Oakland's Hamlet Sisters Featured in The Oakland Post

The Oakland women's basketball team's Elizabeth and Annemarie Hamlet, sisters from McBain, Mich., were recently featured by The Oakland Post Newspaper. The two have grown up playing basketball together and have continued that journey at Oakland.

Collegiate Baseball Tabs North Dakota State as League Favorite

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper recently released its 2013 baseball projections for The Summit League including predicted order of finish, player and pitcher of the year and other top players.  Below are the results.

Projected Order of Finish:
1. North Dakota State
2. Oakland
3. South Dakota State
4. Fort Wayne
5. Western Illinois
6. Omaha

Pitcher of the Year:
John Straka, RHP, North Dakota State

Player of the Year:
Tim Colwell, OF, North Dakota State

Other Top Players:
Wes Satzinger, 1B, North Dakota State
David Ernst, RHP, North Dakota State
Kyle Kingsley, RP, North Dakota State
Simon Anderson, RHP, North Dakota State
Mike Carson, 3B, Oakland
Jason Hager, LHP, Oakland
Russ Luxton, RP, Oakland
Stephen Bougher, RHP, South Dakota State
Aaron Machbitz, 1B, South Dakota State
Steve Danielak, UTL, Fort Wayne
Dan Dispensa, CF, Western Illinois
Nick Smith, RHP, Western Illinois
John White, RHP, Western Illinois
Alex Mortensen, IF/OF, Omaha
Matt Tew, RHP, Omaha

NDSU's Bjorklund Mixes Physical Play with High Percentage Offense

NDSU's Marshall Bjorklund

North Dakota State's Marshall Bjorklund leads the NCAA in field goal percentage, entering the week at a 70 percent clip. The Bison forward also enjoys the physical aspect of playing inside. The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead takes a closer look with its recent Bjorklund feature.

Leathernecks Garner Attention from ESPNChicago.com

Western Illinois' 10-game winning streak, 5-0 Summit League record and best start in Division I history are receiving attention. ESPNChicago.com's Scott Powers gave the Fighting Leathernecks mention in part of his recent blog posting:

Western Illinois rolling: Who from the state could be dancing come March and is currently the hottest team in Illinois?

It may be a surprise to some, but the answer is Western Illinois.

Building off last year’s run to the Summit Conference championship game and a CBI tournament appearance, the Leathernecks are 13-3 overall, 5-0 in conference and are currently riding a 10-game winning streak.

And it’s been defense that has put Western Illinois in such a favorable spot. The Leathernecks rank second in the country in defense, allowing 50.8 points a game. They’ve held four opponents to under 40 points and have only allowed one team more than 70 points.

“If you play defense in any sport, you have a chance to win,” said fifth-year coach Jim Molinari. “We really take pride in defending.”

Western Illinois’ effort has been led by seniors Ceola Clark and Terrell Parks. Clark is key to the top of the defense as the point guard, and Parks, a center, is the rim protector. They’ve combined for nearly three steals and three blocks per game.

Clark, who was a granted sixth year of eligibly this season due to multiple injuries in his career, has a special place in Molinari’s heart.

“I say this to people: for our system, I don’t think there’s a guard in the country I would rather have than Ceola Clark,” Molinari said. “I would think Jim Beilein would say the same thing about Trey Burke because they like to run up and down. Because we pack our defense and play a lot of ball-screen offense like we do, I wouldn’t want any other than Ceola Clark.”
 

OU Women's Basketball To Host Awareness Without Fear Game

The Oakland women's basketball team will host the inaugural Awareness Without Fear Game on Jan. 12, when the Golden Grizzlies face North Dakota State at the Athletics Center O'rena at 2 p.m. The game will be a benefit to raise funds, support and awareness for HAVEN and CARE House of Oakland County.

Oakland will donate a portion of every ticket sold to CARE House and HAVEN. There will be booths setup at the O'rena to allow fans to donate directly to both organizations on the day of the game.

Kansas City Women's Basketball Visits Morning Glory Cafe

The Kansas City women’s basketball time recently spent time at the Morning Glory Café where they helped prepare and serve food for Kansas City residents at the local soup kitchen.

During their visit, the ‘Roos spent their time serving breakfast to the visitors, while also preparing lunch, including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, to be distributed later in the day.

Omaha Named ESPN.com's National Team of the Weekend

ESPN.com has named the Omaha women's basketball team its national "Team of the Weekend" following its home sweep of Oakland and Fort Wayne.

The senior trio of Paige Frauendorfer, Carolyn Blair-Mobley and Jamie Nash are getting it done in the early days of the program's Division I era.