WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[blazerguy]

Extremely disappointing as we expected. Unfortunately the NCAA gods don't have to answer to anyone or explain to anyone. You would think the NCAA committee would be looking for the top 64 teams but no, its unexplainable and they don't have to explain to anyone. They are the gods of the NCAA. We are powerless against the gods. 

[buf]

The final regional ranking:

West Region Record Overall Record
1. George Fox 19-1 25-2
2. Puget Sound 18-3 23-4
3. Redlands 21-4 22-5
4. Simpson 18-4 22-5
5. Gustavus Adolphus 20-5 20-6
6. St. Thomas (Minnesota) 21-7 21-7

[Pat Coleman]

I think I remember Pat Coleman saying that the committee doesn't take geography into account when selecting teams, only when making the brackets, but I can't help but think that if Chapman gets selected instead of UM-Morris that either GAC or St. Ben's gets in.

Not really. They had to fly Louisiana College wherever they were going to play. I had Chapman playing George Fox; they had Louisiana College. LC could have flown anywhere in the country.

[gacbacker]

Congrats to Bri Radtke for getting Player of the Year and to Durbin for getting Coach of the Year. Both well deserved!

[blazerguy]

This doesn't erase the disappointment of missing the NCAA's, but it helps!!

2009-10 MIAC Women's Basketball Awards

Player of the Year - Bri Radtke, Gustavus (Sr., Winsted, Minn./Lester Prairie)

Sixth Player of the Year - Tromesa May, Hamline (Fy., St. Louis Park, Minn.)

Coach of the Year - Mike Durbin (24th season)

All-Conference


Name Team Year Position Hometown/High School
Ann Baltzer Macalester Sr. Center Bismarck, N.D.
Maggie Bauernfeind Concordia Jr.  Guard  Rosemount, Minn.
Rachel Booth St. Thomas Jr. Center Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle
Molly Geske Gustavus So.  Guard Mendota Hts, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall
Heather Gillund Saint Benedict Jr.  Forward  Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine
Ali Johnson St. Thomas So. Forward  St. Louis Park, Minn.
Laura Kalbfell St. Catherine Jr. Forward Lakeville, Minn.
Molly Mathiowetz Gustavus Jr. Forward Sleepy Eye, Minn./St. Mary's
Jess Miller Saint Mary's Jr. Forward Carver, Minn./Chaska
Eric Nord Concordia Jr. Guard Wolverton, Minn./Barnesville
Trina PaStarr Macalester Sr. Forward Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest
Bri Radtke Gustavus Sr. Guard Winsted, Minn./Lester Prairie
Taylor Sheley Bethel So. Guard Backus, Minn./Pine River-Backus
Amy Stifter Saint Benedict Jr. Guard Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer
Ally Weaver Carleton Jr. Guard Iowa City, Iowa/West
Mary Wilkowski Hamline Jr. Forward Savannah, Ga./St. Andrews

All-Defensive Team
Name Team Year Position Hometown/High School
Eartha Bell Macalester Sr. Guard Minneapolis, Minn./Breck
Rachel Booth St. Thomas Jr.  Center Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle
Heather Gillund  Saint Benedict Jr. Forward Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine
Shana Grejtak Bethel Jr. Forward Franklin, Minn./Cedar Mt.-Comfrey
Molly Mathiowetz Gustavus Jr.  Forward Sleepy Eye, Minn./St. Mary's  
Eric Nord Concordia Jr. Guard Wolverton, Minn./Barnesville

All-First Year Team
Name Team Year Position Hometown/High School
Akemi Arzouman Carleton Fy. Guard  Irvine, Calif./University
Brittany Dyshaw Augsburg Fy. Forward Eagan, Minn.  
Katie Lauer St. Olaf Fy.  Forward  Mankato, Minn./West
Scotti Moats Bethel Fy. Center  Waconia, Minn.
Kara Poirier Hamline Fy. Guard Eau Claire, Wis./Regis
Abby Rothenbuehler Gustavus Fy. Forward North Mankato, Minn./West
Jess Thone Saint Mary's Fy. Guard Woodbury, Minn.

Honorable Mention All-Conference
Name Team Year Position Hometown/High School
Laura Canton Saint Benedict Jr.  Forward Pine Island, Minn.
Danielle Johnson Macalester Sr. Guard DeForest, Wis./Madison Edgewood
Jackie Kelly Hamline Jr. Guard  Blaine, Minn.  
Nikki Klink Hamline Jr. Guard  Hibbing, Minn.  
Molly Peterson St. Catherine Sr.  Forward  Valley City, N.D.
Shannon Renne Augsburg Jr. Guard Nicollet, Minn.
Lindsey Schultz Concordia Jr. Guard  Hitterdal, Minn./Ulen-Hitterdal  
Jordyn Sears St. Thomas So. Guard St. Cloud, Minn./Tech
Sara Sorbo Concordia Sr. Guard Adams, N.D./Adams-Edmore

2009-10 All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team
Augsburg - Tracee Schrank (Fy., Reedsburg, Wis.)
Bethel - Danielle Ruberg (Jr. Rushford, Minn./Rushford-Peterson)
Carleton - Megan Bakken (Fy., Waterville, Minn./Waterville-Elysian-Morristown)
Concordia - Anna Matetich (Sr., Hibbing, Minn.)
Gustavus - Julia Schultz (Sr., Marshall, Minn.)
Hamline - Rochelle Sather (Sr., Andover, Minn.)
Macalester - Eartha Bell (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Breck)
Saint Benedict - Mindy Schmidt (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park)
Saint Mary's - Sarah Adie (So., Chanhassen, Minn./Holy Family Catholic)
St. Olaf - Terin Euerle (Jr., St. Cloud, Minn./Tech)
St. Thomas - Andi Olson (Sr., Jordan, Minn.)

[AO]

OK, so EXACTLY how does this work anyway?  HOW DOES the NCAA Tournament Committee justify taking BOTH UM-Morris AND Northland over teams such as GAC, CSB, and Coe anyway?  I mean, if the need to select a team from the UMAC (or two for that matter) is so acute, why not take Northwestern??  THEY WON THE FREAKING UMAC TOURNAMENT!!!!  I mean, what?  That isn't enough anymore?  Geez.  I hope they AT LEAST got to go to the local DQ for ice cream sundaes afterward.  I think they deserve at least that.  Meanwhile, BOTH UM-M and Northland lost on their home floors by DOUBLE DIGITS in the UMAC tourney semifinals.  Okay, okay...To be fair here, both PROBABLY got their Dance tickets punched earlier in the year by beating perennial powererhouses Crown, North Central, and Trinity Bible College; names that, without a doubt, put the fear of God in the world of womens college basketball.  Good enough for me.  Put 'em in.

Honestly, this is the most (expletive deleted) up piece of (expletive deleted) I've ever encountered in sports; as a fan or participant.  

(Message edited by Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez)  

This has been mentioned earlier by Buf, but the UMAC doesn't get an AQ until next year.  This year they were in pool b, with 2 bids split among the 25 schools not yet in a conference with an AQ.  Northland and Morris won the bid over  a bunch of teams I've never heard of.  They did not beat out coe, gustavus or the bennies.

You don't have to feel too bad for the Northwestern women, they were swept by Morris and Northland in the regular season, and their season isn't over.  They play at Bethel (indiana) saturday night for the nccaa regional championship and a trip to nationals.

[buf]

Whitewater defeats St. Thomas, 91-73

[Willy Wonka]

Just confirmed yesterday that New Prague's Maggie Weiers is headed to UST. She was getting some decent D1 interest last year, but her play leveled off, some schools backed away and she wanted to stay close to home.

Still, hard to complain about a D3 program getting athletic 6-2 girl with a history of success. The Trojans will be back at state for those interested in getting a sneak peak.

[LA RAMS]

Just saw on the front page that Melissa Young-Kruse has resigned at Hamline.  Not sure what prompted this but comes as a complete shock and surprise to me.

[LA RAMS]

Looks like Carleton has named a new head coach to succeed TM-F; '03 grad Cassie (Glasrud) Kosiba.

[hoop_junkie]

I don't know if anyone else has noticed or not, but St. Thomas' recruiting class for next year might be one of the best ever in the history of D3. Weiers from New Prague, Taylor Young from Edina and I've heard some other names too of some really solid kids. There was one more kid who was of scholarship potential and her name escapes me but to get 3 kids whose upside may have been at the division 1 level is unheard of. I heard of some major d1's that were seriously looking at Weiers at one time, those are tremendous recruits for a d3 school, I'm definitely impressed. And they got 6'1 Courtney Falk from Wausau West (WI) whose team went to state and she's no slouch either.

[MIAC ball]

Any early guesses on pre-season rankings?

[gacbacker]

My Pre-Season Rankings:

1. St. Benedict
2. St. Thomas
3. Gustavus
4. Concordia
5. Hamline
6. Bethel
7. Macalester
8. St. Kate's
9. St. Mary's
10. Carleton
11. St. Olaf
12. Augsburg

[LA RAMS]

Well, at least I'm not the first one to dust off this board after a few months of slumber.  With that, here's my preseason picks as I gaze into my crystal ball:

Title Contenders:

UST & CSB

Seems like old times as these two teams will be by far and away the class of the conference this year.  I give an edge to UST here as they just have so much talent coming back; including Rachel Booth, Jordyn Sears, and Becky Theisen.  Obviously it will be interesting to see if UST can avoid the slow start that's plagued them the last two seasons.  CSB also has a bevy of talent returning as well with Heather Gillund, Devin Bowlin, Laura Canton, Amy Stifter, and Joelle Waytashek.  Expect this senior-laden squad to be around at the end.


Playoff Qualifiers:

Concordia, GAC, & Bethel

Concordia may be the toughest team to figure out here as I have no idea who they picked up on the recruiting trail during the off-season.  They lose Anna Matetich's senior leadership but they've got enough and always seem to be in the mix so you have to figure Jessica Rahman's squad will be there come playoff time.  One area that needs to be addressed is the post position as that was the downfall of this team last year.  GAC has a TON of talent but a lot of it is very young, very inexperienced, and very green around the gills.  Undoubtedly Molly Geske will be a candidate for MVP in her junior season but if the Gusties are EVER going to take the next step in this millenium they've GOT to find a way to win the Big One.  So far, they haven't been able to do so.    I have to include Bethel in this group as well with players like Shana Grejtak, Kelly Swenson, and Taylor Sheeley all back.


Teams

St. Kate's, Hamline, & Macalester

Someone in this group has to step up and steal that sixth spot this season, right?  The 'Cats have Laura Kalbfell, Sonja Ellingson, Megan Zillmer, and Quin Halverson back but not Cassie Hubler.  That, coupled with a bench that has question marks all over the place makes St. Kate's margin for error very small.  Hamline experienced an exodus of players after MY-K's sudden resignation.  They still have Nikki Klinck, Mary Wilkowski, and sharp-shooting Jackie Kelly but this could be a tough year for first-year coach Kerri Stockwell.  Mac lost the nucleus of players that helped earn the program's first-ever MIAC playoff appearance this last season; Baltzer, PaStarr, Johnson.  They still have the Reene sisters but beyond that this could be a rebuilding year for the Scots.


Bottom Feeders

St. Olaf, SMU, Augsburg, & Carleton

Of this group, I would have to give the nod to SMU as the team that has the best shot of getting out of the basement and into the playoff mix.  I like the two seniors they have coming back; Jess Miller and perhaps the MIAC's most underrated guard in Cherie Kulig.  The big question for the Cardinals is if they can find someone to make an impact at the post position.  They may finally have that in freshman Courtney Euerle.  St. Olaf has an impressive crop of newcomers coming in to the program but it'll likely take time for that talent to develop.  Augsburg has been able to take baby steps but not much more than that.  First-year coach Cassie Kosiba faces a huge rebuilding task of the once-proud Carleton program.               

[UWRF]

Anybody happen to catch the UST-River Falls scrimmage last night? I would have liked to go, but couldnt make it.