Tag Archives: women’s basketball

October 22, 2010 · 10:22 pm

UCSD TRITONS WOMEN’S HOOPS PICKED 1ST IN CCAA

 WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – After winning a fourth consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association regular season title last season, the seventh-ranked UC San Diego women’s basketball team was once again picked to finish first in the league standings according to the preseason coaches poll that was released by the league office on Wednesday.

UCSD, which finished with an impressive record of 19-3 in CCAA play in 2009-10, received six first place votes and a total of 114 points in the conference poll. The Tritons narrowly beat out Chico State, which garnered four first place votes and 103 points to finish second.

Cal Poly Pomona collected 89 points to finish third, while 2010 CCAA Tournament Champion Humboldt State finished fourth with 87 points and Cal State Monterey Bay totaled 82 to place fifth. Cal State L.A. received the remaining two first place votes and tallied 80 points to come in sixth, with Cal State Dominguez Hills (54), Cal State San Bernardino (49), San Francisco State (41), Sonoma State (39), Cal State Stanislaus (25) and Cal State East Bay (18) finishing seventh through 12th, respectively.

The Tritons were also the top pick in last year’s poll, tallying five first place votes and 110 points.

UCSD finished with an overall record of 25-5 in 2009-10, while winning 19 conference games for the second consecutive season. Despite an opening round loss to host Humboldt State in the CCAA Tournament, the Tritons earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA West Regional in Seattle, where they met up with the Lumberjacks once again. HSU would shock UCSD for the second time in a week, handing the Tritons a season-ending 76-72 defeat in the first round.

Two-time defending CCAA Coach of the Year Charity Elliott returns for her fourth season in 2010-11 and welcomes back two starters and six letterwinners from last year’s squad. Among the returnees are junior guard Chelsea Carlisle, who was named a State Farm Coaches First Team All-American after averaging 17.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists last season, and junior center Lauren Freidenberg, who averaged 5.8 points and 5.8 rebounds and shot better than 51% from the field a year ago.

Ranked No. 7 by Division II Bulletin, the Tritons will take the court for the first time this season on Thursday, November 4 to face San Diego State in an exhibition matchup at Viejas Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. UCSD will also square off with Division I powerhouse Stanford in an exhibition contest on November 9, before opening the regular season at the Disney West Coast Tip Off Classic November 12-14 in Anaheim.

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August 30, 2010 · 2:33 pm

QUICK TAKES: ROUNDUP STYLE

If You Feed Them, They Will Come – Cumberland Bulldogs Director of Athletics Ron Pavan has announced that tailgating and free food will be available for the Bulldog faithful for the football season opener this Thursday, September 2nd in Clarksville ,TN (insert your own “Last Train” joke here) against the Austin-Peay Governors. If you’ve never witnessed an Austin-Peay sporting event the team’s fans love to chant “Let’s go Peay! Let’s go Peay!” with the proverbial smile on their lips and a song in their hearts. Anyway, the food tent for CU fans will be at Eighth and Marion Streets just east of Governors Stadium. Food will be served from 4-5:30 PM.

Opening Volley – The Franklin and Marshall Diplomats  volleyball team has been picked in the preseason poll to win the Centennial Conference this year. The entire starting rotation from last year’s 23-6 team returns. “Little” Pam Horner and Nicole “Mighty Mo” Morano, both All-Conference players last season, will lead the Diplomats as they try for their fifth Centennial Conference title since the year 2000. Franklin and Marshall open their season this Friday, Sept 3rd against the Dickinson Red Devils.  

Queen Bees Turn In A Royal Performance – Speaking of volleyball the Saint Ambrose University Queen Bees went 3-1 at the Saint Ambrose Early Bird Tournament in Davenport, IA. The ladies defeated Benedictine-Springfield 3-0 by scores of 25-13, 25-14 and 25-14. Their loss came at the hands of the Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars by scores of 25-22, 25-18, 22-25 and 25-16. Amy Royer of St Ambrose made the All-Tournament team!

Cougar Tales – Staying on volleyball for a moment, the Sioux Falls Cougars went 3-1 at the 16th Annual Red Raider Classic, hosted by the Northwestern (IA) College Red Raiders this past weekend. On day 1 of the tourney the ladies defeated the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats by scores of 25-21, 25-17, 22-25 and 25-23. They then took down the MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers by scores of 25-18, 22-25, 25-23 and 25-21. On day two they split, sweeping the Graceland Yellowjackets by scores of 25-21, 25-17 and 25-22, but losing to the Oklahoma Baptist Bison after going the distance 25-20, 13-25, 21-25, 25-23 and 13-15. The Cougars’ overall record is now 5-3, with the Waldorf Warriors coming up on Wednesday, September 1st.   

Saint Xavier Women’s Basketball Lands Star Recruit – Maloree Johnson, a senior point guard at Rockford Boylan Catholic High School in Rockford, IL. “I’m proud to become a student at Saint Xavier University, ” Johnson said, “because it is such a great school and I’m also excited to be a part of such a successful basketball program.” The SXU Cougars women’s basketball team went 31-2 last season and won the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles. In the NAIA tournament back in March they made it all the way to the Elite Eight for the first time in the program’s 10 year history.

 Don’t Forget To Vote – Polls close on September 12th for my latest Top 20 contest. To vote for your favorite among The 20 Coolest Helmets In NCAA Division 3 e-mail me at Thtcom15@aol.com . To review the list of 20 candidates click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/08/23/the-20-coolest-football-helmets-in-ncaa-division-3/ 

Taylor Trojans Volleyball Off To 4-0 Start – The 10th-ranked Taylor Trojans went 4-0 at the aforementioned Red Raider Classic, with 3 of their wins coming over other Top 25 teams! The Trojans dominated at the net this past weekend with a .350 hitting percentage and recorded 47 team blocks in the 4 matches combined. Rachel Kizer and Kelsey Pritchard led Taylor with 7 kills apiece against the Bellevue Bruins alone. The ladies will next host their own tournament, the 8-team Trojan Challenge this Friday and Saturday. Their opening opponent in the tournament will be yet another Top 25 team (Head Coach Brittany Smith needs to have a serious talk with whoever does her team’s scheduling) in the Shawnee State Bears.

Some Baltimore Love For Blue Jays Football – Johns Hopkins Blue Jays Head Football Coach Jim Margraff will be a guest tonight on WBAL’s Sportsline with Brett Holander at 8:15PM (Moved from its previous time slot of 8:14 and 36 seconds) on 1090 AM. You can tune in or catch it live on the internet at http://www.wbal.com/  Plus the Baltimore Sun ran a full-length preview of the JHU 2010 football team today and you can read it at : http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/football/bs-sp-hopkins-football-0830-20100830,0,5433561.story

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July 6, 2010 · 11:50 pm

USAO’S TASHINA OTOTIVO: EPITOME OF A STUDENT-ATHLETE

 

Tashina Ototivo, a two-sport student at the University Of Science And Arts Of Oklahoma (or “USAO”) has been awarded the Bill and Pat Smith Scholar-Athlete Scholarship (or “BAPSSAS”). That scholarship is awarded for both the recipient’s academics as well as their athletic performance. It’s difficult to think of a more deserving candidate since this sophomore is basically the definition of a student athlete. Unlike another well-known sports figure whose initials are T.O. Tashina is the ideal role model for young women and men everywhere and is pretty much a paragon-at-large on the USAO campus.
 
As well as playing for the USAO Drovers basketball and softball teams, she was President of her freshman class last year and has a 3.74 grade-point average. This music major from Walters, OK probably also knows how to deal with the Gulf oil leak, too, if only someone would ask her.  
 
Ototivo was nominated by three faculty members including her basketball coach, Laci Tompkins.
 
“Tashina is one of those rare individuals that stand head and shoulders above the rest. This girl has the world by the tail,” Tompkins wrote in her nomination. “One cannot go wrong with her. This would be an investment.”
 
Dr Ken Bohannon’s nomination of Tashina read in part, “(She’s a) very good academic student. Her personality and work ethic are outstanding.”
 
When I reached myself for comment I replied “No doubt about it! Tashina Ototivo puts the “sass” in BAPSSAS.” 
 
Tashina herself was ecstatic.
 
“I was very excited and erupted with joy,” Ototivo said, “Money is hard to come by in college, especially playing two sports, and being honored with an award for sports and academics is a huge blessing. I think this is just another thing that will encourage me to strive to be a good example and the person that God wants me to be.”
 
Ototivo further stated that the scholarship has only encouraged her to work harder and keep her grades up.
 
“I’m thankful that my teachers have recognized the work I put into my academics as well as my athletics. I pray that I will continue to impress them with my hard work.”
 
The scholarship is traditionally given to one sophomore or junior student athlete who best reflects USAO’s creed: Physical, Spiritual, Mental, Social. After Tashina was chosen, long-time Drover supporter Bill Smith offered a matching scholarship. The University’s committee will choose a male recipient next week.
  
        
        
        
  
   
   
  
  
  
    
    
       
For streaming video of Tashina Ototivo rescuing puppies from a fire while simultaneously composing music and performing surgery click here: http://www.usao.edu/usao-sports/
 

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