FOLLOWING IN HIS FOOTSTEPS

Vershaw can laugh about it now, saying "I could say my technical," when asked what he will remember from his coaching debut. What he will remember is not necessarily the score, but the focus and determination his team showed in the second half when the game was out of reach. "The feeling and intensity we had, especially in the last ten minutes when we could have packed it in, was memorable," he said. "Everyone was into it, from our guys on the floor to everyone on the bench."

The Scots’ bench boss was impressed with the play of his entire team, saying everyone who went into the game gave their all. "The first seven minutes of the second half we played our best basketball of the season (including the exhibition game at Eastern Illinois)," praised Vershaw. "It won’t show up in the box score, but I was very proud of the guys for the way they played."

It won’t get much easier for Monmouth after facing a Division II opponent in their opener. The Scots face two NAIA powers this weekend in the Pizza Hut/County Market Classic at Glennie Gym. Saturday’s foe will be a St. Ambrose University team that gave Bradley University a run in an exhibition game and Sunday the Scots will face Robert Morris College of Chicago, the first of two meetings this year against the Eagles.

"Our work will be cut out for us," said Vershaw. "It’s another case of we’ll have to do a lot of things right to be competitive. That’s the way we should approach every game. It would be great to have two games where we can expand on the good things we did last week and play a good 40 minutes."

While the starting five for this weekend is still being determined, one thing that must change is the team’s 24 turnovers. On the plus side, Vershaw’s confidence in his team’s desire and deep bench are obvious. "We had good play from everyone against Central Missouri State," he said. "There wasn’t a big drop off. We’re pretty deep and that reflects in practice where there is a real competition for starting spots. That should carry on to this weekend."

One other thing, this week the "T" should refer to a beverage.

A NEW BREAKFAST ITEM

"We had major problems taking care of the ball," said Jones. "We’re not going to beat many teams turning the ball over that often. It has been a big focus of ours. They pressed us and we didn’t run our press-breaker very well.

The freshmen also impressed Jones. "Alison Andrews and Justine Boone gave us some key minutes toward the end of the game," Jones said. "We had them in at the end of the game, so we have confidence in them, and Niki Sue Williams got some valuable minutes in at the point."

Jones also felt good about the Scots long-range shooting, hitting six of the 11 treys they attempted. "When we make shots from the perimeter, that will help our inside game," she said. "Coming into this season, we knew we had to do a better job making our threes." The Scots shot over 50-percent on all field goals while holding the Rams to just under 32-percent.

While the Scots posted a hard-fought road win, this weekend they’ll get a chance to enjoy the comforts of Glennie Gym, Saturday hosting Rockford College and Wartburg College on Sunday. Jones expects a "scrappy" game from a veteran Rockford team. Wartburg could be a carbon copy of the Scots, returning a lot of veterans and some all-conference players. Like Monmouth, Wartburg was picked near the top of their conference and the Scots coach knows her team can’t make the mistakes they made in the opener and pick up a win. "Wartburg is a team where we have to play close to the best of our ability, or we will not win," Jones stated. "We need to take care of business and limit turnovers."

To be successful this weekend, Jones predicts her recently-acquired volleyball players will have to get into an offensive basketball mode quickly. "Tanesha (Hughes) and Ashley (Yeast) have to be ready to contribute on the offensive end," Jones said.

Yeast certainly contributed on the glass at Cornell, pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds, nine of those on the defensive end. At that pace, she could break the Penny Rowan’s women’s school rebounding record of 809 on Sunday.

SCOTS TAKE A DIVE…AND IT’S A GOOD THING

The Monmouth College men’s and women’s swim teams used valuable points in diving to springboard to second- and third-place finishes, respectively, at the IWU Invitational in Bloomington Saturday.

Sophomore Jack Clifford won the men’s 1-meter diving. Freshman Kayce DeRoo scored a school-record 171.30 points in the diving well for her runnerup finish and classmate Nina Hart took eighth in the women’s 1-meter.

While the men might have been expected to finish near the top, the women’s team may have been a bit of a surprise. The women may have faired even better if not for a false start by the Scots top women’s team in the 200-yard medley relay. "That cost us ten points," lamented swim coach Keith Crawford, whose women’s team missed second-place by eight points. "Overall, I was very happy with all facets of the meet. Kayce’s second-place in the diving well was big for us, Nina picked up valuable points in eighth and Jack winning the 1-meter means both teams added some valuable points."

Sophomore Anne Lane picked up three firsts, winning the 200-yard IM (2:20.63), 100- butterfly (1:03.67) and the 500- freestyle (5:34.49). All three times are Monmouth honor roll marks. She teamed with Lauren Kelley, Megan Wentzlaff and Lindsay Duvick to finish third in the 200- freestyle relay with a time of 1:51.07. Wentzlaff also picked up a third in the 100-yard backstroke with her swim of 1:17.81. Heather Plum posted a third in the 200- freestyle (2:12.06).

Freshman Kevin Raske continues to make waves for the men, breaking his own school record in the 500-yard freestyle (4:53.01) en route to a second-place finish. He also placed second in the 200- freestyle with a personal-best 1:48.55. Raske was joined on the second-place 200- freestyle relay by John Kaiser, Kurt Niemeier and Tom Pederson. The foursome swam a Monmouth honor roll time of 1:31.77.

Niemeier posted a second in the 100-yard freestyle (49.32) and teamed with Josh Van Swol, Kevin Satler and Kaiser for a third in the 200- medley relay (1:45.19). Kaiser’s time of 1:01.30 in the 100- backstroke placed him third. Taking second in the 100- breaststroke was Jon Peterson in 1:04.44.

The Scots will take the week off before hitting the two-day DePauw Invitational Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

STALEY, BEYER OUT IN FRONT

Monmouth College sophomore Clay Staley (Hanna City, Ill./Illini Bluffs) and freshman Mary Kate Beyer (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) have been honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The pair was named All-Midwest Region in men’s and women’s cross country, respectively.

Staley finished 25th at last weekend’s regional meet at Lake Breeze Golf Course near Oshkosh, Wis. His time of 25:01 on the 8K course was the third-fastest by a Monmouth runner in regional meet and set the school’s sophomore record.

Beyer’s 6K time of 22:19 placed her 20th at the meet. She missed becoming the first Fighting Scots woman to advance to the national meet by two seconds. The freshman set the new school mark for a regional 6K time and posted the highest finish by a freshman in Monmouth history.

THE END OF AN ERA

When the final horn sounds on the 20th annual Pizza Hut Basketball Classic Sunday night, it will mark the final hurrah for the event.

Originally billed as the Si-Scot Classic, the Pizza Hut/County Market Classic will end its 20-year run at the end of play Sunday afternoon. Scheduling changes at Knox next year are cited as the reason for the Classic’s extinction. It’s not yet known if the Classic, in some form, will continue at the Monmouth venue.

The Classic has been good to the Scots. The men did not lose a game in the Classic until 1997 and have posted an amazing 29-7 record at the event. The women also have enjoyed success, posting a 21-19 record.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

THE WEEK AHEAD

SCOTSIVATIONAL