WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

[Enginerd]

Wow...D3 committee doesn't like Trine very much, or DePauw for that matter.  Lots of good comments from you folks, and agree with you.  However it is what it is.  Trine isn't the only team to get a bad draw, but to have a #10 team in the nation (WBCA rankings as of today), DePauw, play a #11 team in the nation, Trine, IN THE VERY FIRST GAME, BOTH TEAMS ON THE ROAD NO LESS, is hard to fathom.  I doubt there is another 4 team pod where every team in it is ranked 35th (Marietta) or better, 18th IWU.  I don't think it will phase the girls though, it's always next game up for them no matter who they play.  They could very well lose the 1st game, but not without a fight.   

I agree completely - two of the best 10 teams in America are having to square off in the 1st Round. Not fair. I fully expected to see Depauw get Gustavus Adolphous and RHIT playing Trine somewhere - but it is apparent the committee valued winning one's conference this year. I'll bet if RHIT had even a slightly weaker resume, or Depauw has won the NCAC Tournament, Depauw would have gotten Gustavus at Whitewater (or IWU) and RHIT and Trine would have been duking it out. Nobody wanted to see a 20-19 final score in an NCAA Tournament game, anyway LoL

[Dutchfan]

Tickets for Friday's Hope game are on sale.

[Dutchfan]

I still don't see any announcements from Hope about tickets for Friday's games in Holland, but I already purchased mine over the phone from the Hope ticket office, so they are already on sale.

[gordonmann]

Wow...D3 committee doesn't like Trine very much, or DePauw for that matter.  Lots of good comments from you folks, and agree with you.  However it is what it is.  Trine isn't the only team to get a bad draw, but to have a #10 team in the nation (WBCA rankings as of today), DePauw, play a #11 team in the nation, Trine, IN THE VERY FIRST GAME, BOTH TEAMS ON THE ROAD NO LESS, is hard to fathom.  I doubt there is another 4 team pod where every team in it is ranked 35th (Marietta) or better, 18th IWU.  I don't think it will phase the girls though, it's always next game up for them no matter who they play.  They could very well lose the 1st game, but not without a fight.   

I think Trine is really good and have them Top 10 on my ballot, but their numerical resume is less impressive than you might think when you look at the specific criteria the NCAA uses. When we did our mock selections, they were the 14th of 20 teams to get picked. Trine's losses were all really close and to excellent teams, but their record against regionally ranked opponents was 1-3 this year. The only team with a worse winning percentage
in that key category was the other Thunder (Wheaton), who were 1-4. Their SOS was also on the low side for at-large selections.

[Dutchfan]

Stat	Hope	Cornell
Record	26-1	20-5
Scoring	73.1	63.7
Scoring Defense	50.4	55.1
Scoring Margin	+22.7	+8.6
Field Goals	26.2	22.9
Opp. Field Goals	18.6	19.7
Field Goal Margin	+7.6	+3.2
FG Attempts	62.4	62.0
FG Percent	42.0	37.0
Opp. FG Percent	32.6	39.4
FG Pct. Margin	+9.4	-2.4
3-Point FG	6.8	7.7
Opp. 3-Point FG	4.2	5.5
3-Point Margin	+2.6	+2.2
3-Point Attempts	19.9	26.1
3-Point Percent	34.1	29.6
Opp. 3FG Percent	23.2	33.1
3FG Pct. Margin	+10.9	-3.5
Free Throws	13.9	10.0
Opp. Free Throws	9.1	10.0
FT Margin	+4.8	0.0
FT Attempts	20.6	16.0
FT Percent	67.3	62.7
Personal Fouls	15.4	18.1
Opponent Fouls	17.1	16.3
Foul Margin	-1.7	+1.8
Off. Rebounds	15.1	14.1
Def. Rebounds	28.6	21.8
Total Rebounds	43.7	35.9
Opp. Rebounds	35.3	38.0
Rebound Margin	+8.4	-2.1
Assists	13.2	14.8
Opponent Assists	9.9	13.0
Assist Margin	+3.3	+1.8
Turnovers	15.0	13.4
Opp. Turnovers	19.6	22.3
Turnover Margin	-4.6	-8.9
A/TO Ratio	0.9	1.1
Opponent A/TO	0.5	0.6
Steals	10.9	12.9
Opponent Steals	6.4	6.6
Steals Margin	+4.5	+6.3
Blocks	3.8	2.2
Opponent Blocks	3.9	2.2
Blocks Margin	-0.1	0.0
Attendance	1275	250

[GoPerry]

Stat	Hope	Cornell
Record	26-1	20-5
Scoring	73.1	63.7
Scoring Defense	50.4	55.1
Scoring Margin	+22.7	+8.6
Field Goals	26.2	22.9
Opp. Field Goals	18.6	19.7
Field Goal Margin	+7.6	+3.2
FG Attempts	62.4	62.0
FG Percent	42.0	37.0
Opp. FG Percent	32.6	39.4
FG Pct. Margin	+9.4	-2.4
3-Point FG	6.8	7.7
Opp. 3-Point FG	4.2	5.5
3-Point Margin	+2.6	+2.2
3-Point Attempts	19.9	26.1
3-Point Percent	34.1	29.6
Opp. 3FG Percent	23.2	33.1
3FG Pct. Margin	+10.9	-3.5
Free Throws	13.9	10.0
Opp. Free Throws	9.1	10.0
FT Margin	+4.8	0.0
FT Attempts	20.6	16.0
FT Percent	67.3	62.7
Personal Fouls	15.4	18.1
Opponent Fouls	17.1	16.3
Foul Margin	-1.7	+1.8
Off. Rebounds	15.1	14.1
Def. Rebounds	28.6	21.8
Total Rebounds	43.7	35.9
Opp. Rebounds	35.3	38.0
Rebound Margin	+8.4	-2.1
Assists	13.2	14.8
Opponent Assists	9.9	13.0
Assist Margin	+3.3	+1.8
Turnovers	15.0	13.4
Opp. Turnovers	19.6	22.3
Turnover Margin	-4.6	-8.9
A/TO Ratio	0.9	1.1
Opponent A/TO	0.5	0.6
Steals	10.9	12.9
Opponent Steals	6.4	6.6
Steals Margin	+4.5	+6.3
Blocks	3.8	2.2
Opponent Blocks	3.9	2.2
Blocks Margin	-0.1	0.0
Attendance	1275	250

Team GPA?  Mean shoe size?

[Dutchfan]

Stat	Hope	Cornell
Record	26-1	20-5
Scoring	73.1	63.7
Scoring Defense	50.4	55.1
Scoring Margin	+22.7	+8.6
Field Goals	26.2	22.9
Opp. Field Goals	18.6	19.7
Field Goal Margin	+7.6	+3.2
FG Attempts	62.4	62.0
FG Percent	42.0	37.0
Opp. FG Percent	32.6	39.4
FG Pct. Margin	+9.4	-2.4
3-Point FG	6.8	7.7
Opp. 3-Point FG	4.2	5.5
3-Point Margin	+2.6	+2.2
3-Point Attempts	19.9	26.1
3-Point Percent	34.1	29.6
Opp. 3FG Percent	23.2	33.1
3FG Pct. Margin	+10.9	-3.5
Free Throws	13.9	10.0
Opp. Free Throws	9.1	10.0
FT Margin	+4.8	0.0
FT Attempts	20.6	16.0
FT Percent	67.3	62.7
Personal Fouls	15.4	18.1
Opponent Fouls	17.1	16.3
Foul Margin	-1.7	+1.8
Off. Rebounds	15.1	14.1
Def. Rebounds	28.6	21.8
Total Rebounds	43.7	35.9
Opp. Rebounds	35.3	38.0
Rebound Margin	+8.4	-2.1
Assists	13.2	14.8
Opponent Assists	9.9	13.0
Assist Margin	+3.3	+1.8
Turnovers	15.0	13.4
Opp. Turnovers	19.6	22.3
Turnover Margin	-4.6	-8.9
A/TO Ratio	0.9	1.1
Opponent A/TO	0.5	0.6
Steals	10.9	12.9
Opponent Steals	6.4	6.6
Steals Margin	+4.5	+6.3
Blocks	3.8	2.2
Opponent Blocks	3.9	2.2
Blocks Margin	-0.1	0.0
Attendance	1275	250

Team GPA?  Mean shoe size?

It's impolite to ask a lady her shoe size!

[Enginerd]

It is obvious, after looking at the final regional rankings, that the committee actually did a decent job with what they had. RHIT jumping Trine in the regional rankings is the reason Trine is at IWU and Rose at UWW - Plus I'm sure the committee didn't want to give DePauw a rematch with RHIT in the 1st Round, Trine had spent more than enough time in Holland this year, and Wartburg was going to be WAY too far to send the Thunder.
It all makes sense now.
Depauw should be a cautionary tale for teams to win their AQ or the road will be a LOT longer and tougher than otherwise.

[bballfan13]

It is obvious, after looking at the final regional rankings, that the committee actually did a decent job with what they had. RHIT jumping Trine in the regional rankings is the reason Trine is at IWU and Rose at UWW - Plus I'm sure the committee didn't want to give DePauw a rematch with RHIT in the 1st Round, Trine had spent more than enough time in Holland this year, and Wartburg was going to be WAY too far to send the Thunder.
It all makes sense now.
Depauw should be a cautionary tale for teams to win their AQ or the road will be a LOT longer and tougher than otherwise.

I think your logic makes a lot of sense.  But also to note, Trine could have gone to Wartburg based on mileage.  476 miles officially.

https://web1.ncaa.org/TES/exec/miles

[Roundball999]

Strong night for MIAA WBB last night. 

Trine gave up an uncharacteristic 39 points to DePauw in the first half then settled in and clamped down by allowing a more Trine-like 21 in the 2nd.  Martin and Dawson very good as usual with typical high shooting percentage. Will be an interesting game vs. IWU which likes to play pressure defense and speed it up a bit, quite the contrast to Trine.  Massey favors IWU by 16 at home, which seems crazy to me.  I think this one will be very close but give Trine the edge.  They beat IWU in the tournament last year (neutral court then while IWU is at home this time) and the Thunder have everyone from that game back, so they know they can do it.  Their win at Devos has shown they have the toughness to go on to a strong team's home court and come away with a win. 

Hope cruised against overmatched Cornell.  Very balanced scoring with usual double double by Buchanan.  No one played more than 24 minutes so the Dutch should be well rested for tonight's game vs. WashU.  The Bears handled a good Wheaton team quite easily and Massey has this game as a 50/50.  In this case, I think Massey has it about right.

[Dutchfan]

I looked on Massey on Thursday and it had Wash U. beating hope by about eight points at the time. It also had Wheaton beating Hope by about a dozen and Hope beating Cornell by 15.  I just find Massey to be very unreliable. Way too numbers driven.

[Roundball999]

I looked on Massey on Thursday and it had Wash U. beating hope by about eight points at the time. It also had Wheaton beating Hope by about a dozen and Hope beating Cornell by 15.  I just find Massey to be very unreliable. Way too numbers driven.

In past years I was pretty impressed with Massey predictions.  I know it doesn't make sense but it seems much less accurate this year, at least for the games I've checked.

[TUAngola]

Strong night for MIAA WBB last night. 

Trine gave up an uncharacteristic 39 points to DePauw in the first half then settled in and clamped down by allowing a more Trine-like 21 in the 2nd.  Martin and Dawson very good as usual with typical high shooting percentage. Will be an interesting game vs. IWU which likes to play pressure defense and speed it up a bit, quite the contrast to Trine.  Massey favors IWU by 16 at home, which seems crazy to me.  I think this one will be very close but give Trine the edge.  They beat IWU in the tournament last year (neutral court then while IWU is at home this time) and the Thunder have everyone from that game back, so they know they can do it.  Their win at Devos has shown they have the toughness to go on to a strong team's home court and come away with a win. 

Hope cruised against overmatched Cornell.  Very balanced scoring with usual double double by Buchanan.  No one played more than 24 minutes so the Dutch should be well rested for tonight's game vs. WashU.  The Bears handled a good Wheaton team quite easily and Massey has this game as a 50/50.  In this case, I think Massey has it about right.

Trine with an impressive win over an outstanding DePauw team last night.  Going to correct Roundball999, they gave up 29 pts in the 1st half.  39 would have been VERY uncharacteristic of this team, however that may not be the case tonight against IWU.  Their scoring from this season is very impressive, several games over 100 pts.  Will be interesting on who imposes their type of game on each other.  Trine with more of a slower pace, although they can run a little bit too.  But sounds like IWU is full on get up and go with full court pressure.  IWU with added incentive of getting knocked out by Trine last year.   

A win tonight by Trine would be an unbelievable first weekend considering the tournament stacked against them in the first 2 rounds.  I think George Fox is the only other team in the tournament that has had to face 2 ranked teams in the opening rounds.  They get #2 Wartburg tonight. 

GO THUNDER!

[Roundball999]

Strong night for MIAA WBB last night. 

Trine gave up an uncharacteristic 39 points to DePauw in the first half then settled in and clamped down by allowing a more Trine-like 21 in the 2nd.  Martin and Dawson very good as usual with typical high shooting percentage. Will be an interesting game vs. IWU which likes to play pressure defense and speed it up a bit, quite the contrast to Trine.  Massey favors IWU by 16 at home, which seems crazy to me.  I think this one will be very close but give Trine the edge.  They beat IWU in the tournament last year (neutral court then while IWU is at home this time) and the Thunder have everyone from that game back, so they know they can do it.  Their win at Devos has shown they have the toughness to go on to a strong team's home court and come away with a win. 

Hope cruised against overmatched Cornell.  Very balanced scoring with usual double double by Buchanan.  No one played more than 24 minutes so the Dutch should be well rested for tonight's game vs. WashU.  The Bears handled a good Wheaton team quite easily and Massey has this game as a 50/50.  In this case, I think Massey has it about right.

Trine with an impressive win over an outstanding DePauw team last night.  Going to correct Roundball999, they gave up 29 pts in the 1st half.  39 would have been VERY uncharacteristic of this team, however that may not be the case tonight against IWU.  Their scoring from this season is very impressive, several games over 100 pts.  Will be interesting on who imposes their type of game on each other.  Trine with more of a slower pace, although they can run a little bit too.  But sounds like IWU is full on get up and go with full court pressure.  IWU with added incentive of getting knocked out by Trine last year.   

A win tonight by Trine would be an unbelievable first weekend considering the tournament stacked against them in the first 2 rounds.  I think George Fox is the only other team in the tournament that has had to face 2 ranked teams in the opening rounds.  They get #2 Wartburg tonight. 

GO THUNDER!

Thanks for the correction, it seemed so unusual for Trine that I should have checked the math. Even more impressive to hold DePauw to 21 in the 2nd.  Good luck to the Thunder tonight.

[Enginerd]

If Trine's two D-I transfers can stay out if foul trouble - they will handle IWU easily. IWU was not terribly deep to begin with, and they lost a starter recently to an ACL tear and their most athletic post player to the flu - and it looks like she won't be dressing at all this weekend, per the CCIW Board.
IWU relies primarily on speeding the game up and turning the other team over and rely in their (usually) superior athleticism. The biggest issue for them offensively is that their best two players (Ehresman and McGraw) rely on a lot of transition points (Ehresman) and mid-range jumpers (McGraw). Rose-Hulman gave them fits and, but for a missed free-throw with no time on the clock, would have played IWU to OT, at a minimum. Physical, defensive-oriented teams give them trouble historically - and Trine is a nightmare match-up. IWU only wins this game if they get 25-30 from McGraw and Merrit holds her own in the post.
If Trine can hold IWU to fewer than 58 points, they will win.