WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

wiz · February 08, 2012, 10:29:02 PM

Congratulations to coach Ross for his 200th collegiate win tonight.

bballfan13 · February 11, 2012, 08:09:27 PM

Congratulations to the Calvin women for clinching at least a share of the MIAA regular season title with a 67-44 win today at Olivet. They can clinch the outright title next Wednesday with a win at home against St. Mary's.

Roundball999 · February 11, 2012, 08:37:12 PM

Hope women won at Alma 73-56 to secure another 20 win season, running their record to 20-3. Injuries are becoming a real concern. Starting center Meredith Kussmaul went down with an ACL 10 games into the season after a very strong start. Wednesday freshman reserve Hannah Doell fractured her arm against Olivet; she made some big plays in the win against Calvin. Today it appeared that freshman center Rebekah Llorens injured an arm or shoulder, not sure how seriously. She has been a huge contributor especially in Kussmaul's absence, racking up a number of double-doubles and playing as well as any rookie in the league.

Congratulations to Calvin on a great season so far. I'm rooting for any MIAA teams to do well in the tournament!

KnightSlappy · February 15, 2012, 07:56:22 PM

WOW. Trine 52, Hope 50. I believe this was Trine's first ever win over the Flying Dutch (a 20 game losing streak, at any rate).

realist · February 15, 2012, 09:11:04 PM

Calvin 73 SMC 52. CV 21 pts and 14 rebounds.

bballfan13 · February 15, 2012, 10:16:10 PM

Quote from: realist on February 15, 2012, 09:11:04 PM
Calvin 73 SMC 52. CV 21 pts and 14 rebounds.

To go along with 5 blocks and 5 assists.

Congrats to Calvin for winning the MIAA championship!

Dark Knight · February 16, 2012, 06:13:31 AM

The Belles have been playing well lately, winning five of their last six games, beating Albion, and losing by only 4 to Hope. They played well again last night, holding Calvin's offense in check for most of the first half. Verkaik didn't score her first points until most of the way through the first half, and St Mary's took the lead at 20-19 with three minutes left in the first half.

At some point in the second half, something changed -- maybe the Belles tired a bit, maybe Calvin got their act together, and we started seeing the great ball movement and scoring that we've seen from the knights in some other games.

Calvin set a new MIAA season record for defensive field goal percentage, at 29%, improving on Hope's 29.4% of last year. Calvin also set a record for fewest field goals allowed. Hilbrands may have set a new MIAA season record for shooting percentage, at 68.8% -- if she hit enough field goals to qualify.

Verkaik tied her previous MIAA season record of 60 blocks in a season. She also moved into fifth place in the MIAA career scoring board, with 886 points in MIAA games -- just behind Marcia Harris and Lisa Winkle. She needs only 166 points next year to take over the #1 spot. Verkaik also moved into second place on Calvin's career scoring list, with 1565 points.

northb · February 16, 2012, 05:57:19 PM

Quote from: Dark Knight on February 16, 2012, 06:13:31 AM

Calvin set a new MIAA season record for defensive field goal percentage, at 29%, improving on Hope's 29.4% of last year. Calvin also set a record for fewest field goals allowed. Hilbrands may have set a new MIAA season record for shooting percentage, at 68.8% -- if she hit enough field goals to qualify.

Verkaik tied her previous MIAA season record of 60 blocks in a season. She also moved into fifth place in the MIAA career scoring board, with 886 points in MIAA games -- just behind Marcia Harris and Lisa Winkle. She needs only 166 points next year to take over the #1 spot. Verkaik also moved into second place on Calvin's career scoring list, with 1565 points.

WOW!

Could she play for the guys for a few games?

Roundball999 · February 18, 2012, 04:54:03 PM

Hope survives against Adrian 55-49 with "survives" being the operative word. Yet another Hope player is out; senior starter Maddie Burnett missed the game following a concussion she suffered during the upset loss at Trine on Wednesday. She joined starter Meredith Kussmaul and reserves Hannah Doell and Liz Siepker on the bench, all out with injuries.

I believe the MIAA tournament is set, with semifinals on Thursday pitting Albion at Hope and St. Mary's at Calvin. Good luck to all four and congratulations to all the MIAA women's teams on another fine season.

wiz · February 20, 2012, 10:29:07 PM

Having seen video of most of the top ranked teams in the nation, I think George Fox, curently ranked #3, is the team to beat. Very good ball handling team with a 6'5" center that is very difficult to handle.

bballfan13 · February 21, 2012, 06:42:44 AM

Quote from: wiz on February 20, 2012, 10:29:07 PM
Having seen video of most of the top ranked teams in the nation, I think George Fox, curently ranked #3, is the team to beat. Very good ball handling team with a 6'5" center that is very difficult to handle.

How do you think Calvin matches up with them considering their defense and CV inside?

gordonmann · February 21, 2012, 12:44:57 PM

Here's my take.

Munger is a different kind of big than Verkaik. Verkaik has guard skills in a forward's body. Munger reminds me of the 1980s NBA centers who would position themselves close to the rim, back to the basket, call for the ball and make a quick post move. Think Patrick Ewing style-play.

I don't think Verkaik is physical enough to guard Munger one on one in the post (though the Knights could double or play zone). I'm not sure Munger is quick enough to guard Verkaik away from the rim, though. George Fox likes to put its talented post in the middle of a 2-3 zone and funnel all shots toward her. Some teams test the big and get their shots blocked (like Hope did against George Fox when the Bruins won the title). Others start settling for a lot of threes.

One thing Calvin has over George Fox, though, is depth at the forward. Calvin has other tall forwards who can play around the rim. George Fox doesn't have as much depth, at least not that I've seen.

Given a choice between the two teams, I'd take George Fox. Their guards are a little bigger and seem like better scorers off the dribble. But it would be a very close game.

sac · February 21, 2012, 04:10:42 PM

Carissa Verkaik was named to the Cosida D3 all-american team today. The link to the full list is about a 2 inch scroll down the page.
http://www.cosida.com/news.aspx?id=3565

Dark Knight · February 21, 2012, 11:15:56 PM

Quote from: gordonmann link=topic=4515.msg1404585#msg1404585 date

Given a choice between the two teams, I'd take George Fox. Their guards are a little bigger and seem like better scorers off the dribble. But it would be a very close game.

If they do meet, it could well be in Holland, which would be a near home-game situation for the knights. Might make a difference.

The knights would likely have some very difficult games to get past to get to that point, though, like Chicago or DePauw, and those are unlikely to be home games for the knights.

gordonmann · February 22, 2012, 03:22:19 PM

True. Good point. Calvin would at least be more familiar with DeVos than George Fox.