WBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[WWWRHH]

A Hope fan here....Hope faces Concordia in both team's first game this Friday.  I can not recall facing a MIAC team and am hoping that someone can give us fans some insight as to what type of team we will see.  It looks like the Cobbers (what is a cobber) always find a way to be competitive.

I gather from your web site that the team is guard oriented and not a lot of scoring is expected from the inside this year.  With the depth at guard, should we expect to see a pressing defense and up tempo offense?  Does the team normally employ a man or zone?

There is some height on the roster - will Hope's size influence the rotation or will Concordia hope to alter the Dutch style of play?

I assume the coaches have exchanged film and prepared their own scouting reports (but not shared them with the fans) a little insight to carry us over to Friday should not be viewed as the equivalent of exposing state secrets  .

The MIAA board is fairly active so you should be able to get a sense of who and what to expect from the Dutch by skimming the last 20 pages.  In short, Hope plays ten deep, seeks to maintain high intensity, and generally plays man, but has a couple of zones in their arsenal.

On offense, they seek to use their tall, athletic posts to control the middle and open up the both perimeter and create space for the guards to slash to the basket.  I expect that Hope will be one of the tallest lineups you face this year.  The 3 pt. shot may be a little less of a weapon this year than last, but everyone can shoot a jump shot.

Even though "we" lost four starters, we are optimistic heading into the season. 

I know it is a long trip and I assume the team will fly.  However, if any fans make the journey there is a lot to do in Holland this weekend and I think you will enjoy the seasonal festivities.  The DeVos fieldhouse is a great facility (proving that someone does make a profit selling Amway) and you will receive a friendly welcome.

[LA RAMS]

WWWRHH,
Not sure what you'll be getting from this Concordia team as they graduated their big gun from last year, Melanie Hageman.  Still, they've always been a disciplined, well-coached team that has always found a way to be in the mix of the MIAC title chase year in and year out and this year should be no different.  Will definitely be interesting to see how they fare against a Hope program that has had a great run over the last few years.

[gacbacker]

Four players in double figures last night for Hamline as they pick up the win over St. Olaf in the first conference game of the season. Did anybody else catch this stat line in the box score:

Jamie Erdahl: 1-17 fg, 0-11 on three's and six turnovers. Ouch! She did have nine assists, so we'll give her credit there, but 1-17?!?! As the Ole's would say, Ufda!

[PRF07]

Looking forward to a good year for the Bennies this year....

Top 4 prediction:
1. St. Bens
2. Carleton
3. St. Thomas
4. Hamline

St. Ben's has a lot of experience and depth returning this year. This team is almost 10 players deep.  (Which can help or hurt depending on how they mix)  A very talented sophomore class leads this team.  Look for a new face this year with Devin Bowlin getting quite a bit of time as the year goes on.  She missed almost all of her freshman year with a Knee injury, but showed flashes of her old self in limited minutes against St. Cloud State. 

Frank and Bowlin were rivals in high school (Caledonia and Winona Cotter)  It will be fun to see what those two and the rest of this team can do this year.  They start out playing some tough competition down in Texas this weekend.

[WWWRHH]

Thanks for the feedback LA....I suspect we will see contrasting strategies Friday night.  I think it will be good for Hope to play a team with a strong competitive tradition to start off the season.  As the first game for both teams, it may be a little rough around the edges.

If a Concordia fan does not provide a summary, I will try to give a little color for those of you that can not make the trip.

[WWWRHH]

Some of the Cobber fans in attendance that know the players better may have more to add, but I will offer some impressions of Concordia's weekend in Michigan.

Concordia is a well coached, solid team.  Friday night's game was the first for both teams and it showed with too many fouls and turnovers,  but there were stretches of good basketball.  Although, I never felt that the Dutch were in danger of letting the game slip away, the Cobbers were never willing to concede and just kept coming back.

In the end the outcome was determined by the Duch's size advantage in the middle.  Hope was able to score on easier shots and force Concordia to shoot from the outside.

That being said, Concordia executed their four guard offense very well.  They moved the ball crisply around the perimeter, made good penetration off the dribble and kicked the ball outside for open shots.  They shot well enough to stay in the game.  On defense they played tough and physical against bigger opponents and kept the rebouding margin very respectable.

On Saturday against one of the second tier teams in the MIAA, Concordia were able to run what was probably closer to their standard offense.  They made good penetration and were able to take the ball all the way to the basket more often to wrap up an easy victory.

From what I saw I suspect your team will have a good season.

[Nites]

Anyone know what happened to Amber Connor of Carleton?  Did she drop out of school this year?

I heard she transferred to the Univ. of Minn.

Carleton College has a stellar academic reputation, but math must be the school's Achilles heel.  According to the season preview on the Knights website:

"Carleton returns its top six scorers from that squad and a strong senior class will determine how far this year's team can go."

That's a hard feat to accomplish if Amber Connor didn't return since she was the third leading scorer on last year's team.  I also just noticed that Anna Biewen (who started 28 games last year) is not on this year's roster.  Any info on why she is MIA?

34 Hannah Oken-Berg.... 29-29  26.9  .511  .000  .733  5.8  1.1   9  22  12.5
55 Sarah Lincoln....... 28-27  27.4  .477  .310  .708  6.5  1.7  30  20  10.1
03 Amber Connor........ 28-27  27.9  .408  .333  .629  3.0  1.5  18   5  10.1
12 Annie Isler......... 29-29  26.9  .460  .286  .786  5.0  3.4  60   3   8.5
20 Ally Weaver......... 29-0   23.1  .404  .352  .857  1.5  1.1  28   3   7.0
50 Sarah Kunelius...... 29-0   18.9  .329  .298  .816  4.7  0.7  12   1   6.1
11 Anna Biewen......... 28-28  23.0  .353  .000  .585  2.3  1.5  17   1   5.2
30 Megan Mileusnic..... 29-4   21.5  .450  .300  .796  4.1  1.1  16   1   4.9
10 Liz Baumgartner..... 23-0    9.0  .200  .190  .889  1.1  0.4   7   0   1.5
22 Mollie Feldman......  5-0    3.6  .250  .000  .625  0.4  0.0   3   0   1.4
24 Joy Esboldt.........  7-1    4.4  .250  .000  .667  0.3  0.1   2   0   1.1

[gacbacker]

Gusties win their opener 79-64 over Austin College in Texas. Katie Layman with 28 points and 8 boards to lead the way.

[blazerguy]

Anyone know what happened to Amber Connor of Carleton?  Did she drop out of school this year?

I heard she transferred to the Univ. of Minn.

Carleton College has a stellar academic reputation, but math must be the school's Achilles heel.  According to the season preview on the Knights website:

"Carleton returns its top six scorers from that squad and a strong senior class will determine how far this year's team can go."

That's a hard feat to accomplish if Amber Connor didn't return since she was the third leading scorer on last year's team.  I also just noticed that Anna Biewen (who started 28 games last year) is not on this year's roster.  Any info on why she is MIA?

34 Hannah Oken-Berg.... 29-29  26.9  .511  .000  .733  5.8  1.1   9  22  12.5
55 Sarah Lincoln....... 28-27  27.4  .477  .310  .708  6.5  1.7  30  20  10.1
03 Amber Connor........ 28-27  27.9  .408  .333  .629  3.0  1.5  18   5  10.1
12 Annie Isler......... 29-29  26.9  .460  .286  .786  5.0  3.4  60   3   8.5
20 Ally Weaver......... 29-0   23.1  .404  .352  .857  1.5  1.1  28   3   7.0
50 Sarah Kunelius...... 29-0   18.9  .329  .298  .816  4.7  0.7  12   1   6.1
11 Anna Biewen......... 28-28  23.0  .353  .000  .585  2.3  1.5  17   1   5.2
30 Megan Mileusnic..... 29-4   21.5  .450  .300  .796  4.1  1.1  16   1   4.9
10 Liz Baumgartner..... 23-0    9.0  .200  .190  .889  1.1  0.4   7   0   1.5
22 Mollie Feldman......  5-0    3.6  .250  .000  .625  0.4  0.0   3   0   1.4
24 Joy Esboldt.........  7-1    4.4  .250  .000  .667  0.3  0.1   2   0   1.1

Either Connor was leaving or Oken-Berg.

[LA RAMS]

Anyone know what happened to Amber Connor of Carleton?  Did she drop out of school this year?

I heard she transferred to the Univ. of Minn.

Carleton College has a stellar academic reputation, but math must be the school's Achilles heel.  According to the season preview on the Knights website:

"Carleton returns its top six scorers from that squad and a strong senior class will determine how far this year's team can go."

That's a hard feat to accomplish if Amber Connor didn't return since she was the third leading scorer on last year's team.  I also just noticed that Anna Biewen (who started 28 games last year) is not on this year's roster.  Any info on why she is MIA?

34 Hannah Oken-Berg.... 29-29  26.9  .511  .000  .733  5.8  1.1   9  22  12.5
55 Sarah Lincoln....... 28-27  27.4  .477  .310  .708  6.5  1.7  30  20  10.1
03 Amber Connor........ 28-27  27.9  .408  .333  .629  3.0  1.5  18   5  10.1
12 Annie Isler......... 29-29  26.9  .460  .286  .786  5.0  3.4  60   3   8.5
20 Ally Weaver......... 29-0   23.1  .404  .352  .857  1.5  1.1  28   3   7.0
50 Sarah Kunelius...... 29-0   18.9  .329  .298  .816  4.7  0.7  12   1   6.1
11 Anna Biewen......... 28-28  23.0  .353  .000  .585  2.3  1.5  17   1   5.2
30 Megan Mileusnic..... 29-4   21.5  .450  .300  .796  4.1  1.1  16   1   4.9
10 Liz Baumgartner..... 23-0    9.0  .200  .190  .889  1.1  0.4   7   0   1.5
22 Mollie Feldman......  5-0    3.6  .250  .000  .625  0.4  0.0   3   0   1.4
24 Joy Esboldt.........  7-1    4.4  .250  .000  .667  0.3  0.1   2   0   1.1

Either Connor was leaving or Oken-Berg.

I don't think that was it.  The story I gathered from a good source was that Connor left for the U of M so that she could take care of her younger sister who is currently playing at Rosemount H.S.

Very, very good Texas trip for the Gusties who took care of business in both games.  Hopefully this will ready them for the tough MIAC battles that lay ahead.  Also, a nice non-conference win for St. Kate's yesterday afternoon over a solid Nebraska Wesleyan squad. 

Not so optimistic about this next Saturday as my UCLA Bruins host O.J. Simpson, Reggie Bush, and the merry band of thugs from South Central who'll probably be out for blood against us after Oregon St. piddled away their only chance at the Rose Bowl since that pole-cat LBJ was in office.  Still, I hope to make one of the in-town games that start at 1:00   

[gacbacker]

I saw Carleton took two tough losses on the chin out west over the weekend. A close loss to Lewis and Clark and then a blowout loss to George Fox. No Sarah Lincoln in the box score...injury? Tough start to the year for the Knights who travel to Gustavus on Wednesday for the MIAC opener for both teams. No Connor, No Biewen, No Lincoln. Could be a long year for the Knights, and it could give the Gusties the best chance to compete with the Blazers for the conference championship this year along with St. Thomas.

[Knight Lover]

Lincoln is studying abroad and will be back.  No doubt the squad is missing her right now as another scoring threat.  Oken-Berg had a great trip home - it's just too bad the Knights couldn't get a few more baskets to fall.

[gacbacker]

Well its always nice to beat Carleton, but to completely dismantle them is even better. Surprisingly Tammy didn't even have much to say on the sidelines last night to the officials. (I think she recognized her team was outmatched). After a back and forth first half, the Gusties opened the second half on a 17-0 run. Katie Layman continues to look like she can be a go-to player this year for the Gusties which is good news. And two freshmen (Geske, Perry) look to be in mid-season form already.

Carleton on the other hand has some issues. Chemistry appears to be a major problem for this team. What made the Carleton teams of the past 5-8 years so great was that it seemed like they were always all on the same page and always knew where each other was going to be. This team looks like they've never played together in their lives. They didn't work hard to get the ball inside to Oken-Berg, and when they did, she didn't really show much interest in making a strong move to the basket and was held without a single field goal last night. Props to the Gustie defense for that. I did like how Erlandson, their best freshman, played off the bench. She could be good for them down the road.

Not really surprised that St. Ben's beat Bethel, but the score was a little shocking. And Concordia's win over St. Thomas really surprises me. Apparently no Hageman hangover in Moorhead? I still think St. Thomas will be there at the end of the year.

Big early season game now on Saturday with Concordia coming to play Gustavus. One of those two teams will be 2-0 with two pretty nice victories under their belts. Normally the Carleton vs. St. Ben's game would be huge too, but after seeing the Knights play last night I just dont think they even have a chance in St. Joseph on Saturday.

[Willy Wonka]

Question for you GB — Just saw the latest MN Basketball News and noticed they picked 3 Carleton players in the top 10 of the conference: Amber Connor, Sarah Lincoln and Oken-Berg.

I've never seen any of them play, but isn't that a little much for one team? By comparison, the Bennies have one (Schmidt), St. Thomas has one (Katch) and the Gusties have none.

I'm a little out of the loop these days, but does anyone care to take a stab at their own top 10 list?

[gacbacker]

Well perhaps MN Basketball News needs to freshen up on some information. Amber Connor is no longer at Carleton and Sarah Lincoln is apparently studying abroad for the first semester so her impact will be limited.

As far as a top ten list goes, I'll take a crack at it in no particular order:

Mindy Schmidt
Hannah Oken-Berg
Jessica Katch
Elyse Erickson
Annagret Nautsch
Sara Sorbo
Danielle Frank
Katie Layman
Laura Kalbfell
Brianna Radtke