WBB: Northwest Conference

[Ron Boerger]

Hoping my Trinity women can keep it close against Lewis and Clark tomorrow night.  The level of competition in the SCAC is nowhere near what you face in the NWC and the travel won't help.  If not this season, maybe next year, with almost everyone coming back and Coach Hill having another year to indoctrinate everyone into the system he brought in this year.    TU improved from 9-17 to 23-4 in his first year of collegiate coaching (though admittedly some of that improvement comes from the SAA splitting off from the SCAC).

[Manny24]

A quick point of view from what Pat mentioned. Whitworth is the team that has proved to be playing the best " right now". They have beaten three ranked teams for 4 wins this month. To play outside of a first round bracket of the other two NW teams is a great opportunity to get two NW teams to the sectionals. Not to take anything away from the other 3 teams in Whitworths bracket as they are very good but with the way Whitworth has been playing on the road, has a good a chance as any to get there.

I understand your position of hoping it would be closer for the parents but try to understand we are on an Island out here in the great NW when it comes to this Tournament. To have three teams in it from the NW does not come along that often. It's not surprising because both LC and Whitman are regionally ranked to get the positions they did. Whitman has got to be as stunned to be in the tournament on one side of the pendelum as much as they were to have thought to be eliminated by Whitworth on the other side of the swing a week ago. Congrats to Whitman, first time ever to be in the dance. It's been like 13 years since Whitworth has been in it. Enjoy the ride. You never know when you will experience it again.

The players themselves should be the ones who soak it all in the most, enjoy the experience, play as if it was their last game and have fun. Even though you may not make it to any of the first round or even sectional games, the deeper you make it, the more I would suggest you try to get there,  especially if one of our teams makes it to Holland. Our trip there last year was one of the most memorable experiences. All the games that were played to get there we could re-live through the players experience and the fun they had, it was awesome. Because of the hospitality and welcome mat that was delivered, to see Hope in it this year I'm pulling for them to go all the way on their side of the bracket!

[Whatagame]

Whitman defeats Emory, taking the lead for the first time in the game with I believe 58 seconds left, to earn Elite 8 game!

[BruinFan]

Congratulations to Whitman! Way to represent the NW Conference.

1 more win and the NWC will have a final 4 team for the 3rd time in 5 years.

[gordonmann]

I talked with Whitman forward Sarah Anderegg about the team's trip -- literal and figurative -- to the Elite 8. You can find the interview here.

[BruinFan]

Gordan, thanks for posting the link to Sarah's interview. I hope Whitman can play well tonight and keep their season going.

Here is how the top 4 teams in the NWC did against each other in the regular season and the conference play-off. The teams are in order of play-off seeding and home and away records are included.

Lewis and Clark  5-4  (3-3, 2-1)  Ranked in top 15 most of the season
Whitman            4-4  (2-2, 2-2) 2 wins at Lewis and Clark
Whitworth          5-3  (3-0, 2-3) tough to beat the Pirates in Spokane
George Fox        2-5  (2-1, 0-4) Lewis and Clark turns the tables this year and beats the Bruins all 3 times

[gordonmann]

For what it's worth, Whitman's win last night establishes the NWC in the upper tier of elite conferences in my mind.  My short list is the CCIW, NESCAC (Williams' conference), NWC, UAA (Emory's conference), WIAC and the UAA.

To be an elite conference you need to have a recent national champion or runner up, consistently have a team in the Top 15 and have a rotating group of top teams. With Whitman and Whitworth's emergence to complement George Fox, Lewis and Clark and (not too long ago) Puget Sound, the NWC is a real good one.

There are some excellent individual programs outside of these conferences, but I think these are the best conferences.

[BruinFan]

I appreciate the recognition. I agree with your list of conferences. Geography is very kind to the NESCAC when it comes to hosting sectionals.

I'm sure you discovered by now that the 31 points per game given up by Whitman was a typo. I don't know your source, but on the NWC site, the number is just over 51 points a game. That is still a great number and makes more sense.

I did not watch, but apparently a very rough first half for Whitman tonight against Williams. I hope they can come back and make it respectable.

[gordonmann]

Yeah, as the words were coming out of my mouth, I knew 31 was a mistake. Fortunately Sarah didn't call me on it.

[BruinFan]

No problem - it was a little thing. You did a nice job with the interview. I hope Whitman doesn't have to get up in the middle of the night to head back to Walla Walla.   

I'm glad Whitman closed some of the difference in the 2nd half. They had some good defensive efforts in the last 5 minutes where Williams would still manage to score late on the shot clock. I thought if Whitman could have gotten it down to 5 or 6 with 3 minutes to play it would stay interesting, but they could not get it under 8. Whitman played hard to the end, but it is Williams that moves on to play DePauw.

[gordonmann]

I think the flight home was 10 am out of Albany. Not terrible, but rough weekend for Day Light Savings time.

[gordonmann]

We've released our list of All-Americans. Congratulations to Kristina Williams.

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2013/03/womens-all-americans

[mkt]

I got my first glimpse of a NWC team this season, when Whitman visited Concordia University in Portland.  Whitman's an easy pick as the favorite to win the conference (I'm surprised that two NWC coaches voted for Lewis & CLark in the coaches' poll; losing Kristina Williams and Sara Villanueva to graduation has to hurt the Pios badly) and they duly demolished Concordia, at one point doubling the score 67-33 before coasting to the win.  One of their key backup big people, Heather Lovelace, was in street clothes however and looking through the Whitman website I see that she's expected to miss most of the season with a knee injury.  That leaves Whitman a little thin up front.  I think they are still heavy favorites to win the conference, which doesn't seem to have a lot of elite big people with Munger graduated.  But assuming that they do make it to the NCAA tournament, they'll have to hope that Lovelace is in shape and in sync by then, as they'll start facing teams with big and talented frontcourt players.

[BruinFan]

No chatter yet for the Northwest Conference?

The NWC has proven it is one of the top 3 or 4 conferences in the country.
It currently has 2 teams ranked in the top 10 and last year had 3 teams in the tournament and George Fox was not one of the three!

We will learn a lot this weekend with all 3 teams at 4-0 in conference matching up in Newberg. Whitworth @ George Fox on Friday and then Whitman @ George Fox on Saturday.

mkt, do you still think Whitman is the heavy favorite to win the conference? I'm looking forward to see how well the Bruins hold serve at home. All 3 of these teams will be looking for big road wins during conference play to gain the #1 seed in the NWC playoffs in February.

[d3wbbfan]

I am new to D3 WBB boards, although I've been reading for months. Many knowledgable posters are on here. I appreciate reading the comments. I hope I can add something of value, at least once in a while! 

After many years following and being involved personally in both DI and DII, I happened to stumble upon D3 WBB online, last March. Whitman at Lewis & Clark. Instantly hooked. I basically haven't missed a Missionaries game since (even going Live Stats, if I have to.) Thanks to the NWC portal, I've also seen every other top NWC team, at least twice already. The best teams DIII teams play the game exactly the way I love to see it played. I have a ton of respect for all the schools, coaches and players. Thankfully, so many DIII schools offer free live streaming these days. (I also regularly take in the top NESCAC teams, DePauw, St. Thomas (MN), and other Top 25 teams, when against strong opponents. To me, there's no doubt that many, many DII and DI teams, despite them giving out athletic scholarships, would lose to the cream of the DIII crop.)

I place Lewis & Clark at no better than #5 in the NWC this year. I do see 3 NWC teams again getting into the NCAAs: Whitman, George Fox and Whitworth. I believe Pacific Lutheran is #4. They already beat the Pios, and they gave Whitman all they could handle last weekend.   

The Lutes clearly came out fired up in Walla Walla, after their Friday night drubbing at Whitworth (who, after a slow start, are really firing on all cylinders of late.) You know how every team, no matter its level, seemingly has that one game a year where absolutely nothing goes right? Many missed layups - many missed free throws - unusual foul trouble, etc. That was Whitman, vs. PLU. And I love watching how teams deal with that. In the second half, the always-tough Whitman D swarmed the Lutes like they were 5 honey bees, attacking the guy who was swatting at their hive with a baseball bat! I also saw Hailey Mcdonald get from one end of the court to the other faster than any basketball player I have ever seen. Like she had a jet-powered engine on her back! The only reason Whitman won that game is because the ladies, mentally, totally refused to allow any other result. Every coach likes to think their team has that inside of them. But very few actually do. The second half of the Whitman season opener, vs St. Thomas, at Whitworth (beware: some 1st half audio issues) may have been the most exciting WBB game I have ever seen - and I've been watching since Kim Mulkey was the hotshot PG for La Tech, way back in the day.)

Everyone knows the Missionaries rely heavily on Anderegg and Johns. And every mega-winning team has a Meghan White-type. Undersized, major hops, and a GPS-like ability to know where the missed shot's rebound is heading. But the huge difference this year is Traver. Last year, Whitman's Achilles heel was having no real 3-pt threat. And Traver started then, too. But this year is different. She is now a clutch, high %, cold-blooded, 3-pt assassin, with a new, lightning-quick release. Makes all the difference for them. You can't pack it in and play zone against Whitman this year, like you could last year. Makes their two "stars" lives so much easier. I just love how many DIII players get so much better as players, over their four years.

One of my oldest, dearest friends has put in 30+ years as a college men's coach. Actually won a national title. He's said to me often, "You only really need three *players*". I believe him, then and now. On paper, George Fox's roster appears far deeper than Whitman's. But I have yet to see that consistent, high-level intensity level from the Bruins. But I will defer to the Bruin poster here, who has for more knowledge of this year's George Fox club than I do. I especially look forward to Saturday's game, as, for some reason, Whitman actually seems to prefer playing on the road. Thanks for reading!