WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Nites]

Caught the CSB UST game last night.  CSB played well and definitely needed to win that one.  They will have a much tougher time when they play on the road at UST.  A few notes from the game.  St. Ben's had a very balanced scoring attack with 3 players in double figures and 4 or 5 scoring 8 or more. 

First time I've seen Katch play.  Definitely must not have been her best game.  I'm surprised at the MVP talk with her.  I didn't think she was even the best player on their team.  #11 (the girl that is playing for her first year as a senior) was the leader of the team on offense.  Very good mid range player.

Still a lot of season left though.

I agree with the Katch assessment.  It's hard to see how someone averaging 14.4 points a game on .354% field goal shooting, .163% three point percentage and .662% free throw percentage, is a viable league MVP candidate.

[gacbacker]

There isn't a single player in the league this year who doesn't have a weakness somewhere on their stat line.

Katch is the front runner for MVP because she is in the top 10 in the conference in all the major catagories: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, and her team is tied for first place in the conference.

[PRF2007]

There isn't a single player in the league this year who doesn't have a weakness somewhere on their stat line.

Katch is the front runner for MVP because she is in the top 10 in the conference in all the major catagories: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, and her team is tied for first place in the conference.

She might be top 10, but you have to be a clear defined MVP of your own team to be considered a league MVP.  Vadnais and Hageman are clearly that.  I couldn't have picked Katch out of a crowd, but it could have also just been a tough game for her.

St. Bens gets pounded by Concordia tonight.  Team shot 1-16 from three and about 25% overall from the floor.  St. Ben's really seems to struggle if they aren't able to hit a few threes to spread out the floor.  Watched this game on Webcast.  Even despite the poor game from St. Bens, Concordia definitely looked like a strong and confident team.

[hoopscoopsmiac]

Cards up 27-20 to St. Thomas at Half.

I am in awe of the conference the last couple years nonetheless this year. What happened to the talent? It's hard to even go and watch a girls game.

Can we go back to the era of Pearson, Freeman Sisters, Rattunde, Heikenen, Colbenson, Ahlberg, Johnson, Monahan, etc???

[Willy Wonka]

She might be top 10, but you have to be a clear defined MVP of your own team to be considered a league MVP.  Vadnais and Hageman are clearly that.  I couldn't have picked Katch out of a crowd, but it could have also just been a tough game for her.

Last year's voting would seem to refute this. I know plenty of people who thought Monahan was the best player on GAC last year, yet Vadnais walked away with the MVP.

I haven't seen Katch play this year, but her steady play across the board compounded with her team's (surprising) success makes her a/the front runner. This is bound to change, as Hageman and Vadnais are the more talented players in most peoples' eyes.

St. Bens gets pounded by Concordia tonight.  Team shot 1-16 from three and about 25% overall from the floor.  St. Ben's really seems to struggle if they aren't able to hit a few threes to spread out the floor.  Watched this game on Webcast.  Even despite the poor game from St. Bens, Concordia definitely looked like a strong and confident team.

Wow. And if SMU beats UST? Just wow.

[hoopscoopsmiac]

Cards lose to Tommies 55-52 in the last seconds with a Chelsea Wirtz 3 pointer with 7 seconds left.

[gacbacker]

Wow...bummer I missed the 49-34 game up in Moorhead. Blazers go 1-20 from three point range. Yikes!

Gusties win in a rout for the first time this season. And it looks as if Carleton took out some frustration on the Auggies tonight.

[Da-dented1]

Moorhead duo was about defense on both sides - fun to watch.

Think all this talk of MVP is interesting; however season is not quite over!  And to live in the past of previous Great players is..... It could be condsidered that there are more good players, better defense being played and no true dominant team.  Makes the conference more exciting to watch. Other years there seemed to be 1-3  teams that were beating up
on the rest of the conference and what did that get the conference.  How many years did the teams go deep in the tourneys?  At any rate, even though there may not be pure dominance, it could attract even more good players.  Who Knows? 

[LA RAMS]

In addition of the GAC thumping of Mac last night I was also able to catch suddenly surging Bethel's 88-80 win over a slumping, injury-plagued St. Kate's team; still without the services of Ashley Busch.  CSB getting pounded up in M-head and UST surviving SMU on the road says a lot about how crazy this conference is this year.

Two players who I think also should be getting some run as far as the MVP race is concerned  are Trina PaStarr of Macalester and Annegret Nautsch over at Bethel.  Nautsch especially has meant a great deal in a resurgent Bethel effort to make the playoffs and has a pretty decent supporting cast as well that is starting to come around. 

The second half of the season is going to be verrrrrryyyy interesting to watch.   

[Willy Wonka]

Moorhead duo was about defense on both sides - fun to watch.

34 points in 40 minutes and 25% shooting isn't good defense. Spin it how you like, but that's embarrassing offense no matter if you're a Gustie, Tommie, Cobber or Bennie...

[gacbacker]

Well the conference is really wide open after today...five teams within one game of each other. The Tommies were due to lose one of these close games sooner or later. Looks like St. Ben's barely escaped against St. Mary's.

As for the Gusties: Vadnais' earlier struggles which were well documented here by Wonka, appear to be over. In the last three games she has put up some pretty nice numbers and at the same time has perhaps played herself back as the favorite for MVP:

21-33 fg, 5-10 3fg, 22.3 points per game, 10 steals, 6 assists, 3 turnovers.

[LA RAMS]

Another unbelievably wild day in the MIAC.  Olaf edges Thomas at Schoenecker, CSB survives SMU on a last-second shot by Tauer, Carleton beats Concordia by 2 in M-head, and Hamline uses a buzzer-beater in OT to knock off Bethel.  Of course, the game I attended, Macalester vs. St. Kate's, had none of the last-second frantic finishes that the other games provided.  I had really thought St. Kate's would be the one to grab the 6th spot at the beginning of the year but those hopes are dashed now.

Meanwhile, good to see the Gusties keep rolling along - like they should have been all season.

Hard to say how things are going to pan out now........I still think UST will somehow wind up on top at the end.  Two teams I would be very scared of right now:  St. Olaf and Macalester.  Neither one will make the playoffs but they have the capability to ruin a good team's dreams.     

[Ghost of MIAC Past]

PRF, not sure what you're talking about.  The former SMU coach was hardly a shady person.  Maybe you're just bad at judging character.

[Willy Wonka]

GB - Point taken. Vadnais looked like the MVP on Saturday. If she can score 20ish on less than 15 shots, I like GAC's chances, obviously. If she can continue to be productive *and* efficient, they'll be tough to beat with the way Nelson and Mathowitz (sp?) have played off the bench.

What changed at halftime tonight? 39-21 in the second half?

[gacbacker]

WW - The Gusties have been using a lot of full court pressure in the last 6 games or so and last night it simply didn't work. Bethel had their share of turnovers, but when they didn't turn it over they pretty much got uncontested lay-ups.

Wisely, the Gustie coaching staff switched up to more of a half court man to man in the second half and Bethel couldn't do anything. Haller also shortened her bench in the second half which I thought paid some dividends.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say anytime Vadnais goes over 20 and the Gusties get three other players in double figures, they aren't going to lose.

I think the St. Ben's vs. Gustavus game up in St. Joseph on Monday is going to go a long way in deciding how the conference race shapes up. The Gusties get both Carleton and Concordia at home later in the season, so their only tricky road game after St. Ben's is with St. Thomas.