SLIAC

[hopefan]

no way I was comparing St Louis to Chicago   -   rather I was comparing St Louis to the Illinois Midstate and downstate players....   If Coach can persuade Chicago Area kids to play at Blacburn, more power to him... he will win.

[Coach Will]

Hopefan, I understood where you were going, but I feel that every coach has to try to recruit everywhere. The goal is to find a few diamonds in the rough. It's very hard to recruit to the SLIAC, when you have all of the NAIA school offering partial athletic scholarships, no matter how small they are. Once a player here scholarship for basketball, they are in. Then we have to contend with the many junior colleges that offer full rides. Last but not least, there is the good ole CCIW...I understand why players would want to go to those schools, I graduated from one of them.
With this said, the SLIAC can and will become a better conference, as the coaching staffs at the various schools are doing a great job at recruiting and player development. If this continues, the SLIAC will get a NCAA tourney win soon.

[y_jack_lok]

With this said, the SLIAC can and will become a better conference, as the coaching staffs at the various schools are doing a great job at recruiting and player development. If this continues, the SLIAC will get a NCAA tourney win soon.

For those who weren't around then, or weren't paying attention to the women at the time, the '01-'02 Webster women made it to the Sweet 16, losing to eventual national champ UW-Stevens Point by 10. Also, I believe a Fontbonne team from a few years earlier won a game or two in the NCAA tourney. Fcnews can confirm if this is correct and add details if it is.

I believe the Maryville teams of the past few years have been some of the best I've seen in the conference and they've been unable to get out of the first round of the NCAAs. I do think the current trend in the SLIAC is upward, however, and I think Coach Will is right -- an NCAA win for a SLIAC women's team will happen -- just hard to know how long that will take.

[fcnews]

Yjak - I believe you mentioned the Lady Griff's from '01. They schocked the basketball world by stopping Wash U's 80+ win streak. A road trip shy of breaking Wodden's record. And the game was never in doubt. This is the same year Wash U. won the National Championship (with Tasha Rodgers).

Fontbonne hosted Rockford in the first round of NCAA's and beat Rockford real bad.
Then went on the road to the hostile enviroment that was Millikin and beat them. Millikin was ranked like #5. Then went to the sweet sixteen at St. Thomas, MN. and let one get away to a good Wartburg game. May have been peaking ahead. A win would have meant a rematch with Wash U. for a trip to the Final Four.

[hopefan]

Wish I had been into it back then FC  -  that had to be incredibly exciting.....  the loss at St Thomas with Wash U possible the next night must have been a crusher.  Did that team have a "star"

[fcnews]

Amy Hauschild was a 5'10 forword (D3hoops AA) and POY in the SLIAC in both BBall and Volleyball. Future AA 5'11 Liz Klotz was a freshmen Newcomer who had a great tourney. Pt guard Mellissa Stewart was All Tourney at Sweet 16 and was the one who predicted as a freshmen that they would beat Wash U before she graduated. Long time FU women's asst. Maureen Roberts was deadly 3pt shooter.

Very Special group. What a game it would of been FU v. WU on a Nuetral site winner goes. Well Wash u took care of business and went on to win it all.

[furbug]

I well remember Fontbonne's upset and breaking of the Wash U long streak to which fcNews refers, although I was not at that game. I was, however, at Wisconsin Stevens Point for the Sweet Sixteen game to which Yjak refers. It was very exciting and worth the 8-hour bus ride each way. That place was packed beyond the limits of the fire code, with a 98% Webster-hostile crowd. The Gorloks played like the SLIAC champions they were, led by 6 or 7 points throughout about 3/4 of the game. Halley Spahn fouled out early in the 4th quarter and Tara Fortschneider went out injured and came back later. Webster was simply worn down by the eventual National Champs. Laura Stuhlman was the point guard and Freshman Tara  Moriarty was an excellent starter who never returned for her sophomore year, transferred to Kentucky. Tara Fortschneider was a gutsy sophomore who had lost both her parents to cancer shortly before the game. The link below is to a reprint of an article that appeared the next day in the Wisconsin Newspaper. The "One Tough Gorlok" phrase was coined by that writer in Wisconsin and could not have fit Tara more perfectly.

http://media.www.webujournal.com/media/storage/paper245/news/2002/03/21/Sports/Commentary.One.Tough.Gorlok-220091.shtml

[hopefan]

Coach Will   -  come on, keep this board alive   -  how are practices going  - are all the players you expected present and accounted for   -  anybody looking surprisingly good  -  I see the guys are down at Maryville - wish the ladies would have joined them......

[y_jack_lok]

In the interest of "keeping the board alive" I will report that I heard from a highly reliable source that the Webster women scrimmaged Meramec CC and held their own pretty well without two key players, one of whom had class and the other having a minor injury that should be cleared up before too long.

[Coach Will]

Hopefan, why would any coach give away any secrets about their team....lol! No we are coming along...still have a lot of work to do. The SLIAC is going to be tough to win for all of us, so we all have to work hard. We did not play maryville, as our schedule was completed a while ago...I like to play in tournaments away from our area, so that the ladies can bond.
Y-Jack, Webster is well coached, and they will be very good. Coach O is very hungry, and I am sure that he will have his players well prepared, just as the other coaches in this conference.
This is the best time of the year, as everyone is working hard to get ready to battle....can't wait.

The only way this board will stay alive is if the fans continue to bring porsitive information and energy. If that happens, I dont mind coming on and dropping a line. so lets have a positive season, and good luck to everyone.

[fcnews]

FU gets 5 players from the soccer team tommorrow morning. Starting PG Kaitlin Brammel and probably starting F Kendra Schilli. Size from Tori Price. Plus freshmen Ava Johnson (Perryville) joins teammate Schilli.

[y_jack_lok]

Webster 67 - Dominican 52: http://www.websterathletics.com/news/2009/11/15/WBB_1115093112.aspx

[y_jack_lok]

Illinois College 83 - MacMurray 71: http://www.ic.edu/athletics/teams/Womens/Basketball/BBALL_0910/Mac11-15.htm

[dynasty22]

I am ready for the season to start! As the Blackburn girls are pre-season favorites, I can't wait to watch them. I know Coach has been working them hard and getting them prepared for a long road ahead of them.
Go Beavers!

[y_jack_lok]

I am ready for the season to start! As the Blackburn girls are pre-season favorites, I can't wait to watch them. I know Coach has been working them hard and getting them prepared for a long road ahead of them.
Go Beavers!

Actually, in the coaches' poll, Westminster came out on top in spite of the fact that Blackburn had one more first place vote. If you go back to page 75 on this site you can see that someone posted the results of the poll. I went to the conference website to see if I could find the article about the poll, but apparently it is already archived. Doesn't matter, the only poll that counts is the one with the columns headed Won and Lost.