Pratt Rallies Bucs Past Rider; Basketball Was Played Somewhere

Tonight, Pratt the Trickster had a rather unimpressive hat trick: a K, a walk, and an HBP, but then went and pulled off a really great trick: he scored the winning run on a two-run blast (2) in the bottom of the 8th.

After Mike Thomas struck out ten batters in six innings, things looked pretty bleak for ETSU. Their only offense came on a solo shot from Paul Hoilman (2), who finished a triple shy of the cycle. I would make a snarky remark about how unlikely this is due to Hoilman's speed on the base paths, but it's midnight and I'm getting ready for Craig Ferguson.

Long turned in six respectable innings, but his stuff lacked something. It was likely the weather, which is understandable (nobody likes to pitch in the mid-40s at night), but he was able to keep the damage down with just two earned runs. His arm will feel the burn though, after throwing 166 pitches to the Broncs tonight. I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't play at all today in the field.

Unfortunately, Rider scored four runs, helped along by a pair of outfield errors from Betterson (1), Scruggs (1), and yet another defensive blooper Kerry Doane (4), which is giving him the benefit of the doubt - I would have scored him with two, even considering the rough (to put it mildly) infield conditions after the heavy rains last night.

Rider looked like they would run away with this game until McNally took the hill in the 7th and completely shut them down, with 4 Ks in two innings of work. He gave up his last two hits in the top of the ninth, but Reeder came in and got the save (1) to give McNally the win (2-0).

In addition to his error on a routine fly to left, Betterson also struck out swinging twice, as did Niesman. Green also went down twice, once looking, and went 0/4.

Speaking of players with struggles, Scruggs is hitting .167, and Derek Trent also went 0/3 and has one hit in the first four games. I really shouldn't have to tell you where this is going.







Now, in brief, basketball:

The Lady Bucs were flat in Buies Creek. Shawn Randall took the opening tip and immediately ran full-speed into her own back court, and things just went downhill from there. Granted, they played this game without Latisha Belcher, but it seemed like players wanted to take the game off. Pickwell was 3/10 from the field; Davis was 3/13 with six turnovers. The team needed offense from Tosha Austin in the post, and she went 1/5, although she at least partially made up for it with nine boards.

It was a meaningless game in the standings, but this is still a really disappointing loss, and the first ever against Campbell for this program. Hopefully they come out against Lipscomb a little more motivated, or we might have an upset on our hands.


For the men, the game started in a similar fashion when Curtis Wilkinson won the opening tip and threw it to Sollazzo in the back court; however, they went in the opposite direction for a very important win. The guys that needed to step up were the ones that stepped up. Zeke with another 21 points, Tubbs with a quiet 14 and solid shooting day (4/9), and Sollazzo's strong outside drive nets him more than a few trips to the line, where he makes the Camels pay and drops a career-best 22 on them. The best part of this win, though, wasn't the strong individual performances from the three starters - it's that they might play this team AGAIN in the tournament, with Smith and Williams in the lineup. Bartow must be licking his chops at the thought of having his two best scorers back and playing what would likely be the same team on the floor in the tournament.

If they don't play this team again, then it could be an even better matchup, as they'll play Kennesaw State, but that would also require KSU to beat Belmont, so I would strongly advise them to prep for Campbell.

Since I'm not one for clever transitions, let's move on to softball.

... you know, on second thought, the less said about softball's 6-3 loss to Northwestern (three fielding errors) and 11-1 mercy rule loss to Chattanooga, the better.

Finally, I do have to give some props to the ETSU tennis teams. I went out for a shoot at one of their practices, and I don't think I've ever seen a more gracious host than Yaser Zaatini. The men open up conference against Upstate today. Best of luck, guys!

To Avoid Double Entendres, This Blog Has No Title

Forgive my tardiness, but this has been a rough week. To say I've been under the weather might be a tiny bit of an understatement. But, in the aftermath of the Belmont loss, let's all just get it out of our systems.

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Typically, in an ETSU loss, one of two things (or both in really bad losses) go wrong: three point defense and free throw shooting. The perimeter D was acceptable at 33%, but the free throw shooting was a very poor 68%. You can't shoot that poorly at the line against a team as good as Belmont and expect to win.

Some might argue that hitting all 16 opportunities at the stripe wouldn't have won us the game and, ceteris paribus, they'd be right - we would have lost by three. But bad free throw shooting can ruin your confidence. If a guy can't hit his free throws, then he starts missing other shots, and then his bad shooting can very easily become contagious. Generally, this team has been able to get away with bad shooting from the line because of good defense and a lack of scoring depth among the other teams in the conference, but Belmont has the latter in spades. That makes life really difficult, and that's why we lost.

But life goes on, and the team bounced back and played a very solid second half plus ten minutes to beat Lipscomb in Allen Arena for the second year in a row.

If anyone needs any perspective on how great of a second half this team played, our top three scorers from the first half were: Zeke with ten, Sollazzo with six, and Curtis Wilkinson with five. (Wilkinson, by the way, would not score again and foul out after 23 minutes. Baby steps.)

Speaking of ye olde Flying Cannoli, the reaction to his last-second jumper seemed mixed between "Wow, we just took the lead with 2.5 seconds left!" and "Wow, Sollazzo just made a jump shot!" Now, I recognize that Sollazzo likes to drive a lot and doesn't always have the greatest shot selection, but come on. He's shooting 51% from the field on the year. For a player that doesn't live under the basket like Brown or Wilkinson, that's really impressive. He also went 6/6 from the line, which has really been his big sore spot this season. He's not perfect, but the fact that he has done even a decent job running the point for this team as a converted small forward is really impressive, and he deserves far more credit than he gets.

So what about the ladies? I have to be honest, I really could not immerse myself in their tilt with Lipscomb. Maybe it was because I was sick, or my mind was just elsewhere, or maybe it was both teams shooting under 30% from the field that just made this game tough to get into. Still, there were some great individual numbers. Another 20 point game for Pickwell. Another double-double for Tish. TD back on form with 17, and Tosha Austin with 11 rebounds (that may be a career high; will double-check and confirm). I will also go out on a limb and say Jess Reece's seven blocks is a single-game program record. If not... wow.



Enough with hoops for now. Let's talk about another sport near and dear to my heart... ice hockey!

... wait, we don't have a hockey team? We don't even have an ice rink? Bugger. Oh well. (Did you know: Gulf Coast and Kennesaw both field men's club teams in the ACHA. The real kicker: they're really good.)

So, in that case, let's talk about another sport near and dear to my heart... water polo!

Kidding, kidding. Baseball.

The Bucs wrap up their season-opening series against Marist today. I suspect the bats will be up for this one after Chad Gallagher fanned ten for the Red Foxes yesterday in a 5-1 win. I couldn't get out to see the end of the Friday game (which was canceled due to darkness, the lighting situation being what it was), but got out for the seven innings played on Friday. I came away with more positive sentiments than negative, for certain. Let's break it down by player:

The Good
John Long - 5.0 IP, 60-ish pitches, 4 Ks, 2 BBs, 4 H, 2 ER - I was disappointed that Long got yanked after an error, but I suspect that Skole had him on a fairly tight pitching schedule for this early in the season. I liked what I saw. He has really good off-speed stuff that gave Marist's bats fits all day. He also doesn't get rattled easily; after committing a throwing error in the second to put two runners on base, he induced a fly-out, struck out Nick McQuail, and then got a ground-out to short to get himself out of the inning with no runs against him. In fact, he went four full innings carrying a shutout. I liked what I saw very much.

Dylan Pratt - 2/5, 3 RBI, R, 2B, HR (1) - Let me say, first of all, that Pratt is either way taller than 6'1" or way leaner than 220 lbs, and possibly both, but man oh man does he have the power. He seemed a little bit jittery at first and is prone to chasing one down around his ankles (which was how he struck out the only time he fanned), but when he gets hold of the ball, it's going into the outfield. That's exactly what you want from a DH.

The... Neutral?
Kerry Doane - 2/4, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2B, 2 E - For every step forward Kerry takes, he seems to take a step back. Despite a couple of very solid hits, I might never forget how he let the ball bounce right under his glove on a routine grounder and allowed two runs to score. It made me want to pull my hair out strand-by-strand. I really don't want to say anything more about it.

The Golden Sombrero
Cory Betterson - 4 Ks (2 swinging, 2 looking) - I was really hoping no one would earn one of these for a while, but maybe it's better to get them out of the way during the non-conference schedule. It was a mixed blessing that C-Bet didn't get another crack at it; if he hit, he would have gotten himself off the schneid, but if he struck out again, he would have tied a school record, and his name would likely be immortalized somewhere besides a blog that no one reads.



And finally, softball. The results from this weekend, with the tilt against Canisius still pending:

ETSU 7-5 Towson

Henderson - 2/3, HR, RBI, 3 R, BB
Lower - 1/3, 2 RBI, R
Baird - 1/1, RBI, R, 2BB

Morris (W) - 5.2 IP, 9 H, 5 Runs (1 Earned), 5 K, 3 BB
Wolff (S) - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K, BB


ETSU 5-7 Morehead State (8 innings)

Baird - 2/5
Henderson - 1/3, RBI, R
Tara Hartnett - 2/3, 2 R
Annie Martin - 1/1, RBI

Duncan - 6.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R(3 Earned), 5 K, 4 BB
Wolff (L) - 1.0 IP, H, 2 R (1 Earned), K, BB

3 Errors


Akron 3-6 ETSU

Fox - 2/4, R
Henderson - 2/4, 2 RBI

Morris (L) - 4.0 IP, 8 H, 5 Runs (4 Earned), 5 K, 2 BB, Balk
Wolff - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 Earned) 1 BB, 1 SO

2 Errors

Charleston 3-1 ETSU

Martin - 2/4
Baird - 1/3, R
Campbell - 1/3, RBI

Duncan (L) - 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R (0 Earned), 4 K, 4 BB, 2 HBP
Wolff - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R

2 Errors

I don't know about you, but I see a recurring theme in these losses: solid pitching efforts going to waste due to sloppy defense. Case in point, the ERA for each pitcher at the Charleston tournament:

Morris - 4.42 (including 3.0 IP + 3 ER in Canisius game today)
Duncan - 1.85
Wolff - 1.31 (including 3.0 IP + 1 ER in Canisius game today)

When you don't have the firepower to make up for it, errors can really burn you. Baseball can make up for a couple of bloopers a game, but softball doesn't have that luxury.

The other sore spot is driving in runners. Coming into today, the Lady Bucs have left an average of eight runners stranded per game. That's a lot of potential offense left on the base paths. I think that's indicative of a lack of serious power in the lineup, which was a big issue with the program under Mangrum. Since Irwin has effectively inherited this team from Mangrum minus its two best offensive players in 2010 (Schneider and Cason), I guess that shouldn't really be a shock, but I suspect it's something Irwin is looking to correct long-term.

The current score from Charleston: ETSU 4-8 Canisius in the top of the 7th with two away. And with that, I'm out the door. Payece! (Really awkward way of saying "peace," for any non-Will Smith fans in the house.)

Postgame: Bucs Net Win Over Dolphins; Pyrrich Victory for Ladies?

Last night was easily the best and worst 20 minutes of basketball the men's team has played all year. With a dangerous duet of defense and dunks, the team got out to a huge lead, and then fell apart at the seams in the second half. I guess that's okay, because the team still won the game, but Bartow cannot - and from what I could gather, was not pleased with the overall performance.

Still, this win was important for ETSU. They likely wrapped up a post-postseason spot, whether it be NCAA (if they win the tournament) or NIT (if Belmont wins the tournament). With a 2.5 game lead over Jacksonville for second, things aren't definite, but seem to be well in hand. It was also a great display of grit and resolve, to come back out and acknowledge the fact that they played poorly against Stetson with an authoritative first half against a much better team.

That brings us to the women's game. Yikes. Hearing John's call of Destiny Mitchell's injury made it sound bad enough - then I watched the video. I hate to speculate on something like this, but my fear is that she could be done for the year. The MRI will give a definite answer, but the way her leg just completely gave out, I can't imagine a scenario where she didn't do some kind of ligament damage, but stranger things have happened. Heck, stranger things have happened at ETSU in the last academic year alone. Hopefully the results will come back soon.

On a lighter note, how about Natalie Pickwell? If Mitchell is hurt for a lengthy period of time, Pickwell is one of several players that will have to step up to fill the offensive void, and the way she dominated UNF today really bodes well for her going into the tournament and, slightly further along, her senior year. If she gets hot, they might not miss Mitchell's offense as badly (if at all), although they will certainly miss her post presence either way.

Tomorrow is senior day for the men's team. It's a very emotional time, and we have a very beatable team in North Florida in the building for tomorrow. This senior class doesn't want to be the one that let a dynastic reign slip away at the last hurdle, and after playing with such tremendous gusto against Jacksonville in the first half, I have to think they'll handle this team. Then again, stranger things have happened...

Softball season starts Tuesday. I'll have my full preview up at some point.

Game Day 27: Bucs vs. Dolphins

ETSU Buccaneers

Head Coach - Murry Bartow (9th Year, Alabama-Birmingham '85)
Record: 12-7 (7-1, 2nd A-Sun)
Home Record: 9-1
Record vs. Jacksonville:
RPI: .5299 (121st)
Team Points/Game: 68.5 (3rd)
Team Points Allowed/Game: 63.3 (1st)
Team Rebounds/Game: 36.1 (4th)
Team Rebounds Allowed/Game: 33.6 (3rd)
Team Assists/Game: 11.2 (9th)
Team Steals/Game: 6.4 (8th)
Team Blocks/Game: 3.7 (5th)
Team Total Turnovers/Game: 13.7 (T-1st)
Team Unforced Turnovers/Game: 7.8
Team Field Goal Pct.: .459 (3rd)
Team 3-Point FG Pct.: .342(4th)
Minutes/Game: Mike Smith, 34.8
Points/Game: Mike Smith, 17.0
Rebounds/Game: Isiah Brown, 7.1
Assists/Game: Adam Sollazzo, 4.2
Steals/Game: Adam Sollazzo, 1.3
Blocks/Game: Isiah Brown, 1.7
Turnovers/Game: Adam Sollazzo, 2.6
Field Goal Pct. (Min. 100): Adam Sollazzo, .550
3-Point FG Pct. (Min. 50): Mike Smith, .373


Tonight's Opponent

Jacksonville Dolphins

Head Coach: Cliff Warren (6th Year, Mount St. Mary's '90)
Record: 16-7 (10-4 A-Sun)
Away Record: 7-5
RPI: 0.5325 (112th)
Team Points/Game: 68.3 (4th)
Team Points Allowed/Game: 65.0 (3rd)
Team Rebounds/Game: 37.8 (1st)
Team Rebounds Allowed/Game: 34.0 (4th)
Team Assists/Game: 12.4 (5th)
Team Steals/Game: 8.1 (3rd)
Team Blocks/Game: 3.9 (4th)
Team Total Turnovers/Game: 15.9 (7th)
Team Unforced Turnovers/Game: 8.6
Team Field Goal Pct.: .427 (7th)
Team 3-Point FG Pct.: .301 (9th)
Minutes/Game: Ayron Hardy, 33.8
Points/Game: Ayron Hardy, 12.5
Rebounds/Game: Delwan Graham, 6.5
Assists/Game: Russell Powell, 3.0
Steals/Game: Ayron Hardy, 1.9
Blocks/Game: Glenn Powell, 1.1
Turnovers/Game: Delwan Graham, 2.0
Field Goal Pct. (Min. 100): Ayron Hardy, .566
3-Point FG Pct. (Min. 50): Travis Cohn, .379

This contest has all the makings of a classic. You have two teams that really pride themselves on defense. One has a long reputation for lousy shooting, and the other is coming off a really ugly loss. In the event that Belmont wins the tournament, this game could (and likely will) decide which of these two teams plays postseason basketball.

Two players are going to have to step up and deliver tonight: Justin Tubbs and Adam Sollazzo. JT may have been just as well off not playing at all in DeLand, although the ankle doesn't seem to be bothering him too much. Sollazzo absolutely must hit his free throws. Actually, that goes for everyone. In fact, Bartow should implement some sort of disciplinary measure for guys who miss free throws, if he hasn't already.

Defensively, this shouldn't be a tough game for the Bucs - the whole Jacksonville offense runs through Hardy, so shut him down and they'll struggle mightily. But something has to change on the offensive end. JU doesn't give up much from outside, which works to ETSU's advantage, as Sollazzo and Smith both like to drive to the post.

And now... off to the Dome! Away!

Uh... fly!


Uh... oh, forget it. Woosh!

Postgame: Flirtin' With Disaster

I don't know if I'm angry or just in shock, but I am very much of whichever it is.

"Disaster" is the only word I can think of to describe the 55-54 loss in DeLand. It's a disaster because they blew a ten-point lead to a team with four wins in conference play. It's a disaster because the team didn't score for the last 5:38 of the contest. It's a disaster because they were collectively worse than Shaq at the free throw line (46.7%). It's a disaster because it will take a miracle for them to catch Belmont now.

There are probably more than a few fans that feel Sheldon Cooley should be left in DeLand for the last-second offensive foul that cost the Bucs any shot at overtime, and it's obvious why they would be mad, but he's not the only player at fault. In fact, Cooley was the only player that did anything off the bench, with Poderis and Ward taking all of two total field goals in 28 combined minutes. Tubbs didn't score a single point, mustered one rebound, three turnovers and three fouls in 22 minutes. Sollazzo went 3-7 from the line and had 5-6-4 night. He doesn't have the opportunities to drive against a team that's strong in the post like Stetson, but he should be eating them alive with jumpers. He has the range, but didn't take a three point shot all night. Williams redeemed himself in the second half, but was a no-show for the opening 20.

It's not like the team didn't defend well, either. The Hatters shot 39% from the field, and they struggled at the charity stripe just like the Bucs did (40%). The sole responsibility for the outcome of this game can be rested on a near-complete lack of offense.

This loss puts this team in a must-win game against Jacksonville on Friday. If they don't, the Dolphins could very easily pass the Bucs for second, and then you can kiss postseason basketball goodbye.

And for one of the best senior classes Murry Bartow will probably ever have, that would be a disaster.

Postgame: Bucs Edge Eagles, Clinch Little Dance Berth

With the win over Gulf Coast, ETSU has clinched a spot in the conference tournament.

But geez, could this game be more uneventful? I heard more chirping crickets during this contest than a Buddy Holly tribute band show. I started re-writing the lyrics to "On Wisconsin" as a tribute to Charles Lindbergh. I was ready to go out and buy a box of Stickle Bricks and reenact God of War III. I started reading a book on Russian history. I tried to develop a performance metric for soccer players, even though no soccer league anywhere keeps any kind of detailed statistics for player performance.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I have never been so bored in my life. But a win is a win is a win, and sound defense can win you a lot of games at this level.

Mike Smith got 16 points, on top of 6 boards and 5 dimes, without giving himself a high profile, further cementing his status as a basketball ninja. Micah chipped in 15 of his own and really seems to be on form right now. It's good to see him finding his range and draining tough shots on a consistent basis. The last thing this team needs is to have him stumble with another four-point game with only six games to go.

It seems like Tubbs is still a bit bothered by his ankle, not because of his poor shooting day (2/7, all threes), but because he only played 20 minutes against one of the most dangerous shooting guards in the conference. It showed. Veridel, who is remarkably elusive on the outside, got to the free throw line four times, including a foul by Williams beyond the arc. Take away even half of those points and this is a much more comfortable win for ETSU.

Even with the lousy shooting day, the Bucs can hang their hats on a rock-solid defensive effort. They gave Gulf Coast very little to work with in terms of shooting. Veridel, who was really the only reason this game was close at any point, went 4/15 from the field. The team as a whole shot 36% on the nose, which is simply not good (or very good for ETSU).

The fact that we gave up just four made threes is really nice to see. This could have very easily been another Upstate game if we didn't defend the three very well. The man defense worked like a charm. Between that and the squad hitting 88% of its free throws, the sore spots from the beginning of the year are gradually being remedied. Now they just have to put it all together, and have a great opportunity against Derek Waugh's Stetson squad. I just hope DW doesn't burst a blood vessel if things turn ugly.

Speaking of Stetson, the Ladies were all over them today, 80-62. Destiny Mitchell had 20+11 in 33 minutes, which brings us to our first Destiny Mitchell Fact:

Destiny Mitchell once ordered a Big Mac at Burger King... and got one.

WBB Mid-Season Grades; WS Goes International for HC

I've been meaning to get these up for a few days, now, but I've been a little distracted, if you understand what I'm saying.

Women's basketball. I won't put all the extra stats into this one that I put into the men's grades a few weeks ago (simply because my advanced stats are out of date and I have no interest in updating them at present), but I figure something is better than nothing. We'll start at the point and work our way down the bench.

Tara Davis
With the loss of Tarita Gordon before the season even began, a lot was expected of TD. While her point totals are high, that's mostly because of her excellent free throw shooting; when she isn't drawing fouls, she's not going to score 20 points, and the team hinges on that. She also continues to turn the ball over at an alarming rate (5.5 TO/game, roughly 24% of the team's turnovers), and has more than once found herself in foul trouble early in a game. All that said, if Davis can continue to push the 20 point mark every night, ETSU should have no trouble from here to the end of the regular season. B

Natalie Pickwell
The local product has had some pretty impressive averages this season. At an even 11 points per game and a very solid 37% from beyond the arc, Pickwell has show the ability to really produce some highlight reel plays from time to time. That latter part is the problem: prior to the Kennesaw State game, Pickwell hadn't hit a trey in the second half in the Mountain all season. If she can find her touch at the other end of the floor consistently, which should be easy considering how little she turns the ball over, we could be in for some big performances from Pickwell down the final stretch. Definitely a player to watch going forward, as I think she's capable of more than what she has shown us. B-

Destiny Mitchell
As well as Mitchell has played for this team, I could sit here all day and turn Chuck Norris facts into Destiny Mitchell facts (it might even make them funny again). She has been, by far, the best player on this team this season. The move from PF to SF hasn't affected her game at all, even if it takes a prospective three point option away from the starting five. That's really about the only weakness I've seen in Mitchell this season. She keeps the turnovers reasonable (2.5/game) and the steal totals are excellent (2.1/game). She's a fast, intelligent player who has rarely made a mistake this season and gives ETSU a player that they can really bank on to hold down a starting spot for another three years. A+

Latisha Belcher
Tish has been an extremely valuable player for this team: the other three big post players combined (Miles, Benedict, and Austin) barely match Belcher's averages. While she isn't the same player she was before the medical redshirt, she's still exemplary on the defensive glass, and has given ETSU another major post threat besides Mitchell, which is very important, because teams are going to look to take away the perimeter options come tournament time. She hasn't been earth-shattering by any means, but she has been a solid, productive, and useful senior that should play a big role at the tournament. B+

Tosha Austin
I haven't noticed Austin out there that much. I didn't even realize she had as many starts as she did (16) until I looked up the numbers for this piece. It's not that she hasn't been decent in sparing minutes, but she hasn't really done anything to make herself stand out. Austin is still just a sophomore, but she needs to make her presence felt out there a little more. C

Gwen Washington
It's tough to get a read on Gwen's play. She had her starting streak snapped this year and saw a massive dip in form in the early stages of conference play. That has affected her numbers severely, but over the course of the last home stand, she has seen a real renaissance. She has averaged an even eleven points per game over the home stand, peaking with a 14-point performance against Mercer. While it doesn't totally make up for some of the really poor games she played early in the season, she's getting hot at the right time, and having that presence off the bench could be big for this squad. Heck, if she has a good game against Gulf Coast, she could be back in the starting lineup in DeLand. B-

Shawn Randall
Randall has been more what I expected out of a true freshman than Mitchell. She shows great flashes: her transition game is good, she's responsible on the defensive side, and she does have the ability to put up points, but everything comes in fits and starts for her. She makes reckless plays with the basketball, resulting in bad shots and a high volume of turnovers, and those will limit her playing time, but she's developing. On the whole, passable, but by no means great. C+

Iesha Robinson
In a parallel universe, Iesha Robinson is a collegiate superstar. She has the raw talent, or she wouldn't even be at this level. She has the ability to hit shots and scoop up big rebounds, but for whatever reason, she just can't find any semblance of consistency with the basketball in her hands. Even for her limited playing time, her shooting totals are downright bad. Kemp is undoubtedly trying to work with Iesha on her game and help her develop, but she has to go a long way in a short time if she wants to be an impact player in her upper years. D+

Jasmine McIntosh
What McIntosh has shown really bodes well for her future. The ability to drop the trey consistently is a very valuable asset on Kemp-coached teams, and despite her modest per game totals, J-Mac has really found her stride as we've gotten into conference play. She has nowhere to go but up, and if she can fine tune her defense, she's going to get a lot of touches in the offense next year, or maybe even late in February this year. B

Incomplete due to limited viewing (<150 minutes played)
Ashley Benedict
Ashley Miles
Akaycha Robinson

That's done. Moving on.


The women's soccer team announced it's new head coach this week: Birmingham (English one) native Adam Sayers, formerly of USF. While I haven't met him and obviously don't know much about his philosophy on the sport, his resume is impressive. He holds a UEFA license, and they tend to put folks through their paces on managerial training. He also has roots in the region from his days at MTSU and playing days at Tusculum. His recruiting resume is impressive, and with one of the best, if not the best recruiting class in the program's history coming in last fall, it'll be essential that he can find a way to utilize those younger talents to move the program forward, as well as injecting new underclass talent to supplement them as they get ready to graduate.

Elsewhere in the A-Sun, Belmont announced its new women's head soccer coach: Heather Henson. I think we've got ourselves a bit of a rivalry brewing. In the words of Terrell Owens, get your popcorn ready...