Standings                G-MAC Record
   Trevecca                    4-1 (wins over Cedarville, Central State, and Ursuline twice)
   Cedarville                  3-1 (wins over Urbana, Ursuline, and Central State)
   Urbana                       3-1 (win over Ursuline, Central State, and Trevecca Nazarene)
   Central State             1-3 (win over Ursuline)
   Ursuline                     0-5 (no wins in conference)
 
Remaining Contests

   Trevecca Nazarene
    vs. Cedarville (A - 2/9); vs. Central State (A - 2/11); vs. Urbana (H - 2/23)


   Cedarville
   vs. Trevecca (H - 2/9); vs. Urbana (H - 2/12); vs. Ursuline (H - 2/16); vs. Central State (A - 2/19)

   Urbana
   vs. Ursuline (A - 2/9); vs. Cedarville (A 2/12); vs. Central State (H - 2/16); vs. Trevecca Nazarene (2/23)

   Central State
   vs. Trevecca Nazarene (H - 2/11); vs. Urbana (A - 2/16); vs. Cedarville (H - 2/19); vs. Ursuline (H - 2/23)

   Ursuline
   vs. Urbana (H - 2/9); vs. Cedarville (A - 2/16); vs. Central State (A - 2/23)
 
What To Look For
Trevecca Nazarene has only three contests left this season, and this weekend’s game (2/2) at Cedarville can either put a little space between the Trojans and the Yellow Jackets or it could create a real logjam at the top of the standings. Following this weekend’s contest, Cedarville then plays host to Urbana on February 12. If Cedarville drops the game to Trevecca, the Urbana would basically be a must-win for the Yellow Jackets to earn the top seed. However, a win by Cedarville over Trevecca could give it the opportunity to all but wrap up the top seed and hosting rights to the G-MAC Championship Tournament.
 
Urbana on the other hand, with a win over Trevecca already will have the game at Cedarville circled. With a win over the Yellow Jackets, and holding off an upset by Central or Ursuline, the Blue Knights could close out the season on February 23 on the road against Trevecca Nazarene with a chance to steal the top seed and the right to host the tournament.
 
Basically the conference will come down to three games: February 9 - Trevecca Nazarene at Cedarville, February 12 - Urbana at Cedarville, and February 23 - Urbana at Trevecca Nazarene. Either one team will win both of their contests - or each team will win one and lose one - and in that case it will come down to the end of the season and potentially the tiebreaking system for the top seed.
 
First Half Summary
The inaugural season of Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball has been a fairly balanced one. Through 4-5 conference games (of eight total conference games), three teams sit in perfect position to earn the top seed for G-MAC Championship Tournament.
 
Trevecca Nazarene began the conference season 4-0 and seemed to be on track to quickly secure the top seed and the right to host the conference tournament. However, a loss to Urbana has tightened things up with Trevecca at 4-1, and Cedarville and Urbana at 3-1. Central State earned its first win over Ursuline in the team’s last contest, while the Arrows are still looking for their first win in conference.
 
It is no surprise that Trevecca is sitting on top of the standings, as they lead the league in scoring (73.3 points a game) and scoring margin (giving up 62.8 points a game for a margin of +10.6 points per game). They also rank first in blocked shots, assists, turnover margin, and assist/turnover ratio.
 
Cedarville is the conference’s best defensive team, giving up only 61.7 points per game, though the team scores the fourth most points in the G-MAC (67.4 ppg). Despite only one win - Central State, which scores on average 69.1 points per game, is just behind Cedarville in scoring margin as it allows only 64.4 points a game. Urbana is the conference’s top shooting team at 41.4% and oddly scores 70.3 points per game and allows 70.3 points per game.
 
 
Trevecca Nazarene
The Trojans started off the year with a statement win over Cedarville, 102-53 and followed it up with a win over Central State and two over Ursuline to climb to 4-0. However, they hit a speed bump against Urbana, falling 71-59 on the road to the Blue Knights.

TNU still is in position to capture the top seed and hosting rights to the conference tournament, but it will come down to games against Cedarville on the road and closing the season against Urbana at home. So far this season, Trevecca sits as the top scoring offense in the G-MAC at 73.3 points per game. However, they get it done through balanced scoring. The teams top scorer - Christina Curtner ranks seventh in the conference with 10.0 points per game. The Trojans also feature the eighth (Rachel Raby) and tenth (Britt Bell) best scorers in the conference.  They feature seven players with five points or more, matched only by Cedarville.
 
Trevecca doesn’t stuff the stat sheet, but between their scoring balance and allowing only 62 points a game, the scoring margin has them sitting on top of the standings. However, Britt Bell and Anissa Ragland have been recognized for their individual efforts and were named G-MAC Women’s Basketball Athletes of the Week in back-to-back weeks (January 14 and January 21).
 
Coaches Comments - Head Coach Gary Van Atta: “As a coach, I'm proud of how our girls have grown up playing a predominantly NCAA II schedule. Being in a tie for first right now doesn't mean anything if we don't focus on each game, one at a time for the remainder of the conference season. All of this prepares you for the G-MAC tournament. Which is the ultimate goal for our team.
 
It's a log jam at the top as they say. As it stands, I don't think anyone has a real clear-cut advantage. We'll all have to play and win on the road to win the regular season title. That is never easy. Now that we've been through the teams of the GMAC once, I think we have a good understanding of the other teams and we know to win is going to require us to ramp it up a notch.
 
Once we get to the conference tournament everything is out the door as it looks like it will be a dog fight for the first championship. We hope to play our best down the stretch.”
 
Cedarville
The Lady Jackets, guided by two-time Athlete of the Week Kayla Jenerette, started the season quickly winning their first six games. A loss to Charleston started a streak of four losses in five games. However, Cedarville has rebounded to win six of its last eight games, including a 3-1 record in conference.
 
CU is coming up on a four-game stretch that will conclude their conference schedule (Feb. 9 - 19), including back-to-back games with Trevecca and Urbana at home, followed by Ursuline at home and then finishing at Central State. As a team, Cedarville is fourth in scoring, but ranks first in defense - holding their opponents to 34% shooting and 61.7 points a game. They are also second in scoring margin (+5.6).
 
Individually, Jenerette ranks third in the conference with 15.3 points per game. Teammate Lauryn Robinson is second in the conference with 8.6 rebounds per game and leads with 6.3 defensive rebounds, while Kayla Linkous is the top shooter in the G-MAC (57.8%).
 
Coaches Comments - Head Coach Kirk Martin discussed his Yellow Jackets squad: "It's always fun to play meaningful games at the end of the season. Fortunately, we're in a position that if we play well we have as good of a chance as anyone to finish on top. However, it's going to be tough for everyone."
 
Urbana
The Blue Knights, who stand at 10-13 overall, started slowly, losing 9 of their first 11 games. Since then, they are 8-4 and 3-1 in the G-MAC. Even more recently, Urbana is 4-1 in its last five, including a win over previously unbeaten (in conference) Trevecca Nazarene. The Blue Knights have just five games remaining, including four conference game (three on the road), and a home game against Notre Dame - the only loss they have in their last five games.
 
So far this season, Urbana has been led by the early favorite for Conference Player of the Year, Ciara Geiger. The five-time Athlete of the Week leads the conference in scoring with 18.8 points per game, scoring 159 more points than the second best scoring total in the conference. She ranks third in shooting (48.6%), including first in three-point shooting (43.2%). Geiger leads the league in steals.
 
Teammate Kate Francisco is fourth in the conference in scoring with 12.1 points per game, making Geiger and Francisco the top-scoring duo in the conference with 30.9 points per game, which is almost half of the 70 points per game the team scores as a whole - the second highest total in the G-MAC.   
 
Central State
The Marauders, currently 13-6, began the season with a six-game winning streak and later added another four-game streak. Recently, CSU won its first conference game, a road contest at Ursuline. With six games remaining, including four conference games (three of which are at home), Central State has a chance to get to four wins and a better seeding for the tournament.
Leading the way for CSU has been Tajha Walker, who was named Athlete of the Week (December 3), Shakeira Lang, and Tanija Beasley. Lang ranks as the team’s top scorer and fifth in the conference with 11.4 points per game, while Beasley is tenth with 9.0 points per game. Walker is scoring 8.4 a game.
Beasley is also leading the conference in rebounding with 8.8 per game and Walker is eighth with 5.9 boards a game. Lang is the G-MAC’s second best free throw shooter (77.4%) and three-point shooter (39.2%).
As a team, the Marauders locked up the middle of the league, ranking third in scoring, third in defensive scoring, and third in scoring margin out of five teams. CSU ranks as the G-MAC’s best rebounding team with 46.4 boards a game, and bring down 18.2 offensive rebounds a game.
Coaches Comments - Head Coach Sheba Harris talked about her team and their play during the first half of the season: “We are 12-6 overall and have been ranking well statistically. Tanija Beasley has been leading the conference in rebounding most of the season, and our team offensive rebounding also tops the G-MAC.
It’s going to take disciplined defense and automatic, unstoppable scoring for us to win the GMAC conference title, and that's just what we plan to do.”
 
Ursuline
The Arrows, who are still working toward their first conference victory, stand at 3-16 overall. They began the season losing their first six games and now are currently riding a nine-game losing streak, including a 0-5 record in conference. The highlight of the season came in between the losing streaks when they managed a 3-1 record, twice beating future G-MAC opponent Ohio Valley.
 
Individually, Ursuline has had some of the top performances in the conference. This season among all the conference teams, there have been two 30-point performances - both coming from Ursuline athletes. The single-game record came from Laura Campbell, when she put up 38 points in an 82-64 win over Ohio Valley. In the performance, Campbell also set a conference record with 10 three-pointers made.
 
The very next game, Dee Erazo scored 33 points, while Brianna Woods established a league mark with 13 assists against Carlow in a second-straight win for the Arrows. In a rematch with Ohio Valley a week later, Natalie Cook set a conference record with 19 rebounds.
 
Ursuline’s troubles have come with getting enough balanced scoring as the team ranks last in the conference in scoring offense (53.5 points per game), and gives up the most points per game (74.6). The team has six games remaining, including three more chances (final two on the road) to get a conference win prior to the G-MAC Championships.
 
Coaches Comments - Head Coach Shannon Sword commented on her team’s performance in her first year as coach: “Obviously we are not where we want to be in terms of wins and losses. I know we have made considerable progress from the first day of practice to where we are now. As a coaching staff, we keep telling our team that if they continue to put in the work, the results will come. We have a lot of talented student-athletes and it’s a good group of kids. Despite taking some lumps in the first half of the season, I really do like the direction the program is headed.”