WBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OshDude]

Freshman Arin Lane was phenomenal tonight in Oshkosh's win over Platteville. In 24 minutes, she scored 16 points, grabbed five boards to go along with four blocks and three steals. She seemed to be involved in everything in the second half.
Knapp and Tyriver scored their points, but Lane was the difference. With Sharpee having a down game, the Titans needed Lane tonight.
Freshman Beth Hebl also had a nice floor game and defensive effort in her 25 minutes.
If Lane can do half of what she did tonight and Sharpee bounces back after a few not-so-great games, Oshkosh is a nice sleeper team. The kids are starting to play really well and gain confidence. Get your wins over the Titans while you can. Time is running out.
Don't get me wrong -- they are not the Blue Devils or probably even close to matching them -- but they have a very nice team. Then again for every game like tonight, there's a St. Nobert-type game in them as well. Having so many freshmen will do that.

[bulk19]

As Buf noted:

It wasn't pretty, but the Blugolds grind one out against Whitewater, winning ugly...

It was a rather physical game; seemed like subtle elbows and handchecks were being used by both sides... Lot of players on the floor, too, with no calls made...

Whitewater was pressing early, but the 'Golds were able to get a few cheap buckets on lapses by the Hawks... Whitewater used a lot of effective double teams on D, too. Forced 27 turnovers, which is one of the uglies for UWEC... Big factor - UWEC was 25-58 (43%) from the field, vs. 21-72 (29%) for Whitewater...

'Golds led the whole way, until Whitewater went on a 15-0 run to take a 47-44 lead with about six minutes to go... 'Golds then were sparked by threes from Rachel Mueggenborg and Heather Witt to go on a 13-0 lead to basically end it...

Michelle Burns showed some range and demonstrated why she's an all-conference calibre player, scoring a career high 29, with 13 boards. Amanda Zenner added 9 boards. Lindsey Buechner had 16 and 9 to lead the Hawks, while Emily Peters scored 10...

Good crowd - 855 - on a night where verterans of our armed forces were honored for their service to our country. I clapped for you all, but let me say thanks here, ladies and gentlemen...

OshDude - Blugolds are coming to town on Saturday!

[stoutguy]

Re: the sportscast question about what to call Stout women's second line--simply the other half of the starting ten.

The "Other half of that starting 10" was really impressive yesterday.  I have not seen Stout for several weeks and I was impressed.  They appear ready to make a serious run.  Stout has beaten La Crosse 24 straight times now, and I just don't think the La Crosse kids believe they can win that game. 

[foul_language]

I just don't think the La Crosse kids believe they can win that game

LaCrosse has a way of stepping up when it comes to post-season play. Was it two or three years ago they gave Stout some trouble in playoffs?

Re: UWSP vs UWS--I guess that won't be a conference win for Superior. I find some comfort in the palindromic score. No Jenny Carlson, a usual starter. I know she was thigh-wrapped at the last game up here, and I know she has one bad hamstring, but I don't know if the problem was with the good hamstring or bad and I don't know if it was injury that kept her out of the game.  I also don't know if having her in the game would have made a difference. Might have only lost by 20.

[Just Bill]

It must have been "lopsided streak night" in the WIAC last night.

Stout beat La Crosse for the 24th straight time and Stevens Point beat Superior for the 23rd straight time.

[foul_language]

It wasn't that long ago--two seasons?--that LaCrosse was one of the perennial WIAC losers. There was a big-hurry turn-around last year? LAX got a couple of players and made some nice moves up the W column. I'm hoping Superior does the same thing. Lacking that, I hope to win the lottery. Even with the turn-around, I wouldn't mind winning the lottery

[Ralph Turner]

Re: the sportscast question about what to call Stout women's second line--simply the other half of the starting ten.

The "Other half of that starting 10" was really impressive yesterday.  I have not seen Stout for several weeks and I was impressed.  They appear ready to make a serious run.  Stout has beaten La Crosse 24 straight times now, and I just don't think the La Crosse kids believe they can win that game. 

A veteran observer of McMurry women made a similar comment about Stout's depth to me when she saw UW-Stout at Southwestern.

[crazy4hoops]

On the Stout thing...


I will be the first to admit that Stout has a ton of depth but sometimes that seems to plague them. In games I have witnessed sometimes it seems that Coach Thomas gets very frustrated and it becomes line change after line change....I think the time when Stout is at their best is when he gets a good 8 person rotation going and gives the girls  a chance to get something going instead of yanking them after a TO or something. Obviously they are a running all up in your face team but sometimes they benefit from slowing down and letting Duoss get the ball in an offense set rather than transition. But on the other end I have seen him make line change after line change and there seems to be no difference between the groups that come in. It is kind of hit or miss I guess...


Definately surprised about the seperation in scores last night expected a lot closer games WW/EC for one!

props to the winners.....big weekend coming up!

[Just Bill]

I've said a similar thing for years.  When Stout was stuck in that 3rd/4th/5th place rut, I always said if they would just dial back the speed a little bit it would save them 5 turnovers and 5 bad shots a game and probably result in 10 more points.

I think it wasn't until Duoss arrived that Stout believed they could set it up and pound it inside from time to time.  I think that has been the biggest change that pushed Stout into the top 2 of the conference.

[foul_language]

C4H--I think you're right; the hockey-like line changes can be a benefit or a bane, depending on the night. When it isn't working, Thomas may stick with it too long in an attempt to force it to work or he may jump the gun in seeking a fix. There are, after all, many reasons why something may not be working: individual players are having off nights; the other team is playing the stuttering substitution to its advantage rather than its disadvantage; there's some kind of burp in the cosmos. You can kind of see the tinkering when the first or second line has a new member or two. That's when things can get messy, because the chemistry--which was apparently wrong in the first place--gets even more confused. Or, he may find just the right combination for the night/game. Imagine mixing perfect barbecue sauce every single time for endlessly changing meat. The thing is, Stout has a near-endless list of ingredients to choose from.

[Just Bill]

What is up with River Falls??  Big win over Point, but a couple of bad, bad losses to Macalester and St. Scholastica.  They would seem to have plenty of talent.  Is it a concentration problem?

http://www.uwrf.edu/sports/sports0607/WBasketball2006-2007/WRF-CSS.HTM

[UWPSUPERFAN77]

What is UWsuperior doing this season. They have a good nonconference record?  But, they have no wins in conference. Is it a same so same so team as usual? I will give you a review as i am seeing them play the Pioneers,an up and down team tomorrow. The game is at UWP,so it looks like a nother loss for the Yellow!

[foul_language]

I actually think the 'Jackets are playing better basketball, but they don't have the depth or nearly the skill level of the other WIAC teams. I think recruiting has been weak, at best, although I think that's changed with the new coaches for men and women. I don't think the women have done nearly as much off season work, so they come in to every November already lagging in conditioning and settling. They show up well against smaller DIII schools, and sometimes they even do well in conference, although they're in their second year without a win there. I think they beat River Falls two seasons ago--or was it three? Time flies.

I keep hoping to see the women be competitive, but they just never have enough talent. Katie Moench is a good scorer, but there aren't enough of her. I think Amanda Rounsville will do well, but she can't play 40 minutes and lately she hasn't been doing the scoring she should. You know, they just get outclassed, sad to say. But, this is the first year in a long time they've had a real coach. Sandy Eilertsen knew how to play basketball; I'm not sure she knew how to coach. Probably won't see the wins this year, but at least all the losses aren't these ugly blow outs. Well, River Falls and Stevens Point were, but otherwise scores have been respectable.

And I believe bus trips take about 15-20 points out of a team and every trip for UWS is pretty long--shortest conference trip must be Eau Claire at just over two hours. Compare that to EC-Stout-River Falls configuration, where the teams can practically walk to each other's  venues.

[buf]

At the half, UWO and UWEC tied at 24.  UWO goes out to a quick 10 point lead.  EC plays pretty well late in the half.  Same old for UWO as Knapp and Tyriver are basically doing everything for UWO.  Zenner lead UWEC with 10.

UWL leads Cardinal Stritch at the half 36-34.

[buf]

A couple close games both with 5min left

EC leading by 1 over UWO

UWL trailing by 1