WBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[Just Bill]

Hey, pretty cool!  Edgewood is putting video post-game interviews up on their web site.  Check it out.  Has anyone else done this?

http://www.edgewoodcollegeeagles.com/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=2358

[WLCALUM83]

Marian must win all 4 of their remaining conference games and have Benedictine lose at least once in order for the Sabers to stay in contention

(Sabers are:  at Dominican, home to Concordia-Chicago, home to Edgewood and at Benedictine)

[Just Bill]

Benedictine wins and Marian loses today so the eight qualifiers are set.  Only seeding needs to be determined.

[WLCALUM83]

2-16-08 Women's NAthCon Finals:

Benedictine 72, Edgewood 45 (WI Eagles' Scheele held to 12 pts, Ben's Walczak hit several outside shots, per Ben press release).

Concordia-WI 77, Aurora 62 (Falcons had a big edge rebounding and although Mayyou was hurt, Davis and Beckum had 23 and 17 pts respectively to pick up the slack in this regular season title clinching win, per Concordia-WI press release).

Dominican 73, Marian 65 (Stars' Julkowski's 22 pts leads 4 Dominican players in double figures, per Star press release. As Just Bill indicated, this loss eliminates the Sabers from NAthCon tournament contention).

Lakeland 54, Concordia-Chicago 48 (A 14-7 Muskie scoring run closed out the game, per CUC play-by-play account, box score also shos Muskies  had a 54-39 rebounding edge)

WLC 74, MSOE 34 (Warriors got off to a 21-2 lead and their reserves were able to get plenty of playing time in 2nd half. MSOE shot 19% from the field per WLC box score). Unless I'm missing something, with this win, WLC assures its' first playoff game will be at home.

Rockford 64, Maranatha 50 (Another cold-shooting first half did the Crusader women in, per Maranatha press release).

[WLCALUM83]

Oh, to be a fly on the wall for tonight's Concordia-Chicago/Rockford game! (If the Regents take care of the ball and hang tough on the boards, it'll be close. The Regents can't afford to get into a run-and-gun game.

A Regent loss and they fall some (maybe as far down as 6th place depending on what happens elsewhere.) Rockford doesn't play Saturday.

[WLCALUM83]

2-22-08 NAthCon final:

Concordia-Chicago 61, Rockford 49  (A Cougar 25-13 2nd half scoring run was the difference here, per CUC play by play account).

[WLCALUM83]

Finals just in:  Lakeland 84, Aurora 70  (Spartans' cold 2nd-half shooting was the difference here, per stats off Aurora site, which also indicates four Muskies scored in double-figures).

                      Dominican 61, MSOE 45 (Stars warmed up from floor in 2nd half while MSOE cooled off. Stars also held a 50-29 edge on rebounding, per Dominican box score). (Deceptive thing about the Stars' in-conference record is that 5 of their losses were by 5 points or less-another 2 or 3 in-conference wins and they would have been in playoff contention this year).

                     Edgewood 58, Alverno 43  (Inferno still manage to more than double their number of overall victories from the previous season.) 

                    With those results, a Concordia-Chicago loss to Maranatha tonight would drop the Cougars into a 3-way tie with Edgewood and Lakeland at 12-6..  Aurora and Rockford are also tied with 11-7 records.

[Just Bill]

Bracket is set......

http://northernathleticsconf.com/sports/basketball_women/tournament/

[Ralph Turner]

Bracket is set......

http://northernathleticsconf.com/sports/basketball_women/tournament/

I wonder if 3 more CUW "in-region" wins will boost them into a Pool B bid.

[WLCALUM83]

Potential psychological factors:  WLC, Aurora and Rockford all go into the tournament after losses: In terms of in-conference games, of the in-tournament teams, Edgewood was least likely to shoot the 3, and Rockford has the lowest FT-shooting percentage:


Match-ups at first glance:

Rockford/CUC:  If the Regents at least stay even on the rebounding and the Cougars have an off-day shooting, the better Rockford's chances. CUC likes to put up the 3 a lot. Rockford's Love Morgan has the knack of tipping the ball out to a team-mate for an offensive rebound and blocking shots. This figures to be Rockford's best shot in a while, because a boat-load of senior players will be graduating after this season.

Edgewood/Lakeland:  Muskie D has a penchant for creating a lot of turnovers. How fast will Eagles' M Scheele & Co. come out of the gate?

WLC/Aurora:  Too close to call:

Ben/CUW:  If Curtis, Simpson and Ben's outside shooters are hitting and CUW has an off day, there could be an upset.

[WLCALUM83]

My take on the most-improved women's basketball team during the regular season --hmmmm---

I'll give that honor to Concordia-Chicago (freshmen Smith and Headen have made immediate impact, the former has also hit a lot of clutch free-throws)

Rockford and Dominican finish in a tie for second for that honor. (Regarding Dominican, should Crystal Gant return next year, wonder whether she'll be called upon for more scoring. With her height advantage, I thought maybe she'd get more opportunities to put the ball up inside and draw fouls. That's not a bash on Dom's coach, folks--just speculation. I saw Dom's first game vs. WLC and in 3 minutes of action, Gant didn't touch the ball much. One of her knees was wrapped, whether that was a factor however, that was the same night Jessica Salinas didn't miss a shot.)

       

[WLCALUM83]

1st Round NAthCon Tournament finals:

WLC 76, Aurora 73    (Dillon and Emily Laete each score 27 pts to offset 3 Spartan double-figure scorers and get the Warriors into the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 4 seasons.)

Concordia-WI 66, Benedictine 52 (Curtis got 25, but the rest of the IL Eagles were held in check. Falcons had a better game shooting).

Concordia-Chicago 53, Rockford 41 (Regents had 22 turnovers to Cougars' 10 and Rockford was outshot from the field: Cougars' Kim Williams had a 10-pt game off the bench.)

Edgewood 56, Lakeland 53 (Eagles' Scheele had another 20-pt game. Eagles outshot Lakeland from floor and outrebounded the Muskies.)

(All sources are box scores off NAthCon site):

[WLCALUM83]

Concordia-Chicago/WLC:  These teams split during the regular season. If the Warriors can handle the Cougar press, rebound and get and maintain a late 2nd half lead, the better their chances. (I don't think they'd relish having to play from behind, given Marche Smith's free-throw accuracy in the clutch.)

Edgewood/CUW:  Although I'd like to see Meagan Scheele get to the final, I'm giving the Falcons the nod at home on this one.

[WLCALUM83]

Edgewood and WLC advance by identical 72-70 final scores--heard the Eagles needed overtime to get their win.

Caught the Concordia-Chicago/WLC game in person. The Cougars' Marche Smith had to sit much of the 1st half due to early foul trouble. CUC's Schwab was hitting from 3-pt range for nearly all of the half (she missed one at the halftime buzzer) and the game was tied at 36 at the break.

In the second half, the Warrior D created some turnovers that led to lay-ups and eventually WLC led 64-53 midway through. Concordia-Chicago got back in it by creating a couple of turnovers off the press, forcing the Warriors into "one and done's" and getting to the line.

In the final minute when the Warriors were up 3, it turned into a real chess match. CUC cut it to one on 3 occasions, and then the Warriors would hit 2 free throws, except on the Cougars' last foul, WLC's Dillon missed the back end of the double-bonus. The Cougars' Headen missed a potential game-tying lay-up and a Warrior player grabbed the rebound and held on till the clock ran out.

Whew!

[WLCALUM83]

NAthCon Post-Season Tournament Final:

WLC 76, Edgewood 56.    (WLC's main scoring trio of Dillon, Lindert, and Emily Laete, combined for 62 points per WLC box score-Warriors outshot Edgewood from the floor. This win breaks a 9-game losing streak against Edgewood.)