WBB: American Southwest Conference

[Ralph Turner]

dballa, I understand the dilemma that HPU faced.  The Dallas Christian game filled the "hole" left in the schedule by Austin College's departure.  The mandated 21-game schedule takes away dates on which a coach can schedule strategically more valuable opponents.

I have posted these comments many times.  I wish that I could get some flexibility into the scheduling process!   

This year's HPU team is facing the UMHB (football) dilemma.  Who wants to lose by 30?

[dballa]

HPU 83 UTDallas 40 FINAL.

HPU dominated the game from the beginning. 

Meia Daniels led the way with 24 pts and Sarah Jockers scored a career high 16.

Oh and keep docking my karma please, I still have 46 left

[Ralph Turner]

CUA 82, ETBU 51

[dballa]

UMHB 62 CUA 56 FINAL

[Ralph Turner]

Coach Snow's post-game interview...

She commented on senior leadership, the team chemistry, and the team defense in the last few possessions.

[dballa]

Congrats to Meia Daniels for making this weeks D3Hoops Team of the Week.

[mcmfan]

What happened to all the HSU posters that used to be here?  I'm thinking HSU could be the sleeper of the ASC, but no one seems to be noticing.  Check out the scores between it and McM, playing the same schools these last few days:

                          UT Tyler                       UT Dallas
HSU                 75-53, +22                     80-65, + 15
McM                 81-78, +3                       60-54, +6

HSU looked awful when they played us before Christmas, but they seem to have really gotten rolling since then.  We at McM, and HPU, had better be ready for them!

[Rick Akins]

dballa:

I have a question for you. Did either Meia Daniels or Stacey Blalock transfer from DI schools to Howard Payne?  I am pretty sure they have played 4 years at HPU, and I never heard that. I guess it is possible but that would be news to me.  Coach Duke just said on the MC radio that 32 and 24 for HPU were DI transfers.  I know they are both DI quality, and may have had opportunities,  but did they actually transfer from DI schools?

If they did, I will accept correction and shut up.  If not, statements like that really frustrate and annoy me.  MC certainly gave HPU by far our toughest game so far and MC should be proud of their effort, but it is kinda funny to here such a statement (if it is not true)  since MC has tons of JC transfers on both its basketball teams.

[Ralph Turner]

Rick, the Junior College system in Mississippi is much different than in Texas.

There are only 2 3 D-III's*, 4 NAIA's,  and 6 D-I's in the whole state.  (I could not find any D-II's.)

There are about 20 JUCO's, so there are only a few places where JUCO talent can go to continue playing.

*Mississippi College, Millsaps College in Jackson and Rust College in Holly Springs

[dballa]

Rick,

They both started and are ending their careers at HPU.  I don't know why he would have said they were transfers but they aren't.  They definitely are DI quality for sure.   Meia is one of the best if not the best guard in the nation as long as she plays within her abilities and doesn't try to do too much.

This definitely was a tough road game for HPU but it's one they needed.  It let the key players get a lot of work and conditioning in that they haven't been able to do all year because of all the blowouts.  

Have to give MC a lot of credit, they are finally starting to gel and play well together as a team.  They will be a tough team to beat the rest of the way and on into the conference tournament.

[golden_dome]

Rick, the Junior College system in Mississippi is much different than in Texas.

There are only 2 D-III's, 4 NAIA's,  and 6 D-I's in the whole state.  (I could not find any D-II's.)

There are about 20 JUCO's, so there are only a few places where JUCO talent can go to continue playing.

Ralph,   Delta State University is the only DII school in MS and were our hated rival for many years when we were DII. In the last three years they have won a DII football and baseball national championship, our move to DIII helped them recruiting-wise in MS.

If they did, I will accept correction and shut up.  If not, statements like that really frustrate and annoy me.  MC certainly gave HPU by far our toughest game so far and MC should be proud of their effort, but it is kinda funny to here such a statement (if it is not true)  since MC has tons of JC transfers on both its basketball teams.

He probably meant DI talent, but I can assure he was trying to be complimentary. Coach Duke thinks a lot of the Howard Payne team and what Coach Kielsmeier has done there.

My thoughts on Howard Payne from today. First of all, I think Meia Daniels has to get consideration for National Player of the Year this year. She is the best player I have seen in the ASC in eight years. That's just my opinion, but she is an incredible talent and HPU loses to MC today if she is out. She scored 31 playing unselfish basketball, just a great, great player. She's very physical, has excellent ball-handling skills, and can score inside or outside.

Today is the only time I've seen HPU this year and they could have had a bad game, but no one outside of Meia Daniels was very impressive offensively today. Although they always weren't guarding one another, MC forward Rose Green dominated her matchup with Blalock with 30 points on 12-17 shooting. Blalock had eight points on 3-9 shooting and three rebounds.

MC outrebounded HPU 36-30 and controlled the paint. MC's posts combined for a 43 points on 18-31 shooting, while HPU's scored 9 points on 3-13 shooting. But again, it's just one game so it could have been an off-day for the rest of the team, but today they struggled.

Having said that, HPU will be a tough matchup for anyone in the country with Meia Daniels on the court, particularly if they are playing at home in the NCAA Tournament. I just don't see anyone beating them in the regular season with her on the team, she is that good. She handled the ball most of the game, or at least the critical parts of the game, and probably could have scored more if she wanted. The player guarding her most of the game today is a very good defensive player for MC, and she had a hard time slowing her down The rest of the team is very athletic and applies pressure defensively, but their offense almost always goes through Daniels. I really hope voters consider her this year for the National Player of the Year, hard to believe anyone's out there better.

About MC, they are 6-7 but are very talented, particularly in the post. Three of the losses are by three points or fewer and five under eight. The problem all season has been turnovers which kills our scoring chances. We are averaging 25 turnovers a game and actually had 46 in a game this year, three shy of the NCAA record. Rose Green is a 6-0 forward who is averaging 20 points in her last five games. The team is 4-1 during that time with three other players right around ten a game. MC will be a tough matchup for teams the rest of the way, especially if they can figure out a way to cut out the turnovers.

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, Chris.  (McMurry swimmers used to be in a swim conference against DSU!  Duhhhh!  Brain burp!    )

Does anyone have the URL for the listing of member schools of the NCAA, especially by state?

Here is the list for the NAIA.  You can click by state, region or by conference.

Membership list -- NAIA

[calhsu]

 I know it is going to upset HPU fans and especially the one who made the comment but someone needs to say it.   When you start comparing DIII players to DI, there is a difference.  I am not saying the HPU stars couldn't make many DI teams, even I would certainly agree with that.  But the girls themselves made the decisons to play DIII for a reason.  And on a given day they could play with any team.  But HSU has had a couple of girls that have been the Daniels of the day, and I remember some HSU fan saying they could make the WNBA. Come on, these ladies are great players, AT THIS LEVEL.  If they had the speed, size, they would be playing DI.  Now answer me this, why would Daniels want to sit on a bench most of the game with a crummy DI school when she can be a great All American for DIII?

[golden_dome]

I know the D1 player is thrown around a lot and is usually exaggerated greatly, but Daniels could be a successful DI player if she chose to. I don't know if she had opportunities or not when deciding on HPU, but she could play that level now.

In respect to HSU which hs produced several great players, Daniels is the best player to ever come through the ASC in my opinion.

[dballa]

calhsu,

I'm just curious as to when the last time you've been to a DIII basketball game?  Being an HSU fan I would think you're familiar with the talented players HSU has had such as Kendra Anderson and Kathryn Otwell(sp?)  They could have easily been playing at a scholarship school instead of at HSU.

There are players all over the country that play at the DIII level that could very well have scholarships and be a key player on a lot of DII and DI teams.  They have reasons for choosing DIII.

Meia Daniels is just one of the players in the conference that is extremely talented.  There are plenty more such as Richardson for McM, Buggs for UT-Tyler, Green for MC who scored 30 against HPU, as well as others. 

Go watch a game sometime and you'll see why we think they are pretty good.