A WIN IS A WIN

If the Fighting Scots women’s basketball team keeps this up, the record book could get crowded. The Scots’ 6-2 start is the best start to the season the program has experienced since the 1995-96 squad posted a 7-1 record through their first eight games.

"I never felt comfortable (vs. Grinnell)," said coach Melissa Jones. "Although we were up by 10 most of the game, I was afraid we would let them creep up on us. The score wasn’t indicative of how close it was. We only put them away in the last six minutes or so."

The M.O. early in the season was to play a great first half, then suffer a letdown after halftime, something Jones says they have been working on. "We’ve been doing some drills to help us maintain our focus and intensity," she said. "With the Augustana game, I think we’ve put together the best 30 minute segment of the season. It was good to see us come out and be aggressive to start the second half. That has been where we had struggled.

"Melissa (Gorski) has really come on strong," Jones continued. "Especially her rebounding. She’s averaging almost nine rebounds per game, that’s exceptional for a shooting guard to have those kinds of numbers."

Jones was also impressed by the play of Alison Andrews who blocked four shots in the Grinnell game.

Katie Sheets was the lone hot shooter for the Scots against Eureka. Her team-high 14 points came on 5-of-10 shooting. Gorski added her third straight double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. The Scots were just 13-of-31 from the floor and needed a 7-0 run in the last 3:30 of the first half to get some breathing room heading into the locker rooms. The Scots were better in the second half, stretching the margin to double digits within minutes and easing to their fourth straight win.

While Jones and Co. are happy with their strong start to the season, there is a bit of disappointment. "I feel our losses to Wartburg and Carroll could have gone the other way," said Jones. "We’re capable of doing better."

SYSTEM CHECK

Wait a minute, Monmouth uses a zone? That’s something Vershaw said would be a bad sign if it happened. Grinnell runs a stall offense? What happened to their high octane "System?" Is this the end of the basketball world as we know it? Could the universe be about to implode?

Not exactly.

"We were unable to play man-to man and match up on transition defense, so we had to switch to a zone," said Vershaw. "We felt the zone would force them to slow down a bit, and it helped. I think Grinnell’s switch to the four corners was an attempt to get us out of the zone."

After getting his first in-person look at the Pioneers’ system, Vershaw is already formulating a game plan for the next meeting in February. "We’ll have to shoot better, make our layups and force them to inbound the ball," he said. "We can’t let them transition off our missed shots."

It wasn’t much better Saturday when Central handed the Scots an 85-61 loss. "That was a big disappointment to get outworked and out-toughed on our home court," lamented Vershaw. "They came ready to play. They beat us on loose balls, they beat us on the glass and we didn’t shoot very well. All of those things contributed to us digging a big hole by halftime. We were better in the second half, but we just dug too big of a hole. We could never really get anything going."

There was some good news from the weekend, the Scots’ JV team rallied to defeat the Central JV team 86-77. "It was a complete 180 from our varsity game," claimed Vershaw. "They were down by as much as 20 and came back by outworking, out-toughing and out-scrapping Central. Our JV really had a refuse to lose attitude. I saw a lot of good things."

Something fans saw that may have surprised them was sophomore guard Scott Ubbenga jumping center and then playing a good portion of the game as a post. "Scott had a very good game," praised Vershaw. "Quinn (Wilkin) played well, but it’s not a big surprise that group played well. That unit plays together in practice and is very effective without a true post player. They understand what it takes to get the job done."

Ubbenga hit 8, 3-pointers in scoring 31 points for the Scots’ JV. Bob Hoffman poured in 16 and Garrett White added 14. The rest of the JV unit included Wilkin, Ron Snisky, Corey Gruber and Fletcher Morgan.

The Scots postponed Tuesday’s road game at Robert Morris-Chicago due to the ice storm that swept through the Midwest. The game was rescheduled for Thursday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m.

STUDENTS FIRST, ATHLETES SECOND

Many times we forget the "student" in "student-athlete," but not this time. Scots Scoop is happy to report that 24 student-athletes at Monmouth College were recently honored by the Midwest Conference for their work in the classroom. The league recognized eight fall sports and released their All-Academic team for the fall semester.

In order to be named to the MWC’s All-Academic team, a student-athlete must have completed at least one year at the institution, must carry a cumulative GPA of 3.2 and must earn a varsity letter in that sport.

The following is a breakdown by sport of the Scots fall all-academic honorees.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Junior guard Melissa Gorski’s (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) back-to-back double-doubles helped guide the Fighting Scots to a 2-0 week and as the result, she picked was named to the D3Hoops.com team of the week and the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week in women’s basketball.

Wednesday against conference foe Grinnell, Gorski poured in 22 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as the Scots broke open a tight game to win 83-64. The Scots picked up a road win at Augustana Friday, winning 74-48. Gorski helped the Scots break open another close game, scoring seven of her 22 points in the final 5:35 of the first half as Monmouth went on a 15-0 run. She pulled down 12 rebounds in the game and hit all nine of her free throw attempts.

For the week, Gorski averaged 22 points, 12.5 rebounds and four assists per game while shooting 48-percent from the floor (13-27). She is in the top 5 in the Midwest Conference in scoring (15.6 ppg), rebounding (8.7 rpg), assists (4.14 apg), steals (2.57 spg), free throw percentage (.804) and 3-point percentage (.476).

PALKOVIC GETS A KICK OUT OF BOWLING

Calling it one of the top two athletic experiences in his career, Monmouth College kicker/punter Nate Palkovic (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) was a big factor in the U.S.A.’s win over Mexico last weekend at the Aztec Bowl played in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Kicking into a stiff breeze, Palkovic connected on a 33-yard field goal with 9:49 left in the first quarter to give the U.S. an early, but short-lived lead. "I don’t know why, but I wasn’t a bit nervous on that field goal," claimed Palkovic. "I had been kicking well in practice and was pretty focused. Kasey Morgan from Wisconsin-Stevens Point was my holder and did a great job. It felt good to give us the lead."

Mexico responded on their next possession with an 11-play, 84-yard drive that was capped by an 18-yard TD pass to give Mexico their only lead in the game. Team U.S.A. scored early in the second quarter and Palkovic’s PAT regained the U.S.A.’s three-point margin. Palkovic finished with four extra points and one field goal to share the leading scorer honors with Mexico kicker Erick Gomez. He could have won that title outright if not for a 46-yard field goal that sailed wide or an errant PAT.

"We had a cross wind that had started to die down a bit," said Palkovic of the 436-yard attempt. "I adjusted my aim a little bit, but the wind picked back up at the last minute and just pushed it a couple feet wide. The coaches told me it had enough distance and would have been good from 55 to 60 yards. It took a couple of days, but once we got our timing down in practice, we were kicking really well."

A month off did little to hurt Palkovic. His totals for the All-Star game were nearly identical to his season marks with the Fighting Scots. Playing in 75 degree weather, Palkovic actually improved on his season kickoff average (62.4). His seven kickoffs averaged 65.1 yards and three went for touchbacks. "It must have been the adrenaline," stated Palkovic. "I had a two go out of the endzone and one wound up on the track."

Palkovic did see a bit of a drop in punting average. His seven punts in the Aztec Bowl averaged 38.1 yards, just below his 41.9 season average. Three of his seven punts landed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line and his longest traveled 54 yards.

"It was a great experience," reported Palkovic. "It’s the equivalent of our Super Bowl. We were completely surrounded by press during the game. They had a marching band playing the entire time and a lot of off-the-field entertainment. There were a couple of pro scouts there, too."

Founded in 1947, the Aztec Bowl is the annual season-ending game for Mexico’s collegiate season. The game pits a team made of United States Division III all-stars against a select group of players from Mexico who would be considered Division I players in the U.S.

The United States now holds a 10-1 in the Aztec Bowl.

BOMBS AWAY!

Last week’s women’s basketball win over Grinnell wasn’t played at quite the helter-skelter pace we were expecting, so it was a bit of a surprise the Scots’ 83-64 win yielded a record performance.

Melissa Gorski did the most damage, hitting 4-of-5 from long range. Lynsey Barnard was right behind, nailing 3-of-4. At the Scots’ current pace of just over six treys per game, another record is within site. By the end of January, Melissa Jones’ women could eclipse the 3-point season record of 106 set during the 1991-92 season.

THE WEEKS AHEAD

SCOTSIVATIONAL