RSC Women's Basketball Weekly Report -- Week 4 -- Dec. 23, 2016 #RSCWBB #RSC
FLORENCE, Ky. -- Week 4 of the River States Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Report brings you an update on the league right before the Christmas holiday. This weekly feature appears at RiverStatesConference.com.
EARLY UNBEATENS
After the first month of River States Conference women's basketball, three teams remain unbeaten in conference play. Those teams are leading or tied for their divisional leads. IU Kokomo is 10-5 overall and 4-0 RSC to lead in conference victories and is atop the RSC West Division standings. The Cougars have already set a program record with their 10th win, and they are the lone team in their division with an undefeated RSC record.
The RSC East Division has two teams unbeaten in conference play and tied for first place with No. 21 IU East (10-4, 3-0 RSC) and (RV) Point Park (13-3, 3-0 RSC). Both IU East and Point Park have had long win streaks come to an end recently -- IU East's at six games and Point Park's at 11 games -- but they remain unscatched in RSC action and 1.5 games clear of the rest of the division.
LOGJAM AT .500
Entering Christimas, seven of the 13 RSC women's basketball teams have an indentical conference record of 2-2 RSC. Both divisions are log-jammed with teams at .500 after four RSC games. It's particularly true in the RSC West Division where five teams are 2-2 RSC and tied for second place, 2.0 games behind first-place IU Kokomo (4-0 RSC).
The five-way tie for second place in the RSC West came about last Saturday when Asbury (7-8, 2-2 RSC) beat IU Southeast (7-5, 2-2 RSC) and IU Kokomo (4-0 RSC) won at Midway (11-5, 2-2 RSC). Already in at 2-2 RSC were Alice Lloyd (6-3, 2-2 RSC) and Cincinnati Christian (5-9, 2-2 RSC) with results earlier in the week.
The RSC East Division had two teams move to 2-2 RSC last Saturday when Rio Grande (9-6, 2-2 RSC) beat Ohio Christian (9-6, 0-3 RSC) and WVU Tech (9-5, 2-2 RSC) lost to No. 21 IU East (3-0 RSC). That put Rio Grande and WVU Tech tied for third place, 1.5 games behind IU East and idle Point Park.
DON'T SLEEP ON US!
With three unbeatens and seven teams at .500, that leaves the remaining three conference teams still looking for their first conference victories. Ohio Christian (9-6, 0-3 RSC) and Carlow (5-5, 0-3 RSC) are such teams in the RSC East, and Brescia (1-11, 0-4 RSC) in the RSC West.
The good news is that the logjam mentioned previously has them just 1.5 or 2.0 games out of a playoff spot in their divisions, respectively. And with two months of conference games coming up, there is plenty of time to make up ground. Ohio Christian's winless RSC mark has the Trailblazers yet to play a conference home game. Brescia has played its last two games on the road while Carlow has played some of the top teams in its division already.
NON-CONFERENCE TESTS / TOP 25 RESUMES
It was a big win for RSC women's basketball when Asbury won at home versus NAIA Division II No. 11 Indiana Wesleyan last Friday, Dec. 16. The Eagles led by 10 at the half and fought to the end for a 77-69 victory in overtime. Asbury is 7-8 overall but that has come versus a battle-tested schedule.
The Eagles have played seven games versus Top 25 teams -- No. 1 Marian, No. 11 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 21 IU Northwest and No. 24 Milligan from NAIA DII and No. 5 Lindsey Wilson and No. 10 Shawnee State (twice) from NAIA Division I. Asbury has come away with two Top 25 victories with the other being over No. 24 Milligan.
No. 21 IU East battled No. 7 Davenport Dec. 20 but came up just short of another Top 25 victory. A couple of late baskets gave Davenport (13-1) an 80-78 win over the Red Wolves (10-4). IU East had control with a 69-61 lead after three quarters before the Panthers won it at the very end.
That result stopped IU East's six-game win streak and nearly made it three Top 25 wins for the Red Wolves this year. They have already earned wins over then-No. 9 Indiana Wesleyan and then-No. 11 Goshen. The Red Wolves have yet to lose to a non-ranked team this year.
The other conference team with mention in the latest NAIA DII Top 25 Poll, Point Park, had a good showing Dec. 21 at NCAA Division I Youngstown State but was edged out in the second half for an 84-71 loss. The Pioneers, who were "receiving votes" and No. 30 overall in the last poll Dec. 13, had won 11 in a row to gain that status. The Pioneers are still 13-3, and although they were missing three injured starters at YSU, were still within 49-47 late in the third quarter.
The next NAIA Division II Top 25 Poll comes out Jan. 10, which is after the next full weekend of RSC action Jan. 6-7.
CLOSING OUT 2016
There are no RSC games over the Christmas holiday with the schedule empty from Dec. 22-26. No. 21 IU East gets the action resumed Dec. 26 at home versus St. Francis (Ind.). The Red Wolves play another Top 25 team Dec. 29 versus No. 25 Huntington. Other highlights of the late-December slate are Ohio Christian's exhibition at Akron (Dec. 28), IU Southeast at No. 5 Lindsey Wilson (Dec. 30) and Brescia going to the Wittenberg Tourament for two games Dec. 29-30.
AFTER THE NEW YEAR
The RSC women's basketball schedule really heats up after the New Year. The final two months of the conference season tips off Jan. 3 with four games, and there are nine conference games the weekend of Jan. 6-7. Stay up to date on the latest results, standings and news about River States Conference women's basketball at RiverStatesConference.com and by following @RiverStatesConf and @RSCScores on Twitter. Likes us on Facebook.com/RiverStatesConference.