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Women drop two in UAA/NCAC Challenge Spartans fall to Kenyon late 55-52, Denison 72-59 >>peterCOOKE sportsEDITOR<<
A late second half run pushed the ladies of Kenyon College past the Case Western Reserve University women’s basketball team in the first game of the University Athletic Association/North Coast Athletic Conference Challenge. Kenyon rallied with 13 straight points to grab a 55-52 comeback victory over the visiting Spartans. In the team’s second matchup of the weekend, the women were outmatched by Denison University who ran away to a 72-59 victory on Sunday. The Big Red improved to 4-1 with the win. After earning a 31-25 halftime lead over the Spartans, the Big Red went on a sixpoint run to increase the lead to 12 and the Spartans never got closer than eight points from the lead. Spartan senior center Emily Mueller led the Spartans against Kenyon with 10 points. Although Mueller was the only Spartan in double figures, sophomore forward Berit Eppard, senior guard Evy Iacono and freshman forward Laura Mummey each finished with eight points. The Spartans opened the game strong, running out to a 16-5 lead early in the first half. Case pushed the lead as high as 14 points when Mummey hit a layup to make the score 22-8. Kenyon pushed back, going on a seven point run before the half. Coming out of the break with a 3323 lead, the Spartans continued to manage gameplay and kept their lead for the majority of the half. Iacono hit a threepoint shot to push the lead back to 10 with just under five and a half minutes to play. Kenyon rallied, as the Spartans’ shots just wouldn’t fall; the hosts scored the final 13 points of the game. The women went 0-for-7 down the stretch including five missed three pointers, including Iacono’s game-tying attempt with four seconds left. The problem down the stretch came from the starters, who shot 30.2 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from three-point range. The bench, however, had an impressive performance, shooting 76.9 percent. Mummey and Erin Reynolds were both perfect from the floor while Orcutt went 3-for-6. The Spartans thrived defensively early, holding the Ladies to 29.8 percent shooting from the field and 29.2 percent from three-point range. Ultimately it was fouls that hurt the Spartans, as they conceded 16 shots from the charity stripe with the Ladies cashing in for 14 points. The Spartans only had three free
from football | 15 Teams Player of the Year. Also a firstteam honoree at safety and kick returner as well as a second-team performer as punt returner, Calabrese recorded 53 tackles with a fumble recovery and a team-high-tying eight pass break-ups. Calabrese finishes his career as a threetime All-UAA safety with 159 tackles, seven interceptions, and four fumble recoveries. On special teams, he totaled a school-record 775 punt return yards and 916 kickoff return yards. Joining Watson and Calabrese on the All-UAA First Team Defense is a senior duo of outside linebacker Ryan Ferguson and inside linebacker Wade Self. Ferguson, the league’s top tackler for the second-straight season, earns firstteam honors for the second year in a row. Ferguson finished with 112 tackles, including four for loss, with an interception, a forced fumble, and six pass break-ups. Ferguson also earned UAA
austin sting/ observer Senior guard Evy Iacono finished tied for second on the team in scoring with 12 points in the Spartans 72-59 loss to Denison. Iacono also led the team with a team-high five assists and five rebounds. throws and made just one for the game. Iacono and senior guard Erica Iafelice both had six assists in the loss, while Brooke Orcutt provided four assists in 28 minutes from the bench. Against the Big Red, the Spartans were led by sophomore Erin Reynolds, who hit a career-high 13 points in the women’s 72-59 loss to Denison. Reynolds shot 6-for-10 from the field with a three-pointer. Reynolds was one of three Spartans in double figures as Iacono and Iafelice had 12 points. The Spartans were forced to play from behind in much of the game as the Big Red ran off to a 15-4 lead early in the match. Case was able to cut the lead to as little as six when Reynolds hit a layup to drop the margin to 25-19 with five minutes remaining the first half. Denison responded with key jumpers, increasing the lead back to double digits before an Iacono jumper in the closing moments brought the deficit back to six at halftime. Denison scored the first six points of
the second half and continued to keep the Spartans at bay, as Case never got within seven points of the lead. The Spartans had a tough time defending, as the Big Red shot well from the field, hitting half of their shots from beyond the arc and 47.9 percent of their attempts over all. The Spartans shot 37.5 percent from the field and 28.6 per-
Defensive Player of the Week honors in mid-October and finishes his career with 224 tackles, 11.5 TFL, and two interceptions. Self, a second-team honoree last fall, racked up 84 tackles with six TFL, a forced fumble and a blocked kick. For his career, Self totaled 193 tackles, 11 TFL, four forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. Five Spartans also garnered firstteam All-UAA honors on offense in senior tackle Cullen Dolan, senior center Andrew Berkebile, junior guard Jake Abbott, graduate wide receiver Vinny Bell and sophomore running back Manny Sicre. Dolan started all ten games at right tackle, as did Berkebile at center and Abbott at guard. Dullan and Abbott were second-team honorees last fall, while Berkebile is a first-time honoree. Bell was one of the league’s top receivers over the final three games of the season and finished with 14 receptions
for 260 yards with a pair of scores. A two-time All-American for the Spartan soccer team from 2008-11, Bell was named the UAA Offensive Player of the Week following the season finale in which he caught seven passes for 180 yards and a score. Sicre, last year’s UAA Rookie of the Year, led the team with 725 yards rushing on 191 carries with four TDs. Sicre also hauled in 26 receptions for 325 yards and two TDs. The Spartans also produced two second-team selections on offense and another five on defense. Junior tackle Garrett Hartig and sophomore wide receiver Sean Lapcevic were the offensive picks. The defensive selections comprised of junior safety Jordan Banky, senior tackle Collin Desens, senior cornerback Cary Dieter, senior nose guard Michael Harris and senior inside linebacker Kevin Nossem. Nossem, in his first season as a full-
UAA Men’s Basketball Rochester Washington New York Brandeis Emory Case Western Chicago Carnegie Mellon
Conf. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
All Win % 5-0 1.00 5-0 1.00 4-0 1.00 4-1 .800 4-1 .800 3-1 .750 3-1 .750 3-1 .167
cent from three-point range. The women are currently on a 22-day lay period which features just one game. The women will play at the College of Wooster on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. The Spartans will then have off for finals before picking up a game hosting Washington & Jefferson College on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 6 p.m
UAA Women’s Basketball Emory Carnegie Mellon New Yrok Rochester Washington Case Western Brandeis Chicago
Conf. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
All Win % 5-0 1.00 4-1 .800 3-1 .750 3-1 .750 3-1 .750 3-2 .600 2-3 .400 1-2 .333
time starter, earned second-team status for the second straight year. He missed the season opener due to injury, but still posted 88 tackles and two forced fumbles. Nossem finishes his career with 163 stops, 9.5 TFL, four forced fumbles, and three interceptions. Honorable mention status went to sophomore quarterback Billy Beecher, senior wide receiver Brian Rice, junior tight-end Drew Volbers, senior corner Brandon Flick and freshman placekicker Won Kun Park. Beecher saw extensive time as the team’s “wildcat” quarterback during the second half of the season. Overall, he rushed for 247 yards with four TDs and threw for 150 yards with a pair of scores. The second-year signal caller rushed for three of his TDs in the season finale. During the past six seasons, Case Western Reserve University football has produced an overall record of 54-10 with four UAA Championships (2007-09, ‘11) and three NCAA Playoff berths (2007-09).