University Athletic Association

[WUPHF]

At the McWilliams Classic on a rainy St. Louis evening.  The Bears with a 10 point lead with nine minutes left in the game.  Night and day difference in this game than last week.  Melissa Gilkey and Maddy Scheppers rule!

[WUPHF]

The Bears win the McWilliams Classic, 70-58 over Wisconsin Lutheran.  Dani Hoover with 17, Gilkey with 14! 

[Wydown Blvd.]

The Bears win the McWilliams Classic, 70-58 over Wisconsin Lutheran.  Dani Hoover with 17, Gilkey with 14! 

Dani Hoover's 3's were all clutch... The 4pt play in particular was a dagger. She's got that senior mentality necessary to finish games. I definitely think she can be the consistent scorer down the stretch... and her high energy style of play also invigorates the team.

Wisconsin Lutheran hit some tough tough shots to keep it close, but WashU had timely defensive stops. The freshmen that get time are impressive. With Monahan out, it's good to see Gilkey step up. The Anda, Sayers, Gilkey, Rettig rotation is solid at the post spots. Looks like Sayers and Rettig are healthy, so they will definitely improve and peak as the season progresses. It'll be nice to get Monahan back because she can score from basically anywhere on the court... best shooting PF on the squad. Work in progress, but WUSTL looked good.

[Wydown Blvd.]

Well... anyone else excited for the UChicago v WashU game on Saturday?!?
The matchup doesn't have the school rivalry as a Hope/Calvin or Amherst/Williams, but in terms of quality of basketball over the past 3 or 4 years, this has replaced NYU/WashU as showcasing the best of the conference.

I think the deciding factor will be the young post play of WashU up against the All-American talent of Simpson et al. There is tons of athleticism in the WashU backcourt, but the Bears' rebounding (or lack thereof) could be an issue. WashU has faced adversity via injuries so far this season, which will pay off in the long-haul as their young players quickly turn into veterans, but for a big matchup against Chicago, it might hurt them.

The winner of this game basically becomes the favorite to win the conference, and the game could possibly be a major factor in hosting for the NCAA tournament when the time comes for match-up Monday.

[bballfan13]

Well... anyone else excited for the UChicago v WashU game on Saturday?!?
The matchup doesn't have the school rivalry as a Hope/Calvin or Amherst/Williams, but in terms of quality of basketball over the past 3 or 4 years, this has replaced NYU/WashU as showcasing the best of the conference.

I think the deciding factor will be the young post play of WashU up against the All-American talent of Simpson et al. There is tons of athleticism in the WashU backcourt, but the Bears' rebounding (or lack thereof) could be an issue. WashU has faced adversity via injuries so far this season, which will pay off in the long-haul as their young players quickly turn into veterans, but for a big matchup against Chicago, it might hurt them.

The winner of this game basically becomes the favorite to win the conference, and the game could possibly be a major factor in hosting for the NCAA tournament when the time comes for match-up Monday.

I am excited to see the outcome of the game because as you said it could possibly help determine where the first and second rounds of the NCAA's are played.  As a Calvin fan, I also would like to see how both Chicago and Wash U are doing this year and this should be a good indicator.

You said that the winner of the game becomes the conference favorite but what about Rochester, who's currently undefeated and ranked at #5 above Wash U?

[Wydown Blvd.]

Well... anyone else excited for the UChicago v WashU game on Saturday?!?
The matchup doesn't have the school rivalry as a Hope/Calvin or Amherst/Williams, but in terms of quality of basketball over the past 3 or 4 years, this has replaced NYU/WashU as showcasing the best of the conference.

I think the deciding factor will be the young post play of WashU up against the All-American talent of Simpson et al. There is tons of athleticism in the WashU backcourt, but the Bears' rebounding (or lack thereof) could be an issue. WashU has faced adversity via injuries so far this season, which will pay off in the long-haul as their young players quickly turn into veterans, but for a big matchup against Chicago, it might hurt them.

The winner of this game basically becomes the favorite to win the conference, and the game could possibly be a major factor in hosting for the NCAA tournament when the time comes for match-up Monday.

I am excited to see the outcome of the game because as you said it could possibly help determine where the first and second rounds of the NCAA's are played.  As a Calvin fan, I also would like to see how both Chicago and Wash U are doing this year and this should be a good indicator.

You said that the winner of the game becomes the conference favorite but what about Rochester, who's currently undefeated and ranked at #5 above Wash U?

This will be a good indicator of where WashU and UChicago stand, although both teams have faced very good non-conference competition (as usual), so we have certainly been able to see that they are still in the upper upper echelon of D3 (hence part of the reason for their high rankings). As we have seen with these last WashU squads, any of Coach Fahey's rosters can be Final Four caliber teams, and as these UChicago teams have gained more experience, I expect them to be able to go deeper into the tournament each year.

I am just not sure WashU's depth (or lack there of due to injuries) will be enough to overcome the long and sometimes grueling conference schedule. On the other hand, UChicago is really playing with the target on their backs this year with much higher expectations. Do I see them going undefeated in conference play again? I think this game will certainly be the measuring stick for how beatable they may or may not be during conference.

While UR is a tough place to play, history is not on UR's side, which is why in my eyes they would not be the favorite until they at least beat UChicago or WashU. While WashU/UChicago on the first weekend gives one of the contenders an early loss, the toughest two weekends for the others on the conference slate must be the WashU/UChicago weekends. I just don't see someone beating both of those teams in a single weekend.

[WUPHF]

Well... anyone else excited for the UChicago v WashU game on Saturday?!?  The matchup doesn't have the school rivalry  as a Hope/Calvin or Amherst/Williams, but in terms of quality of basketball over the past 3 or 4 years, this has replaced NYU/WashU as showcasing the best of the conference. 

I am excited!  I had a particularly big work project that limited my ability for much of the Fall to follow basketball.  The project is over and now it is time to watch basketball.

[7express]

My prediction for the UAA this year:
Wash U beats Chicago & Rochester at home, loses to both on the road
Rochester splits with Wash U, sweeps Chicago
Chicago gets swept by Rochester, splits with Wash U, and loses to either Brandeis/NYU, and possibly someone else.  As someone said Chicago has a target on their back this; for teams like Emory, CWR & Carnegie Mellon, those 2 games against Chicago will be their championship.

[y_jack_lok]

Wash U will lose to Chicago today unless they can shoot better than they have in a number of games this season.

[Wydown Blvd.]

My prediction for the UAA this year:
Wash U beats Chicago & Rochester at home, loses to both on the road
Rochester splits with Wash U, sweeps Chicago
Chicago gets swept by Rochester, splits with Wash U, and loses to either Brandeis/NYU, and possibly someone else.  As someone said Chicago has a target on their back this; for teams like Emory, CWR & Carnegie Mellon, those 2 games against Chicago will be their championship.

Usually I don't make too many predictions, especially without seeing every team play. But here is my stab at conference play:
I can't see UR winning conference, which is what would happen in your scenario... I have also only seen them play once so far this year, so maybe you have better expectations. I don't see Chicago losing to NYU... they are still trying to find their way in the post-Quinn era, and I don't know where their scoring will come from. If anything, I think UChicago, WashU, and UR will beat up on each other. I think Emory will be the trap game this year, especially because its travel partner is UR. CWRU and CMU still looks like the easiest weekend.

[Wydown Blvd.]

UChicago wins by 3(?). Here is my "non-basketball-heavy" analysis: What a game?!? Definitely the best D3 has to offer. Big time plays on both sides. Great defense and big shot after big shot. Both of these teams will go deep into the tournament (well at least as deep as they could go before meeting each other). WashU played extremely well without their two starting post players, and I think lived up to their ranking.

[deiscanton]

Well, the UAA season is underway.    At the present time, my home computer is not working, and I don't know when someone will be able to fix it, so I have been following d3hoops.com on library computers and at other computers away from home.   Since Brandeis is away at NYU today, I followed the line scores through Twitter on my cell phone.   Tough one tonight to see Brandeis go down to NYU in overtime, but at least the Judges were able to get over that 50 point hump to be competitive-- in the games against Babson, Tufts, Emmanuel and Colby, Brandeis couldn't even break 50, which really worried me.   

Chicago solidified their status in the UAA as the team in the conference to take down today,  Case is destroying CMU at the moment, but in my position at Brandeis, I wouldn't consider Case and CMU as two blowout wins for Brandeis.  They may be easy blowout wins for Chicago and Wash U, though.

Emory likes to play the high-octane offense, so there could be teams that could fall into the trap of giving up 75 to 80 points to the Eagles.  Emory has to work on defense to stay competitive in the UAA, though-- Rochester scored 76 on them today at WoodPEC.

BTW, Chicago coach Aaron Roussell made history again today.  Not only does Coach Roussell join former NYU coach Janice Quinn on the list of the only UAA coaches to beat Wash U at the Wash U Field House more than once in UAA play-- Roussell becomes the first coach in UAA history to win 2 consecutive years in a row at Wash U.  It is hard to say at this early stage whether Chicago could go into the NCAAs undefeated, but I wouldn't bet against it at the moment-- Rochester has to make their case.  It is hard to see Chicago losing at Ratner this season.

[7express]

Well...my predictions already suck.  Nice win from Chicago, especially on the road.  Now I still think they'll trip up somewhere in conference, but that looked to be their hardest UAA game of the season, and they passed it.  Lets see how they do @ Rochester later on.

[Wydown Blvd.]

Wouldn't count WashU out yet... playing UChicago to 2points without both starting post players. Combining the return of a senior starter to the lineup with Coach Fahey (and all of those freshman getting tons of experience in the first half of the season), I still see this is being a three horse race, with Chicago as the frontrunner. My gut still telling me Emory is the trap game...

[7express]

This Brandeis team doesn't look very good, they could end up with a worse conference record then last year.
Granted, losing to Rochester isn't bad, but they looked awful in the 2nd half after playing them tough in the first.  Today's game against Emory was embarrassing; losing by 30 while scoring 15 second half points.  Emory could be one that trap game for Wash U and Chicago, but losing by 30 on your home floor to them is pitiful.