WBB: Northwest Conference

[80sshorts]

Mount Union is more than 500 miles from St. Louis, does this mean that the NCAA flies TWO teams to Wash U, or are they going to make Mount Union bus out?  Just curious because doing the math you could bus two teams to Carthage as St. Louis and Mount Union are both within the 500 mile limit.  Because if the NCAA is truly worried about saving money at the D-III level and only having to fly one team, putting the sectional in st. louis would seem to completely defeat the purpose of doing that, unless I'm a flaming moron and the 500 mile limit is more of just a suggested guideline.  If anyone has the actual correct answer out there please let me have it!

[Pat Coleman]

Mount Union will fly. What we don't know is whether Carthage put in to host a sectional on the women's side.

[80sshorts]

Great point, I did not consider whether Carthage had submitted a bid, thanks Pat

[Handles]

Isn't the division III level about the student athlete?  So, they get rewarded if their team makes the 64 team tournament but then they get penalized because they are an athlete on the west coast and there are more teams back east.....What about whats best for the athletes and the best possible tournament know matter what the level???

It always comes down to money......then do something to change that so the NWC teams can get separated!

[80sshorts]

Anybody have thoughts on Carthage?  Looks like they're a good three point shooting team. 

[Bird Dog]

My daughter's team played them earlier in the year on Carthage's home floor.  Carthage won by 7.  I think they were a little high on themselves because they had just beaten Illinois Weslyn.  We shouldn't have been that close. They are a talented team and just about everyone can shoot the three and have nice pull up jump shot going to the bucket.

[BruinFan]

Anybody have thoughts on Carthage?  Looks like they're a good three point shooting team. 

I have yet to look at their roster or statistics. Apparently Carthage is ranked #1 in FG% and George Fox is ranked something like #5 in FG% defense.

I believe that in most sports, defense wins the big games. Carthage defeated IWU by shooting nearly 50% for the game. They lost big to IWU when they shot 34%. I think if George Fox can hold them to 38%-40% shooting, then a Bruin victory is within reach.

[sumfun]

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/ncaa-w-baskbl-stats-index.html

Here's the link to NCAA stats.  You can check them until you're blue in the face and make all the predictions you want based on offense or defense, but you still have to play the game. Furthermore, most of the schools left in the bracket are within points of eachother in whatever category you chose to analyze.

[BruinFan]

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/ncaa-w-baskbl-stats-index.html

Here's the link to NCAA stats.  You can check them until you're blue in the face and make all the predictions you want based on offense or defense, but you still have to play the game. Furthermore, most of the schools left in the bracket are within points of eachother in whatever category you chose to analyze.

No argument from me. Predictions and stats seem to be some of the popular themes on these boards, so I went ahead and put something out there.

Sumfun, in general, do you think an "up-and-down scoring 70+ points per game" style or a "shut the opponent down defensive" style has an advantage in the tournament?

Last year when George Fox won the championship, they held every opponent they played in the tournament to their lowest point production of the season. I thought that was significant.

[sumfun]

Since not every school is going to have a 6'5" center, I think a suffocating defense and accurate 3 shooting can win over a school that does not have that, but might have height in the middle.  No doubt that every one of these schools left in the tourney has a quality program, but Geno at UConn says defense wins games.

[Moser]

Anybody have thoughts on Carthage?  Looks like they're a good three point shooting team. 

Greetings from the CCIW board.

I've seen Carthage play several times this season. Carthage is an impressive team, as evidenced by some of their wins this year (#3 Ill. Wesleyan, #4 Hope, #12 Calvin, #22 Chicago). They are the only team to beat Ill. Wesleyan and Hope. Not a bad resume. The Reds don't have any bad losses (Robert Morris-Chicago, Ill. Wesleyan, Elmhurst twice). This is not a team that will be intimidated by playing the defending national champions, especially on a neutral site.

As far as personnel, Carthage has as good of a starting 5 as you'll see, and they play very well together. Their starters are their top five scorers. The Reds play 7 players consistently, but their firepower is contained in the starting group. Any one of those 5 can hurt you on a given night.

Carthage does have impressive shooting numbers, but a lot of their success has come from defense, as the Reds only allow 58.2 ppg (though George Fox is even better in this category at 47.2). In addition to leading the CCIW in field goal pct. and 3-point pct., Carthage also led the league in field goal pct. defense (39 %). Carthage was second in the league in steals.   The Lady Reds are no slouch defensively. In a Jan. 5 game against Wheaton, they held the Thunder to 2 points over the first 10 minutes of the second half.

I expect a defensive battle on Friday night.

[BruinFan]

Moser, thanks for the information.

It likely will be a low scoring game.

Goooooooooo  Bruins!!!!!

It is great to finally reach gameday. 
Coach Rueck prepares well and has given the team everything they need to know to be successful. Execute the plan and a victory will follow.

Goooooooooo Bruins!!!!!

[RogK]

Go Lady Reds!
Hello from another of the CCIW regulars.
One thing for certain this weekend, there will be teary-eyed losses for 12 of the 16 teams playing. And, those 12 teams will have had outstanding seasons.
I was looking at the George Fox stats and noticed that Hannah Munger commits a surprisingly small number of fouls for a shot-blocker : in 29 games, only 49 fouls, along with 98 blocks.

[RogK]

Just east from Wash Univ is a large park in St Louis called Forest Park.
It might be a good idea for the entire George Fox team to run around the periphery of Forest Park maybe 35 or 40 times this afternoon, just to make sure they are loose and warmed up for the game!

[BlueZoneBruin]

I was looking at the George Fox stats and noticed that Hannah Munger commits a surprisingly small number of fouls for a shot-blocker : in 29 games, only 49 fouls, along with 98 blocks.

RogK

At 6'5", most of Munger's blocks are clean blocks.  She doesn't have to swing her arms all over or try to jump over people to get to the ball. In fact, I've seen her block a few shots with her elbow!

For an 18-year-old true freshman, she is really mature on the floor...and is still getting better!

Go Bruins!

BlueZoneBruin