In a career that’s spanned more than four decades, St. Xavier women’s basketball coach Bob Hallberg has coached more than 1,000 games. Some of those have been lopsided, either way, over the years.
He’s in the middle of the most dominant stretch in his career — and the most impressive streak of victories in his 14 seasons with the Cougars.
St. Xavier (24-2, 10-0) has won 13 consecutive games, dating back nearly two months. The Cougars have won by an average of more than 32 points during the streak, eclipsing 100 points seven times.
“I think the team realizes we have a lot of weapons and are very good on offense,” Hallberg said. “We create matchup problems for the opponents because we can put five scorers on the floor at the same time. However, all the teams on our schedule can ‘make’ their season with a win.”
St. Xavier ranks No. 1 in the nation in assists per game (21.3), blocks 6.5) and assist/turnover ratio (1.6). The Cougars are second in scoring (88.8) and margin of victory (24.7).
Still, Hallberg has been on the losing end of lopsided scores and can’t help but have emphathy for the Cougars’ opponents since prior to the start of the New Year.
“I always think of the opposing coach when winning be a large margin,” Hallberg said. “I have tried my best to play everyone, but even our bench is full of scorers.”
Included in the most recent wins are a 58-point decision over Holy Cross, a 48-point victory against Judson and a surprisingly easy, 107-63 victory over No. 17 Robert Morris last week in Chicago.
It marked the end of a three-game road stretch against three ranked teams that should solidify the Cougars as one of the top four seeds in the upcoming NAIA national tournament.
Johnson honored
Lewis junior guard Jamie Johnson is racking up the awards and the season isn’t over yet. The Marian Catholic graduate and the Flyers’ leading scorer earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District 4 Team thanks to her work on the court and in the classroom.
She has twice been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week for the No. 1 Flyers (23-0, 13-0). Johnson is tops among NCAA Division II guards in field-goal percentage (.530), ranking 35th in the country overall.
No GLVC team has ever finished the season undefeated. Lewis’ final home game of the regular season is at 1 p.m. Saturday against Missouri S&T. The Flyers finish with three straight GLVC road games.
Ray improving
University of St. Francis senior guard Kaitlyn Ray is ending her career in style. The Lincoln-Way West graduate has become a quality scorer for the Saints, averaging 12.9 points over her last 12 games. The Saints (13-14) are 9-3 in those games.
Ray is shooting 50 percent during the stretch and has just 15 turnovers in her last eight games.
Dennis Nelson is a freelance writer.
