YEAST RISES TO THE TOP

OK, so Ashley Yeast’s last name is actually pronounced "Yay-st," but we couldn’t resist an obvious headline…

Funny how things work out. When Monmouth College’s Penny Rowan was pulling down her then-school record 809th career rebound on Feb. 21, 1992, the woman who would eventually break her record was entering first grade and had no idea of the monumental occasion.

Fast forward to Dec. 1, 2007: The Scots women’s career rebound record is again broken and again, Ashley Yeast (Sciota, Ill./West Prairie) had no idea that the milestone had been reached. Yeast’s defensive board early in the second half against Lawrence University was the 810th of her career, a feat completely lost on the new record-holder. "I had no idea the number I needed and my only focus was on getting a win," Yeast said. "It was a conference game and we needed the win."

That attitude helped Yeast set the record, an attitude not lost on Scots coach Melissa Jones. "The only stats Ashley worries about is our team win-loss record," praised Jones. "It’s a super accomplishment and shows you how good of an athlete she is and what kind of desire she has to make every rebound hers."

After leading the nation in rebounding last year at the Division III level, Yeast knew she would be a marked woman this season. She also knew the college’s women’s career rebounding record was within reach. What she didn’t know was exactly when that milestone would be reached. "Honestly, I thought I needed 20 or more (going into the Lawrence game)," said Yeast. "I knew coming into the season that I would be a target for opponents because of last season’s recognition. I wouldn’t say I felt pressure to set the record, but I did want to play well and contribute all I could to the team for a win."

Although Yeast may not have had her eye on the rebounding record when she entered as a freshman, opposing coaches and fans have been watching as she captured the women’s record at Monmouth. She joined two-time All-American Roger Sander as the two most prolific rebounders in Monmouth College history. With 819 career rebounds, the overall school record is within reach, but Yeast felt no pressure to set the women’s record or catch Sander’s career mark of 939 boards. "I wouldn’t say I felt pressure to set the (women’s) record. I want to play well and contribute all I can for us for a win," said Yeast. "My goal for the season is to win conference, when that happens, then I will be relieved."

If the overall rebounding record falls, so be it, but Yeast has her sites on a conference title and won’t relax until that happens. Opponents, meanwhile, won’t feel relief until Yeast graduates this spring.

WOMEN WIN WILD ONE

You can excuse women’s basketball coach Melissa Jones if she turns prematurely gray this season. After opening the season with strong first half performances only to struggle in the second half, the Fighting Scots have now found the formula for a strong second half. The problem is, now the first half has become a problem.

Friday against Carroll, the Scots found themselves down 37-21 at the break, but outscored the Pioneers 28-22 after the intermission to fall 59-49. "We were flat from the beginning," said Jones. "We let them get on a run to start the game. They’re a great team. They took that momentum and carried it on through."

While the Scots played a better second half, it still wasn’t enough to knock off the Pioneers who are ranked in the top 25 in two national polls. "You have to bring your best game when you’re playing one of the best teams in the nation," said Jones. "We just got mediocre play. I feel like our entire team didn’t show up. We got bits and pieces, but not the whole thing."

Monmouth had what Jones called "good" shot selections, but didn’t get the bounce on their own rims, shooting just over 29-percent from the floor. On the plus side, the Scots out-rebounded the Pioneers 44-31. To emphasis how the shots were not falling, 26 of the Scots 44 boards were on the offensive glass.

Ashley Yeast got her game going, recording her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Elise Waldorf continued her torrid shooting, scoring a team-high 17 points connecting on 8-of-14 from the floor.

Saturday could have been a repeat if not for a wild second half and overtime against a veteran Lawrence team. Trailing throughout much of the game, including a 10-point halftime deficit, the Scots took their first lead of the game with nine minutes left when Katie Sheets’ trey put Monmouth ahead 49-47. It was a see-saw battle from that point with Monmouth building a five point lead with 2:16 remaining in regulation. The Vikings refused to quit down the stretch and when the Scots missed a pair of late free throws, Lawrence’s Carrie Van Groll took advantage to tie the game at 65-65 as time wound down.

Overtime proved to belong to the Scots who outscored Lawrence 10-5 to win 75-70. Alison Andrews and Melissa Gorski combined to hit 4-of-6 free throws in the final 30 seconds to stave off any threat of double overtime.

"This was a great win for us," praised Jones. "I think this shows we can be playoff-caliber team. I was very happy, particularly the last 15 minutes. We got our offense back and we played good defense down the stretch."

Sheets finished with 21 points to lead four Scots in double figures. Gorski added 12, Waldorf 11 and Lynsey Barnard chipped in with 10. "It was good to see Katie do well against a man-to-man," said Jones. "Usually, Katie gets her points against a zone as our ‘zone-buster,’ but against Lawrence she really stepped up. We were setting and using better screens to get her open."

It wasn’t all easy for the coaching staff, Monmouth’s two main inside threats, Tanesha Hughes and Yeast (16 rebounds), had fouled out late in the first half, meaning Gorski and Waldorf were relegated to the 4 and 5 positions. "Kudos to Melissa, our starting No. 2 guard, who wound up in the post at the end of the game and the entire overtime because she only had a couple of fouls and we needed someone down there," reported Jones. "We really had five guards on the floor at the end."

A trio of guards drew praise from Jones. "Niki Sue (Williams) did a great job with her toughness throughout the game" said Jones. "It was good to see her pushing the ball for us and playing great defense. Niki, Lynsey and Justine (Boone) all protected the ball well and kept their point guard form getting any steals. That was a big factor in our win."

Check on all three…but it wasn’t easy. Despite a double-double from Gorski and Yeast the Scots' win was a lot closer than the final score indicated. Monmouth's 83-64 win over Grinnell began auspiciously enough for the Scots who scored at will early, but a Grinnell timeout with the Scots leading 9-0 sparked the Pioneers who finally took the lead with 5:33 left in the first half. The Scots were able to pull away down the stretch and regained their double-digit lead on Gorski's 3-pointer with 5:38 left in the game. Gorski led all scorers with 22 points and 13 rebounds, Yeast collected 15 points and 10 rebounds, Waldorf poured in 16 and Sheets added 11.

LET’S PLAY ONE

Former Chicago Cub Ernie Banks may cringe at the thought, but for men’s coach Mark Vershaw, the double-header weekends have been a struggle. "We play with a lot of energy and focus on the first day, but we really struggle with that on the second day," said Vershaw.

Monmouth led throughout much of the Carroll game, only to see the Pioneers pull away from a 73-73 tie by hitting 10 consecutive free throws in the final 1:23. "In close games, it’s usually the team that makes the least amount of mistakes that gets the win," claims Vershaw. "They hit their free throws and didn’t turn the ball over. We didn’t hit the free throws and had some costly turnovers. They closed out the game and we didn’t. We’ve got to figure out how to close and win a game."

The Scots had four in double figures, led by Alex Tanney’s 19 points, Joe Terwelp with 17, Kyle Cook added 12 and Scott Ubbenga came off the bench to add 11. "Alex and Joe both played extremely well," said Vershaw. "We’re finding out what guys can give us and at what time. Hopefully, by January we’ll have our rotation in place and know what everyone can give us."

After digging a hole Saturday against Lawrence the Scots used bench players to keep it close at the end before the Vikings hit six straight free throws in the final 45 second to pull away. "Lawrence is very good, top to bottom and we need everyone to play with a lot of energy and passion," reported Vershaw. "I did appreciate down the stretch in the last four minutes our group we had on the floor did have that energy and passion. Fletcher (Morgan) gave a great spark, that’s what I’m looking for when a guy gets an opportunity. He sat a long time, but came in ready to play and I appreciate that.

"Corey Gruber was another one who came ready to play. Scott Scholten (16 points) stepped up and had a good game," Vershaw continued. "Brett Peurach and Wes Wrage held their own inside."

Vershaw also praised Jesse Haskett who pulled down nine rebounds in just 15 minutes and Alex Tanney’s 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

Grinnell brought their run-and-gun offense to Glennie Gym last night and cruised to a 100-80 win over the Scots. The Scots couldn't keep up with the Pioneers frenzied tempo, trailing 62-38 at the half. Grinnell slowed the pace in the second half as the Scots outscored the Pioneers 42-38. The Scots could only get as close at 15 with one minute left when Ron Snisky came off the bench and hit his first of two 3-pointers. Terwelp posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Cook added 14 points while hitting 5-of-6 from the floor.

AT THEIR BEST…SO FAR

The Fighting Scots men’s and women’s teams combined to either set a new school record, or swim a personal best in nearly half the events at last weekend’s DePauw Invitational at Greencastle, Ind. The men used their strong performance to finish fourth and the women placed eighth.

Calling it the "fastest meet" his team will swim at this season, coach Keith Crawford was pleased with his team’s performance following a two-week layoff. The men had their highest finish ever at the meet. "Collectively, it was our best overall performance by the men and women," praised Crawford. "Especially our men’s distance swimmers, we usually don’t do too well at the DePauw meet. Jim Travnik and Chad Rowland both had huge time drops in the 500- freestyle (5:06.58 and 5:00.76, respectively)."

Kevin Raske again excelled for the Scots, tying with DePauw’s Robert Alexander for the high point-scorer at the invitational. Raske set the Monmouth record while winning the 1650-yard freestyle in 16:40.29 and he touched first in the 200-yard backstroke (1:57.98), his prelim time of 1:57.83 was also school record. The freshman also set the new Scots standard in the 200- butterfly prelims (1:58.50) and took second in the finals.

Kurt Niemeier picked up a second-place in the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.20) and teamed with Raske, John Kaiser and Tom Pederson to finish fourth in the 400- freestyle relay (3:21.20). The foursome also picked up a fifth-place finish in the 200- freestyle relay (1:30.45).

Kevin Satler swam a personal-best 1:03.41 in the 100-yard breaststroke to finish fifth. He was joined by Raske, Kaiser and Niemeier to swim to a fourth-place finish in the 400- medley relay (3:44.40) and 200- medley relay (1:42.55).

On the women’s side, Anne Lane took seconds in the 100-yard butterfly (1:01.98) and the 200- individual medley with a school-record time of 2:18.40. Her time of 2:19.63 was good for fifth in the 200- butterfly.

Distance swimmer Heather Plum, 500-yard freestyle (5:33.85) and 1650- freestyle (19:23.59), drew praise from Crawford. "Heather had a great race in the 500," he said. "She dropped 16 seconds from the prelims, which was a personal-best for her. It was good to see Megan Wentzlaff (400- individual medley) and Jessica Demink (200- breaststroke) make it back to their second swims.

"I’ve been preaching that we have to get it done in the prelims," he continued. "We want to get a good seed in the finals, so a personal-best in the prelims will almost guarantee a good spot in the finals."

Crawford was also high on freshman Lauren Nelson who swam a personal-best 5:57.69 in the 500- freestyle and sophomore Meaghan Gritzenbach and her personal-best time in the 500- freestyle (6:00.82).

While the Scots finish did not surprise Crawford, their first-day performance did. "Historically, we start slowly on the first day, then get it going later in the meet," he said. "We’re usually better on Day 2, but this year, we actually had some of our better times on Friday."

With winter break right around the corner, the Scots face the aspect of not swimming in competition until January. If the Thanksgiving break is any indication, look for the Scots to post more bests after a month layoff.

MIRACLE WORKER?

"A few weeks ago Alex had suffered a subluxation and then aggravated the knee in the St. Ambrose game," said Foster. "We felt it was best to hold him out of the next day’s game and get his knee checked."

Sublux-what? What the heck is a subluxation? In layman’s terms, the kneecap is forced to the side, but not dislocated. It still sounds painful.

Fortunately for the Scots, an MRI showed the swelling was the result of a bruise and Tanney was cleared to play. He may want to bruise the knee more often. Tanney averaged 20 points over the next two games and shot 53-percent from 3-point range.

Maybe we should see Foster about our aching back.

I WANT MY MWCTV

THE WEEK AHEAD

SCOTSIVATIONAL