WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[gacbacker]

Macalester 75 Concordia 57 in Moorhead nonetheless!

Looks like the Scots are for real and that makes the loss the Gusties took the other day look not quite as bad.

[gacbacker]

Strib story on Ellen Thompson and MAC basketball:

http://bit.ly/4ZzAu4

Never thought I would see St. Ben's , Gustavus and Macalester tied atop the conference this late into the season.

Big game Wednesdsay for the Gusties at St. Thomas. If the Gusties can pull out the win they would all but eliminate the Tommies from the conference title chase.

[blazerguy]

Strib story on Ellen Thompson and MAC basketball:

http://bit.ly/4ZzAu4

Never thought I would see St. Ben's , Gustavus and Macalester tied atop the conference this late into the season.

Big game Wednesdsay for the Gusties at St. Thomas. If the Gusties can pull out the win they would all but eliminate the Tommies from the conference title chase.

Good luck on beating UST. Maybe coach Sinn will realize winning isn't everything, if she loses with a tainted squad.

[LA RAMS]

Thought I would try a little something different for a change.  Since the conference race, for the moment anyway, has turned into a 3-horse race I thought I would try something that I've seen used in my favorite sports blog (Bruins Nation) during the college football season.  It's the Pac 10 Conference Power Poll and I thought I could use the idea for the MIAC as well.  So, with that in mind, let me take a stab at it:

1.  GAC
2.  (tie) CSB & Macalester
3.  Concordia
4.  UST
5.  St. Kate's
6.  Hamline
7.  Carleton
8.  Bethel
9.  SMU
10. (tie) Augsburg & St. Olaf

I give GAC the edge here over conference co-leaders CSB and Mac although Mac has been on an incredibly hot streak lately.  They've probably played as well as anybody over the last week and a half.  I think what makes them a better team than last year is that their bench has an added year of experience under their belt.  Question is, can they keep this up?  

UST made a step in the right direction by convincingly knocking off both Bethel and Carleton on the road in their last two games but they're a team that I think is still trying to carve an identity for itself and they go right back under the gun again when they host GAC on Wednesday night.  Hamline, however, is suddenly in a free-fall that not only saw them lose their last three games but also saw Rochelle Sather go down with that freak injury against SMU on Wednesday night and it's difficult seeing them recover from this.  The way things are looming at the moment I would have to give the edge to St. Kate's at nailing down that 6th spot if they can win the games they're supposed to.    

[blazerguy]

Just got done watching maybe the worse officiating job in the history of basketball. Let make say, UST played a very good game and the game could have gone either way at the end. However an offical decided to make a crucial call with 5 seconds left in the game. UST had the ball, down by one. They were trying to get the ball into Booth with Guilland defending. It was obvious the officials decided with about 2 minutes left to no longer call any fouls. Guilland had just got totally hammered at the other end with an attempt under the basket which would have put CSB up by 3. Not only was she obviously hit but she was pushed to the floor and no call. OK. With 5 seconds left in game, Booth and Guilland were jostling for position and the whistle comes out and calls a defensive push. It was one of those could have been defensive, could have been offensive. So why did he decide to call a foul to decide the game? I have my opinion but its only an opinion. What was truely amazing is Booth was playing an extremely physical game throughout. I think she had 2 or 3 fouls. 1 in the 1st and 1 or 2 in the 2nd. Done venting. As Bud Grant used to say, "If you're within one bad call from losing the game, maybe you didn't deserve to win."

[LA RAMS]

Wow.  Another wild day in conference play with a couple of upsets and a couple of the top teams pulling escape jobs; one at home and the other one on the road.  That said, here's my latest MIAC power poll:

1.  GAC
2.  Concordia
3.  Macalester
4.  CSB
5.  UST
6.  St. Kate's
7.  (tie) Hamline & Bethel
8.  SMU
9.  Carleton
10.  Augsburg
11. St. Olaf

As happy as I am to see GAC all alone in first place I have to be careful with my enthusiasm and not let myself get carried away.  Memo to GAC:  While it is great you guys finally clawed your way to the top spot (for now) this does not - I repeat, DOES NOT - give you a green light to simply think you can just show up against lesser opponents and put it in cruise control (see home game vs. Macalester and today vs. Bethel).  Gusties had control early on against Bethel this afternoon and then inexplicably not only let the Royals back in the game but saw themselves down by 4 points on a couple of occasions.  While GAC did manage to push the right buttons at the right time coming down the stretch they cannot afford to look past anybody at this point.  And the Gusties have a TOUGH, tough week ahead of them.  The big home clash vs. against suddenly vulnerable CSB on Monday night and the big road trip up to M-head next week Saturday against Concordia which sandwiches another roadie to Northfield to take on always-dangerous Carleton had better have the Gusties in prime form, both physically and mentally.

Am still somewhat shocked at Concordia having to hang on for dear life at home no less against SMU.  They have already shown some kinks in the armour but I still think they're solid enough to be considered the second-best team in the conference and still an outside shot at winning the conference.  The Cobbers are still very, very green at the post position and I also think Anna Matetich has yet to assert herself on offense.

I have to put Macalester on the third rung for now as they righted the ship today with a big home win over lowly St. Olaf.  Wednesday night's shocking home loss to Carleton which snapped their hot streak probably had to have the die-hards thinking in unison, "UH OH!!".  But I think this team is experienced enough now to hold the course and make that drive in the second half of the conference season to get a good spot in their first-ever MIAC playoff.

CSB, meanwhile, all of a sudden has a lot of question marks surrounding it.  The loss at home today vs. reeling UST was costly to say the least.  I think Blazerguy made a good point when he quoted Bud Grant.  The Blazers may very well have been caught looking ahead to Monday night's long roadie down to St. Peter to take on league-leading GAC.  CSB may also very well now have to come out with the mentality of a wounded animal if they still want to entertain thoughts of winning yet another MIAC title.  UST, on the other hand, likely saved their season from completely going down the toilet with the win at CSB.  Whether the Tommies can pull a repeat performance is difficult to say but I think they've got to get more production from Sears, Dienhart, Theisen, and Townsend to take some of the load off of Rachel Booth.

Which brings us to that coveted sixth spot.  I THOUGHT St. Kate's had the inside track on this with the week they had but today's blowout loss at Hamline has changed that school of thought.  When the Wildcats are hot and on top of their game they can be very, very good.  But when they're off, holy maloney, they're frighteningly bad enough to send Satan himself scurrying for the hills.  Such was the case with St. Kate's today as they could seemingly do little right.  Turnovers galore and a porous defense is a toxic, toxic recipe.  As for Hamline, I'm not yet convinced that they can fully recover from losing Rochelle Sather although Mary Wilkowski has played well for the most part and sharp-shooting Jackie Kelly had a big game today vs. the 'Cats.  The other team to keep your eye on is Bethel.  While they had a disastrous start to the season they've been slowly improving with each game and today's effort vs. GAC showed that. 

[gacbacker]

The Gustie/Bethel game certainly was a frustrating one to watch for Gustie fans expecting a comfortable victory, but consider this L.A.: Radtke had her worst game of the season as she was a virtual non-factor. If she plays like she normally does, that eight point victory suddenly turns into a 15 point margin.

Luckily Mathiowetz played well throughout and Geske made enough plays down the stretch to make the difference.

The Gusties have a golden opportunity to put some distance between themselves and St. Ben's on Monday. Being at home I'd like to think they have a better than 50-50 shot at winning that game.

[buf]

GAC wins over St. Bens, 66-63.

GAC led by 18 at the half and withstood a furious comeback by the Blazers.

[gacbacker]

Thoughts on the Gustavus/St. Ben's game last night:

Molly Geske was the best player on the floor in the first half and it wasn't close. Bri Radtke was the best player on the floor in the second half and it wasn't close.

I was underwhelmed a little bit by Stifter. After seeing the box scores all season long I expected more out of her. She finished with 15 points, but almost all of her points were open looks set up by one of her teammates. She did very little in the category of creating her own shots.

It's going to be an interesting race during the second half of the season for MVP. I think Geske, Radtke, Stifter and Baltzer have to be considered the leading candidates right now in no particular order.

Gusties got a little tight in the second half and seemed to be standing around alot and waiting for Radtke to create something with the shot clock winding down on quite a few possessions. In the second half the Blazers looked like they had just been given the "We've got nothing to lose here in the second half" speech by Durbin and it worked. They played loose in the second half and they almost completed the comeback.

After Wednesday's game at Carleton, the Gusties face the daunted road trip to Moorhead for a very important game. The Cobbers have dominated the Gusties at home over the last 8 years so hopefully the Gusties can turn things around this time.

[LA RAMS]

Was able to catch UST's dismantling of an injury-depleted Hamline squad.  Not sure how much the Pipers have left in the tank after not only losing Sather a couple of weeks ago but now find themselves without Sczublewski and Jorgenson as well.  Probably not a good idea for Hamline to be booking any trips on the Titanic anytime soon.

Also witnessed Macalester's takedown of St. Kate's as well.  The turnaround of the Macalester program under Ellen Thompson is nothing short of amazing.  A lot of things would have to go right for the Scots to claim the MIAC title but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.  Was particularly impressed with Jessica Rene as she single-handedly killed the 'Cats with her 4-6 shooting from behind the arc. 

Glad to see the Gusties were able to get a bit of a cushion between themselves and the rest of the pack but still have concerns as they had to hold off a furious CSB rally in the second half.  As I mentioned in my Saturday post, they'd better not be looking ahead when they make the trip over to Northfield tomorrow night to take on Carleton.

My early nominees for MVP:  Ann Baltzer and Trina PaStarr of Mac, Bri Radtke of GAC, and Anna Matetich of Concordia.

As for COY a no-brainer here:  Ellen Thompson of Mac. 

[LA RAMS]

Wow, here we are in the middle of the season and I'm the one who has to dust off the cobwebs on this board after another interesting Saturday of action.  Oh well, guess I'll have to offer up my latest MIAC power poll:

1.  Macalester
2.  Concordia
3.  GAC
4.  CSB
5.  UST
6.  (tie) St. Kates & Bethel
7.  Hamline
8.  Augsburg
9.  St. Olaf
10.  (tie) Carleton & SMU

Wow.  Who'd have thunk it?  Just a mere five years ago the Mac program had gone from struggling to moribund when they were forced to cancel the season just a few games into the slate.  And now five years later they find themselves not only in a three-way tie for first place again but at the top of the heap in my power rankings.  I just think I have to give my first place vote to the Scots for not only winning 8 out of 9 since the first of the year but for the way they've played as well.  They've literally pounded their opponents into submission (including co-leaders Concordia and GAC on the road) and have been beating them by double-digits.  They not only have a great 1-2 punch down low with Trina PaStarr and Ann Baltzer but they've probably got one of the best kept secrets in the MIAC in the Rene Sisters who can simply light it up from the perimeter.  Two of their conference losses so far have come at home to teams they should have beaten (CSB and GAC) and they'll get another shot at both next month on the road not to mention home dates with co-leaders Concordia and GAC.

Concordia, despite the fact they got dough-popped by Macalester at home a couple of weeks ago has been playing very well as of late and today's win at home against (now) co-leader GAC underscores what they have been able to do lately.  The schedule is very favorable for the Corn over the next few games until February 6 when they travel to St. Joe for a rematch with CSB.

I hate having to drop GAC into the #3 slot in my power rankings but I feel that I have to when I see what the two other conference co-leaders have done over the last couple of weeks.  GAC is still very solid and still has a great shot at winning this thing.  But they still have big roadies coming up next month at both Macalester and the regular season ender at CSB.

Meanwhile, both CSB and UST appear to be locking in to the 4th and 5th seeds, respectively.  They're both beating the bottom-feeders like they should be doing.  The question for both is can either one make inroads on the current leaders to possibly improve their playoff positioning?  Just looking at the schedule I would have to give a slight edge to CSB here as they have both Macalester and GAC at home yet.

That 6th spot is still very much up for grabs yet and after today's action it LOOKS as if it's going to come down between St. Kate's and Bethel.  In St. Kate's home demolition of Augsburg today they featured a much more up-tempo offense that plays to their strengths much better.  The big question for the 'Cats is can they find ANY consistency?  Until today's win they had lost four in a row which includes last Saturday's blowout loss at Hamline and the inexplicable loss on the road to St. Olaf on Wednesday.  But typically the 'Cats get hot going into the home stretch and they'll probably have to be in that same mode again this time around if they want to nail down that sixth spot.  I cannot discount Bethel's chances for stealing the sixth spot either.  They have been coming around lately and have played much better since the first of the year.  They've got a lot of young talent in the likes of Taylor Sheley, Shana Grejtak, and Kelly Swenson.  But their chances will likely hinge on whether their two seniors, Kristen Wolters and Jess Gilpin, can lead the way for the young ones.   

[gacbacker]

The Scots have an absolutely brutal stretch coming up starting Jan. 30. They go to St. Thomas, to St. Ben's and then host Gustavus...after getting a one-game breather with Augsburg they then host Concordia. They could easily go 2-3 or even 1-4 during that stretch and fall down the standings signficantly.

I think the conference champion is going to be 19-3 so which ever one of the top three teams right now can go 8-1 the next nine games is going to win it, assuming St. Ben's loses at least one more game.

Personally I like the Gusties schedule...they have three very winnable games in front of them before travelling to St. Paul to face Macalester...after another stretch of very winnable games then they play St. Thomas at home before traveling to St. Ben's for the final regular season game.


By the way L.A. Rams, St. Olaf is the worst team in the conference and it isn't even close. Have you seen them play? They are brutal.

[LA RAMS]

I've only see them play once so far this year.  They may not be as bad as the '08 Detroit Lions but yeah, they're uh, brutal all right.  I just go on what the teams have done over the last week and I had to move the Oles up a notch as they recorded that upset win over St. Kate's at home last week while both Carleton and SMU went winless.

[blueangel]

Mac has sure put together a great system for teamwork and ability to be flexible on the court.  They seem to play together well, know what to do on the court, etc.  They are certainly a valid threat to keep on winning!

[blueangel]

what a quiet board!  Saw Bethel and Mac tonight.  Good game; Bethel will be challenging everone.  Looks like St. Bens almost threw it away.