WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Tonight's semifinal matched up the team that won this tournament four straight times starting in 2005 against the team that dethroned them last year, and it turned out to be no contest; Denison got their revenge on the defending champions by a score of 86-57.  DU opened up a 13-point halftime lead and then ran away and hid after the break to advance to Saturday's championship game.  2008-09 NCAC Player of the Year Shaina Kaiser had one of her best games of the year at the right time, recording a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, also contributing four assists.  Christina Myers led all scorers with 21 points.  Denison recorded more assists (22) than OWU had field goals (20).  At the other end, the Big Red totally shut down "The Franchise," holding Tyler Cordell, Kayla Gordon, and Pam Quigney to a combined 19 points on just 6-of-30 shooting.  DU also owned the boards, outrebounding the Bishops by eleven, leading to an eleven-point advantage in 2nd chance points and a +22 in points in the paint.  It looks to have been an old-fashioned whuppin'; the Big Red clearly has their eyes on the prize that they claimed their own for much of this decade.

At the half in game 2, conference champion Wittenberg is tied with Kenyon, 25-25.  Clearly a game being played at Kenyon's preferred pace, the Ladies have forced 16 Tiger turnovers in the first 20 minutes.  Kenyon has, however, been largely unable to take advantage of the extra possessions, actually making two fewer field goals than their hosts, despite taking seven more shots.  The superstars Stephanie Boardman and Morgan Korinek have 10 points apiece at the break.
UPDATE:  Kenyon opened up a quick 9-point lead in the second, but Wittenberg (helped in large part by a series of missed KC free throws) has clawed back into the game, and just shy of the 8:00 mark retakes the lead (42-41) on a three by Katherine Hueter.
UPDATE: 2:09 to go, the score is tied at 51, and folks, this is a hell of a game.
UPDATE: Wittenberg is making the plays down the stretch, and Kenyon's shooting woes are coming back to haunt them.  Witt leads by 4 with 0:41 left and Elise Jenkins at the free throw line.
UPDATE: Kat Powers drains her fourth three-pointer of the game to pull the Ladies back to within a bucket; 56-54 Witt, 0:25 left.
UPDATE: Jenkins hits two clutch FTs with 0:24 left to give the Tigers the two-possession margin, and Kenyon fails to score again.  Witt wins 60-54 and advances to face Denison.  Carrie Dyer led a balanced attack with 16 points, and Katherine Hueter had 13 to go with 10 rebounds.  Morgan Korinek finished with 15 points and 10 boards for the crestfallen Ladies. 

[David Collinge]

Denison is picking up where they left off, sprinting out to a 10-point lead midway through the first half.  The Big Red are cold from the arc (1 of 6) but molten inside (9 of 13), while the Tigers are just plain cold (6 of 18).  Now with 6:31 left in the 1st, its 26-18 in favor of the visitors from Granville.

DEEP TEAMS: in the first 15 minutes, Sara Lee has sent 11 of her troops into the fray, while Sarah Jurewicz has used 10 of her Tigers.

WITT ON A RUN: Wittenberg has scored the last 7 points and has cut the Big Red lead to 26-23, 5:06 1st, as Sara Lee calls a time out.

IT WAS AN EFFECTIVE TIMEOUT: Denison is on a post-timeout 14-2 run, including the last 10 points of the half, and has gone to the locker room with their biggest lead of the game: 40-25.  Shaina Kaiser has a dozen on 5-7 shooting, as well as seven rebounds.  Serafina Nuzzo is just a notch behind with 11 and 6.  Stephanie Boardman has been kept well in check, with just three points (1 of 7 from the floor) and a single rebound.  DU has hit almost half of their shots (16 of 33), while Witt is hitting just a third of theirs (10 of 30.)

COMEBACK TIME?  Denison pushed the lead to 18 immediately after the half, but they've recently gone cold, and the Tigers are on a 7-0 run to get back to within 11.  DU leads 47-36, 14:03 left and another Big Red timeout.

COUNTERPOINT:  Witt cut the lead to 9 before Denison came to and re-extended the lead with an 11-4 run.  At the moment, the Big Red enjoy a not-quite-comfortable two-touchdown lead, 61-47 with 7:43 left.

NOT-QUITE-COMFORTABLE, INDEED: A 9-2 Wittenberg run reduces the DU lead back to 9.  Is 5:27 enough time to complete the comeback?

UNDER PRESSURE:  Denison has missed seven of their last eight field goal attempts.  Wittenberg is as close as they've been in a long, long time: 64-58, 3:25.  Timeout, Denison.

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE:  DU is still missing, but now so are the Tigers, missers of their last three.  Two precious (to Witt) minutes elapse without a score change.

GONNA BE A GREAT FINISH:  Witt finally breaks the ice with a Carrie Dyer layup, and at the other end Shaina Kaiser misses.  Elise Jenkins gets the rebound, and Witt takes the timeout, trailing by just four points (64-60) with 1:22 left.

THRUST, PARRY:  Dyer misses a layup, Kaiser grabs the board (her 10th, with 19 points), and DU takes time, up four and inside a minute from a return to the NCAAs.

FREE THROWS AREN'T FREE:  After a couple of fouls to get into the bonus, Serafina Nuzzo misses the front end, and Sarah Watson grabs the rebound.  Kristen Meyer sends Jenkins to the line, and she hits both to cut the margin to just a deuce.  Jenkins and Meyer then reverse roles to put the DU lead back to four, but Boardman responds with a layup from Dyer's feed.  Watson fouls Kyli Parker with 0:27 left, and she hits the first before Witt calls timeout.  67-64 DU, 0:27 with Parker at the line for a second free throw.

DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME:  Parker hits the second, but Watson answers with a trey to cut the lead to one.  Katherine Hueter fouls Parker, and she hits two more with 0:11 left; the lead is 3.  Sarah J. takes a timeout to draw up the surely-a-three-pointer play.  Hueter (3 of 5) and Watson (2 of 5) have all five of Witt's triples, and both are on the floor.

DENISON IS BACK! The play is for Hueter, but she can't make it good, and Denison escapes Springfield with a 70-67 win, another NCAC Tournament championship, and a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.  Congratulations to the Big Red (who, ahem, I picked to win this thing *pats self on back*)

GREAT SEASON FOR THE TIGERS:  Unhearalded in the preseason after a 5th place finish last year, Sarah J. and the Tigers had a wonderful year, including a 15-1 NCAC Championship.  Stephanie Boardman (17 points tonight) and Carrie Dyer (13) are very likely to accept first-team all-NCAC accolades in their senior seasons, and seniors Elise Jenkins, Kellsea Vasileff, and Amber Lough also contributed to the great comeback of Tiger basketball.  Congratulations to the Tigers!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, MY FRIEND:  Denison takes home the tournament hardware for the fifth time in six seasons, a real tribute to Coach Sara Lee.  Shaina Kaiser ended up as the game's MVP with her 19-point, 10-board, 7-assist performance.  First-year Serafina Nuzzo added 14 points and 7 rebounds, while Haley Dahlgard added ten rebounds.  Denison, whose only two seniors are role players, is poised to springboard off of this victory to success in the NCAAs and in the 2010-11 season in the NCAC.  Congratulations again to Coach Lee and the victorious Big Red!

[GoRed]

Tigers had a great season and made a valiant attempt at a comeback.  Congratulations to them and their coach on a great season. 

Congratulations to the Big Red.  Way to hang on with the free throws at the end.  Good luck in the tournament!

[David Collinge]

Shaina Kaiser was not just the MVP of tonight's championship game, she was named the MVP of the whole tournament.  Joining Kaiser on the all-Tournament team were her teammate Serafina Nuzzo, Wittenbergers Katherine Hueter and Carrie Dyer, Kenyon's Morgan Korinek, and OWU's Pam Quigney.  Congratulations to all six!

[David Collinge]

Good luck to Denison in the first round as they will travel to Holland, MI to face #4 Hope College.  A very tall order, taking on the 27-1 Flying Dutchmen, but think positive!  We can do this! 

[David Collinge]

Holy Smokes!  Not one but two finalists for the Josten's Award from our poky little conference!  Many, many congratulations and best wishes for Stephanie Boardman and Kym Wenz!  You go girls!!!  I'm very, very proud of you. 

[David Collinge]

You voted, and the coaches listened:  congratulations to Stephanie Boardman for being named the Player of the Year in the NCAC.  The other "of the Year" awards were kinda no-brainers, as Sarah Jurewicz was named Coach of the Year and Allison Anderson was given the Newcomer of the Year award (as well as a berth on the second team).  Congratulations to these honorees, as well as all of the all-NCAC award recipients:

1st team (must have been a tie for 7th):
Stepahnie Boardman and Carrie Dyer, Wittenberg
Kym Wenz and Kaitlin Krister, Wooster
Shaina Kaiser, Denison (2008-09 POY)
Tyler Cordell, OWU
Morgan Korinek, Kenyon
Jill Gregory, Allegheny

2nd team:
Kayla Gordon and Pam Quigney, OWU
Katherine Hueter, Wittenberg
Allison Anderson, Oberlin
Brittany Mayle, Hiram
Emilie Simone, Allegheny
Kathleen Williams, Kenyon

HM:
Brittany Bell, Allegheny
Nikki Darrett, Earlham
Dany Finck, OWU
Christina Myers, Denison
Syrea Thomas, Oberlin

[David Collinge]

All good things must come to an end, and Denison's 2009-10 season is no exception.  Hope ousted the Big Red by a 68-40 count.  The final score was a little more lopsided than the game, as DU trailed by 13 at the half and by 18 with 5:24 left.  However, Denison failed to score again after that point, allowing the Dutch to finish the game on a 10-0 run.  Denison could only manage 24% shooting while Hope blazed away at a 55% clip.  Shaina Kaiser led the Ohioans with 12 points and 7 rebounds.  The Big Red finish with an excellent 21-8 record and outstanding prospects for the 2010-11 season.  Congratulations, DU!

[David Collinge]

More congratulations to Wittenberg's Stephanie Boardman and Wooster's Kym Wenz, both named to the D3hoops.com All-Great Lakes First Team.  Both are also solid contenders for All-America honors, as evidenced by their status as co-finalists for the Josten's Trophy.  I don't know how many times I've been honored to say "congratulations" to these two over the past four years, nor how many more times I'll be able to say it in the days ahead, but WAY TO GO STEPHANIE AND KYM, we're very proud of you and your accomplishments in NCAC-land! 

[David Collinge]

And another...
Both Boardman and Wenz have been named to the State Farm Coaches All-America team, earning Honorable Mention accolades (all they have is a 10-woman first team, and HM).  Congratulations, again!

[David Collinge]

Oberlin great Ann Gilbert and Wooster legend Nan Nichols among five to be inducted into Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.

[David Collinge]

Coaching change at Wooster: Lisa Campanell Komara steps aside (she will head up Wooster's inaugural women's golf season) and four-year assistant Ashley Reid is promoted to head coach of the women's basketball program.  Press release here (and here.)  Congratulations and best wishes to both ladies!

[David Collinge]

BIG shift in the balance of power in the conference, starting in the 2011-12 season, announced today. 

[Pat Coleman]

Agreed -- for all the talk about football, I think women's basketball is the biggest issue and it will lead D3hoops when I get a break here at work.

Unless Hope announces its MBB coach.

[David Collinge]

Here's hoping that a rising tide does indeed lift all boats.