Top 25 discussion

[David Collinge]

Wow...stuck it out till 2am to get the women's scores from Cancun. That's dedication!

Kudos.

1 part dedication, 3 parts insomnia. 
And even 2am wasn't good enough for the DePauw game.  I hope things are better for today's DePauw/Messiah showdown.

[Pat Coleman]

I ended up sending the organizers a text message and they sent back three box scores, however, the DePauw box was for today's game. Not very helpful.

[David Collinge]

I ended up sending the organizers a text message and they sent back three box scores, however, the DePauw box was for today's game. Not very helpful.

See, Pat does all the work and I get all the credit.  As usual.  I'm leaving him all my karma in my will. 

Aside from Pete Rose:  Um, if you don't have a use for a boxscore of a game yet to be played, I think I do... 

[David Collinge]

#15 Point upends #10 Point, 56-51

A very nice win this evening for #15 UW-Stevens Point at Point Loma Nazarene, ranked #10 in NAIA-1.  PLNU held a 14-point halftime lead, and extended it to 17 at 16:58, but then went five minutes without scoring as UWSP climbed back into the game.  The Pointers took their first lead of the game at 2:50, and held on down the stretch to record the victory.   Stevens Point forced 32 PLNU turnovers, stifling the Sea Lion offense which could only muster 19 second-half points.  UWSP advances to face Maryville (MO) in the winner's bracket of the San Diego Surf 'N Slam Classic.  Other results from Day 1 of the Classic include Gustavus Adolphus' upset of #22 UW-Eau Claire 65-60; Carroll College over Ithaca 67-58; and Maryville over Rivier 84-66.

[atn alum]

Halftime score

UW-Whitewater 35
Mary Washington 22

We sprung for the $8 to watch this thing on "Stretch Internet."

Unfortunately, no audio in any fashion to go along with video (technical issues...you'd think they'd tell you before you purchase).

Best observations I can make...

The UW-Whitewater players have long arms and that's caused disruption for Mary Washington in it's offense...having tough time both passing, shooting over the top of the defense. Whitewater has led whole way, and (I'm guessing here) I think the point guard (Hendrickson) is having a nice game. Little hard to tell though.

[atn alum]

Final
UW-Whitewater 70
Mary Washington 67

A really INSANE ending to this game.

Mary Washington was way behind...as much as 20 down in 2nd half, and to be honest, it was dominance from UW-Whitewater

But then, about 730 left, things took a major change...

Mary Washington started hitting some shots (including a couple 3's), and UW-Whitewater got a little tight.

I wasn't totally keeping notes, but I believe there was stretch in last 90 seconds in which UW-Whitewater was 2-8 on FT and Mary Washington made a couple 3's in a row, including one to tie game with 23 seconds left. Lack of audio and blurry video when blown up to reasonable size made it hard to tell who hit it.

UW-Whitewater got ball to point guard, Hendrickson, I believe, and Mary Washington tried to trap, ended up fouling her as she ducked through it. She made 1 of 2 FT.

Mary Washington got a look at a winning shot, but missed...UW-Whitewater made 2 FT with less than second left to account for final score.

Hopefully both schools will provide a thorough recap. Crazy game.

[David Collinge]

That a big win for Whitewater, capping off a nice weekend for them on the West Coast.  I suppose Hope, which has been fairly dominant so far in their run towards a home-court Final Four, will move up to #1, but it will be interesting to see how much support the Warhawks get.  (The current #1 votes were distributed 16 to UMW, 7 to Hope, and 2 to #3 Howard Payne.)

The only Top 25 game still unreported is #12 Kean vs. Cabrini from the Virgin Islands.  Presupposing a Kean victory, we only will have had three losses by top 25 teams to teams not in their division's top 10: George Fox's loss to William Smith (seems like forever ago now), Eau Claire's loss to Gustavus in the first round of the Surf N' Slam tournament, and todays victory by Wilmington over Oglethorpe (see Pate Coleman's recap  and photos on the front page.)  So while there should be some movement in the top 10, overall I don't expect much upheaval in the new poll early next week.

[Ralph Turner]

That a big win for Whitewater, capping off a nice weekend for them on the West Coast.  I suppose Hope, which has been fairly dominant so far in their run towards a home-court Final Four, will move up to #1, but it will be interesting to see how much support the Warhawks get.  (The current #1 votes were distributed 16 to UMW, 7 to Hope, and 2 to #3 Howard Payne.)

The only Top 25 game still unreported is #12 Kean vs. Cabrini from the Virgin Islands.  Presupposing a Kean victory, we only will have had three losses by top 25 teams to teams not in their division's top 10: George Fox's loss to William Smith (seems like forever ago now), Eau Claire's loss to Gustavus in the first round of the Surf N' Slam tournament, and todays victory by Wilmington over Oglethorpe (see Pat Coleman's recap  and photos on the front page.)  So while there should be some movement in the top 10, overall I don't expect much upheaval in the new poll early next week.

HPU just dominated D-II (Provisional) UT-Permian Basin, 89-50.  (UT-PB is moving from NAIA-1 Red River AC to D-II Heartland Conference.)  HPU led by 21 at the half and did not let up.  The starters all played at least 23 minutes, so there may have been some conditioning going on.

The ASC gets back into full swing next week with the last 2 weekends of interdivisional play.  HPU may go undefeated until their Abilene road trip in early February.

One factor in HPU's favor is that they have a new floor in the Brownwood Coliseum.  The HPU folks told the Abilene Reporter-News last spring that that was why they did not host the Sectional.

Expect some multi-thousand attendances for HPU when the students return in mid January.  (2006-07 stats)

The HPU fans are very hungry for a Championship.

[David Collinge]

HOW THEY FARED (two weeks of Dec. 17-30)   FINAL...at last!   

#   1   Mary Washington (8-1) def. Concordia (WI) 71-62 and lost to #5 Wisconsin-Whitewater 70-67, both at Huntington Beach, CA
#   2   Hope (10-0) def. St. Mary's (IN) 75-58 and def. Hanover 88-49
#   3   Howard Payne (9-0) won at LeTourneau 75-38 and def. UT-Permian Basin 89-50
#   4   NYU (8-0) def. Stevens 76-65
#   5   UW-Whitewater (12-0) def. Coe 88-61, def. Widener 73-42 and def. #1 Mary Washington 70-67, both at Huntington Beach, CA
#   6   DePauw (8-2) def. Wittenberg 92-69, def. King's 74-44 at Cancun, lost to #7 Messiah 61-47 at Cancun, and def. Ohio Northern 60-45
#   7   Messiah (11-1) def. Concordia-Austin 77-45 and def. #6 DePauw 61-47, both at Cancun, Mexico
#   8   McMurry (8-1) won at Louisiana College 41-38 and won at Mississippi College 70-67
#   9   Thomas More (9-0) won at Wittenberg 56-53
#   10   Simpson (10-1) def. Albright 70-61 and def. Oswego St. 82-56, both at Daytona Beach, FL
#   11   Illinois Wesleyan (9-1) won at Manchester 87-55, def. MSOE 114-40 at Cal Lutheran, and def. UC Santa Cruz 91-45 at Cal Lutheran
#   12   Kean (9-1) won at Scranton 82-65, and def. Alvernia 94-75 and def. Cabrini 81-55, both at St. Thomas, USVI
#   13   Southern Maine (8-1) is idle
#   14   Randolph-Macon (7-0) def. Marymount 54-49 and def. Villa Julie 60-40, both at Phoeniz, AZ
#   15   UW-Stevens Point (10-1) def. Point Loma Nazarene 56-51, def. Maryville (MO) 91-66, and def. Carroll 84-60, all games at Point Loma Nazarene
#   16   George Fox (7-1) lost to William Smith 61-58 and def. Cal St. East Bay 72-46, both at Cal Lutheran; won at Northwest (WA) 72-51, and def. Worcester St. 87-32
#   17   Oglethorpe (9-1) def. Roanoke 78-58 and lost to Wilmington 80-70
#   18   Cortland St. (6-0) is idle
#   19   Tufts (9-0) is idle
#   20   Medaille (7-1) is idle
#   21   Lake Forest (8-1) is idle (until Jan. 8 )
#   22   UW-Eau Claire (9-3) lost to Gustavus Adolphus 65-60, def. Ithaca 72-46, and lost to Pt. Loma Naz. 71-51, all games at Point Loma Nazarene
#   23   Rochester (6-1) is idle
#   24   Puget Sound (7-2) def. Nebraska Wesleyan 77-46 and def. Cal St. East Bay 86-52
#   25   Baldwin-Wallace (10-1) def. Hanover 73-56 and def. Calvin 65-60

[David Collinge]

HOW THEY FARED New Year's edition:

Games involving top 25 teams early this week:
#9 Thomas More won at Lakeland 70-42
#23 Rochester plays at Clarkson Wednesday 1/2
everyone else appears to be off until at least Thursday.

Happy New Year to one and all!

[NW Hope Fan]

As hopeful as a fan can be, I also hope that with 20 games till the final 4 our ladies have not been cursed by the confident text on the front page. I'm fairly certain Hope will make it to the post season, but considering what happened to Calvin last year, and never knowing how the brackets will come together it is not a foregone conclusion that the host college will be part of the final four as a participant.

Maybe "will" should be change to "may have a good shot".

Go Hope!

[Pat Coleman]

"is looking like" is already couching. I think it's a waste of words, generally, to double couch something.

[NW Hope Fan]

"couching" or not... it still is a bit optimistic for my taste. At least people will realize you said it, not them...

how about "will" to "could"

[Pat Coleman]

"couching" or not... it still is a bit optimistic for my taste. At least people will realize you said it, not them...

how about "will" to "could"

Anyone who is eligible for the tournament "could" play in the Final Four. That's a meaningless statement.

Really, in all honesty, it's not our job to satisfy fans' desire to knock on wood. This is a team that is looking right now like it will play in the final four. Whether it does or not is to be seen. And I don't know who could think from reading it that they said it.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I have no problem with the way it's worded on the front page.  With the team Hope has, barring any injuries, anything less than a trip to the final four would be falling short of the teams goals (my assumption, but pretty safe I'll bet).  Whether its said out loud or written on a website doesn't change that or make it harder to achieve.  I see them as the New England Patriots of Women's DIII basketball.  That may be tough to live with, but it's true.