| Shamika Singleton leads
Concordia (Texas) in scoring, rebounds and steals while playing
just 24 minutes per game. Concordia (Texas) athletics photo |
It has been a crazy week for Shamika Singleton and her Concordia University teammates. The Tornados won their first American Southwest Conference tournament championship in program history and are in the middle of preparing for their first trip to the NCAA tournament.
Concordia is headed out west to play Lewis and Clark in the opening round of the tournament after Concorida stepped up defensively and earned 73-64 win over No. 22 Louisiana College, a team that came in averaging just under 90 points per outing.
Singleton was named the MVP of the tournament, scoring 13 points and pulling down 17 rebounds, and she said earlier this week that the whole experience has been a lot to take in during a short period of time.
“It has been overwhelming,” Singleton said. “This was one of our goals for the year and it feels good to accomplish it. No one said it was going to be easy, but to know we worked so hard for this and made it come true is very exciting.”
As for being named the MVP of the tournament, Singleton is honored to be recognized in that way.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Singleton said. “It’s a very exciting thing that people took notice, but at the same time, I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. We won this tournament as a team.”
No doubt teamwork was key. The Tornados needed that kind of effort to end a 40-game home win streak for the Wildcats. LaShanda Luckey did her part by pouring in 18 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Termeka Canada came off the bench to torch the Wildcats for a career-high 20 points.
A year ago, it was different for Concordia. The Tornados went 14-10 in coach Rusty Rainbolt's first season since taking over after he had been an assistant coach at conference rival McMurry. This season, they are 23-4 and riding a wave of confidence into the NCAA tournament.
Balanced scoring as had a lot to do with the success of the Tornados. Singleton is clicking for 12.6 points per outing while Luckey is pumping in 10.6 points per game.
Seven other players are averaging at least four points per outing.
“We have more players that can step up and be a threat,” Singleton said. “We are a tougher team to prepare for this year and it’s part of the reason we are in this position.”
Singleton said she worked on becoming more than just an inside threat, shooting 46.7 percent from the field as a team and has even knocked down a couple of three-pointers.
“I worked a lot on expanding my shooting range a bit and now I am more effective at hitting the midrange jumper,” Singleton said. “I feel like I am just a better all-around player and it’s nice that my hard work has paid off.”
The Tornados have also played with a lot of confidence and have never allowed themselves to get too high or too low during the grind of this college basketball season.
“We have stayed level-headed and have stayed focused,” Singleton said. “We have a lot of confidence and we feel like we can play with any team if we play up to our potential.”
Concordia has won its last seven games and will be up against one of the top teams in the nation when it steps on the floor Friday night in Oregon for its NCAA tournament game.
Singleton said not much has changed, though, during practice this week.
“We have worked just as hard as we have all season,” Singleton said. “We just have to keep working at it and approach it like it’s just another game. We know that if we are focused and we come ready to play the way we have this season, we’ll have a chance.”
The team left for the West Coast on Wednesday and will take on No. 10 Lewis and Clark on Friday on the campus of George Fox. The Tornados won their three conference tournament games by an average of 14.3 points and have already set a school record for wins.
Anything from here on out is a bonus, but don’t think for a moment that Singleton and her teammates are content with just playing in the postseason.
“Coach has told us not to be satisfied, and we definitely don’t want the run to end this week,” Singleton said. “It’s been a great experience so far and we want to keep winning. Hopefully we can play well enough to give ourselves a chance to move on in the tournament.”
Men's poll notes
Top-ranked Hope got all it could handle from Adrian in the championship game of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament. The Flying Dutchmen trailed 25-24 at halftime but grinded out a 65-62 win in overtime.
Hope has won 22 consecutive games and will be making its 23rd appearance in the NCAA tournament when it hosts Westminster on Friday. Also, David Krombeen, who is averaging 15.1 points per outing, has been named the MIAA Player of the Year. ... Mary Hardin-Baylor didn't win the American Southwest Conference tournament but the Crusaders did earn an at-large bid and will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in school history. The Crusaders had won nine consecutive games before falling in the tourney semifinal round to eventual champion McMurry on Saturday. Cory Meals scored 19 in the loss. Mary Hardin-Baylor reached the Sweet 16 last season. ... Life as a ranked team isn't always easy. Birmingham-Southern had a tough night in the semifinal round of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tourney, falling 77-58 to Centre. The No. 13 team in the country shot only 30 percent from the floor and its leading scorer was Larry Thomas (12). But the Panthers still managed to earn a spot in the NCAA tourney, drawing Wittenberg in the opening round. ... Wooster used a solid defensive effort to win the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament for the fourth consecutive season, edging Denison 53-51. The No. 15 Fighting Scots survived two last-second shot attempts by the Big Red and are going to the tourney for the 17th time in the last 18 years. Justin Hallowell scored 14 while Wooster held Denison to 34.5 percent shooting. ... The historic season continued for Bethany as it repeated as President's Athletic Conference tournament champions with a 58-53 win over Thomas More. The Bison, ranked No. 20 this week, will head back to the NCAA tourney as well after winning a conference-record 14th title. Reece Mayberry scored 16 points to pave the way. ... A 66-58 loss to Denison in the semifinals of the NCAC tournaement didn't doom the NCAA tourney hopes for Wittenberg, which secured an at-large berth. The No. 22 Tigers fell behind 22-4 and never bounced back as they lost at home to the Big Red for the first time since the 1949-50 season. Josh McKee scored 16 points in the setback. Christopher Newport is to the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in program history after knocking off Greensboro 82-72 in the USA South tournament championship game. The Captains, ranked No. 25 in the country, overcame a 31-25 deficit for the win. Nik Biberaj and Tra Benefield scored 19 points apiece to pave the way for the Captains.
Women's poll notes
DePauw held Denison scoreless for an eight-minute stretch in the opening half and the first two minutes of the second half to secure a 61-41 win the NCAC championship game. The fourth-ranked Tigers ran their win streak to 25 games and are headed to the NCAA tourney for the ninth consecutive season. Katie Aldrich was named the MVP of the tournament after coming through with 12 points and 11 rebounds, her second straight double-double. ... Behind 15 points from Carissa Verkaik, No. 5 Calvin knocked off MIAA rival Hope 65-43 in the conference tournament championship game. The Knights are headed to the tourney for the third consecutive season and shot 40.7 percent from the field in the win. They will play Wisconsin Lutheran. Jill Thomas clicked for 13 points in the victory. Maddie Burnett and Courtney Kust dropped in 12 points apiece in the loss. Hope, ranked 20th in the nation, shot just 22.2 percent from the floor. ... The Mount Union senior class has accounted for 94 wins during its four-year run with the Purple Raiders, the latest victory a 77-60 win over rival Ohio Northern in the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament title game. The No. 6 Purple Raiders led 40-24 at halftime and got 16 points from Kori Wiedt en route to the victory. Wiedt scored 48 points in two NCAC tournament games. ... For the first time since the 2000-01 campaign, Centre has won the SCAC championship. The No. 22 Colonels shot 41.7 percent from the field as they defeated Millsaps 60-48 in the title game. Maggie Prewitt clicked for 14 points while Centre stepped up defensively and limited the Majors to 31.7 percent shooting from the floor. The title is the fifth in school history for Centre. ... Devin Beasley picked a good time to get her first-career double-double as she helped Thomas More win its sixth consecutive PAC championship with a 77-66 win over Saint Vincent. Beasley poured in a career-high 30 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds. Beasley also dished out seven assists in the win. Allison Long clicked for 14 points. ... Louisiana College didn't win the ASC tournament, falling 73-64 to Concordia, but the No. 25 Wildcats are still going to the NCAA tournament. Natosha Gottleib scored 12 points in the setback and will take on Thomas More in the opening round of the tourney this weekend.
Feel free to contact me about a story idea or share your thoughts on Division III college basketball. I enjoy interacting with the fans. You can reach me by email at brian.lester@d3sports.com or follow me on Twitter @Blester1993.
