The Woods

Sat. Jan. 28
SMWC vs. Lindenwood University – Belleville
@ Clinton, IN
Starts at 2:00 p.m.
For directions, visit http://
www.smwc.edu/athletics/basketball/

Popularity: 15% [?]

By Amira Jaradat
Staff Writer

For more than half of the semester, while the rest of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College’s sports teams have been competing, the basketball team was getting ready.
Their season finally kicked off on Nov. 5 in a home game against Indiana Tech. But, in the months leading up to that game, the basketball team was practicing hard, preparing for the long season that was to come.
“We practice every day, usually for two hours,” said sophomore Jessica Taylor. Besides running plays and working on technical skills, the team has been spending time in the weight room and working on resistance training.
“We’re trying to build our stamina so we can be ready for the season,” said Taylor.
Another way the team has prepared for the season is by having scrimmages with other teams.
“They’ve been pretty intense,” said Taylor. “Nobody’s going to let us beat them. We work hard for every win.”
“Our scrimmage games have been really good,” said freshman Alaura McKemie. “We’ve worked together really good as a team.”
The Pomeroys won three out of the four scrimmages they played, a fact McKemie says is partly due to the team’s dynamic. “I think we get along really well,” said McKemie. “We’re really open with each other. It’s better than I thought after high school, after having all those little kids and more drama. We’re more responsible.”
Taylor is a transfer student and, like McKemie, she is a new addition to the basketball team this year. According to Taylor, playing scrimmages before the start of the season helped the team to perform better as a unit.
“We had to get used to playing together and get a feel for each other,” Taylor said. Now, we are more aware of where we are on the court. Every game, we progress in some area.”
The team will have plenty of games to hone their skills. Their season is jam-packed, including at least one game every week, sometimes two or three. Compounded by the time spent in workouts and travelling to and from the Clinton Recreation Center every day for practices, being a part of SMWC basketball can take its toll.
“I’m worried about December,” said McKemie. “I’ve heard that’s our longest month. Everyone else gets off… We’re off for five days and then we’re back.”
But according to Brittney Shaner, a junior who has been on the team for three years, five days off for Christmas is an improvement on past years. “We usually only get four,” said Shaner. “You kind of do get a little burned out, but coach always gives us breaks,” she added.
According to McKemie, Coach Deanna Bradley is the kind of woman who demands respect. “She really knows what she’s talking about,” said McKemie, who says she feels she can go to her coach with her problems or her questions.
“In practices, if there are things that you want to know, she stops the play, she goes through it step by step and she goes back and has everybody reset up the play,” she said.
The basketball team consists of only nine players, with five taking to the court at a time. Going into the season, the Pomeroys will be playing with eight while Jenni McLeish-Marietta recovers from ankle surgery.
The team’s small numbers haven’t been a determining factor in their scrimmages; one of their wins was against a team of 17 players. “It hasn’t affected us in the scrimmages,” said Shaner. “Teams I’ve been on in the past, we only had like eight players, and that’s when we did our best because we could rotate better.”
Shaner is already looking ahead to the Nov. 29 game against Rose Hulman Institute of Technology. The rivalry game draws crowds from both schools and is one of the team’s most anticipated games of the season.
“That’s like the most nerve-wracking game you play because there’s so many people there,” said Shaner.

Popularity: 21% [?]

By Allison Foster
Staff Writer

With a win on Jan. 8 against IU-Southeast the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods basketball record increased to 9-7.
Freshmen, Chelsea Weaver hit a 25-foot 3-pointer just in time before the end of the first half taking the lead.
“The clock was running out and she only had one option, and that was to shoot immediately,” said head coach Deanna Bradley.  “Everyone was excited when she hit it because it gave us a four point lead.”
The lead changed several times throughout the second half, with neither team gaining more than a six point lead.
“All we can do as a team is prepare our best in practice. Our goal going into every game is to play our best,” Bradley said.
The Pomeroys were victorious and won the game against IU-Southeast with a final score of 77-74.
SMWC dropped a game to Lake Land College on Jan. 5 with the final score of 60-89 .
The Pomeroys have not been able to win all of their games, but Bradley knows exactly what they need to do to finish strong and move onto nationals; be more aggressive and consistent.
On Dec. 30, 2010, the Pomeroys took on Wheaton College in the Taylor Classic Tournament.
This was a challenging game for SMWC and Wheaton came out victorious, 59-93
On the second day of the Taylor Classic, SMWC played Trinity International University.
The Pomerory’s displayed more energy but were unable to pull through.  By 16 points, they were defeated by Trinity International with a final score of 80-96.
SMWC traveled to play the St. Joseph Lady Bears Dec. 28, 2010.
The Pomeroy’s, who were anked sixth in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) coaches poll the week before, took an early lead of 25-14.
Both teams shot over 60 percent from the field in the first half.  The Pomeroys were on a roll, shooting 80 percent (20 for 25) from the free throw line, and 57 percent from the field. The final score for this game was 93-79.
On Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010, the Pomeroys then traveled to Notre Dame to play the Saints of Holy Cross College.
The Pomeroys were down by 26 halfway through the second half but managed to cut the lead to 10 with three minutes to go during the second half.
But unfortunately the Pomeroys didn’t do enough to pull through for the win. The final score was in favor of Holy Cross, 74 and SMWC 63.
Dec. 17, 2010, SMWC traveled to Fort Wayne to play the Indiana Tech Warriors. Several lead changes happened throughout the first half.
Well into the second, Indiana Tech took a massive 24-2 run, and the Pomeroys were defeated with a 62-83 final score.
Dec. 14, 2010, marked the eighteenth time SMWC and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology have played each other for the Clabber Girl trophy.
The game started off slow on both sides.
“We weren’t as intense as I would have liked for us to have been, but then again, you have to go with what you’ve got and I felt  the team did a good job of making the most of what they had,” Bradley said.
During the second half of the game, it was a back and forth change of points.
As the second half came to an end, senior Brooke Brown stole the ball, got fouled and hit one of two free throws with three seconds remaining.
The final score for the game was 56-54.

Popularity: 39% [?]

By Allison Foster
Staff Writer

The Pomeroys were unable to bounce back against the College of Mount St. Joseph in a weekend tourney game Nov. 19 and 20. The final score was 55-74.
On the weekend of Nov. 19 and 20 Saint Mary-of-the-Woods basketball took on the host team, College of Mount St. Joseph. The Pomeroys took a three-hour ride to Cincinnati, Ohio for this game.
“It was an easy trip down to Cincinnati,” said Head Coach  Deanna Bradley.
There were about 100 people in attendance for the game.
“After coaching for more than 20 years, I rarely get nervous before games,” Bradley said.  “If we prepare well in practice, the team should perform well in games and that is our goal.”
Once halftime came around on during the Nov. 19 game, the Pomeroys found themselves down by 10 points, but there was still time.
One important factor about the SMWC team is that they never give up and that is what helps them win their games Bradley explained.
Luckily after halftime the team played a very good second half and they were able to get the victory for the game within the last 36 seconds by three points.
“Mount St. Joseph has a good team, and the players are very aggressive. We were evenly matched,” Bradley said of the MSJ team players.
On Saturday Nov. 20 at 5 p.m., the Pomeroys went up against United States Corporate Athletic Association (USCAA) opponent Spalding University from Louisville for the championship game. SMWC is a long-standing rival of Spalding’s women’s basketball team. At halftime, the Pomeroys were behind by 13 points.
“This early in the season, teams are figuring out what they can do,” Bradley said.  “We still have a long way to perform at the pace level we would like for the entire game.”
Chelsey Barron, junior, and Jordan Barton, freshman were named to the All-Tournament team at the end of the game.
“It’s always nice to have players awarded for their performances, yet everyone on this team knows, those two would give up the award to have won the game,” Bradley explained.  “That’s what I really like about this group, they are so unselfish.”

Popularity: 31% [?]

By Allison Foster
Staff Writer

On Wednesday, Oct. 27 the Pomeroys took on Lincoln Trail College in a scrimmage game to open the 2010-2011 season. There were about 40 people in attendance at the Community Recreation Trail Center where SMWC holds their games.
With only five healthy players available for the scrimmage, the team and coaches had a little concern.
“Having only five and a half players and the other team with 10 players is a small disadvantage for us tonight,” said Head Coach Deanna Bradley.
SMWC started the first half with a solid foundation and a good pace.
Freshman Jordan Barton scored the first points of the game for the Pomeroys.
“One important thing for the team to win tonight’s game was to rebound,” said Bradley.
About seven minutes into the first half the score was 32-13 with the Pomeroys keeping a strong lead. The end of the first half ended, putting SMWC on top with a 20 point lead and a score of 43-23.
Once the second half started, Lincoln Trail began to catch up quickly. The score rose quickly to 50-37. While they attempted to close the gap, they couldn’t quite outscore the Pomeroys.
Lincoln Trail’s sideline bench of players started to make lots of commotion to distract the Pomeroys. It took them by surprise, but it did not stop them from staying focused for the game.
With three minutes left in the game the score was 69-60 putting SMWC in the lead, but with a much smaller cushion.
In the end the Pomeroys were victorious with a 74-63 win over Lincoln Trail.
Senior Brooke Brown was a big help on and off the court with her scoring and the helpful cheering on of teammates. The chemistry the team shares is something that a lot of teams struggle with, but the Pomeroys seem to have no problem with.
“Having a few players puts more responsibility on the girls,” Bradley said.  “They know that they must play well if they want to win, but I’m not worried.”

Popularity: 28% [?]