WBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Voice of the Titans]

I'm still debating.

[billys]

Sorry, hibernated on the women when the men made the tournament. I'm trying to catch up on what everyone has said.

I'm definitely pulling for the Stouters. They gave UW-L 3 of their 8 losses and were really the only team that owned UW-L this year. Should be fun next year though.

I'm also rooting because, and I may be in the minority here, but I think by the end of the year there were four WIAC teams that would have done well in the NCAA's. I know some teams lost some games in non-conference early but they were "toughened" up late. I think Oshkosh and UW-L could have a won at least one in the tourney and Point I'm not positive on cause I didn't see them without Kranz. Obviously it all comes down to matchups but I don't think the league was that far down from what people think. Hopefully Stout will keep proving that.

Also noticed some All-Conference talk a few pages back. Awesome honor for Hunter at UWL. Doesn't that seem somewhat amazing that it's 11 years for a frosh first teamer? How about impact? I know everyone spent all year talking about EC's freshmen class but UWL's 2009 group is every bit as good. They add another to that class with the medical redshirt of a nice post that played a last season but tore her ACL. Now the challenge is having them all become seniors some day.

[billys]

Oh yeah. Forgot.

gulp!

Go Stout!

[BDB]

How many other WIAC fans are rooting for Stout? Just curious.

Thanks buf and billys. 

I remember when the Warhawks were in the football playoffs and all the BlueDevils were rooting for them.

Go WIAC and go BlueDevils!

[stoutguy]

Thanks, WIAC guys for the support.  I too, got kind of out of the women's loop when I was covering the men during their tournament.  Let me throw in another, "What kind of a guy is Mark Thomas".  WMEQ radio did not know if they could afford to send two radio guys to Washington as it is very expensive.  I was going to do the boys sectional (Menomonie/ECM).  Mark Thomas asked me if I wanted to go West with his team.  He said he would make some phone calls.  Guess what.  All of a sudden WMEQ calls and says I am going West.  Mark Thomas (and WMEQ) are a class act.  The things that are happening in athletics right now at Stout are fun to be a part of.  I have been a Menomonie High School guy all my life, but this Stout thing is a growing, thriving, exciting thing to be a part of and I think it is only going to get better.  GO BLUEDEVILS

[The Champ]

I'm also rooting because, and I may be in the minority here, but I think by the end of the year there were four WIAC teams that would have done well in the NCAA's.

You may be in the minority - but I am in agreement with you, and posted the same on MIAC forum here.

This is the MIAC post:

Definitely a disappointing night last night for the MIAC.  I wasn't that surprised that Simpson held off CSB on their home floor.  But I definitely expected more out of Concordia, even if it was this team's first trip to the dance.  61-37?  OUCH!  I mean, I knew Stout was a quality team and all but still.  Is the WIAC that good or is the MIAC that bad?  

And this was my response:

I'd like to suggest that the WIAC is just that good.  

We have three other WIAC teams that are good enough to have been playing this weekend - Stevens Point, Oshkosh and LaCrosse.

I truly believe that any of those teams would have given Simpson a run for their money on Simpson's home court last night.  Not saying that they'd have all won, but they would have been very competitive games.

Concordia is a young team - they could very well be back next year and go deeper in the Tournament!

From a recent St. Ben's fans post on the MIAC forum:

It was actually a really fun game and the crowd was loud and really into it.  Almost one whole side of the gym was full of students who stood and screamed and yelled the whole game.  It made for a fun playoff atmosphere and I'm sure it energized the Storm --- it was a great home court advantage and atmosphere.

The crowd was 950 on Friday night, and that included folks that stayed to watch the second game.  Saturday, with Simpson playing on their home court for the right to move on to the Sectionals, the attendance was only 650 - and that was with Simpson offering upto 500 free tickets for the Simpson students...

I'd be interested what the St. Ben's fan would think of playing at Johnson Field House in front of 1 - 2,000 WIAC fans.  Of course, all WIAC fans just sit and watch the game and never cheer....

Instead of a crowd of 650 for the game last Saturday, I wouldn't have been surprised to see 2,000+ in the stands.  Now that would be a "great home court advantage".

[The Champ]

Great news SG!!!

When I saw you Monday night and you said you wouldn't be making the trip, I was really disappointed - both for you and myself.

I really like your part of the radio feed, and for a game of this magnitude, I truly felt you should be part of it.

I really hope you have a great weekend in Tacoma!!!

Of course, if you have a great weekend, I'll have one too!

[buf]

bllys-

I think more were talking about EC's freshman class because they logged the most minutes of any team, and 5 got significant playing time in pretty much every game.  Also there are probably more EC posters than Lax posters on this site.  Lax definately has a good class, along with WW.

Champ-

I am sure Stout would have sold out if at Johnson Fieldhouse.  EC sold out their 2nd round games about 5-6 years ago.  Isn't is ashame that some schools who get the opportunity to host a sectional can only fill their stands half-full?

[foul_language]

Opera is big at Simpson, so that may have created some claim on students. I know the restaurant we ate at Friday was setting up buffet tables, and i assumed it might be for basketball people after the game. It was hors d'oeuvres for the opera people from Simpson. I suppose it would have been pizza if it had been basketball players.

I was very aware of the impact the Simpson student support Friday night; I think they were there quite heavily Saturday, as well, filling the far side of the gym. I thought they did a lot to help the team; perhaps they fed off each other. In fact, I was so aware of the students, I really hoped not to face them Saturday night. St Bens might have looked like the stronger team on paper, but Simpson had all the elements working for it: raucous crowd included.

Could Stout have had a bigger win without the crowd? I wonder about that. Or, did Stout have the win it had, because of the group that followed them to Indianola? There was a sizeable contingent rooting for Stout Friday and Saturday.

I'm sure the refs are quite grateful for our help, too.

[The Champ]

Champ-

I am sure Stout would have sold out if at Johnson Fieldhouse.  EC sold out their 2nd round games about 5-6 years ago.  Isn't is ashame that some schools who get the opportunity to host a sectional can only fill their stands half-full?

In Simpson's defense, at 650 attendance on Saturday night, the field house was more than half full.  But there was a substantial showing of UW Stout fans to accomplish that.

Of course, the Simpson website claims that the capacity is 3,000...

I did a quick calculation by counting the seats in my section, and I'd estimate actual seating capacity at about 1200.

Now D3 hoops website claims a capacity of 2200 for Stout, and the season opener against UWEC we had 2076 in attendance.

For reference, Simpson never had a home game that exceeded 1,000 this past year.

Concordia's attendance for the MIAC Championship game was 353 and they averaged 230 for the season.

St. Bens - well they don't publish the attendance for their home games - but for the average attendance for road games was (including the game at Simpson) 304.

[The Champ]

I'm sure the refs are quite grateful for our help, too.

LOL...

I was quiet and demure, but I do believe you lived up to your board handle...

As you know, I wasn't there for Friday night.  But considering there were probably far less than 100 St. Ben's fans in attendance, It most likely appeared that only Simpson fans were in attendance.

As you noted, there was a very respectable Stout fan section.  And we don't mind getting up to cheer on occassion...

Have to give our Cheer and Stunt Squad credit.  They really worked our crowd to cheer, and they actually did something during the timeouts.  It was interesting watching the Simpson Cheerleaders watch our group do their lifts... 8)

All in all, a good weekend for the team.

I just talked to Coach T as he was riding up to the airport - he said everyone is healthy, so I told him just to go out there and play their game!

The should be somewhere over the Dakotas right now.

[foul_language]

When I contacted the Simpson sports info director about advance tickets, he said the place seated 1300+ as explanation for not selling tickets ahead of time. Apparently, 1300 seemed adequate to accommodate any crowd. And, of course, in the end it was. I asked the same thing of the PLU SID, and he said they seat 3,200, so there's no need to sell advance tickets. I imagine he's right since teams are coming from Texas, Wisconsin and Virginia--teams pretty much represent the four 'corners' of the country. Unless people are planning to vacation in Washington for spring break, there are not likely to be enough people to pack the gym.

[buf]

It will be an interesting game tomorrow that Stout has with Randolph Macon.  Macon has some size that could potentially give Duoss some fits.  I assume however that Duoss is more athletic than the Macon bigs.  Another good battle will be between Silva and Hendricks, provided that they will be matched up together.

[MajorStoutFan]

Wow, so love reading about the Lady Blue Devils! First time I have posted though.  Just want to say, not only does Coach T have passion, but those girls play with all heart.  We love the team and wish we could follow them this weekend too (loved Iowa!!)  I expect the girls will have a tough game on Friday, but they have the right mental attitude and with this group of girls, they have the passion to "get it done".  Molly won't give up 

[The Champ]

It will be an interesting game tomorrow that Stout has with Randolph Macon.  Macon has some size that could potentially give Duoss some fits.  I assume however that Duoss is more athletic than the Macon bigs.  Another good battle will be between Silva and Hendricks, provided that they will be matched up together.

I think the key is to hold Silva to her average # of points, and then shut down the rest of the team.  Silva is a great player, and great players aren't shut down.

But if we can turn her into their only weapon, I think we can get the result we want - another Stout "W".