WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

sac · March 04, 2011, 06:23:28 PM

Livestats for both games from Hope (Washington is handling Denison rather easily)

http://www.hope.edu/pr/athletics/livestats/

Livetstas for both games from Calvin (Chicago is handling Hanover rather easily)

http://www.calvin.edu/scoreboard/

Mr. Ypsi · March 04, 2011, 07:27:34 PM

Assuming both Hope and Calvin are still playing tomorrow, they'd better bring their 'A+' games - Chicago and WashU both destroyed opponents who had 1 loss between them!

ChicagoHopeNut · March 04, 2011, 07:58:03 PM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on March 04, 2011, 07:27:34 PM
Assuming both Hope and Calvin are still playing tomorrow, they'd better bring their 'A+' games - Chicago and WashU both destroyed opponents who had 1 loss between them!

Calvin is up 33-7 in the first half. I think that qualifies as an A+ game. Wow!

Update: 35-8 at the half! Ouch

sac · March 04, 2011, 08:11:47 PM

I think that pairing is demonstrating the vast difference in midwest vs middle atlantic basketball.

Hope/Juniata was no match in 2008, that score could have been much worse than the 30 or so it was. LaRoche appears overwhelmed by Calvin's size and abilities.

sac · March 04, 2011, 08:29:03 PM

Wonder what the tournament record is for fewest points?

LaRoche has 8 with 13 minutes to play, haven't scored in the 2nd half. http://www.calvin.edu/scoreboard/

sac · March 04, 2011, 09:08:29 PM

Hope v Washington tomorrow night for the 3rd time in just under 12 months.

Here's the box from the December meeting down in Delaware, Oh.
http://miaa.org/wbb/stats/1011/hopewash.htm

I'm not sure how you manage to have 50 rebounds and only win by 2 but did on that day.

Calvin 'hangs on' to win by 36 over LaRoche, and will play Chicago Saturday in what should be a much better and more competitive game.

Dark Knight · March 04, 2011, 09:25:53 PM

I was sure Carissa was going to get her triple double tonight, with 19 points, 11 boards, and 9 blocks a couple of minutes into the second half. But she went out for a rest and never came back!

I suspect that LaRoche had never seen defense like Calvin's to this point.

big_fella · March 04, 2011, 09:59:17 PM

Calvin total dismantled La Rouche tonight. The game was effectively over in the first 7-8 minutes of the game. I think Calvin lead like 17-2. If Calvin keeps the starters in the game for a longer period of time in the 2nd half, La Rouche probably doesn't score 30 points. I think this LaRouche team comes in 5 place in the MIAA. Carissa was totally dominant. Too bad she didn't get her triple-double. Calvin will have a totally different game tomorrow with Chicago. That will be a very difficult game. Go Knights!!

almcguirejr · March 04, 2011, 10:13:37 PM

This was my first Calvin women's game ever. I'm not sure you could even call it a game. I think Laroche had 4 pts at the 5 minute mark of the first half. They got into double digits in the second half at the 12 minute mark after Calvin's straters were done. I have no clue of how good Calvin is because it was such a mismatch. Laroche did not have much size. I thought they would full court press but they never did.

I arrived at halftime of the Chicago - Hanover game with UC up by 17. They built the lead to 29 and their coach began to sub. Hanover cut it to 23 after a couple of minutes and Chicago began to put starters back in. Their coach seemed very uptight. His team had control the whole time but he used up all of his time outs. I think he called his last time out with 1:09 to play and got right in the face of one his players. He was a little over the top.

Chicago full court pressed the whole game. They have a very good point guard and a nice player in the middle. It seems to me if Calvin can handle their pressure this would be a winnable game.

HopeConvert · March 04, 2011, 10:43:46 PM

As evidence of the proposition you can never fully escape your past, I spent my evening at VanNoord watching the Calvin women's game (I was actually on Calvin's campus all day, but that mostly in a subversive capacity). While watching warm-ups I turned to the person next to me and said "Calvin wins by at least 30." This is less prescient than it sounds because you could see that LaRoche didn't shoot the ball that well and wouldn't match up well against Calvin.

And they certainly didn't shoot it well against Calvin's defense, which is well above average, and can only be beat if you can hit outside shots. Even then, however, LaRoche did Calvin a huge favor by having a simple game plan: attack the rim. If you plotted LaRoche's shot selection for the first 30 minutes of the game, you wouldn't find many shots from beyond 5 feet. This played right into the Damsels' hands, who were constantly blocking and altering shots. Once it became obvious that LaRoche wasn't going to have any success inside, and wasn't going to get Verkaik in foul trouble (who, I must say, does an excellent job holding her position and not going for ball fakes), LaRoche adjusted by doing ... nothing different. Had the Damsels not subbed, LaRoche wouldn't have scored 20 points for the game.

Perhaps LaRoche knows no other way to play, and this has been their formula for success all season. But they were thoroughly outclassed tonight. These two teams play ten times, Calvin wins all ten and never by less than 20. They're just that much better.

gohope · March 04, 2011, 11:22:00 PM

Coaching News in the MIAA:

http://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/03/kalamazoo_college_womens_baske_7.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kalamazoosports+%28Kalamazoo+Gazette+Sports%29

hope1 · March 05, 2011, 07:21:16 AM

good luck to the hope and calvin tonight hope go beat wash u

KnightSlappy · March 05, 2011, 10:51:35 AM

Looking at the mileage for the potential sectional round teams, it looks like the only way Calvin could host (if they're strict about the 500 mile rule) is for Mount Union to beat Thomas More, Wash U to beat Hope, and Calvin to beat Chicago (obviously). (The Greensboro/Juniata winner would be a flight to West Michigan).

Otherwise there would always be one site** that is within 500 miles to everyone else. The scenario above would cost the NCAA 1 flight, and it would appear that Calvin would be the top ranked team.

For Hope to host, the scenario would be the same, but flip their result and the Calvin result.

**I'm not sure if the NCAA would give Mount Union a sectional or not; they'd be within 500 miles of everyone if Hope beat Wash U in the above scenario, but they might be the lowest ranked team of the bunch.

pointlem · March 05, 2011, 12:48:05 PM

Thanks, as always, KnightSlappy for your informative observations.

If Hope and Calvin both were to win tonight, might not their proximity to each other be a factor? And might not the extra revenue from a sectional game at either school pay for some school's airfare?

Last night's Hope attendance was reported at 2022 . . . though it looked to me like a mostly filled gym and as many as at the Albion game, with its 2500+ reported attendance. (The NCAA perhaps has a stricter definition of attendance?) There will likely be 2000+ more at Hope tonight, and assuming the men aren't playing next weekend (siphoning off a few hundred Hope fans) even more a week hence, should there be a hosting opportunity.

An extra 1000 fans for the NCAA x two nights x $8 adds up to some team's airfare, I should think. And the same argument could be made for Calvin, especially if Hope makes it through this weekend. (How about a rematch next Saturday night--our place or yours?)

KnightSlappy · March 05, 2011, 01:34:51 PM

I'm not sure if they consider potential gate dollars or not. Calvin and Hope in the same sectional would be a huge draw.

I have heard that proximity inside of 500 miles is not taken into account. Its either a bus ride or a flight in the eyes of the ncaa. Not sure if that's teue or not, but its what I've heard.