Note: The following was written by Todd Vinyard, who will be blogging throughout the 2015-16 basketball and wrestling seasons as teams prepare to head to Asheville, N.C., in March.

 

Heading into the Holidays

Southern Conference women's basketball teams and wrestling squads can head into the holidays filled with good cheer for the journey ahead. Women's teams at ETSU, Furman, Mercer and Wofford all had double-digit wins recently. And SoCon wrestling squads took down teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 10 during December action. Here's a look back:

Women's Basketball

ETSU – The Bucs were happy to have sophomore Tianna Tarter back from an injury as she scored seven points and had a career-high seven steals against Armstrong State. She suffered a concussion in the ETSU opener against UNC Asheville, according to the Johnson City Press newspaper.

Furman – Guard Whitney Bunn has posted eight or more assists in five games this season. The only other SoCon player to notch eight assists is ETSU's Chandler Christopher. The Paladins can shoot it from downtown, too. Furman leads the conference in 3-point shooting at 78 of 214 this season for a 36.4 percentage, led by Holli Wilkins (13 of 21, 61.9 percent).

Mercer – Mercer beat Faulkner 86-33, setting a new record for the Bears' largest margin of victory in Hawkins Arena. Freshman KeKe Calloway poured in a career-high 21 points in the victory. Another Freshman, Ally Welch, played 13 minutes and had two points. As Welch told The Macon Telegraph in a video interview, it is amazing she is playing college basketball. At birth, she had a near-death experience after a hole in her lungs and other complications. She has lived the words on her Twitter account bio "Scars do not show weakness but strength in the battle to overcome."

UNCG – The first road win of the season didn't come easy for the UNCG women. The Spartans rallied from 12 points down to beat New Orleans 81-79 behind 28 points from Lucy Mason. A few days earlier, Mason had another big day as she received a degree during UNCG's 2015 winter commencement.

Samford – Senior guard Krista Stricklin stands out on the court and in the classroom. She was named the General Shale Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week on Dec. 16 and holds a 3.81 grade-point average. She averaged 13.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in games at Indiana and Georgia Tech. Coach Mike Morris' squad features six players scoring between 6.8 and 8.5 points per game.

Chattanooga – Teams must be ready for junior Jasmine Joyner when taking on the Mocs. She is blocking shots at an unprecedented rate. Joyner reached 231 career blocked shots recently, moving to fifth all-time in SoCon history. She leads the nation in blocked shots per game with 4.6. The Mocs are seventh in the nation averaging 6.6 per game.

Western Carolina – This Cullowhee bunch has done plenty of work on the boards this year so far. As a team, Western Carolina is averaging 40.9 rebounds per game, which leads the Southern Conference. The Catamounts have out-rebounded opponents in four of its first nine games this season.

Wofford – The Terriers have a two-game winning streak and a three-game winning streak at home. Wofford's longest home winning streak in the team's Division I era dates back to the 2006-07 season, when the Terriers started the season 5-0 at home

Wrestling

Appalachian State – Another week, another Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week honor for a Mountaineer wrestler. This time, it is Forrest Przybysz. The sophomore won a crucial match over No. 16 Jack Faust in the 165-pound weight class to lead Appalachian State past ACC member and 25th-ranked Duke, 26-14.

Campbell – North Carolina transfer Nathan Kraisser recorded a pin in the Camels' loss to Chattanooga. The redshirt junior knows about winning after posting a 152-6 record at Centennial High School in Ellicott City, Maryland.

The Citadel – Freshman Sawyer Root has jumped right in for Bulldogs. He placed recently at the Wolfpack Open, taking fourth at 184 pounds after going 2-2 in the tournament. The Florida native plans to major in engineering.

Davidson – The Wildcats were looking for contributions from a talented freshman class this year. They are getting it from Tony Palumbo, who has four wins in the 157-pound class in his rookie season.

Gardner-Webb – Junior Hunter Gamble is 9-4 overall and 1-0 in the SoCon as of Dec. 15. Gamble was crowned the Southern Conference Champion with a first-place finish at the 2013 Southern Conference Wrestling Championships at 174 pounds.

SIUE – The 2015-16 is already a special wrestling season for SIUE. The Cougars picked up the program's first win against a Big Ten wrestling program since 1989 with a 28-18 victory over Northwestern. "Our guys wrestled hard throughout the match, so it was a nice win for the team," SIUE head coach Jeremy Spates said.

 

Chattanooga – The Mocs have won four straight and two nationally ranked juniors are providing plenty of leadership.  Scottie Boykin is No. 18 at 197 with an 8-3 overall record.  Jared Johnson is 8-1 at heavyweight and ranked 13th.

 

That is a quick look at SoCon women's basketball and wrestling. Have a Happy Holidays and we'll see you in 2016 as we continue on the journey to Asheville.