Glenville State and ONU dominate; North Shore rolls, Galesburg loses

The rematch wasn't even as competitive as the first game for the NCAA Division II women's teams at Glenville State and Bluefield State. Remember, I attended the first game in Bluefield, W.Va., getting a close-up view of how Pioneers coach Bunky Harkleroad runs his System, at the expense of the Lady Blues.

That one finished with a score of 118-63, and while Glenville State didn't quite reach that point total in the return engagement, Bluefield State came up woefully short of its number, as well.

Kim Stephens made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points in only 15 minutes of playing time, Kristen Golden added eight points, nine rebounds, five blocks and three steals, and the Pioneers picked up an easy 116-46 victory Monday night in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Where else to go for stars? Well, Autumn Davis connected on four 3s and scored 16 points, Mishae Miles had 13 points and 11 rebounds, LaToya Hambrick grabbed 11 boards and Miranda Reed dropped 10 dimes. Yep, another team effort, brought to you by the most wonderful style of basketball known to man (and woman).

Here are the rest of the numbers:

- Attempted 100 shots
- Attempted 52 3-pointers
- Rebounded 63 percent of the misses on offense (What?!)
- Forced 33 turnovers
- Attempted 29 more shots than the Lady Blues

You know, normally opponents shoot a much higher percentage from the field, since many of their shots come from close range after beating the press compared to about half of the attempts coming from beyond the arc for the System teams. Well, that wasn't the case in this one, particularly in the first half -- Bluefield State (1-13, 0-10 WVIAC) finished 7-for-37 from the field in the opening 20 minutes, a shooting percentage of 19 percent. Hard to win when that happens.

Coach Harkleroad and the Pioneers (11-5, 9-2) return to action Wednesday night, on the road at Alderson Broaddus, the first of four consecutive games away from home. Game time is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. EST.

Olivet Nazarene, ranked 22nd in the most recent NAIA women's poll, also had a blowout this week, running past Trinity Christian 122-65 Tuesday night on the road on the strength of a spectacular effort from Lexie Heinold. The junior from Washington, Ill., didn't miss a shot from anywhere except the free throw line, making all seven shots (six from the 3-point line) on her way to 22 points. She did finish 2-for-3 at the line, spoiling what would have been every player's dream.

I know you're wondering about Danielle Pipal, who consistently fills up her stat sheet while running the team from point guard. She had eight points, five assists and six steals in only 12 minutes. Simone Coburn missed only one of her nine shots and scored 17 points, Denita Phelps had 14 points and Miranda Geever added 10 points, five assists and five steals for the Tigers (15-4).

Here are The Formula numbers:

- Attempted 83 shots
- Attempted 31 3-pointers (a season low for coach Doug Porter's team)
- Rebounded 45 percent of the misses on offense
- Forced 46 turnovers (26 steals)
- Attempted 19 more shots than the Trolls (great mascot)

So far this season, ONU has forced at least 28 turnovers in each game and more than 30 in 17 of the 19 games, with a high of 52 against Illinois-Wesleyan. Many of these have turned into steals, too: the Tigers average nearly 24, the best in the NAIA and about four more than the next team, Southern University at New Orleans.

Next up for ONU is a visit from Calumet College of St. Joseph on Thursday, with game time scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST. Let's go Tigers!

Coach Evan Massey and his girls' team at Galesburg (Ill.) HS finally had its 13-game winning steak come to an end with a hard-fought loss to Morton by the score of 49-38 in the Winter Classic at Knox College on Monday night. Those 38 points represent a season low for the Streaks (18-4), ranked seventh in the state 3A poll. The previous worst was 62, so quite a comedown for Galesburg.

On his blog, Coach Massey pointed to a the 23 fouls committed by his team, which led to 25 attempts the line for Morton (17-3). The Streaks finished with 14 and lost the battle on the boards 44-26.

Jamie Johnson scored 12 points, the only player to reach double figures, and added eight rebounds. This was a non-conference game, so Galesburg still leads the Western Big 6 at 5-1, with a huge game coming up Thursday at second-place Rock Island, which is one game back. Here's hoping the Streaks get back to the things that make them so successful.

The girls' team at North Shore HS in Glen Head, N.Y., continued to dominate Conference A-III, beating Valley Stream South 62-32 Tuesday night to move to 5-0 in the conference.

The Vikings (7-2 overall) trailed 10-9 at the end of one quarter before coach Keith Freund made some clutch adjustments that allowed his team to rally and to pull away. He reported that he called off the press early in the fourth quarter when the margin reached 32 points.

Here are his impressive stats:

- Attempted 99 shots (goal is 80)
- Attempted 40 3-pointers (goal is 40)
- Rebounded 32 percent of the misses on offense (goal is 40 percent)
- Forced 43 turnovers (goal is 32)
- Attempted 58 more shots than Valley Stream South (goal is 25)

Amanda Johansen had 11 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and six steals for North Shore, and Liz Sheerin scored 10 points. Coach Freund said his team has two more games this week, so I wish them the best of luck.