WBB: American Southwest Conference

[Ralph Turner]

I was listening to part of the HSU-MC game and one of the HSU players came down hard on her knee and had to leave the game.  Will she be able to play tomorrow against HPU?

HSU's leading scorer Ashley Allen sustained the injury 4 minutes into the game.

[mcmfan]

Thanks, Ralph.  This would seem to increase HPU's chances of sweeping the tournament, making for an easier game against HSU today so they'll be rested tomorrow.  Then, they play either McM or UMHB.  The last time these two teams met, it was a catfight, so whichever team wins will probably be emotionally and physically drained when they take on the Yellow Jackets.

I seem to remember some talk at the start of the season about the East and West divisions reaching parity this year.  The opposite seems to have happened.  When was the last time every East team -- men and women -- got eliminated in the first round of the tournament?

[sethhpu]

The men have always had somebody win the first round since MC has played in every championship game except for this year.

[Ralph Turner]

HPU 83, HSU 67  (Only 3 HPU turnovers.)

HSU's Lindsey Newcombe looked great.

We have two outstanding posts in the conference next season.  Lindsey Newcombe and UMHB's Landie Thompson.

[mcmfan]

Congratulations to HPU on winning the championship!  From the scores, I'd say they simply had better staying power than the teams they played, increasing the score at each level (when you'd expect the opposite, as you play better and better teams):

HPU- LC    76-61  +15
HPU-HSU   83-67  +16
HPU-McM  77-55  +22

McM was clearly tired from their game with UMHB, for we lost by a larger point spread than in either of our regular season games with HPU.  Now, we wait and see whether HPU gets to host a sectional, unlike last year, and whether McM gets an invitation to the post season at all.

[Ralph Turner]

As I understand the playoffs for the women, McM women are pretty much a lock.

They only have losses to HPU.

They have wins over Greensboro, the Pool A bid from the USA South, and St Thomas MN, the regular season co-champ of the Minnesota IAC.  They have two wins over HSU which was regionally ranked last week.

They were #3 in the South Region and the team above them lost as well.

[mcmfan]

Yeah, but with the NCAA anything can happen.  We would look better if we had had a closer score with HPU.

[Ralph Turner]

Yeah, but with the NCAA anything can happen.  We would look better if we had had a closer score with HPU.

Respectfully, margin of victory is not a criterion.

[Ralph Turner]

McMurry and Trinity TX get Pool C bids.

[PeytonLow]

Congrats to HPU.   They are well coached and have some tremendous athletes.  Daniels is obviously very talnted.  I really enjoyed watching Blalock and Hohertz as well.

[Ralph Turner]

I just heard on Hoopsville this comment from Pat Coleman.  Check out the podcast in the final segment.

He thinks that HPU's best chance for hosting a sectional is if the NCAA can place three travel-orphan first round brackets into the Sectional Bracket.

That would look like this:

Chapman-LaVerne-George Fox-Puget Sound

HPU-McMurry-Trinity TX- bye

Piedmont-Oglethorpe-Greensboro-Bridgewater VA

Another bracket from this part of the country (West and Central Region probably to get HPU away from DePauw and Thomas More and Hope.  I'll bet that Oglethorpe would like to avoid DePauw and Thomas More until the Final Four, too.)

I do not know the brackets, but this is my best guess.

[Ralph Turner]

That would look like this:

LaVerne vs.George Fox and Chapman at Puget Sound

HPU-McMurry-Trinity TX- bye

These brackets held, but it appears that "geographic proximity" kills HPU's chances at hosting the Sectional, unless Hope loses in the first weekend when they are shipped to Baldwin-Wallace.  (Hope men got the gym in the first weekend, according to the Handbook.)

McMurry does host Trinity on Wednesday night.

[dballa]

Hope's women's coach is talking about putting around 2,000 in the seats for their game.  Just wait until HPU plays Trinity or McMurry this Saturday, you'll see twice as many people in our seats.

It's going to be exciting and fun.  HPU will have to play harder than they did yesterday to beat these teams.  Especially if they want to beat McMurry for the 4th time.

Sting 'Em Jackets!!

[Ralph Turner]

dballa, Pat Coleman is optimistic that HPU might host a second round sectional if Hope loses.

[JACKET84]

If both Hope and HPU win, would Hope most likely host?