four players – freshman Melissa Jones, sophomore Sara Larkin, junior Amber Kuhrts and senior Erin Bradshaw – are averaging over double figures, giving the Scots an attack as well-balanced in points as it is in class order.