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SU men's, women's hoops move up in polls; Hawks up to No. 5
By Matt Green
KANSAS CITY -- A fast start to the season meant a rapid climb up the national polls for the Shorter University men and women's basketball teams.
The NAIA released its first regular season edition of the Men's and Women's Division I Basketball Coaches Top 25 Polls on Monday night and Shorter is well represented in both. The Hawks, off to a 9-0 start, appear at No. 5 in the country while the Lady Hawks, 8-1 on the year, are ranked 18th.
Shorter's men are up seven spots from their No. 12 preseason ranking after going undefeated in the month of November for the third straight year and sweeping a Southern States Athletic Conference crossover weekend this past Friday and Saturday with road wins over West Division foes Loyola New Orleans (82-59) and University of Mobile (83-81) -- the latter was the tabbed the preseason favorite to win the SSAC's West Division.
The Hawks are in the top-five for the first time since the beginning of the NAIA national polls in 2000. Shorter's No. 12 preseason ranking matched the program's highest national rating, which the Hawks had previously obtained after a 13-1 start to the 2010-11 season.
Shorter has already posted several impressive victories to start the 2011-12 season, including a 92-78 win at perennial NAIA power Freed-Hardeman on Nov. 12 and the two-point victory at Mobile on Saturday. The Hawks are 4-0 in SSAC play -- Shorter also possesses wins over SSAC West opponents Faulkner and Auburn-Montgomery -- and are the only unbeaten team remaining in the league.
All-America forward Walter Hill is off to a torrid start. The 6-5 junior is averaging 18.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals a game while shooting 43 percent from 3-point range. He dropped in a career-high 33 points in a win over Young Harris College and hit a career-high six treys on his way to a team-high 23 points in Saturday's win over Mobile.
6-8 forward Dante Harvey is having a career year, putting up 14.4 points and 8.2 rebounds a game, and senior point guard Eric Nix has been on fire as of late, averaging 20.5 points in his last two games while posting 10.9 points and 5.6 assists per outing through nine games.
Even better for the Hawks, 2010-11 second team All-Atlantic Sun performer Anthony Banks (6-7, 220), a transfer from NCAA Division I Florida Gulf Coast, and 2010-11 NAIA All-American C.J. Davis (6-2, 185), a transfer from Union (Tenn.), become eligible for Shorter beginning this weekend in Dayton as Shorter travels to Bryan College for two games in the Bryan College Classic.
The Lady Hawks, who opened the year ranked No. 21 following a second straight trip to the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship, won their first eight games of the year before falling by five to 16th-ranked Xavier University (La.) on Saturday in New Orleans.
Shorter's women have been dominant through the first part of the season, with six of their eight wins coming by at least 20 points. The Lady Hawks avenged last year's SSAC Tournament upset at the hands of Loyola New Orleans with a 66-61 win over the Wolfpack last Friday, knocking the SSAC West Division leaders from the ranks of the unbeaten.
The Lady Hawks are 3-0 in league play and tied atop the SSAC East Division with 9th-ranked Lee. Shorter owns conference wins over Faulkner and AUM in addition to the win over Loyola.
Shorter All-America point guard Kelly Ellison is playing at an all-time high level in her final season with the Lady Hawks. The 5-6 native of Columbus is putting up career-highs in points (11.6), assists (8.0), rebounds (4.6) and steals (2.9). She poured in a career-high 28 points in an 83-53 win over Faulkner and dished out a career-high 17 assists in a 20-point road win over Reinhardt.
The other big story to start the year has been the play of senior Brittney Smith. Smith, a 5-10 post from Decatur, Ala., entered the 2011-12 season averaging 4.1 points and 3.2 rebounds for her career, but has been brilliant thus far, registering 10.6 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting a career-best 51 percent from the floor. Smith already has two double-doubles, including a 14-point, 16-rebound effort in Shorter's season-opening win over Coastal Georgia.
The Lady Hawks head to Brunswick, Ga., on Saturday, Dec. 10 for a 5:30 pm tip against Coastal Georgia, whom Shorter dealt a 74-42 defeat at the Winthrop-King Centre on Nov. 8.
