WBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[foul_language]

Just to clarify this little discussion: I was comparing Superior to Stevens Point in an attempt to point out the relative "where are you-ness?" of both places; somehow Menomonie sneaked into the dialogue.  I was putting THE lake up against farm fields. Not to say farm fields aren't nice; they have their charm: waves of grain and all that. I wouldn't belittle any lake--although man-made lakes are a little lower on the scale of lakiness--or river or other water entity. Except water parks; can't abide water parks.

OK? I believe we can declare this horse dead.

By the way, Stoutguy, the game came through very well. I don't recall any problems until the radio cut T off mid-post-game-interview.

[stoutguy]

I used to teach with a guy who was from Superior.  All he would ever say when talking about his hometown was: "They call it Superior for a reason".  Go STOUTS

[badgerwarhawk]

In Stevens Point you are more apt to see waves of potatoes.

[foul_language]

Must be where those Wavy Lays chips come from

[Rico 21]

foul -

...but our lakes are greener and stink more than your lake...

[shootfromthearc]

Nobody has anything to say about basketball? The once coveted WIAC tourney starts tonight and you people are discussing the SOS like UW-Superb's location versus the rest of the state (although funny - potato fields and taverns to be exact for SP but don't forget all those nice "gift shops" and "book stores" along the freeway up to the great white north). Who wins, who loses, who pulls the upsets?  Come on people!

SP sneaks past EC 64-59
LX over the Falls 81-69
STOUT 83 WW 72
OSH 84 PVILLE 57

[foul_language]

These are the moments of quiet reflection before the battle, the settling of nerves, the spitting in the face of death...

Besides which, I have no idea who will win what. After Saturday, it's all up for grabs. Every team is as capable of the sublime as of the sub-par. P-ville takes Oshkosh to overtime? Who'da thunk? I did see that SP's Cassandra Schultz is back and making up for lost time. That probably bodes poorly for Eau Claire. River Falls is always full of surprises.

Stout at home, though; I hope that's not even up for discussion.

[buf]

Point
Stout
LaCrosse
Oshkosh

[buf]

Blowout City so far in the conference tourney

EC 31
SP 49
Half

UWO 40
UWP 21
Half

Stout 27
WW 10
5min 1st

Lax 29
RF 12
5min 1st

[EChoops]

Too bad the Bluegolds couldn't pull off a win. They matched SP in the 2nd half, but the first half killed them with poor shooting. 

You'll see an awesome team next year for the "golds" with everyone back and healthy.  Great job Bluegolds!

[cubs]

Blowout City so far in the conference tourney

Stout 27
WW 10
5min 1st

After trailing 41-20 at the half, Whitwater cuts the deficit to 2 points 74-72 with 0:20 remaining.

Stout holds on and wins, 80-76.

[buf]

Stout almost blows a 15-point lead with 5min left.  WW cuts it down to 2pts twice in the final minute.  Stout prevails 80-76.  Duoss with 29pts.

EC plays well except for the last 10min of the 1st half where Point outscores them 29-11.  Kranz left the game with 3min left, putting no weight on her leg.  Tough break for Point.  She killed EC inside and I'm sure they could have used her versus UWO.

One glaring problem EC has had in the last 2 games is inside defense and rebounding.  WW and Point just dominated underneath.  Probably the #1 issue to fix in the off season.

However, good season for EC.  They finish 8-8 in conference.  Same record as last year when they had all those seniors.  

[bulk19]

Just back from Point -
As reported, UWSP 84, UWEC 74... Hard to believe this is the first time the two have meet in the tourney, but....

Chelsea Kranz has a career night as a Pointer, with 22 points, but goes down with an injury, whatever isn't the ACL, and Coach Egner's comments in postgame says she is out for Wednesday...

Blugolds' lesson for the night: You can't defend, nor get a hand in the face of, a shooter at the charity stripe. They dug a hole in the first half; Pointers made 15 of 19 free throws, vs. 'Golds 5 of 6, which accounted for a big part of the 'Golds being down at half 49-31...

Golds were sloppy with the ball, too, perhaps the worst they have been this season, that I have seen, at least. Shot poorly the first half, too. Closed the gap during garbage time.... Pointers shot 52 percent from the floor for the game...

Pointers did limit the 'Golds to quite a few one-and-dones on the defensive end, too, and were able to board efficiently the whole night, too... Key stat on the night; Heidi Arciszewski had 15, but it was a quiet 15. The Pointers were able to shut her down with a smothering defense on her; Laura Neuenfeldt gets a lot of the credit...  HA will, however, be a player who is going to be heard from the next three years, that's for sure, as will Brittanni Hakanson, who is developing a nice game in the post and had 23.

UWEC never had much chance to press; might have been a moot point, anyway, since Cassandra Schultz is going to blow by everyone if they break it.... She hit three big threes to halt any attempts by the 'Golds to gain any momentum whatsoever...

For the Blugold fans out there, the players didn't seem to be hanging their heads after this game, but I think they know they can, and will, play better than tonight....

Congratulations to Coach Egner, who was honored after the game for recently moving into second place all-time in the conference in wins, having passed up Oshkosh's Carol Anhalt and former Blugold Coach Lisa Stone.

Blugolds say goodbye to two seniors - Rachel Becker and Liz Van Drasek. Thanks for your contributions and efforts, ladies....

And last but not least - stat of the night: Only 165 fans show up to see UWL's Eagles win over River Falls... Did I read that right??? That's sad, considering the team is 19-7... They worked hard to get their first ever home tournament game, and that's the best you could do?

[foul_language]

It should have been a no-brainer to pick all the usual suspects in last night's games, but second halves proved the WIAC exception to the rule: in the this conference, everybody has a shot. Stout nearly snaps defeat from the jaws of victory, coming within two points of throwing it away in the last minutes.

It wasn't that Stout wasn't capable, it's more like they weren't paying attention. While they had their backs turned, WW sneaked in behind them.

Heard coaches bemoaning the WW effort at half time and strategizing the second half: "play their asses off" or sit on the bench. There are a lot of WW players without asses this morning, because they staged a beautiful comeback. One wonders--with all the shots they made at the end of the game--why they waited so long to show what they could do. As underdogs, playing conservatively doesn't work. I guess that was the coaches' thoughts,  too.

Anyway, Duoss proved to be unstoppable; Stout's big problems were turnovers--they gave the ball to WW as often as WW took it away.

The good news is Hendricks' eyelid is still attached; it was suggested she'd be able to see even with that eye closed, but that's most likely an exaggeration.

Platteville must not have recovered from Saturday, yet. Throw a road trip on top of that and it was a rough game for them.

I feel a little safer about making predictions for last night now.

Wednesday? Stout at home again should take LaCrosse, but they'll have to keep their heads in the game. I think Oshkosh will take Stevens Point. Oshkosh plays solid basketball, SP is a little crazier. The coach that gets flustered will lose, and I didn't see the Oshkosh coach ruffle a hair in the loss at Stout. Shirley on the other hand was ragging the refs from the jump. I think that gets to the players.

[badgerwarhawk]

As is the case every year in the women's tournament home court proves unbeatable.