ROUNDUP: Woods hoops teams hosting RSC Tournament matchups
Feb. 27—Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College gets an early dose of March Madness. Call it maybe February-March Madness.
The Woods' men's basketball team has earned the No. 2 seed for the River States Conference tournament and will host No. 7 seeded IU-Southeast in a quarterfinal home game at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the SMWC women's basketball team has earned the No. 3 seed for their RSC tournament and will host Point Park University in quarterfinal action at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Hosting RSC tournament games marks a first for both SWMC programs.
The Pomeroy men compiled a 23-5 record and a 17-1 conference mark to place second in the RSC point system standings that are used to set the tournament field. The point system is designed to provide balance to the unbalanced conference schedule caused by the presence of an East and West Division.
SMWC, under head coach Jesse McClung, was picked to finish last in the RSC in the preseason league coaches poll. The third-year SMWC men's basketball program had previously compiled 10 wins in 2022-23 and three wins in the inaugural 2021-22 season.
The RSC earns two automatic bids to the NAIA National Tournament. The regular season top seed, Point Park, has secured one of the league's automatic bids. The second bid will go to the RSC Tournament champion. If Point Park wins the tournament, the second automatic bid will be earned by the team that competes against Point Park in the RSC Tournament Championship Game.
As for the Pomeroy women, they've compiled an 18-10 record and a 13-5 conference mark to place third in the River States Conference point system standings that are used to set the tournament field.
The Pomeroys are coached by Terry Bowe and recorded the most victories and highest winning percentage in a season for SMWC women's basketball since 2012-13 (when the Woods finished 19-8). Point Park stands 18-8 overall and finished 11-6 in RSC play this season.
The River States Conference earns two automatic bids to the NAIA National Tournament. The regular season top seed, Rio Grande, has secured one of the league's automatic bids. The second bid will go to the RSC Tournament champion. If Rio Grande wins the tournament, the second automatic bid will be earned by the team that competes against Rio Grande in the RSC Tournament Championship Game.
RSC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Monday's games
(7) Indiana Southeast 80, (10) Midway 70
(9) Indiana East 78, (8) Rio Grande 76
Wednesday's schedule
(9) Indiana East at (1) Point Park, 7 p.m.
(5) IU-Kokomo at (4) West Virginia Tech, 7 p.m.
(6) Ohio Christian at (3) Shawnee State, 7:30 p.m.
(7) Indiana Southeast at (2) Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday's schedule — Hosted by highest remaining seeds in each matchup after Wednesday
West Virginia Tech/IU-Kokomo winner vs. Point Park/IU-Southeast/Midway winner, TBA
Shawnee State/Ohio Christian winner vs. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods/IU-Southeast/Midway winner, TBA
Tuesday, March 5 schedule — Hosted by highest remaining seed after Saturday matchups
Semifinal winners, TBA
RSC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Monday's games
(8) Midway 73, (9) Alice Lloyd 68
(10) IU East 71, (7) IU-Southeast 66
Wednesday's schedule
(8) Midway at (1) Rio Grande, 7 p.m.
(5) Ohio Christian at (4) Shawnee State, 5:30 p.m.
(10) IU East at (2) Oakland City, 5:30 p.m. CT
(6) Point Park at (3) Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday's schedule — Hosted by highest remaining seeds in each matchup after Wednesday
Ohio Christian/Shawnee State winner vs. Rio Grande/Midway winner, TBA
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods/Point Park winner vs. Oakland City/Indiana East winner, TBA
Tuesday, March 5 schedule — hosted by highest remaining seed after Saturday matchups
Semifinal winners, TBA
In other college basketball news:
—Barnes wins again — For the fourth time this season, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods senior Cobie Barnes has been named the River States Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week.
Barnes helped lead the Pomeroys to wins in the final two regular season games of the 2023-24 season last week by averaging 25.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He scored 28 points with nine rebounds in a tight 76-74 win over Brescia, then tallied 22 points with seven rebounds in Saturday's 87-68 victory at Oakland City.
Barnes became the school record holder for points in a career at SMWC despite completing just his first regular season on the squad last weekend. His career total of 640 points surpassed the previous school record of 600 points set last season for the currently third-year program. Barnes currently ranks No. 7 in NAIA in scoring at 23.7 points per game.
College volleyball
—Woods wins two — The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College men's volleyball team improved to 9-4 on the season with a pair of 3-set wins at Talladega College on Monday.
In the opener, the Pomeroys hit an impressive .241 as a team to pick up a 25-23, 25-20, 28-26 victory. Marko Zolnjan led SMWC with 11 kills and Bentley Meyer added eight kills.
Jacob Wisniewski led the team with 17 assists, and Connor Orrock added 12 assists. Jalen Noveda contributed 8 digs, and Yammiel Martinez had a team-high 3 blocks.
In the nightcap, SMWC improved th hitting percentage ot .362 in a 26-24, 25-21, 25-19 victory. Zolnjan again reached double figures with 10 kills and led the team with nine digs. Bentley Meyer and Manase Fetulimoeata added nine kills each. Orrock added a team-high 33 assists and also joined Meyer and Martinez with 3 blocks each.
SMWC was scheduled to play a doubleheader Tuesday at Morehouse College.
Equestrian
—Woods takes regional — Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College took home High Point honors in three different shows this weekend, highlighted by bringing home the team Zone 7 Regional 1 Western Championship.
SMWC captured High Point Team honors in the first show and Reserve High Point Team honors in the second show that preceded the Western Regional. Megan Manlief earned the High Point Rider ribbon in show one, and Madison Raiser won the title in show two. It was a notable accomplishment for Raiser, who earned the ribbon during her very first showing in the Level 2 division. Raiser qualified for the Level 1 Regional Championship during show one. In show two, she placed 2nd in ranch riding and 1st in horsemanship. Show two was eventful from start to finish and also saw Leah Hamm punching her ticket to the Regional Championship in the Beginner division, finishing up her stellar regular season with a bang.
The Regional Championship was tight throughout the day. SMWC had 11 qualified rides and seven individuals will advance to Semi-Finals at Albion College on March 23-24. Western Regional results for SMWC included:
High Point Team: SMWC
High Point Rider: Megan Manlief (automatic advancement to nationals)
Beginner Horsemanship: Leah Hamm (fr.) Reserve Champion
Rookie Horsemanship: Abigail Drake (sr.) Champion, Katie Wendorf (sr.) Reserve Champion, Meghan Bennett (sr.) third
Level 1 Horsemanship: Madi Raiser (jr.) third, Carmen Creech (so.) fourth
Level 2 Horsemanship: Kyley Pelfrey (so.) Champion
Open Horsemanship: Megan Manlief (jr.) Champion, Delaney Bushhorn (jr.) Reserve Champion
Ranch Riding: Delaney Bushhorn (jr.) Reserve Champion
Reining: Megan Manlief third
