WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[gacunk]

Buf: The tournament bracket shows the winner of the losers bracket gets #4, which has just turned out to be Point Lomas. If Gusties win they get 3rd and if they lose they get 5th.
Go Gusties!!!

[buf]

Buf: The tournament bracket shows the winner of the losers bracket gets #4, which has just turned out to be Point Lomas. If Gusties win they get 3rd and if they lose they get 5th.
Go Gusties!!!

Thats a bit of a weird setup.  They must go by record also.  Usually in an 8-team field, the losers of the 1st day can only finish at best 5th.

Just as I am typing this, I believe that GAC and Maryville just went to OT

[buf]

GAC loses to Maryville in OT, 68-64.  GAC had an 8 point lead with less than 6min to go in regulation.

[gacunk]

All in all, the young Gusties team had a good trip. Beating UW-Eau-Claire (24), losing by 1 point to Carroll (23) and then losing to another winning bracket team, Maryville in overtime shows they are developing more as a cohesive team with every game. They should be a strong contender in the MIAC race!

I can't imagine what the third game looked like. The stats look like the game was won at the foul line and not by shooting percentage but number of opportunities. In addition, 48 game turnovers - what's this?

The Stats

                               GAC                             Maryville
Field Goals        25-56  44.6%              21-61  34.4%
3-point FGs         6-20  30.0%                5-17  29.4%
Free Throws        8-11  72.7%              21-32  65.6%
Reb ()-D)           37 (5-32)                     41 (15-26)
Turnovers               26                                 22

Guess I'll have to wait 'til I see someone who saw the game to put this into perspective. 

[gacunk]

 ???The board certainly is quite today! It looks like it's anyones ballgame in the MIAC this year and it appears almost certain that there will be only one team going beyond the playoff tournament this year. Any comments out there, or is everyone in shock?

[Nites]

???The board certainly is quite today! It looks like it's anyones ballgame in the MIAC this year and it appears almost certain that there will be only one team going beyond the playoff tournament this year. Any comments out there, or is everyone in shock?

This may be the most wide open competition in years.  It appears that the usual favorites are all beatable this year.

[Willy Wonka]

Wow. Some surprising results on Saturday. What happened to Vadnais and the Gusties? 1-12 on the heels of a 3-14 performance? Ish!

I'll do my best to stir this up with some random tidbits of info...

Didn't figure I'd take in the best game of the day...but the SMU/STO game was surprisingly fun when compared to the others. The Oles have a freshman PG, Jamie Erdahl, who looked like a stud; she won't blow anyone away with her average athletic ability, but is a heady player who knows how to play the game. She hit five bombs, including a couple in the final five minutes to bring the Oles out of a big hole.

STO junior Elyse Erickson also had a huge game against an undersized SMU squad, pouring in 31 through a variety of impressive post moves. Haven't heard the name before? That's because this is the first year she's gone out after not seeing eye-to-eye with the old regime, apparently.

The Oles have some nice pieces, but their passing is atrocious. They should continue to struggle, but have the potential to surprise people, unlike recent years.

As for the new Olaf coach, Dave Stromme...he got run out of town as Duluth as the interim head coach prior to getting this gig. His *sister* is the Athletic Director up there and he still got passed over for the full-time position. I'm not going to draw any sort of conclusions based on one game/season with another coach's players, but that's a heck of a track record to be looking at. And must have made for an interesting holiday season during the Oles' 10-day break from practice.

As for SMU...the return of Alyse Coates was *huge* in its second-straight win. For awhile, she did all the team's scoring. Then she puked in the garbage can during a timeout. Apparently she was pretty fired up to get back on the court after a year of ineligibility and played her guts out

Weisbrod is tough, but she needs some help in the paint and a shooter or three on the perimeter. Miller will be fun to watch for the next four years.

And now for the juicy info...

This is the lead to a story printed in the Fargo Forum in late December.

"MOORHEAD -- A Concordia College janitor fired from his job today has been arrested by Moorhead police after female basketball players reported a camcorder set up in a locker room. Steven James Sopko, 31, 306 1st Ave. SW., Dilworth, Minn., was taken into custody late this afternoon."

A search of the house found roughly 100 tapes and 7 camcorders. And the dude is currently free on bail. Hide the women and children next time you head up that way.

[LA RAMS]

After the way this first weekend with the Gusties losing to St. Kate's and Carleton getting hammered at UST (so much for Carleton invincibility) all I can say is this thing is kind of wide open at the moment.

Another round of interesting games tonight.  Looks like I should be able to catch both the Concordia-Hamline and UST-Bethel tilts.  Needless to say, GAC NEEDS to get its act together - NOW.

[Maroon&Gold]

LA:

What did you think of the Cobber - Piper tilt last night.

I would be especially interested in what you thought of the Cobber freshmen, they have been playing more and more lately, and playing well in my opinion.

By reading the game recap it sounded like the Cobbs were able to play a strong second half after an even first half

[LA RAMS]

Have to admit that was a big road win for the Corn last night over at Hamline.  Yeah, I thought some of the new faces for Concordia looked pretty good and should go a long way in keeping the Cobbers in the mix for the forseeable future.

Was also able to catch the UST - Bethel matchup where the Tommies also came away with a big road win.  Maybe this group is better than I originally thought.

I see the Gusties escaped with a road win down the River last night.  Not sure how the game went but they'll have to be clicking on all cylinders to steal a win in Moorhead tomorrow night. 

[gottaluvhoops]

Looks like Simpson is more talented than any other MIAC team this year.

[gacbacker]

Gusties lose another close one in Moorhead which seems to happen everytime the two teams play up there. The Gusties continue to give up three pointers like its going out of style -- 8-17 tonight for the Cobbers. Also it might be time to think about putting the freshman Mathiowitz in the starting line-up. Vadnais needs some help on the offensive end, and Mathiowitz appears to be the only one that might be able to do it consistently.

[Willy Wonka]

gacbacker - Vadnais may need help, but she doesn't appear to be doing herself any favors, either. She's 13-for-56 over her last four games for an ugly 23%.

I haven't seen any games yet this year, but what are the chances she's better off looking to drive and dish on occasion rather than throwing up the off-balance floaters as she tries to draw contact that have become her forte? It's clearly not worked the last few times out -- unless she's simply misfiring on open looks, which doesn't seem likely.

I understand she's a talented bulk shooter/scorer in the same mold/mentality as Ally I, but it might be time to pull in the reins a little bit, eh?

[Da-dented1]

It is good to see some acvtivity on the board again.  Game at cobber country was fun to watch:  2 teams playing great defense!  Yes, the freshmen group are fitting in very well.  CC let a 12 point lead disappear but pulled it back together for the win.  No specific standout; just great teamwork.  Mel has some excellent players around her who can move that ball around.  Gusties played hard but shooting percentage was not good.
They had numerous offensive rebounds which kept them in hte game - their press was a bit bothersome.

[yojo]

After the second round of games yesterday I will haft to say.....man I'm tired of being right....Any miac team can compete....Hamline beats Carelton, Cobs beat Gusties....Should be interesting when these conference games during J term finish out.