WBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[JMM]

Correct, you did not say it as easy, that was me and yes WW shooting in the second half was not that great. EC had plenty of opportunity to catch up but simply did not deliver much of anything (other than Plendil who was phenomenal). That said, WW played smart underneath on offense, pulling Plendil out and passing around her for some easy lay ups. I thought WW had a good game plan and was really prepared for the game. I also think they out and out beat EC by a mile.

[badgerwarhawk]

Correct, you did not say it as easy, that was me and yes WW shooting in the second half was not that great. EC had plenty of opportunity to catch up but simply did not deliver much of anything (other than Plendil who was phenomenal). That said, WW played smart underneath on offense, pulling Plendil out and passing around her for some easy lay ups. I thought WW had a good game plan and was really prepared for the game. I also think they out and out beat EC by a mile.

Those are comments that we can agree on. 

[Blue Devil Backer]

stout after battleing sup gets first win fun game to watch

[badgerwarhawk]

The WARHAWKS got their revenge on the home court defeating LaCrosse 71-61.  Both teams started the game cold from the field as LaCrosse got the first points of the game after almost three minutes had expired.  Cortney Kumerow got the WARHAWKS on the board with a jumper on the ensuing possession and a layup by Jamie Swanson gave them a lead, that with two exceptions, they would build to a high of seven, 22-15, and hold for the remainder of the half which ended with the WARHAWKS on top 31-25.  The WARHAWKS were outshot 47% to 43% in the half but had 30 attempts to just 17 for the Eagles.  A 9-3 Eagle advantage from the charity stripe kept the score differential in check.  Kassie Robinson and Mallory Cramer each had six points for the Eagles while Katie Burton, Chantel Burg and Emily Bestor paced the WARHAWKS with six points apiece.  The WARHAWKS maintained a lead for the first two and half minutes of the second half before LaCrosse tied the game 35-35 and then took a two point lead.  Mary Merg's three-pointer put the WARHAWKS back on top and they built the lead to seven points 49-42 at the eleven and half mark.  After that LaCrosse would get to within a single point 59-58 with two and half minutes and was still within a pair 62-60 with two minutes to go.  But another three-pointer from Merg propelled the WARHAWKS and six for six shooting from the charity stripe sealed the deal.

The WARHAWKS finished the game shooting 40% from the floor while the Eagles finished at 48%.  LaCrosse held a two point advantage from the charity stripe but made only one of six attempts from behind the arc.  The WARHAWKS were five of nine on three-pointers.  The WARHAWKS scored 27 points off of 29 Eagle turnovers and outscored the Eagles 13-8 on second chances and 20-15 off of the bench.  The WARHAWKS held a 36-32 advantage rebounding including 16-8 on the offensive end. 

Mary Merg and Chantel Burg each scored 16 points to pace the WARHAWKS in scoring.  All of Merg's points came in the second half.  Burg also finished with a game high 9 rebounds.  Kaitlyn Thill's 6 assists and 4 steals were  game highs. 

Robinson had a game high 21 points.  Cramer's 7 rebounds and Leah Harms 4 assists were team highs for the Eagles.

I think the WARHAWKS may have set a national record for missed three foot and closer shots.  Also one of the funniest comments of the season came from a frustrated WARHAWK fan who shouted "don't make me come down there" when a call wasn't to his liking.  I have no idea what his plans were but the comment was hilarious. 

[JMM]

A big game coming up, the RF and EC re-match. Critical game for EC, a win postitions them for a potential championship shoot out with SP on Feb 18. A RF win stirs the WIAC playoff picture like liquid scamble eggs. Predicting an EC win. The game is at Zorn, EC played very well against OSH, and I just don't think RF matches up well against RF. Laura Olsen will be seeing alot of action and that is good for he Blugolds. The key to the game is EC defense. If they play as they are capable on defense, could be a tough go for RF. EC must pressure the 3pt shot.

[Just Bill]

I don't know if Champ is still reading this board, but if you don't hang out and comment when Stout is bad, it kind of lessens your credibility when Stout is good. You know what I mean?

That and you're fun to have around. C'mon back.

[bulk19]

Hey, Just Bill:

Not sure if you saw this in the Stevens Point Journal, or the D3 link on the front page, but this was a pretty good story about Cassie Bandow...

http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/article/20120131/SPJ02/201310545/UWSP-women-s-basketball-Bandow-might-not-flashy-numbers-intangibles-make-her-leader?odyssey=mod%7Cdefcon%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

"Cassie probably understands the game better than any player I've coached here."
High praise from Coach Egner, who has seen quite a few good ones come through the Berg...

[JMM]

Believe Ellen Plendl received her second D3Hoops team of the week for this year. She been pretty remarkable this year. Rebounds, points, block shoots and a leader on and off the court.

[The Champ]

I don't know if Champ is still reading this board, but if you don't hang out and comment when Stout is bad, it kind of lessens your credibility when Stout is good. You know what I mean?

That and you're fun to have around. C'mon back.

Bill

I haven't been able to get to a game since the home opener (non conference) back in early November.  Even though the results weren't good, I continued posting into December.  But then with the holiday break and things getting kind of crazy work and personally, I haven't been posting.

I have been reading though.

When I learned that Sami Schoeder went down during the holiday tournament out East, I thought about posting that.  I decided not to for fear that some would take that as an excuse for a continuing bad season.

It most assuredly has been a tough year to be a Stout fan, for sure.

Nice to know that I was missed...

[bulk19]

UWRF (17-4, 9-3) defeats UWEC (17-5, 10-3), 60-59...

The Falcons figuratively stole one in Zorn today, but played well enough that they can say they literally earned the W... Tiffany Gregorich (see fredfalcon's summary on the men's board) was a key player down the stretch for UWRF, scoring the game winner on a layup with 15 seconds left, after sitting on the bench for about two minutes, shaking off the cobwebs from a collision... She led all scorers with 21...

UWEC had a chance to win, but turned the ball over with three seconds left, without getting a shot off. There wasn't enough time for UWEC to get in the three fouls it would have needed to send UWRF to the line, hoping for a miss, rebound and a miracle heave to win it...

Alise Holst had a nice game for UWRF, with 14; several were clutch shots (scored 12 in the second half); she gets my MVP vote for the game (added 7 boards and 4 steals)... Maranada Dohrn pulled down 11 boards... UWEC was led by Callie Halama with 15 and Sarah Bingea with 12... Nicole Christianson had 8 assists, while Ellen Plendl had a monster 10 blocked shots for the 'Golds...

Turnovers and steals were big factors - UWEC had 19 miscues and 7 steals, while the Falcons had only 12 turnovers and 16 steals... Boards were even steven at 32... Blugolds went on an 11-0 run to take a 33-25 lead at the break...

Nice crowd on hand (1,316) on what was alumni day for both the men's and women's teams, and the court dedication to Coach Ken Anderson...

[bulk19]

And down the stretch they come!
The standings for the six playoff spots, and remaning schedules, are:
1) UWSP 11-2, and 19-3 overall. = home Oshkosh; away games at Stout and UWEC...

2) UWEC 10-3, and 17-5 overall. = Stout away; followed by homers against UWP and UWSP...

3) UWRF 9-3, and 17-4 overall. = at Superior; followed by homers against Oshkosh, UWL and WW...

4) UWW 8-4, and 16-5 overall. = home against UWP; then on the road for Superior, Oshkosh and UWRF...

5) UWL 7-5, and 14-7 overall. = Stout and UWP at home; followed by road trips to UWRF and Superior...

6) UW Superior 4-9, and 10-11 overall. = home against UWRF, WW and UWL.

7) UWP 4-9, and 6-15 overall. = on the road to WW, UWL and UWEC...

8) UW Stout 2-10, and 6-15 overall. = at UWL; host UWEC and Point, close out at Oshkosh...

9) UWO 1-11, and 7-14 overall. = at Point and URF; close out at home with WW and Stout...

Point controls its own destiny for conference title... But I'm saying UWEC beats them in EC... But will the 'Golds trip up against Stout or Platteville?...

Falcons have last three at home, including key match vs. WW... WW has sort of been flying under the radar; can't really say that, though - they have a great squad, but will have to be road warriors, finishing last three on the road...

Can UWL go 4-0 (with a win at UWRF), finish with an 18-7 record, win a game or two in the conference to get to 20 on the season, and put themselves on the bubble for the Big Dance?

Superior and UWP have tough schedules; common opponents are UWL and WW... But Superior has home cooking for all three of its games, including hosting UWRF, while UWP is on the road for its three, including to EC...

So... I typed all this up... it's your alls mission to sort it all out and tell me how it all ends up! 
The WIAC tournament will, unfortunately, probably knock one of four potential teams out of the Big Dance? 

[JMM]

Love and appeciated the post on finishing up the WIAC. My thoughts:
1. SP does control it's destiny and should finish with no loses, but
2, EC should have no problem with Stout and UWP, can beat SP at Zorn; have the talent but not the determination for a full 40 minutes. Besides Shirley ain't going to lose. She'll sweat some but won't lose.
3. RF, man are they good and tenacious, the game with WW will be so electric only the strong will be able to watch it, WW wins. RF wins all their other games games.
4. WW will not lose a game for the rest of the year and take the WIAC tournament - if no injuries. Disaplined, tenancious, well coached and on a mission from Bucky Badger.
5. LAX Will lose to RF have a chance for a last hoorah by winning that game but will not win

So WW gets the NCAA bid, and loses in round 2
SP goes NCAA and wins 2 before loss to the Chicago
EC and RF are on the bubble; Maybe EC gets the nod because Plendl brings national attention as an all american and potential Josten's finalist. Out in the second round.
RF  unfortunately, EC and RF are on the bubble and one or both may not make it to NCAA land

If EC beats SP in a barn burner at ZORN, could be different. EC needs to come to full maturity before Feb 18 and play the game the way they beat RF at RF. All players heads in the game for 40 minutes.

[badgerwarhawk]

For the fifth time this season the WARHAWKS held an opponent under fifty points by beating Platteville 62-48.  The WARHAWKS started the game with a 9-0 run and maintained a lead of at least four points before building it to double digits 22-12 with nine minutes remaining in the half.  Platteville got to within seven points with just under six minutes to play but the WARHAWKS went back up by twelve at the three minute mark and the half ended with them up ten 34-24.  The WARHAWKS dominated the boards 20 to 10 and outshot the Pioneers 58% to 33%.  Courtney Kumerow went 4-4 from the floor and led all scorers with 9 points.   Much like the first half the second one started with a WARHAWK run 13-4 and the lead reached twenty points 51-31 in the first nine minutes.  After that fourteen is the closest the Pioneers would get.

The WARHAWKS finished the game shooting an even 50% to the Pioneers 32% and held a 40-27 margin on the boards.  Platteville had fewer turnovers 22 to 27 but the WARHAWKS held a 22-14 edge in points off of them.  Platteville struggled dealing with the WARHAWK bigs which led to a 32-20 scoring advantage in the paint and an 11-6 advantage in second chance points.  The two teams combined to shoot just 14 free throws.

Kumerow finished 7 of 7 from the floor and 2 of 3 from the free throw line for a game high 17 points.  Chantel Burg had game highs of 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals to go with her 9 points.  Mary Merg also had 3 assists.     

Platteville was led by Alyissa Krajco who came off the bench to score 10 points and grab 5 rebounds.   

[The Champ]

Well, made my first regular season WIAC BB game last night.  Closer for us to go to LaCrosse than it is to go to Menomonie - and I didn't have to run any training programs at the Tech College in Rochester last night!

Was really a pretty exciting game that went right down to the wire.  Both teams had some big lapses during the game - i.e. no one going after a rebound (either team).

With 2 seconds left, Stout had a 2 point deficit and they weren't able to block the inbound pass or cause UWL to get a 5 second violation.  In an attempt to steal the ball, Whitney Rawdon got called for a foul and 2 FT's made the final 65 - 61.

Not being able to stop Kassie Robinson underneath was the difference in the game.  Her 23 points led all scorers.

Neither team was hitting FT's very well.  In the second half, both teams were only in the mid 50% on FT's.  But the FT's made the difference as UWL had 25 FT attempts to Stout's 13.

It was worth the trip to see the Blue Devil women play.  Wish I could have caught one of their recent wins.  Had some good chats with some of the parents during and after the game.

Can't make it to the Stout Alumni game this Saturday due to other commitments.  The Alumni game is something we really enjoy attending as quite a few of the former players come in and it's fun to catch up with what they are doing in the real world.

[Out_Of_My_Kitchen]

Thanks for the updated standings, but a few things I think you missed.

UWP is actually the 6 seed based on tiebreakers. They swept the season series against Superior. Might seem minor, but since the 6 seed makes the conference tournament and the 7 is done for the year, it is pretty major.

And because of byes this week, Superior is off Wednesday and Platteville is off Saturday. Platteviile has played EC very tough the last couple years. So if Plattevile wins Wednesday they are in the conference tournament.

Good race at the top, I expect SP to take care of Stout. There is no way they overlook a Stout team on the road that is playing very good ball lately, sans today.

Another typical season in the WIAC!