WBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bulk19]

This is the post Out Of My Kitchen is referring to; I deleted the one from earlier, and cut and pasted this one here, with the corrections... That's why it shows up after his post... He's not a psychic, or able to read invisible ink! 


Saturday scores:
UWW 69, Superior 50
UWL 64, Platteville 57
UWRF 71, Oshkosh 46
UWEC 72, Stout 40
Pointers off

Two games left in the regular season - standings are:

1) UWSP 12-2, and 20-3 overall: away games at Stout and UWEC...

2) UWRF 11-3, and 19-4 overall: homers against UWL and WW...

3) UWEC 11-3, and 18-5 overall: homers against UWP and UWSP...

4) UWW 10-4, and 18-5 overall: away games at Oshkosh and UWRF...

5) UWL 9-5, and 16-7 overall: road trips to UWRF and Superior...

6) UW Superior 4-11, and 10-13 overall: home against UWL...

7) UWP 4-11, and 8-16 overall: at UWEC...

8) UW Stout 2-12, and 6-17 overall: host Point, on road at Oshkosh...

9) UWO 1-13, and 7-16 overall: homers against WW and Stout...

I fixed the errors, as noted by Out Of My Kitchen... Nice catches...

The WIAC site has Superior listed ahead of Platteville, based on overall records. So I just listed them that way, without taking into account any tiebreakers situations, which I have no clue how they will work out this year, seeings there are so many different scenarios possible. Ha...

(I think I messed up Platteville's record in the previous post on Feb. 4, too. But if bulk19 makes an error, and nobody points it out, did he really make an error?    )

[Hoopsguy45]

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!

Platteville is currently the 6 seed, BUT they did not sweep the season series from Superior.  Superior beat them in Superior in December.

The tiebreaker goes all the way down to step 4 which is road wins in WIAC games.  Platteville beat Stout at Stout wile Superior beat Stout in Superior.  Platteville's two wins on the road puts them ahead of Superior's one road win in WIAC play.

All of that being said, I expect Superior to earn the 6 seed with a win at home versus La Crosse on Saturday.

[badgerwarhawk]

A layup from Katie Burton gave the WARHAWKS the first points of the game and a lead they would hold the rest of the way in blow out 85-50 win over Oshkosh.  Oshkosh failed to score for the first six minutes of the game but the WARHAWKS weren't doing much better as they led only 7-3.  Oshkosh would keep the differential within single digits until Kaitlyn Thill's layup put the WARHAWKS up 21-11.  After that the WARHAWKS would continue to built on the lead and the half ended with the score 40-24.  Burton's 11 points led the WARHAWKS while Titan guard Katie Klitzke's 14 points were a game high.  Titan center Heather Conroy pulled down 10 rebounds in the half.  The WARHAWKS started the second half with a 25-10 run in the first four minutes.  They reached their largest lead of the night, 71-34, on an Amy Mandrell layup at the midway point of the half and after that the Titan's never got closer than twenty nine points the rest of the way.

The WARHAWKS defense held Oshkosh to 30% shooting on the night while their offense shot 46% and they held a 46-35 advantage on the boards.  Points off of turnovers (24-4), second chance points (15-9), bench points (37-13) and points in the paint (44-14) all favored the WARHAWKS. 

Mary Merg's 16 points and Burton's 11 led fourteen WARHAWK players who scored.  Merg also had 3 steals.  Chantel Burg's stat line read 9 points, 8 rebounds and game highs of 5 assists and 2 blocks.  Thill had a game high 4 steals. 

Klitzke's 20 points led all scorers and Conroy's 11 rebounds were a game high. 

The win, coupled with a LaCrosse loss at River Falls, clinches no worse than a 4 seed for the WARHAWKS and home floor in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.  With River Falls still on the schedule that could improve to at least a 3 seed with a win.  Eau Claire finishes the season hosting Stevens Point.  A WARHAWK win coupled with a BluGold loss would leave the WARHAWKS with the 2 seed by virtue of the two team's records against River Falls. 

[SilversSports]

Good win for River Falls last night as the Karges Center said forget #linsanity, its #Luesanity as So. Tess Lueders drops 18 off the bench to lead all scorers.  Good night all-around for the Falcons, limiting Robinson on the defensive end and getting four scorers in double digits, Lueders 18, Holst 15, T. Gregorich, 13, Dorhn 13.  Dorhn picked up her 8th double-double of the season and 21st of her career as well as moved into 10th all-time in the WIAC in career rebounds. 

[JMM]

Two days to the WIAC showdown, EC and SP; RF and WW. Should be feeling the earth rattle in West Central WI as the teams start play. Coach Englund thinks EC matches up well against SP. I think if she gets her crew to play the full 40 minutes, with out the usual EC mid-game, 10 minute lull, EC wins. Last night they looked Ooohhh so good against UWP but there was that 10 minutes of missing time at the start of the second half, when the EC went into the "NO ZONE" - no scoring-no defense-no great play. They certainly did come out of it to achieve a really nice win but, you cannot do that with SP, RF or WW. That "NO ZONE" habit which has been in almost every game, has me thinking SP.

I like WW over RF but I know that RF is super, super good. Seen WW play three times in the last few weeks and they are playing well and in grand form. This is a game of desire to win. I think when WW wants to win, they are hard to stop. It will be a treat to watch two teams play each other where the defense is so tight, you can barely slide a piece of paper in between playes. They both do this better than anyone. I'm going SP and WW. Unless the Blugolds but away th "NO ZONE"and play the full 40 minutes. It is crunch time ladies! Crunch time in the WIAC, Downtown Wisconsin, right there where Bucky Badger lives.

[JMM]

After much thinking and an uplifting almost spiritual conversation with Bucky the Bdger, I now beleive EC takes SP. SP is due for a road loss and a little let down. Also Shirley, the WIAC Coaching Ace, can't always win. EC by 5.

[BanditUWSP]

In looking at the standings and results for Point, Eau Claire, WW, and River Falls, even a Point loss today would still get them the #1 seed in the WIAC tournament.  A loss to EC would leave them tied with EC and possibly RF.  Since Point, EC and RF would have all split with each other, the next team is WW.  Point beat them twice while EC and RF each lost to WW.  Therefore, I can't see any way that SP won't be the #1 seed - win or lose today.  After that, the possibilities for #2-4 seeding seem endless.

[JMM]

Correct, SP is number 1 seed. But Bucky Badger was right and it was a grand day for EC. EC is WIAC Champ with SP. The play of Plendl and Halama underneath was probably the best ever seen for a Woman's basketball game at Zorn - probably men as well. Callie would absolutely not  be denied, she and EC were going to win and Ms. Halama slammed it home, again and again and again. EC came to play for 40 minutes and really poured it on in the end. SP is grand, Shirley is the WIAC Ace but today they had to settle for a shared championship. I still think that WW will win the tournament (unless the same EC team that just beat SP shows up next Thursday). I see WW and SP in the championship game with WW taking the ticket to NCAA-ville. I will commune with Buckey Badger again next Thursday to see f he disagrees, but for now SP and WW for the championshp with WW taking the marbles. Hey, this is the WIAC 4 teams in the top 25. Great year gang! (who is Amherst anyway or Chicago for that matter.)

[bulk19]

UWEC's bigs dominated, as the Blugolds stormed back from a 29-21 deficit at the break to outscore the Pointers 45-26 in the second half to win 66-55 in Eau Claire...

UWEC's Callie Halama had a double double, with 13 boards and a career high 27 points, to lead all scorers. Teammate Ellen Plendl also doubled up, with 12 boards and 20 points... Myranda Tyler led UWSP with 12 points; Sam Barber and Brooke Allen each had 11...

Pointers held the Blugolds hoopless for nearly 10 minutes in the first half, but the Golds went on a 10-run to start the second half and evened things up at about the 17 minute mark. Teams went back and forth for the next 7 minutes, until Nicole Christianson hit the first of two huge three pointers, to put UWEC up 43-40. She hit another at the 7:16 mark to put the Golds up 50-46...

Point went up by 2, 52-50, at around 6 minutes left, but then UWEC outscored them 16-5 the rest of the way, 10 of them coming on free throws... UWEC was 20 of 24 from the stripe; UWSP went 2 of 6.

The Pointers shot better, 24-56 (.429), than UWEC (22-62, for .355, including an ugly 7-28 in the first half), but the Golds held the edge on the boards, 45-33, and outscored Point in the paint, 32-10...

Key stat of the day: Blugolds played possession ball, and only had 7 turnovers... If they can duplicate that effort down the road...

Second key stat of the day: Big crowd that the Blugolds fed off of - 1,576!

The win gives UWEC (13-3, 20-5) a share of the conference title with the Pointers (13-3, 21-4). As a result, both teams get first round byes on Tuesday, with the Pointers being the top seed.

Other scores today: UWW 67, UWRF 61...
Superior 79, UWL 68...
Stout 65, Oshkosh 60...

The parings for Tuesday put #6 Superior (5-11, 12-13) at #3 Whitewater (12-4, 20-5) and #5 La Crosse (9-7, 16-9) at #4 River Falls (12-4, 20-5)

[Hoopsguy45]

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!

Platteville is currently the 6 seed, BUT they did not sweep the season series from Superior.  Superior beat them in Superior in December.

The tiebreaker goes all the way down to step 4 which is road wins in WIAC games.  Platteville beat Stout at Stout wile Superior beat Stout in Superior.  Platteville's two wins on the road puts them ahead of Superior's one road win in WIAC play.

All of that being said, I expect Superior to earn the 6 seed with a win at home versus La Crosse on Saturday.

Just giving props to myself for predicting the win...and props to the UW-Superior women for playing a great game today and pulling out the win at home.  I feel like they are a deserving playoff team even though they have struggled since their freshmen guard Linzmeier went down.

I know it's just the 6th seed and they certainly won't be expected to win at Whitewater, but it was definitely a decent year in Superior for the women's team this year and I expect them to put out a heck of an effort on Tuesday.

[JMM]

Some follow up from the play of the "bigs" in the EC win over SP, from the Eau Claire Leader Newspaper:

-That hunger was personified in Halama, a 5-foot-11 forward from Independence who picked a great time for the best game of her career. She relentlessly attacked the offensive and defensive glass, finishing with 13 rebounds. She put the team on her back during a stretch in the second half and finished with 27 points.

"She got the crowd into the game," Englund said. "She just wouldn't quit. A lot of time she hit off the top of the board, underneath the rim, but she just keeps on going."

Happy for Blugolds and happy for Callie who had wanted to be a blugold since she was a kid.

[badgerwarhawk]

Since the inception of the conference tournament only one team not seeded first or second has won it.  Stevens Point was a #3 seed in the 2007-08 season and won.  Point has a four season streak as conference tournament champion going.  Aside from the Pointers (5) and Blue Devils (4) only two other programs have won, Eau Claire (3) and Oshkosh (1).   The #1 seed has won 11 times and the #2 and #3 have each won once. 

[JMM]

WIAC teams remaiin nationally ranked on D3Hoops. 12 - SP, 16-EC, 21-RF, 23-WW. The tournament should be pretty good. Can 3 teams make the NCAA? If SP or EC wins the WIAC ticket, maybe. If RF or WW, just don't know. Anyone have insights or guesses?

[bulk19]

WIAC teams remaiin nationally ranked on D3Hoops. 12 - SP, 16-EC, 21-RF, 23-WW. The tournament should be pretty good. Can 3 teams make the NCAA? If SP or EC wins the WIAC ticket, maybe. If RF or WW, just don't know. Anyone have insights or guesses?

Just taking the top 4 seeds - The worst each team would be if it lost its first game:
UWSP 21-5, and the other three would each be 20-6, and would probably still be in the Top 25...
That warrants an NCAA berth for all four teams, in my book, no matter how the other conference tournaments shake out, even if there are upsets...

However, UWL has beaten Whitewater and Point, and if the Eagles come out to just have some fun and don't feel any pressure, (like on extended bonus play on a video game  ), and get on a roll, and win the WIAC tournament... That really throws a wrench into the mix...

[JMM]

Took in the RF-LAX game. LAX had its chances several times but missed shots underneath and too often took bad shoots in the last 10 minutes. LAX is a very solid team. RF did what they had to do, but they could have been beaten last night. I do not see RF beating SP.
EC will have their hands full with WW. I see WW taking this game. That could leave EC with no NCAA bid. Question is whether or not EC is content with the shared WIAC championship or if they are hungry for more. Thursday night, Zorn Arena at 7 PM.