WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

gacbacker · February 03, 2009, 11:35:26 PM

Sounds like St. Ben's guard Mindy Schmidt is out for the season with a knee injury. Bad break for the Blazers, but as usual they are the one team deep enough to be able to survive through an injury of that magnitude.

PRF07 · February 05, 2009, 08:50:01 PM

What a tough break for the blazers to lose Schmidt. It will be really hard for them to replace that scoring. However, this will give some other guards time to get some experience for when they need to play larger roles next year.

Should be a good game in moorhead this weekend. Seems to always be a tough place to play, but after seeing concordia once this year I don't think they have the size/depth to play w/ the blazers.

The key for the blazers without schmidt for the rest of the year will be getting the ball inside to Tauer, Frank, Guilland, and even Canton. That should create some easy points and take the pressure off the guards.

LA RAMS · February 06, 2009, 08:09:31 AM

Actually, PRF, I think it'll be the other way around as Concordia is VERY physical and I suspect they'll put a big-time beatdown on the Blazers tomorrow up in Moorhead.

The homestretch is going to be very interesting to watch as teams like GAC, UST, Bethel and Hamline all scramble for playoff positioning. GAC has both UST and Bethel at home. And the big game next Wednesday night has Bethel hosting UST.

Macalester's season, once looking so promising only a month ago, has plunged into the depths of despair. The flotsam from this Titanic-esque shipwreck can probably be seen strewn all over Snelling Avenue.

gacbacker · February 06, 2009, 03:38:45 PM

I would be surprised if there is any kind of "beatdown" tomorrow in Moorhead. I expect a very close game, and even give a slight edge to the Blazers.

Gustavus vs. Hamline and St. Thomas vs. Carleton are also key games tomorrow. I expect GAC at home with what should be a decent crowd, to win by 10 or more after they laid an egg in St. Paul earlier in the year.

CobberFvr · February 07, 2009, 05:04:21 PM

Cobber Women up 56-49 with 15:00 to go in the 2nd half.

Freudenberg has 27 points for Concordia.

CobberFvr · February 07, 2009, 05:47:15 PM

Blazers have a good 2nd half and win 92-79 over the Cobbs.

PRF07 · February 07, 2009, 05:50:02 PM

Blazers pull away down the stretch and win easily. Cobbers kept it close for quite a bit longer than I thought they would. It was nice to see the blazers not panic when they were down 7 in the 2nd half.

There was no inside presence from the cobbers today.... Frank, Tauer, and Guilind went a combined 15 for 20 and scored about 40 combined points. The blazers will be tough to beat when they have that much of a presence inside.

Here's to these two teams staying healthy and seeing one more match up between them this year. St. Bens is definitely the better team, but it is really difficult to beat a good team 3 times in one year.

LA RAMS · February 07, 2009, 11:47:38 PM

Without question a HUGE win for CSB up in M-head over the Corn. Perhaps I had underestimated CSB a bit. Freudenberg must have had a career day pouring in 34 points in a losing effort. Apparently, Concordia simply had no answer down low for either Frank or Gillund. Even more striking, that vaunted Cobber "D" got torched for 92 points. OUCH.

Oh yeah, there was another noteworthy conference game today as the Gusties failed to hold serve at home and got slapped by slumping Hamline 68-62. I can't really offer too much on this from not having been there myself BUT I can tell you that shooting a blistering 2 for 24 from behind the arc USUALLY will not win you a lot of ball games. Just when you thought this team had FINALLY turned the corner and had things going in the right direction they go and lay an egg - in their own crib no less. What makes this loss even more devastating for GAC is that both UST and Bethel came up with huge road wins and GAC's remaining schedule is nothing short of brutal with UST, Bethel, AND CSB all to come a callin' in St. Peter in the stretch of two weeks. You would have thought that GAC would have been up to the task of protecting its home court and, on paper anyway, looked to have a favorable stretch in the hopes of hosting a conference playoff game. Now, an ominous cloud of uncertainty shrouds this team and you can't even count the remaining road game at St. Olaf next week Wednesday as a "sure thing".

Also, HUGE props to Macalester today for wearing pink unis as part of the WBCA "Pink Zone" they observed today. Very classy and sharp.

knightfan · February 09, 2009, 08:44:22 AM

I caught my Knights playing St Thomas on Saturday, and it's almost embarrassing to watch. I don't quite understand how a team can go from winning the MIAC tournament to not even making it in the pool of six - and with four seniors!

This team seems to be disjointed and careless. For a team that used to be known for execution on both sides of the court, this team seems no where near that. I don't know how many times I saw them get caught defensively on the weak side giving up little bunnies to the Tommies or just totally messing up on the offensive side. It's bad basketball.

It will be interesting to see how the 4, 5, and 6 spots play out. Any chance the MIAC gets more than one team in the dance this year?

PRF07 · February 09, 2009, 08:58:20 AM

The only way Miac gets two in is if St. Ben's wins out the rest of the season and then someone else beats them in the miac tourney. Other than that scenario I would say the chances are slim.

I also have a hard time understanding what is going on with Carleton. Watching them last year I always thought they played the game the right way and always made good decisions which was something that other teams in the miac wouldn't do as consistently. The only thing I have seen is that their problems are with Isler.

knightfan · February 09, 2009, 01:11:10 PM

I was all about getting on the Isler-is-the-problem band wagon, but I think with the problems they've had, it's got to go much deeper. The talent in Lincoln and Oken-Berg, in my opinion, should have been able to overcome any problems with Isler. Lincoln and Oken-Berg seem disinterested at best with no fire or desire, and worse, they seem to be pretty lazy at times. They seem to play when they want and then complain the rest of the time. Not exactly the senior leadership you're looking for.

Maybe harsh words, but it's pretty unbelievable to have that much talent and go absolutely no where. They actually may have set the program back for a couple of years.

LA RAMS · February 09, 2009, 01:45:33 PM

Quote from: knightfan on February 09, 2009, 01:11:10 PM
I was all about getting on the Isler-is-the-problem band wagon, but I think with the problems they've had, it's got to go much deeper. The talent in Lincoln and Oken-Berg, in my opinion, should have been able to overcome any problems with Isler. Lincoln and Oken-Berg seem disinterested at best with no fire or desire, and worse, they seem to be pretty lazy at times. They seem to play when they want and then complain the rest of the time. Not exactly the senior leadership you're looking for.

Maybe harsh words, but it's pretty unbelievable to have that much talent and go absolutely no where. They actually may have set the program back for a couple of years.

I have only seen Carleton once this year and you guys are right; this team - this program - is a shell of its former self. Just from what I have gathered it's almost like the seniors on that team made a pact to not care or just go through the motions and that's it. I do know of a former Carleton standout who was watching one of the games on the internet this season and had to turn it off about 1/3 of the way into the game as she was disgusted and disheartened by what she was seeing. It's almost surreal when you look at what's going on and especially when you think of the great teams they had earlier in the decade with Vig, Colbenson, Engel, Grabowski, Kramer, the twins, et al. That team had GREAT chemistry and they ALWAYS got after it. They would be aghast if they saw what was going on now.

CobberFvr · February 10, 2009, 01:59:35 AM

Quote from: PRF07 on February 09, 2009, 08:58:20 AM
The only way Miac gets two in is if St. Ben's wins out the rest of the season and then someone else beats them in the miac tourney.

I wouldn't put it past the Cobber Women. I think they will come back and beat them in the conference tourney title.

PRF07 · February 11, 2009, 07:06:52 PM

#2 St bens
#3 Concordia

today's regional rankings. Good for the miac as far as chances to get at least 2 teams into the tourney. One thing is for sure the miac should be glad that it is not in the central region. They would be ranked closer to #6 or not ranked at all.

One observation from these rankings is the odd criteria that determines a regional game. Per the guidelines the two games st. bens played against texas teams earlier this year count as regional games.

gacbacker · February 19, 2009, 05:48:41 PM

Real quiet in here...

Some thoughts heading into the final weekend of the regular season....

Plenty to be decided still as far as the playoff pairings go as St. Ben's plays at Gustavus and St. Thomas and Hamline lock horns on Saturday. I'm pretty sure the Gusties would much rather host Bethel in the first round compared to Hamline. 2-0 vs. Bethel and they haven't lost to them since 2000. 0-2 vs. Hamline this year....doesn't take a genious to figure that out.

Weird year for figuring out MVP. In past years there has been 3-4 girls who are worthy...not really the case this year. The top two scorers, Kalbfell and Erickson, are on teams that won't make the playoffs, so I would think they are out of consideration. I think its a two horse race between Katch and Freudenberg with a slight edge to Freudenberg in my opinion. Katch's numbers have slid from last year and I think she has more talent around her than does Freudenberg. Freudenberg has also had a few monster games.