SLIAC

[y_jack_lok]

Just out of curiosity I went searching for other women's games so far this season between two D3 opponents where the point differential was 60 or greater. I found two on 11/17: Johnson State 95, Paul Smith 30 and Maine Maritime 113, SUNY Maritime 16 (YIKES!!!). I also found a couple of almost 60: 11/18 DeSales 104, Keystone 46 and 11/21 Rutgers-Newark 83, CCNY 24. There were also 60 plus point differentials in some games where one of the schools was not D3. But I was amazed at the number of games where the point differential was in the low to mid-50s. Again, some of these were games where one of the schools was not D3, but the majority were between two D3 schools.

[Gregory Sager]

As I said on the SLIAC men's board, you have to take lopsided women's scores with a grain of salt. There's a much greater variability distinguishing different schools in the amount of recruiting emphasis and coaching resource allotment between men's basketball and women's basketball on this level. Connected to that is the fact that the skill level of women's basketball players in D3 tends to have a much wider variance than on the men's side. That's why you're more likely to see lopsided scores in D3 women's basketball than in the men's version.

[jdoug2]

I think the blowouts in womens basketball  extend to Div 1. Heck, Texas A&M beat Mc Neese St 109-26. And there are countless other examples. For some reason there just seems to be a wider gap in talent levels in all areas of womens basketball. Watching my niece play ball in high school you could  see the wide disparities in talent and coaching abilities. Watching blowouts isn't that much fun, even if your team is the one crushing the other team.  Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I'm headed to go see my Fontbonne baller.

[Hoosier Titan]

I have always thought that the blowouts that are too common in women's basketball can be attributed primarily to the smaller pool of really serious players available, due to lack of encouragement and opportunites in early life (I grew up with only the six-player "girl's" game available, and it wasn't even an official sport at my school). 

I read a really good piece in Sports Illustrated a long time ago discussing what made a sport "mature."  The author began by mentioning Bob Beamon's 1968 long jump in the Olympics--it was such a freak because of the incremental improvement (0.55 m) over the previous record, while previous improvements were on the order of 0.15 m or so.  The definition was that "mature" sports are ones where there are several, if not many, competitors (either individuals or teams) capable of performing at or near the top possible level consistently, while "immature" sports are still dominated by a few outstanding individuals or individual teams.  The point about Beamon was that, by the 1960s, men's track and field seemed "mature," with only small incremental gains on most world records each year, until Beamon's jump.

By this logic, the only women's sports that would seem to have reached "maturity" in the U.S. are soccer and softball.  (I'm ignoring sports that most of us only see on TV in the Olympics).  But Title IX has been with us a long time now; perhaps there's more to it than that.

And I agree that blowouts aren't fun for anyone.  Here's to a wider talent pool for all women's sports!

[jdoug2]

Fontbonne played Illinois Wesleyan last night. Wes is rated #24 on one poll I saw. Valiant effort, but Fontbonne lost 82-57. From reading the box score, looks like the Griffins still have way too many turnovers. Conference play begins tonight against Greenville College.

[jdoug2]

Fontbonne gets it's first win of the year against Greenville College 71-59. FB kept the turnovers to a manageable level and shot 9 of 21 behind the arc. And my niece had 12 points. Looks like the conference games will allow a more competitive level for the Griffins. Big congratulations to the Fontbonne girls and their first of many wins. 8)

[hopefan]

JDoug  the same holds for the men's side on the conference  -  while some writers have expressed great aspirations for the conference, The thing I appreciate is the mostly level playing field within the conference both on the men and women's side.  Enjoy, and I hope your neice continues her success.

[jdoug2]

I totally agree with you. A level playing field makes for more excitement and allows more teams to keep that hope alive.

Fontbonne defeats Illinois College 72-58. Haven't heard how my niece did tonight. Don't want to call her this late. Next game vs Milliken on Sunday.

[y_jack_lok]

Webster, a team rebuilding from the ground up, gets it's first win today 64-56 over Mac Murray. Of course, MacMurray seems to be almost starting over as well as they have two seniors and nine or ten freshmen -- nothing in between. Webster has one junior who saw very limited action last year, the rest are sophomores and freshmen who have not worn a Webster basketball jersey before.

[y_jack_lok]

Oh yes, I don't think the playing field on the women's side of the SLIAC is quite as level as the men's. I expect Fontbonne and Maryville will emerge as the two best teams. There are probably a couple of others that are on a second tier - Principia comes to mind as one of those. I don't know enough about the rest of the schools to make even a guess as to how they will do against each other.

[y_jack_lok]

Quote from hopefan on the men's SLIAC board: "one point of interest - Maryville plays at Wash U at 8:00 Wednesday - the prelim to that game will be the Maryville Ladies vs Wash U ladies - you might remember that last year, the Maryville ladies claimed the biggest win in their history when they upset Wash U over at Maryville  -  this could be another good game, with the Bears looking to reclaim their D3 St Louis championship.  Both teams lost key players to graduation but have resumed their winning ways this season."

It's normal to see the Wash U women come into a game at this time of the season undefeated or with maybe one loss. They are 5-3 (5-1 after starting out 0-2). Maryville is 3-2. Both teams are probably still learning to play together after graduating a number of very talented seniors. Should be an interesting game, but, as one who is generally uninclined to predict outcomes, I will say that Wash U will win this one.

[jdoug2]

Fontbonne loses a heartbreaker yesterday to Millikin 70-65. Evidently my niece had a long look at  a 3 to tie the game with 6 seconds left but it wouldn't fall. Millikin then hits 2 freebies.

I'll be interested in the Maryville-Wash U game. Fontbonne plays Wash U on Saturday.

Also, just glad to see some people here posting. I like getting some info on the conference and women's D3 ball in general.

[y_jack_lok]

jdoug2, I, too, wish there was more interest in the women's SLIAC teams. It seems that for the five seasons I've been here (this being my 6th) the St. Louis schools (Webster, Fontbonne, Maryville) have all been in the top 4 teams each year, with the 4th spot being occupied by a number of different teams.

The St. Louis schools all have larger student bodies than the six Illinois schools and the other Missouri school -- Westminster (in Fulton, MO). But that doesn't seem to be as big a factor on the men's side as it does on the women's.

Who is your neice? If I get a chance to see her play I'll give you a brief report. I'm sure I'll see her play against Webster, and it's possible that I might go to Fontbonne if they are playing at home on a day when Webster is playing outside St. Louis.

[jdoug2]

Since I'm in Texas it's difficult for me to know everything about the SLIAC. I hope to make a couple of games this year. I know my sister and brother inlaw are going to the Wash U game this weekend. I didn't even know the STL schools were the largest.

My niece is Lauren Crain. A lefty shooting guard. Make sure she's playing some D if you get to see Fontbonne play. Thanks.

[fcnews]

I wouldn't say STL schools are that big. FU's under grad count is about 1000 - 1100.

Doug, Lauren is playing hard. A nagging wrist injury isn't helping. I think wrist, I see her carring an ice bag after every practice.