WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[jscwittfan]

My sleeper pick snuck onto the honorable mention team!  Moral victory!

Congrats to all the honorees, including the 3 from Witt (Gregorevich, Clark-Haggy, and Hittle).

[David Collinge]

I wasn't going to gloat, but Alisha Moreno on the first team with Anne Dugan relegated to HM...never question me on matters of Kenyon hoops!    (Although I didn't see Hilary Gowins' selection to the 2nd team coming...)

Kenyon is going to have three all-conference players in their starting lineup next November.  They're my pre-pre-preseason pick for the 2008 NCAC title.

[David Collinge]

Here's how our teams and players fared in the final NCAA statistical rankings:

Team rankings:
Team defense: Denison 52.9 ppg (#29) [Howard Payne, 45.2 ppg]
Scoring margin: Denison +13.8 ppg (#33) [Howard Payne, +29.7 ppg]
FG % defense: Denison 34.9% (#47) [Mary Washington, 29.7%]
Free throw %: Ohio Wesleyan 73.0% (#30); Denison 72.1% (#42) [Bridgewater (Va.) 77.6%]
Rebound margin: Denison +6.7 (#40) [Johns Hopkins, +12.7]
Three-point FG per game: Ohio Wesleyan 6.6 (#11); Kenyon 6.6 (#14); Denison 6.4 (#24); Allegheny 6.1 (#40) [Grinnell, 9.1]
Three-point FG %: Oberlin 34.8% (#30) [DePauw, 40.7%]
Assists per game: Denison 15.6 (#48) [Randoplh-Macon, 19.2]
Blocked shots per game: Denison 5.1 (#21); Allegheny 4.2 (#47) [Simpson, 8.5]
Turnovers per game: Kenyon 16.9 (#45) [St. Benedict, 13.3]
Personal fouls per game: Denison 14.1 (#20) [Newbury, 11.1]

Individual rankings:
Blocked Shots per game: Jennifer Latronica, Allegheny 2.5 (#25); Kristen Sheffield, Denison 2.4 (#28) [Ashley Katch, Simpson, 5.0]
Field goal %: Carly Loehrke, Wooster 60.0% (#3) [Lindsay Ippel, Millikin, 65.8%]
Three-point FG %: Kristen Sheffield, Denison 43.1% (#10); Alisha Moreno, Kenyon 38.1% (#35) [Ali Meckey, Juniata, 46.6%]
Three-point FG per game: Katie Kestler, Allegheny 2.6 (#23); Alisha Moreno, Kenyon 2.4 (#34) [Mallory Heydorn, Ill. Wesleyan, 3.7]

Congratulations to all of these players and teams; you make us proud to be your fans! 

[roaring0506]

Denison 82
Hope 66
Final

[Witt4ever]

Way to go Big Red!



http://www.denison.edu/athletics/db/site/newsreleases/wb/20070302_2369.html

[David Collinge]

You took the words right out of my mouth, W4E, except I was going to say it this way:

Way To Go, BIG RED!!!

[jscwittfan]

Wow.  I knew Denison was good, but I never expected whooping up on the defending national champs in the first round.

Way to make the NCAC proud Big Red - keep up the great work!!

[David Collinge]

All good things must come to an end...

http://www.denison.edu/athletics/db/site/newsreleases/wb/20070303_2376.html

It sounds like the Big Red played well but just couldn't get over the hump against a battle-tested DePauw team playing on their home floor.  But many, many congratulations to Denison on a great season and for upping the NCAC's profile on the national scene just a little bit.  I certainly hope to see Denison break through into the final top 25 based on these two performances.

How about this little tidbit from Craig Hicks' game recap:

Sheffield followed with 11 points but as been the norm throughout her illustrious career she kept the statistician busy, grabbing 16 rebounds while blocked five shots and adding four assists and two steals. Sheffield leaves Denison with 1,349 points, 921 rebounds, 336 blocks, 195 assists and 105 steals. She is the school's all-time leader in rebounding, blocks, 3-point field goals made and in games played.

Congratulations, best wishes, and farewell to the NCAC Player of the Year and the best women's basketball player in Denison histroy.  Sounds like she really gave it her all tonight, as she also played very tough defense on DePauw's superstar Liz Bondi.

[jscwittfan]

http://www.d3hoops.com/all-region/07/glakewom.htm

Congratulations are in order to both Denison's Kristin Sheffield and Allegheny's Katie Kestler, who were named to the All Great Lakes Region third team.

[David Collinge]

My congratulations as well to Kristen and Katie.    I'm a wee bit disappointed; I had hoped that Kristen would place higher, and that Carly Loehrke would sneak on to the list, but that doesn't diminish their accomplishments.  Plus, with the way the NCAC dominated the men's All-Region team (7 of fifteen spots, including coach and player of the year,) I can't complain!

[David Collinge]

One final note of congratulations to Coach Lee and the Denison Big Red, NCAA regular season and tournament champions, vanquisher of the defending national champions, loser to the current national champs by just 8 points on their home court, and now first-time members of the D3Hoops.com top 25 poll!  The Big Red checked in at #23 in the final poll.  A great end to an historic season in Granville.    8)

But I'm still picking Kenyon for the NCAC title next season. 

[Old Pro]

What's with Hiram??

They had a strong candidate or two, and went a different direction. No desire to improve?

[David Collinge]

Wittenberg has posted their 2007-08 schedule:
http://www5.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/wbasketball/schedule07-08.html
The highlight is a Dec. 15 matchup at defending national champion DePauw.  The Tigers open the campaign at the Johns Hopkins tournament, and welcome Manchester, Carnegie Mellon, and John Carroll to their own Zimmerman Classic in late December.

Kenyon's schedule is out as well:
http://athletics.kenyon.edu/x23822.xml
The Ladies will tangle with Final Four participant Washington U. in the Bears' tournament around Thanksgiving, and will also participate in tourneys at Brandeis (season-opening) and Otterbein (between the holidays).

Allegheny's schedule is also posted:
http://www.allegheny.edu/athletics/womenbb/results.php
The Gators welcome Bluffton, Grove City, and Marietta to Meadville to open the season tournament-style, and also will appear in tournaments at Salisbury U. (late Nov.) and perennial power Baldwin-Wallace (late Dec.)

[Nonbiased Observer]

Condolences to the folks at Wittenberg.

[jscwittfan]

For those who do not yet know, Wittenberg head coach Pam Smith passed away last night after a long fight with cancer.  She was 47.

Here is the official Wittenberg press release, which also includes a link to a message board where thoughts can be left.

http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/news/2007releases/06_27.html

It's still hard to talk about this, so I'll simply repost my message from that board here:

Pam Smith, in a way, played a big role in both the beginning and the end of my Wittenberg career.  She was the first coach that I ever met while working for the athletic department, and the relationship built that day lasted throughout my four years at Witt.  I am proud to say that I worked with Pam and and for Pam, and enjoyed every moment I got to speak with her, whether it was on air after a game or simply in passing.  She gave me so many opportunities to be a part of her basketball family, and I will forever be grateful.  It seems odd now that the last member of the faculty/staff I spoke to and hugged before graduation this May was Pam - an embrace and farewell I will never forget, much like the person who gave it.