NCAA Tournament

[Mr. Ypsi]

IWU cut a 14-point WashU lead all the way to 3, but went cold at the end.  Bears win 87-77.

[Wydown Blvd.]

A game for the ages. For anyone who think women's basketball is boring, take a look at that game! Every time I looked down, someone was scoring. IWU hitting threes from deep and later pounding it inside for a bit. WashU scoring in what seemed like a million different ways. It was an offensive exhibition.

Excited to see the two different styles of WashU and Amherst collide tomorrow.

[Out_Of_My_Kitchen]

Wydown Blvd.,

I watched it online and it was great.  Two great teams.  Shame one had to lose.  I have to say this is a pretty balanced Final Four.  Some years there is one dominate team or a team who simply doesn't deserve to be there.  I don't see that with this group. 

And the best thing is the rankings going into the Final Four doesn't represent the top four teams!  Shows how balanced NCAA women's basketball has been this year.  Much like the Mens DI championship. 

[sumfun]

Extremely balanced Final Four.  Couldn't agree more.

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks, Gordon.  What have been the results on the pre-set sites - have any host teams made it to the FF before this year?

As Gordon said, no host team had made it to the D3 women's basketball Final Four in a preset-site format prior to this season. However, it did happen once on the men's side of things. In 1981, Augustana was in its fifth year of hosting the men's Final Four at the Carver Center in Rock Island, IL. Augie made it to the Final Four that year, beat Otterbein in the national semis, 93-81 ... and then lost an overtime heartbreaker in the national championship game to Potsdam State, 67-65. What made it even worse was that the Bears only managed to push the game into overtime because All-American Derrick Rowland -- who would later get a two-game cup of coffee with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1985-86 -- hit a halfcourt heave at the buzzer to tie the game.

Losing a national championship game on your home floor ... in overtime ... because the other team hit a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to tie it at the end of regulation. Can't imagine a worse way to lose.

[BlueZoneBruin]

UPDATE - Pat's got an up-to-date "Who's In" list at the following link: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2012/02/25/whos-in-the-2012-womens-tournament/

I'll keep updating this as well, but will eventually be heading out before the George Fox/LC game. Go Bruins!

Who's in...
Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference - La Roche
American Southwest Conference
Capital Athletic Conference - Mary Washington
Centennial Conference - Muhlenberg
City University of New York Athletic Conference - Baruch
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin - Illinois Wesleyan
Colonial States Athletic Conference - Gwynedd-Mercy
Commonwealth Coast Conference - Salve Regina
Empire 8 - Ithaca
Great Northeast Athletic Conference - Emmanuel
Great South Athletic Conference - Maryville
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Coe
Landmark Conference - Catholic
Liberty League - Vassar
Little East Conference - Rhode Island College
Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference - Bridgewater State
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association - Calvin
Middle Atlantic Commonwealth - Lebanon Valley
Middle Atlantic Freedom - Misericordia
Midwest Conference - Monmouth
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - St. Thomas
New England Collegiate Conference - Elms
New England Small College Athletic Conference
New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
New Jersey Athletic Conference - William Patterson
North Atlantic Conference - Castleton State
North Coast Athletic Conference - DePauw
North Eastern Athletic Conference
Northern Athletics Conference - Wisconsin Lutheran
Northwest Conference - George Fox
Ohio Athletic Conference - Mount Union
Old Dominion Athletic Conference
Presidents Athletic Conference - Thomas More
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Westminster
Skyline Conference - Mount St. Mary
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
State University of New York Athletic Conference - Oneonta State
University Athletic Association - Chicago
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference - Martin Lutheran
USA South Athletic Conference
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - UW-Stevens Point

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Chicago clinched last weekend the UAA title...

[BlueZoneBruin]

Thanks, Dave. That's why I wanted to do this, so that no one would miss one...like me.

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks BZB!  +1!

[7express]

USM plays @ RIC today at 4:00 PM on littleeast.tv and littleeast.mobi (availible for your smart phone) for the little East title.  I think both make the NCAA tournament anyways; RIC was #3 in New England, USM was #5 in the RR, and USM has wins over RIC, Babson, Bowdoin & Colby (all ranked) which should be enough to put them over the edge even if they lose.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Catholic wins the Landmark title... Juniata will be a Pool C lock.

[7express]

Salve Regina wins the CCC over Endicott
Maryville wins Great South over LaGrange
Emmanuel wins GNAC...again, over St. Joseph's of Maine
Yet again Mount St. Mary wins the Skyline beating Farmingdale state again
Castleton state won North Atlantic conference over Colby-Sawyer
Bridgewater state won MASCAC over MCLA
Elms won NECC over Daniel Webster
La Roche over Medaille to win the AMCC bid

[7express]

RIC beats Southern Maine 50-44 to win the Little East tournament

[BlueZoneBruin]

Calvin is up 32-11 at the half over Hope. It's not over, but it's still impressive.

[WLCALUM83]

Northern Athletics Conference Final:  WLC 85, Dominican 61.