WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[LA RAMS]

Wish I could make it to a game tonight but decided to stay in the house to watch that "other" school in L.A. take on Texas in the Rose Bowl.  Hope the 'Horns hook the Evil Empire......

Did get to watch most of the CSB - CSC game the other night.  Clearly the Blazers are the best in MIAC right now with not only AH and a talented young freshman in Ariel Tauer but they're awfully deep as well.  Still, I was impressed with the strides the St. Kate's program has made this year as they kept it close with the Blazers.  With Jenna Martin back for them, they definitely have a shot at that coveted MIAC playoff spot.

I, too, was puzzled with Hamline getting bounced at home by Olaf.  Considering the talent they have it seems hard to believe that they still have not been able to put it together.

Nice little piece in Patrick Reusse's column in today's Strib about Hannah Oken-Berg and how she chose Carleton.  Hope she and the rest of the crew can turn around a so far dismal 5-5 season. 

[Willy Wonka]

Gusties win 70-58 in Winona. 29 turnovers for St. Mary's tonight, compared to just 10 for GAC. Vadnais dropped 23 and Monahan chipped in 16 and 6 in just 21 minutes. Her being on constant foul trouble could be a killer down the stretch, but a 17-0 run to start the second half made it easy tonight.

[Naf layor]

Anyone who doesn't think Jen Ahlberg deserves recognition as a an MVP candidate should have seen the Bethel vs. St. Olaf game tonight.  She put the team on her back and carried them to victory, mostly by hitting the "prayers" as CM puts it.  St. Olaf is a much better team then I was lead to believe by previous postings, they hustle more then any team I've seen and there defense against Bethel's bigger posts was outstanding.  In my opinion the MIAC is totally up for grabs.

[gacbacker]

Good to see that the Gusties cruised in the second half tonight...I took in the "game" in Arden Hills between Bethel and St. Olaf which was pretty ugly...take Ahlberg out of the equation and it would have been unwatchable.

Bethel isn't playing their best ball right now and St. Olaf couldn't hit the ocean in the second half. They started the second half 3-28 from the field...they got up to 23% in the second half by finishing 6-10.

St. Ben's wins by 20 and I'm assuming that Gotchnik was injured during the game as she played only 9 minutes and had no foul trouble.

By the way, thumbs down to the St. Ben's website which is perhaps the worst in the conference as far as getting box scores up quickly after games. They have no box score up right now for the Blazers three most recent games. Hire a full-time SID and let the coach coach.

[peachbasket]

Loving life here in SD as I read about my Cobbers keeping the ball rolling! While Mel seemed to have struggled from the field, Annie has found her touch, and another bench player steps up to knock down 4 - 3's!  I know Carleton is a bit down, but it's another road win at a tough place to play.  Let's keep it up as we find ourselves on the road yet again this weekend...
1/7/06
Concordia @ St. Catherine - Cobbers by 4 in another tough environment, and perhaps a little road weary.
St. Thomas @ St. Olaf - can Opdahl continue to carry this team?  The up and down Oles are a team that could beat you by 20 and lose to you by 20...the Oles by 7.
Bethel @ Gustavus - the prodigal son goes home and finally beats his alma mater, Bethel by 11.
Saint Benedict @ Saint Mary's - a little let down after trouncing their rivals, the Bennies beat SMU by 11 in a game they should win by 31!
Hamline @ Augsburg - the Pipers have had time to pull it together, but can they?  The Auggies lose a tough one in OT last night, this one is a tough call, but I will continue with trying to get these ugs a win and picking the home team by 6.
Macalester @ Claremont-Mudd-Scripps - CMS by 2.5 million

[jamie_bench]

At the Carleton game last night - Yes, Annie is a real deal!  And so are the Cobbers.  Perhaps this board looks for the spectaclar as the only thing that draws attention.   Going on the road to anyone's home, is usually a challenge.  The CC women played great defense, had a great first half with 3's although were down 12 - 3 at the onset, kept their pose and played within themselves.

Not sure why CC should not get more credit for being a solid team.  It seems that as they get together and recognize the strength of each other, they compliment one another and work as a "true team"  I think that is basketball.  Loved the game. 

There may be more parity in the league than in other years, who knows.  We have quite a bit of the season remaining, so keep the faith Cobber fans.

[onearmedscot]

MACALESTER BY 23!!!

Macalester 54 Cal Tech 31

oAs

[Collegeville Magic]

The Blazers, other than a 5 minute spell in the first half and another 5-6 minute slump in the second, completely dominated the Tommies last night.  

Congrats to Erica Opdahl on scoring her 1000th point!  She dropped in something like 24 or 25 points, but they were the quiestest point total like that I've seen in a while.

The key for St. Ben's last night was great scoring balance.  Five players in double figures adds up nicely, and scoring runs like the 26-7 one they dropped on UST at the end of the 1st half really made the difference.

Sad news for UST's season.  Gotchnik went down with what appears to be a torn ACL or MCL.  She's a really scrappy defender and a great "energy" type of player.  Losing her late in the first half really slowed down the Tommies.

Anybody who saw the first CSB-CCM game this season is shocked   to see that the Cobbers only have that one conference loss.  Apparently the 1 1/2 monkeystomp (to use a D3 football board phrase) that CSB put on the Cobs must have fired that team up.  

[she_scores51]

Figured I'd post so I don't become that fan who doesn't post after their team loses. The SMU/GAC game was a tough one to watch...there was hope for SMU as the teams headed to the lockerrooms at halftime, with SMU only trailing by 3. A 17-0 run to open the second half blew the game open for the Gusties, as they went up by 20.

I have to give the Cardinals credit though, they didn't just roll over and quit. While they trailed by double digits for pretty much the rest of the game, they did pull to within 9 on back-to-back-to-back scores by Ashley Luehmann and 3 free throws by Kelly Tanke. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Gusties responded and closed the game out, winning by 12.

It was interesting for me to sit and watch the game amongst mostly GAC parents (in what I initially thought was a pretty neutral place to view the game--oops). WOW - they would find something to complain about even if their team was up by 50...

Anyways, I still have faith in my Cardinals to grab that 6th playoff spot. Go SMU!

[jamie_bench]

Thanks "Magic"  for your clever comments.  And if your 1 1/2 monkey stomp kicked the Cobbers in "the but"  we are eternally grateful!!!   

Mush

[Collegeville Magic]

I forgot to add my Congrats to the Pipers!

Macalester @ Pomona-Pitzer - two bad teams, Mac by 2
St. Thomas @ St. Olaf - Olaf rises up and pulls the upset by 3
Bethel @ Gustavus - Bethel by 4
Saint Benedict @ Saint Mary's - Blazers by 17
Hamline @ Augsburg - Hamline by 1, OT
Concordia @ St. Catherine - Katies by 2 in a last-second upset
Macalester @ Claremont-Mudd-Scripps - CMS by 45

[onearmedscot]

Magic--

I can't even get a congrats on my squads victory, after you predicted their opponent to win by 75.

Hold your snickering but I do expect Thompson to do some good stuff in the next three years.  Remember she is "making do" with a handful of players the former coach recruited for her.  I think when she is able to bring in her own style of player, MAC will not only return to a full MIAC schedule but also start climbing up to the middle of the MIAC pack.   Looking forward to her beating UST at UST one of these years.

oAs

[scorekeeper]

CSB 75
UST 55

What appeared to be a game that would be neck and neck the whole way turned into a blow out because of one reason...Melissa Gotcnik got injured.  I came into the game thinking that Opdahl was the key to the Tommies success.  Well, little did I realize how improved Gotchnik is from last year and losing her to injury early in the game was as big of a blow to a team as I have seen in recent years.  Opdahl still scored 24 and grabbed 17 rebounds in an MVP like performance, but without Gotchnik as her sidekick, it was very difficult for the Tommies to have other options. 

I was also very impressed with the first year Jessica Katch.  Does she have a sister playing at Simpson?  Katch really picked up her play when Gotchnik went out, especially in the second half when UST cut a 20 point Blazer lead down to 9.  Of course, she also picked up a lot of fouls, as did her first-year teammate Wirtz.  UST has a very strong starting 5, but aside from Anna Swanson off the bench, they really don't have any depth.  If Gotcnik is done for the year, it will be a bigger loss than I would have realized before last night's game and quite a shame for someone who must have worked her tail off over the summer. 

As for the Blazers, Heikenen was held in check (she scored 15 points) as UST played some good post defense on her.  Of course, that was at the expense of leaving the guards open to hit jumpers from the outside and CSB was able to convert.  Jen Dalhed got the best of her former h.s. coach Ruth Sinn by nailing 4 baskets from behind the arc and Judy Falvey had a nice game scoring 9 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. 

I worry about the road trip to St. Mary's on Saturday as that has been a tough place for my Blazers to win in recent years.  If they can get by that game, it will be an enjoyable week off before coming back home to face Hamline. 

[LA RAMS]

An interesting slate of games last night.  Had to watch the 'Horns put a dagger into the heart of the Evil Empire - what a game!  No tears on this end shed for crosstown rival USC although I did feel badly for Matt Leinart; I have a ton of respect for that guy....

If anyone heard that familiary whoosing sound going through the air last night, don't panic.  It was just the sound of Carleton's season officially going down the proverbial drain.  I just don't see how the Knights can turn this thing around now, even if the young ones finally do get it going.  Vig can't do it by herself and just from looking at the boxscore, she apparently didn't get much help from either Christianson or Korb either.  I am impressed with Oken-Berg but there's obviously a lot of growing pains for my Knights.

On a brighter note, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Gusties roll it up on SMU down the River last night in W-town (apologies to SS51  .  Looks like both Vadnais and Monahan had it going.  Who knows?  I might just have to break out that 20 guage and go out to some local's farm and shoot me down a crow after all. 

[onearmedscot]

Leinart after the game!  Girl on the left is a Tommie, the right one's a Bennie! 

oAs