COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Local players fight tough battles

Dec. 3—As conference season looms for the teams of local college players, the teams toughened up with tournaments and non-conference matchups through last weekend.

Schlarman Academy grad Anaya Peoples and the DePaul women's basketball team was and example of a team playing tough games, but went 3-1 in four games.

The Blue Demons beat Miami 98-83 with Peoples scoring 12 points with seven rebounds and four steals before the team went to the Fort Myers Tip-Off.

They started on Nov. 25 against Maryland and was able to get the upset win 76-67. Peoples had two points, three rebounds and two assists. DePaul then beat Pittsburgh on Nov. 26 with Peoples getting three points, six rebounds and three steals, but would lose to Towson on Sunday with Peoples getting 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

The Blue Demons are 4-3 and will face Butler on Sunday in the Big East opener for both teams.

Oakwood native Katelyn Young and the Murray State women's basketball team won all three of their games, beating Chattanooga 59-56 on Nov. 19, Alabama A&M 57-36 on Nov. 26 and Tennessee-Martin 71-52 on Wednesday. Young had 18 points and two blocks against Chattanooga, 21 points and 12 rebounds against Alabama A&M and 31 points and 12 rebounds against UT-Martin.

The Racers are 4-1 and will host Southern Indiana today.

Danville native Erin Houpt had three points as Mercer beat Georgia Southwestern 72-37 on Nov. 20 before the Bears took a trip to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving weekend. The Bears lost to Colorado State 79-51 on Nov. 25 as Houpt had three rebounds and lost to Texas Tech 78-66 as Houpt rebounded with 28 points and three assists.

Mercer returned home on Wednesday to play Alabama and Houpt had eight points as the Bears lost 88-52. Mercer is 2-4 and will face the University of South Alabama on Sunday.

Danville native and Denver University guard Tevin Smith suffered a possible injury during the Big Easy MTE against the Citadel. Smith had 21 points on Nov. 18 in a 70-69 win over Idaho State and started the Big Easy with 19 points in a 86-64 win against IUPUI and had 10 points against the Citadel.

The Pioneers beat New Orleans 77-76 on Nov. 25 and 93-83 on Thursday against Houston Christian to go 7-1. Denver will play Texas A&M-Commerce on Sunday.

For the first time this season, two local players shared the court as Eastern Illinois with Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin grad Emily Meidel took on Chicago State and Schlarman grad Janiah Newell on Nov. 22. Meidel had eight points, three rebounds and three steals as the Panthers beat the Cougars 87-64. Newell had 16 points.

Meidel would have five points on Monday as the Panthers beat Wright State 96-67. Eastern Illinois is 6-0 and will face Northern Illinois on Saturday.

Newell and the Cougars were coming off a 59-45 loss to Chicago State on Nov. 21 as Newell had 15 points and six rebounds. Chicago State lost to Colorado on Nov. 27 as Newell had eight points, lost to Indiana State 68-43 on Tuesday with Newell had one rebounds and one assist and lost to Southern Illinois 115-57 as Newell had six points and four assists.

The Cougars are 0-9 and will face North Carolina Central today.

The Missouri State women's basketball team went 1-1 at the Las Vegas Invitational. The Bears beat Texas-San Antonio on Nov. 25 with Schlarman native Capria Brown scoring five points with four steals, but lost to Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 26 as Brown had six points and four rebounds.

The Bears are 2-3 and will face Toledo on Sunday.

The Missouri State men's team with Danville native Kendle Moore, went 3-2 in its run.

The Bears started with a 75-51 win against Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 19 with Moore scoring nine points with three reboudns and two steals.

Missouri State then went to the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship and lost to UNC-Wilmington 68-54 with Moore getting 12 points, lost to Ball State 67-64 with Moore getting nine points and ended with a 76-64 win over Oakland with Moore getting 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.

The Bears then went to Chicago to play Illinois-Chicago and Moore had six points as the Bears won 66-51. Missouri State is 4-3 and will face Bradley today.

Schlarman grad Sydney Gouard and the Stetson women's bsaketball team beat Furman 77-61 on Nov. 19 with Gouard scoring three points and grabbed three rebounds.

The Hatters would play the UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament and started with a 73-50 loss to Louisiana Tech with Gouard getting two rebounds and lost to US-San Diego with Gouard getting one rebound and one assist. Stetson ended the tournament with a 61-40 win over Albany as Gouard had three rebounds.

The Hatters returned home on Friday to play Denver and lost 62-59. Gouard only played five minutes. Stetson is 4-4 and will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. on Sunday to play Florida State.

Danville native Mikala Hall and Central Michigan played Michigan State on Nov. 19 and lost 84-54 and at the Cancun Challenge, the Chippewas lost 64-33 to West Virginia and 78-66 to Central Michigan. Hall had a rebound against West Virginia and a steal against Tulane.

Central Michigan is 0-6 and will play North Dakota State today.

If there are any local college basketball players that we have missed, please write to sports@dancomnews.com