Great game at CSB last night.  After watching them and whitewater play friday night I thought the blazers were going to be in for a very long night saturday.  That definitely ended up not being the case.  CSB looked like they belonged all night and were relentless from start to finish.  Tauer, Stifter and Frank were all over the place defensively.  Bowlin & Carter played two of the best games I've ever seen for not even getting on the scoreboard.  They were able to keep the team composed and directed the offense to perfection. 

So... the Miac ends up with the same amount of teams in the sweet 16 as the Wiac.  Hopefully the Miac brings in some solid freshmen next year and can become an even more competitive conference. The blazers have given themselves a chance this year and that's all they can ask for.  I expect them to play all out next weekend and lets hope the ball bounces the right way for them.

Quote from: scorekeeper on March 05, 2009, 09:29:10 PM


I cannot figure out where the Nautch following comes from.  She was okay, but I wouldn't even put her in the top 5.   Her status as pre-season All-America was highly overrated.  She was a complete ghost when matched against Frank all three times this year.  Her backup Hormig proved to be the better player in the tournament game against CSB.

Completely agree...

Nautsch was completely frustrated and almost punched a ref/teammate during the CSB playoff game.  Hormig was much more effective during that game until she ran out of steam at the end.  Beasly was clearly the player carrying bethel at the end of the season... Big game against Gustavus and such.  Not sure what games you have been watching...must be the home bethel games with the ridiculous inflated blocks for Nautsch.

Any predictions on how this weekend goes?  any predictions on the miac teams winning a few instead of being swept out like last year?

Quote from: buf on March 03, 2009, 10:52:54 AM

Quote from: JMM on March 03, 2009, 07:18:28 AM

I am still not sure how Moorhead got into the tournament with a 17-7 regional record and not a high SOS.  Somehow they get a lot easier 1st round matchup than does UWEC.

Definitely agree with the statement on moorhead.  I was very surprised to see the miac somehow get two teams in.  Concordia lost to St. Bens 3 times this year by an average of 15+ points.  Doesn't make much sense especially when you look at UWEC's season and that they were put into a tough bracket.

That being said looking forward to seeing the games up at St. Bens.  Looking forward to a possible St. Bens-Whitewater matchup.  It will be interesting to see how this CSB team stacks up against a good team.

Quote from: D3BballRocks on March 01, 2009, 08:14:24 PM

Quote from: PRF07 on February 24, 2009, 08:21:55 AM

Quote from: D3BballRocks on February 23, 2009, 08:04:40 PM

  They have 3 or 4 players that had significant playing time last year are now role players coming off the bench. 

Your reasoning for Freudenberg being MVP doesn't add up.

Doesn't look too confusing to me.  I guess I could have clarified bench depth as part of my reasoning if that would have been more clear for you.  Either way both players are deserving and definitely a step above the rest of the players in the conference at this point.

Quote from: blazerguy on March 01, 2009, 07:51:46 PM
Why not, we might as well get screwed by the committee one more time.

For the blazers to get to host that roughly means the committee is considering the blazers one of the top 16 teams in the nation.  Being that they weren't ranked before this week a jump to #16 is quite a stretch.  (I understand that the top 25 does not mean much to the committee, but it is a good measuring tool) A matchup with Simpson and then the a chance to play the best in the wiac would be a great opportunity for this blazer team.  The one thing that would upset me is if somehow the blazers end up against a wiac team in the first round or if 2 wiac teams are named hosts before the blazers.

Other than that I think it's all positive for this team.  Not a lot is expected out of the miac this year, hopefully they can surprise some people.

Blazers beat concordia last nightfor 3rd time this year... Average victory was by 12+points.  I don't think there is much doubt that CSB is well above the rest in the conference this year.

Hopefully CSB  gets to host and can win a game or two and get the MIAC off the slide they've been on lately. 

Should be a good matchup tomorrow in St. Joseph...

Beasley seems to be playing strong down the stretch.  Key to the game will be Frank, Tauer, and Guillind and how they can handle the Bethel zone.  Last time the two teams played those 3 were able to get the high low working to perfection which really put a lot of stress on the Bethel 2-3 zone.  Looking forward to a good matchup.

Quote from: D3BballRocks on February 23, 2009, 08:04:40 PM

If you took her out of the UST equation, where would the women's UST b-ball team be?

They'd be at about the same place without Katch... between 3rd and 5th in the Miac having an underachieving season after they were picked to win the conference during the preseason.  Now take Fruedenberg from Concordia... and they might not make the playoffs. 

Both are deserving players, but as far as the arguement of who is more valuable to their team i think it is Fruedenberg.  I still believe that St. Thomas has the deepest team in the conference which works against Katch's value.  They have 3 or 4 players that had significant playing time last year are now role players coming off the bench. 

I agree with Fruedenberg for mvp.  Katch did look good last night, but she wasn't able to put up 36ish points on the blazers like Fruedenberg did. 

It will be interesting if St. Thomas and St. Bens meet again in the playoffs.  That game last night was a classic except for the 1 for 20 3 pt showing by st. bens.  Does anyone know why St. Thomas has so many players that started last year coming off the bench now?  They definitely have a solid group of freshmen with #44 and #5 and have a very deep and experienced bench.

#2 St bens
#3 Concordia

today's regional rankings.  Good for the miac as far as chances to get at least 2 teams into the tourney.  One thing is for sure the miac should be glad that it is not in the central region.  They would be ranked closer to #6 or not ranked at all. 

One observation from these rankings is the odd criteria that determines a regional game.  Per the guidelines the two games st. bens played against texas teams earlier this year count as regional games.

The only way Miac gets two in is if St. Ben's wins out the rest of the season and then someone else beats them in the miac tourney.  Other than that scenario I would say the chances are slim.

I also have a hard time understanding what is going on with Carleton. Watching them last year I always thought they played the game the right way and always made good decisions which was something that other teams in the miac wouldn't do as consistently.  The only thing I have seen is that their problems are with Isler. 

Blazers pull away down the stretch and win easily.  Cobbers kept it close for quite a bit longer than I thought they would.  It was nice to see the blazers not panic when they were down 7 in the 2nd half.  

There was no inside presence from the cobbers today.... Frank, Tauer, and Guilind went a combined 15 for 20 and scored about 40 combined points.  The blazers will be tough to beat when they have that much of a presence inside.

Here's to these two teams staying healthy and seeing one more match up between them this year.  St. Bens is definitely the better team, but it is really difficult to beat a good team 3 times in one year.

What a tough break for the blazers to lose Schmidt.  It will be really hard for them to replace that scoring.  However, this will give some other guards time to get some experience for when they need to play larger roles next year.

Should be a good game in moorhead this weekend.  Seems to always be a tough place to play, but after seeing concordia once this year I don't think they have the size/depth to play w/ the blazers. 

The key for the blazers without schmidt for the rest of the year will be getting the ball inside to Tauer, Frank, Guilland, and even Canton.  That should create some easy points and take the pressure off the guards.

another win for the bennies on saturday... Carleton did not seem to have a chance in this one. It will be dissapointing if St. Bens loses another game this year I think.  They are clearly the best team in the conference.  That being said, they better start working on an offense that does something other than throwing up 3 pointers.  It's nice when they go in, but come playoff time the rim always gets a bit smaller. 

I am left speechless after watching Carleton on Saturday.  How this team can be so bad with so much talent is unbelievable.  Isler wrecks the chemistry on that team and is definitely not much of a team player which i think everyone knew already.  Carleton's coach couldn't even look isler in the face on saturday.  I still would not want to face this team if they some how found their way into the playoffs...

Can't figure out what is more surprising...

1... St. Ben's continues to be in a bit of a funk and loses to Hamline

2... After dominating St. Ben's and looking unstoppable the tommies come out and lose at home Saturday

Looking for St. Bens to get back to the basics on monday.  I expect to see the offense moving through frank, guillind and tauer.  Getting the ball to those 3 collapses the D and gives the good shooters on this team good opportunities on kick outs.

Should be a good one Monday. 

St. Bens 70
Gustavus 64

Hoping that the home court advantage pays dividends.