WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Thursday scores and updated standings:
Denison 72, Oberlin 50...Oberlin clinches #8 seed, will meet Denison in conf. quarterfinal
Wittenberg 55, Kenyon 39...Tigers clinch #2 seed, will face Earlham in conf. quarterfinal
Allegheny 91, Hiram 50...Gators clinch #3 seed; Hiram eliminated from tournament contention
Ohio Wesleyan 63, Wooster 56...Scots eliminated from contention for a top 4 seed
Earlham and Wabash are idle

Denison 14-1 (20-4)
Wittenberg 11-4 (14-9)...Tigers swept the Gators
Allegheny 11-5 (17-7)...regular season complete
Kenyon 9-6 (12-12)...Ladies swept the Bishops
OWU 9-6 (14-10)
Wooster 8-7 (13-11)
Earlham 3-12 (4-20)
Oberlin 2-13 (6-18)
Hiram 1-14 (6-18)
Wabash DNP

Saturday schedule:
Ohio Wesleyan (8-6) at Denison (13-1)
Wittenberg (10-4) at Wooster (8-6)
Hiram (1-13) at Kenyon (9-5)...Ladies clinch #4 seed with win or OWU loss
Earlham (3-12) at Oberlin (2-12)
Allegheny and Wabash are idle
*** END REGULAR SEASON ***

[David Collinge]

Here's where the tournament stands:
#1 seed and conference champion: Denison
#2 seed: Wittenberg (owns tiebreaker by virtue of season sweep of Allegheny)
#3 seed: Allegheny
#4 seed: see below
#5 seed: see below
#6 seed: see below
#7 seed: Earlham (owns tiebreaker based on "best win" theory: Earlham beat Kenyon, Oberlin's best win would be over Earlham, splitting the season series and forcing the tie)
#8 seed: Oberlin (owns tiebreaker by virtue of season sweep of Hiram)
Eliminated: Hiram, Wabash

#4-#5-#6 seeds:

• Kenyon swept both OWU and Wooster; OWU and COW split their season series.
• Saturday games: Kenyon hosts Hiram; OWU plays at Denison; Wooster hosts Wittenberg
• Kenyon is #4 if they win or if OWU loses.
• Wooster is #6 if they lose or if OWU wins.
• If OWU loses and Wooster wins, Kenyon would be #4 (win or lose) and OWU and COW would be tied for #5.  I think the OWU/COW tiebreaker would come down to a coin toss, since they'd have split head-to-head and would have identical conference records:
  > Wooster 9-7 with losses to DU, DU, Witt, AC, KC, KC, OWU
  > OWU 9-7 with losses to DU, DU, Witt, AC, KC, KC, COW
• If OWU wins at Denison and Hiram wins at Kenyon (odds on this perfecta: 500-1), OWU is #4, and Kenyon is #5 regardless of Woo/Witt result.  COW is #6.

Here's Saturday's 8 possible results, and the resulting 4-5-6 seeds:
KC win-OWU win-COW win: KC-OWU-COW
KC win-OWU win-COW loss: KC-OWU-COW
KC win-OWU loss-COW win: KC-coin toss for #5
KC win-OWU loss-COW loss: KC-OWU-COW
KC loss-OWU win-COW win: OWU-KC-COW
KC loss-OWU win-COW loss: OWU-KC-COW
KC loss-OWU loss-COW win: KC-coin toss for #5
KC loss-OWU loss-COW loss: KC-OWU-COW

EDITED to indicate what actually happened.

[coachscore]

Congrats to Coach Pam Smith on her 400th win when the Tigers beat Kenyon 55-39 last night in Springfield...
Here's the link:
http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/news/2007releases/02_15.html

[David Collinge]

I add my congratulations to Coach Smith!   

Here's hoping she gets to continue to celebrate being at 400 wins through the weekend.   (Letting my true colors slip just a wee bit there.)

[David Collinge]

Saturday scores and final standings:
Denison 66, Ohio Weselyan 56
Wooster 70, Wittenberg 56
Kenyon 72, Hiram 46
Oberlin 69, Earlham 63
Allegheny and Wabash are idle

Denison 15-1 (21-4)
Wittenberg 11-5 (14-10)...Tigers swept the Gators
Allegheny 11-5 (17-7)
Kenyon 10-6 (13-12)
OWU 9-7 (14-11)...Bishops and Scots tied for 5th; OWU wins coin toss for #5 seed
Wooster 9-7 (14-11)
Earlham 3-13 (4-21)...EC wins #7 seed based on "best win" (over #4 Kenyon)
Oberlin 3-13 (7-18)
Hiram 1-15 (6-19)
Wabash DNP

NCAC Quarterfinals (Tuesday):
#8 Oberlin at #1 Denison...Big Red swept series 82-66 (a) and 72-50 (h)
#7 Earlham at #2 Wittenberg...Tigers swept series 70-40 (h) and 58-55 (a)
#6 Wooster at #3 Allegheny...Scots won at Meadville 77-71 (OT); Gators won at Wooster 64-55
#5 Ohio Wesleyan at #4 Kenyon...Ladies swept series 62-57 (h) and 56-49 (a)

Congratulations and good luck to all tournament teams! 

[David Collinge]

There may not be anyone out there but Josh, but still I want to call your attention to the game played by the Kenyon Ladies yesterday.  Box Score.  There are only two seniors on the Ladies' roster this year, and they basically don't play much (Liz Narducci averaged 10.5 minutes in her first 21 games, while Amy Thurber played 82 minutes in 15 games.)  Yesterday, on Senior Day, they each got their first starts of the season, which is to be expected, even though the game had huge playoff implications.  What you wouldn't expect, or at least I didn't expect, was that they'd stay in the game, and each make significant contributions.  Narducci played 22 minutes and contributed 10 points and 9 rebounds, while Thurber tossed in 6 points and had two blocked shots in 21 minutes of action.  And it didn't stop there.  Every player on the roster played at least 7 minutes, and they were meaningful minutes--everyone played in the first half.  It was clear, to me at least, that Coach Helfant was going to honor her seniors and recognize her bench today, and if that put the game at risk, so be it.  Of course it didn't, as the opponent was already-eliminated Hiram, and the Ladies were too deep, too talented, and too tall for the Terriers, no matter which Ladies were playing.  I suppose that, if the game had been in doubt in the last 10 minutes, Coach Helfant would have relied more heavily on her key players, but she could afford transfer minutes from the likes of Anne Dugan (14 mins., vs. average of 29.2), Laurel Stokes (13/22.0) and Megan Smith (11/16.8 ) to bench denizens Patty Hace (11 mins., vs. 7.1 mpg before yesterday), Laura Goehrke (9 mins. yesterday, 50 for the season), and Rachael Levy (7 mins. yesterday, 16 for the season.)  And kudos to her for doing so.  I'm sure it was a memorable game for these players, and I'm glad I was there to support them.

[David Collinge]

Let's open the floor of this empty hall to the debate over all-NCAC teams.

Three mortal locks for 1st team, and the main contenders for POY have to be:
Kristen Sheffield, Denison--under the "best player on the best team" theory, and she's the best player Denison ever had.  12.0 ppg [6th in NCAC], 7.4 rpg [5th], .454 fg % [4th], .422 3pt. fg% [3rd], 2.2 blks/gm [2nd]
Carly Loehrke, Wooster--better stats, but a 5th place team.  14.1 ppg [4th], 8.0 rpg [tie-1st], .614 fg% [1st by .061, and 4th nationally], 1.60 blks/gm [3rd]
Jessie Oram, Oberlin--great stats, but an 8th place team.  15.4 ppg [2nd], 7.6 rpg [4th], .431 fg% [6th], .775 ft% [2nd], 1.33 blks/gm [4th]

Other 1st team possibilities:
Cassie Bedard, Hiram--17.6 ppg [1st], 6.3 rpg [10th], .430 fg% [7th], .730 ft% [6th], 1.12 blks/gm [tie-8th]
Alyssa Clark, Oberlin--11.9 ppg [7th], 8.0 rpg [tie-1st], .413 fg% [10th], 4.32 apg [1st], 1.96 spg [5th]...but a/to of 0.87, last among players with 2.0 apg or higher
Katie Gregorevich, Wittenberg--11.2 ppg [10th], 6.0 rpg [12th], .482 fg % [3rd], .650 ft% [10th]
Katie Kestler, Allegheny--12.9 ppg [5th], .424 fg % [9th], 2.75 apg [7th], .368 3pt. fg% [6th], 1.29 a/to [5th]
Rachel Messaros, OWU--14.5 ppg [3rd], .426 fg% [8th], .762 ft% [3rd], .363 3pt. fg% [7th]

Anyone have other candidates?  Now, now, hold it down, don't everyone speak one at a time! 

[jscwittfan]

I would put Bedard as a lock over Oram, simply because of the fact that the teams finished close in the standings, and 2+ ppg is a huge leap.  I agree that Sheffield is a lock, and will most likely get POY.  Loehrke will be first team, as should Katie Gregorevich (especially because she stepped it up during the conference season).

While I like Messaros to be the fifth, let me throw in a sleeper pick: Anne Dugan of Kenyon.  9th in scoring (11.2), 14th in rebounding (5.8), 4th in steals (2.16), tied for 8th in blocks (1.12).  May not have the best numbers, but if you look at last year, the All-NCAC team was one player from each of the top 4 teams, than an outsider (last year, it was Loehrke as the sleeper).  If that logic stays true, you could see Sheffield, Gregorevich, Kestler, Dugan, and possibly Bedard, although I would probably swap Kestler out of there.

My First Team picks: Sheffield, Gregorevich, Bedard, Messaros, Loehrke
Second Team: Kestler, Oram, Clark, Dugan, Kathy Hittle (WIT)
Honorable Mention: Too wide open to call, but I would hope Rachel Clark-Haggy of Witt gets some consideration (she may be more deserving than Hittle, but Kathy has the recognition from last year to help).  I would also expect to see Carolyn Simpson (DEN) here.

Newcomer: Shontavia Davis (Earlham), with Kym Wenz (WOO) a close 2nd
Coach: Sara Lee (DEN)

[David Collinge]

You've seen a lot more NCAC women's hoops than I have, but I've probably seen more of Kenyon than you.  Anne Dugan underwhelms me in the extreme.  She plays with so little passion that I sometimes wonder where her mind is.  She's tall (Kenyon has a lot of height) and has a nice touch, but I can't see her anywhere near the 1st team.  If Kenyon gets a representative based on finishing 4th, I think it's Alisha Moreno, who I think is their most valuable player (and a point guard to run this post-oriented all-NCAC team.)  But Kenyon, much like Wittenberg, plays as a team, making it hard to single out one or two players for conference honors.  That's the opposite of Wooster, Oberlin, and Hiram, as standout examples.  Kenyon's best (as in most talented) player is probably Eva George, and her stats are nowhere.

I only saw Hiram once, and it was yesterday when they were just going through the motions.  But I was entirely unimpressed with Cassie Bedard.  I was hoping to see something special, but I didn't.  I realize it's not fair to judge her based on one meaningless end-of-a-frustrating-season game, but that's partly why I prefer Jessie Oram to her (another reason is Oram's slightly better stat line.)

Of course Sara Lee is the Coach of the Year...nobody doesn't like her. 

I'd expect to see Ellen O'Brien (Denison) mentioned somewhere as well. 

[David Collinge]

Both the coaches and media agree that the NCAC is a two-team race this season, with Denison expected to edge out Wittenberg for top honors.  Both groups see a clear second tier, consisting of Allegheny, Kenyon, and OWU. 

Coaches poll:
1. Denison (7)...79
2. Wittenberg (2)..77
3. Allegheny...54
4. Kenyon...53
5. Ohio Wesleyan...50
6. Wooster...35
7. Oberlin...26
8. Earlham...19
9. Hiram...17

Media poll:
1. Denison (14)...182
2. Wittenberg (6)...177
3. Allegheny...133
4. Kenyon (2)...128
5. Ohio Wesleyan...120
6. Wooster...91
7. Earlham...64
8. Oberlin...56
9. Hiram...33

Good luck to all nine squads!

How about that!  The media went 9-for-9, and even called the post-season OWU/Wooster coin toss correctly! 

[David Collinge]

Congratulations to Wooster senior Carly Loehrke, who joins Denison's Kristen Sheffield as the only two-time winners of the NCAC Player of the Week award this season.

http://www.northcoast.org/wb/wbpow.txt

Carly dropped 33 points and rerieved 17 rebounds last week against Ohio Wesleyan and Wittenberg.  Congratulations, Carly! 

[David Collinge]

The home teams all recorded comfortable victories in the NCAC quarterfinals:

#1 Denison 94, #6 Oberlin 63
#2 Wittenberg 83, #7 Earlham 52
#3 Allegheny 59, #6 Wooster 42
#4 Kenyon 54, #5 Ohio Wesleyan 44

The semifinals and finals will be played Friday and Saturday at Livingston Gymnasium, Denison University.
#1 Denison takes on #4 Kenyon...Denison won 62-49 (a) and 50-39 (h)
#2 Wittenberg opposes #3 Allegheny...Witt won 59-50 (a) and 71-47 (h)

[David Collinge]

Just an ugly, ugly game in Gambier tonight.  Here's some stats to savor, but please keep a barf bag handy.
* OWU 1st half FG %: 17.9% (5/28), and 0/13 from the arc (that's 0.0%)
* Kenyon 1st half FG %: 28.1% (9/32), but 4/12 (33.3%) from the arc, which was good enough to give the Ladies a comfortable lead for most of the second 10 mins.
* I don't think OWU hit their first jumper until more than 18 minutes of the 1st half had elapsed. 
* Kenyon managed to connect on just 3 FGs in the first 10:55 of the game, but that was enough to give them a seven-point lead (8-1).
* For the game, OWU had 16 field goals and 19 turnovers.  Yeeowch.  Even their free throw shooting (46.2%) sucked.

How's this for some individual lines:
                                 TOT-FG  3-PT               REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
30 Steffi Graf......... *       0-9      0-5     0-0     4     1    5   1    0  3  2     0   0  34
Graf, OWU's second-leading scorer, needed to step up in the absence of Rachel Messaros (in street clothes).  She didn't. 
34 Anne Dugan.......... *  1-11      1-2      4-4     2    7    9   3     7  1  3     1   3  29
...and she played for the winning team.    Most of the rebounds seemed to be late, after the outcome was decided.  The free throws were clutch, though.

What a terrible way for OWU's seniors (Emily Lloyd, OWU's leading scorer at 14, and Messaros) to end their careers--especially Messaros, who had to watch this disaster helplessly from the bench. 

Kenyon's really going to have to play better to have a chance against the Big Red on Friday.

[kiltedbryan]

Ouch.  That all kinda hurt to read.  Thanks for keeping us in the loop on the Women's side of the NCAC, David.

Maybe Steffi Graf should've stuck with tennis?   

[David Collinge]

It occurs to me that Denison is sitting pretty for a Pool C bid if needed.  How cool would it be to get two NCAC women's teams into the tournament?  Of course my choice would be Kenyon, but losing at home to Kenyon is a 4-point QoWI game and that could hurt the Big Red.  But a loss by DU in the finals to either Witt or 'Gheny would probably get them both in. 

Go Ladies!!!
and if not,
Go Gator-Tigers!!!