HELP WANTED
No, Scots Scoop isn’t selling classified ads, but the women’s basketball team is looking for help in their quest to return to the Midwest Conference playoffs for only the second time in the history of the program.
Coach Melissa Jones was still in high school when the Scots made their first appearance at the conference tourney in 1998. When the season began, Jones and her team had hoped to begin preparations for the tourney by this time, but a pair of losses to Beloit and Carroll have hurt the Scots chances. “We need to win out,” said Jones, whose team sits in fifth place a game behind Beloit in the win column. “We’re capable of sweeping our three remaining games, but we’ll need some help to get in. If we can sweep, then Beloit has to lose one of their two remaining games for us to make in it.”
That scenario thanks to a St. Norbert 70-40 win over Beloit last night which puts Beloit at 8-6 in the league, just ahead of 7-6 Monmouth. If the Scots and Bucs were to end with identical records, Beloit gets the tie-breaker thanks to their two wins over the Scots.
Monmouth finishes with Illinois College at Glennie Gym Saturday, Monday it’s off to Grinnell for the makeup of a postponed game, and at Lake Forest Wednesday for the regular season finale. The Scots are 1-2 against their remaining opponents. Beloit’s final two games are against Ripon and Lawrence, the No. 8 and 9 teams in the league, and the Bucs are 2-0 vs. the Red Hawks and Vikings this season. While it may look bleak, the Scots may want to watch a tape of Super Bowl XLII and the New York Giants upset against the favored New England Patriots. Upsets can happen and that’s keeping the Scots playoff hopes alive.
The Scots entered last week knowing their situation and got off on the right foot with a 66-51 win over Lawrence on Friday. Elise Waldorf scored a team-high 14 points and Ashley Yeast set the school rebounding record, pulling down 15 board to move her career total at the time to 952. “We went in wanting to get some inside baskets early,” reported Jones. “We were able to accomplish that goal and that, in turn, helped our outside game. We had pretty good shot selection and were able to get balanced scoring.”
As well as the offensive game plan worked against the Vikings, it was a 180 the next day against Carroll in a 73-49 loss. Twenty-nine turnovers doomed the Scots’ upset bid. “We had problems offensively,” lamented Jones. “We played well defensively, but they converted our turnovers into points. They made too many points off of our offensive miscues.”
Jones makes a good point – in a 24-point loss, the Pioneers held an 18 point advantage in points-off-turnovers. Throw in a couple of 3-pointers – the Scots were 0-for-4 – and you’ve got a whole new ballgame.
The Scots entered last night’s game at Knox knowing a loss would severely hamper any chance at the MWC tournament.
Not to worry – trailing through much of the first half, Waldorf sparked a 16-0 run to close out the first half with the Scots up 33-20. Monmouth increased their lead after the break and were never threatened. Yeast moved closer to the 1,000/1,000 club, pulling down 15 rebounds and scoring a team-high 14 points. The senior center now has 979 rebounds and 958 points in her career. All that matters to Yeast is the team goal – “win conference.”
RETURN TO WISCONSIN – THE SEQUEL
Men’s basketball coach Mark Vershaw spent his college career in the Dairy State, but his return as a collegiate coach wasn’t exactly the trip fond memories are made of.
A day after bowing to Lawrence 105-68, the Scots nearly pulled off an upset of Carroll before falling 85-77. Had Monmouth pulled off the upset of the Pioneers, the league’s No. 2 team, Vershaw would have been watching it from the locker room.
Vershaw was slapped with the second “T” of his young career (the first occurred in his debut at Central Mo.) and ejected from the Carroll game after a pair of flagrant fouls were called on the Scots within seconds of each other down the stretch. “I got an explanation of the first flagrant foul,” said Vershaw. “The official who called the second one was on the other side of the court and when I yelled across the gym for an explanation I got a technical and got tossed.”
The Scots were trailing 76-59 when Vershaw got the heave-ho. Monmouth then got as close as six (83-77) with :33 left before finally succumbing. So, did Vershaw’s ejection fire up his charges? “I don’t know, but we went on a pretty good run (18-9) after that,” he said.
During Monmouth’s stretch drive a pair of Scott’s stepped up – Scott Scholten drained a three and scored five points and Scott Ubbenga, who returned from a severe ankle injury suffered in December, scored nine of his 20 points on three treys during the run. The Scots couldn’t make up any ground at the foul line, Joe Terwelp, who was 6-of-8 from the line and scored a team-high 24 points, was the only Scot to make a trip to the stripe. Carroll held the advantage with 32 trips to the line. Even with the discrepancy at the line, for the second time this season, the Scots held their own with the Pioneers who shot over 70-percent from beyond the arc. Carroll edged Monmouth 83-77 back in November.
Perhaps the most heartening theme from battling Carroll was that the Scots played their “best ball in a long time” and it came on the second day of a double-header, traditionally when the Scots have struggled. “I was pleased with our performance start to finish Saturday,” praised Vershaw. “Getting Ubbenga back from the injury is a big lift for us.”
Since coming back from the injury, Ubbenga has been averaging 14.3 points per game, including last night’s 12 in a 58-52 win over Knox.
Trailing for the first 34 minutes of the game, the Scots staged a comeback to knock the arch rival Prairie Fire out of the MWC race. Eric Grant's two free throws with 6:09 left produced the game's first tie since the opening tip. Less than a minute later, Alex Tanney made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Scots their first lead of the night. After the Fire's Josh Moten scored a basket in the paint to reclaim the Knox lead, Tanney drained a 3-pointer to give the Scots the lead for good, but it wasn't easy. With the Fire trailing 53-52, a Knox turnover gave Monmouth the ball with :37 left. Twenty seconds later, Ubbenga supplied the dagger with a trey and followed that with a pair of free throws for a 58-52 lead with six second left. Game over.
While likes what he’s seen from the Scots in the last two games, that wasn’t the case against Lawrence. “I felt like we conceded to Lawrence way to early,” said Vershaw. “We matched them pretty well for the first 8-9 minutes, then they had a big run to end the first half and another to start the second half. That’s what teams of that caliber do.”
The Scots may have had a little rust for the Lawrence game, their first action in nearly two weeks. That will be anything but the case from this point on – Monmouth will wrap up the season with three games in five days beginning with the home finale against Illinois College Saturday.
SWIMMERS HEALTHY….AND READY
The Monmouth College swim team will be treading in uncharted waters at the Midwest Conference Championships this weekend – they’re finally 100 percent healthy.
“This will make a huge difference for us, especially in the relays,” said coach Keith Crawford of his team’s competition this weekend at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. “We’ll be able to give the top relay teams a run.”
Crawford believes his men could be in position to be a strong contender for the title, but they’ll have to be even better than last year when they brought home a second place finish. “We need to be significantly better on Day 1,” he claimed. “We need at least five swims in the championship finals, so if we average two people in the championship finals of almost every event, we should be in good shape.”
The women’s fourth place finish last year was their best finish in the team’s three-year history. “The women’s race is wide open,” said Crawford. “We could be as high as third, or as low as eighth. It really depends on what the other schools bring.”
If the MWC’s men’s top times are any indication, Crawford’s winning formula looks like it could have some merit. Kevin Raske (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown) is back after a nagging injury kept him out of the pool for most of the last half of the season. He holds the conference’s best 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle times (10:03.88 and 16:40.29, respectively) and is ranked no lower than seventh in seven other events. His 1,650- time is more than a minute faster than his closest competitor. John Kaiser (Hanover Park, Ill./Glenbard North) is ranked no lower than fifth in the 100- and 200- butterfly and the 400- individual medley. Chad Rowland (Olathe, Kan./East) and Kevin Satler (Marseilles, Ill./Hinsdale South) are ranked in the top seven in six different events. Kurt Niemeier (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) carries the No. 2 ranking in the 100- and 200- freestyle and is eighth in the 50- freestyle. Add in Monmouth’s relay teams, including the top-ranked 400- medley, and the Scots have five relays ranked no lower than third.
The Scots’ women may be a low on numbers, but Crawford hopes quality will make up for quantity. “We have some good, quality swimmers at the top of our lineup,” praised Crawford. “If we can get the performances we’re capable of, we’ll make a good run on the women’s side.”
Anne Lane (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) leads the women with the MWC’s best times in the 100-yard individual medley (4:53.04) and the 200- butterfly (2:17.23). Her 200- fly time is more than :02 faster than her nearest competitor. She is ranked second in the 100- fly and 200- IM, and is in the top eight in three other events. Heather Plum (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) is ranked fourth and sixth in the 1,650 freestyle and 500- freestyle, respectively. The Scots also have times in the top five of four relay events.
“Megan Wentzlaff and Jessica DeMink will score some points for us, too,” said Crawford. “The real strength of our women is our overall collective depth. Most, if not all of our women should be able to score some points for us.” Crawford also predicts Meghan Gritzenbach, Jessica Houser, Lauren Nelson and Sally Thomas have the potential to turn in some crucial points.
Not only are the Scots healthy for the 2008 championships, they also are bringing some firepower to the diving well. “With Kayce DeRoo diving for the women and Jack Clifford for the men, we should be able to improve our point total,” said Crawford. “I’m really excited about our divers. They could really make a difference.”
SCOTS RULE CONFERENCE TRACK & FIELD AND DIVING HONORS
The Monmouth College swim team and men’s track team pulled off a sweep of this week’s Midwest Conference Performer of the Week awards.
Senior pole vaulters Jonny Henkins (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee) and Peter Sprecher (Canton, Ill./Canton) and junior sprinter Luke Reschke (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo) received the conference honors for track & field after stellar performances at last Saturday’s Keck Invitational hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University. Not to be outdone, divers Jack Clifford (Rantoul, Ill./St. Thomas More) and Kayce DeRoo (Elgin, Ill./Larkin) swept the league’s honor for swimming and diving.
Henkins and Sprecher each cleared 16’7-1/4 to automatically qualify for next months NCAA Indoor Championships in Ada, Ohio. Henkins won the event by virtue of attempts, Sprecher took second. The pair finished more than a foot-and-a-half ahead of the third place vaulter. They have the MWC’s top height in the pole vault by two feet and are ranked second in the nation, just over four inches behind the leader.
Reschke had his best meet of the season, winning one event and provisionally qualifying for nationals in two other. He won the 200-meters in a personal-best time of 22.67 and qualified provisionally in the 400- with his third place time of 49.46. He teamed with Logan Hohl, Jacob Stott and Brad Gross to provisionally qualify in the 4x400 relay with a third place time of 30:20.30. His 400- time is tops in the conference and ranked eighth nationally. The 4x4 time is the league’s best and ranks seventh nationally.
Clifford and DeRoo recorded career-bests at last weekend’s Illinois Wesleyan Titan Diving Invitational and were rewarded with the Midwest Conference Performers of the Week honor in swimming & diving.
Clifford, a sophomore, won the men’s honor, placing sixth in the 11 dive, 1-meter competition. His career-best 217.85 points ranks him second on the Scots’ all-time list. He is currently ranked fourth in the MWC.
DeRoo was named the women’s winner after taking first in the 1-meter competition with a school-record 319.10. The freshman beat her nearest competitor in the 11 dive event by nearly four points. She is ranked fourth in the conference heading into this weekend’s MWC Championships.
SCOTS PLAID TO ‘THINK PINK’
(The following story was submitted by Sports Information intern Sarah Kisner.)
The Monmouth College women’s basketball team will participate in the “Think Pink” campaign to promote breast cancer awareness during their Feb. 16 game in Glennie Gymnasium at Monmouth College.
The Fighting Scots will host the Illinois College women at 1 p.m. with the men’s game to follow. As part of the “Think Pink” campaign, the Scots will be wearing pink shoelaces and pink warm-up T-shirts. Fans wearing pink will receive free admission, incentives on 50/50 raffles, and will be eligible for other contests. Strawberry ice cream cones and pink beaded necklaces will be on sale for $1 to help raise funds for cancer research. All proceeds will go to The Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation.
“We decided to get involved with ‘Think Pink’ because it is a great cause,” said women’s coach, Melissa Jones. “We’re hoping to raise money to donate to the Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation to one day find a cure.”
The Scots women’s basketball team has joined with more than 900 other schools and the Kay Yow/ Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), to help raise money for breast cancer research. The “Think Pink” campaign is now in its second year.
In addition to “Think Pink,” Monmouth College will also be celebrating senior day. Ashley Yeast will be recognized prior to the women’s game. The men’s team seniors- Bob Hoffman, Scott Scholten, Joe Terwelp, Wes Wrage, and Brett Peurach will be recognized prior to the men’s game.