SLIAC

[theoneandonly]

Just one small word for coach Dubb.. and this is no disrespect.

FREE THROW PERCENTAGES
# Team                  G    FTM   FTA   Pct
--------------------------------------------
1.Fontbonne........... 17    314   411  .764
2.Westminster (Mo.)... 16    214   304  .704
3.Maryville (Mo.)..... 17    245   351  .698
4.Principia........... 15    178   271  .657
5.Webster............. 16    247   378  .653
6.MacMurray........... 16    247   380  .650
7.Greenville.......... 15    189   292  .647
8.Eureka.............. 15    213   339  .628
9.Blackburn........... 16    177   288  .615


Better get that ready for wednesday night.. Blackburn wants that W!

[hopefan]

Funny how the impending departure of Maryville from the SLIAC has heightened my interest in the 'other' ladies' teams in the conference.
Call me male chauvenest - I've never made a decision on what game I'm seeing based on the ladies matchup - I always pick the best men's game and take what's offered on the ladies side.  However this year, all of a sudden, while I still base my decision on the men's game, my mind immediately then evaluates the ramifications of the accompanying ladies matchup....

Unfortunately, that will likely keep me from seeing Coach Dubb's rising Blackburn squad until the playoffs, and Ill never see Prin, but I am building an appreciation for Webster's strong Frosh class, the seeming over acheiving Fontbonne team, Westminster's athletic group, and of course Maryville's perrenial champs... With Maryville leaving, times they are a changing.... Just like the men's conference, the ladies teams are very evenly matched - alot of fun competitive games to see.

Sorry to hear Courtney Brown left the Webster team  -  bad decision all the way around....

[theoneandonly]

i really enjoy watching coach dubb's team and attend almost all the home games, its worth the trip, if you still want to make sure there will be two good games here are some good matchup that will be AT blackburn here shortly

Jan 28th Vs. Fontbonne
Feb. 18th Vs. Greenville
*** Feb 24th Vs. Maryville

the lady beavers brought the Lady Saints very close to their first conference loss in over 80 games in their last meeting. A double over time loss was heart breaking for them, but they look to change those tides at the beaver dome!

and if those dont interest you, well then, i dont know haha!

[theoneandonly]

congrats to speer again for dominiating and taking home the second straight week of potw

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Principia College's Christina Speer, a senior from Ballwin, Mo. (Principia Upper), has been named the SLIAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of January 19-25. This is the second consecutive week that she has earned the honor.

Speer, a 6-2 post player, averaged another double-double last week with 19 points and 11 rebounds in three games played. She also shot a perfect 15-of-15 from the charity stripe, was 21-of-34 (.618) from the field and tallied seven assists, seven blocks and six steals.

Speer had 22 points and 15 rebounds in the Panthers 87-74 victory versus Webster University. In that game she sank a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line and recorded four steals, three assists and one block. Speer also recorded a double-double with 25 points and 16 rebounds in a 67-65 loss on the road at Blackburn College. In just eight minutes played in Principia's non-conference win (68-31) over St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Speer had 10 points, one assist, one steal and one block.

[y_jack_lok]

Predictions make for good discussion - When I saw the prediction of a Webster win over Westmin by Yjak, I was surprised for 2 reasons - No 1, I don't think yjak has seen Westmin yet this year, though I may be wrong... 

I looked back over the posts and can't find where I predicted Webster would beat Westminster. I'm pretty sure I said twice that I rate that game a toss up. WC won the first meeting at WC by 3 points. But Webster's cast of characters is different now with Courtney Brown leaving the team and Erin Chesnek out for the season due to injury. But Myrtie Reilly was not on the WU squad at the time. So it's hard to know how this will change things.

In spite of the fact that WU had trouble with Greenville's zone press, I believe the Gorloks have a player capable of handling the ball and getting it down court under pressure. It's just a matter of deciding to use her for that purpose.

[y_jack_lok]

Y-Jack that would be a bold prediction for Blackburn's Men to beat Fontbonne.  I will not take that one.   

I agree.

[hopefan]

yjak  -you're reight - I don't know how I got that  -  another senior moment....

[theoneandonly]

I doubt anyone is interested but here are my picks for the rest of this weeks games.

MacMurray over Lincoln Christian

Maryville Over Prin
     I do believe this will be a close game though. Even though Speer has done a lot of work under the boards this year, but i think Wilheml will be able to hold her down. i think Maryville is too quick and scores so much that they will take the W espically not if but when Wilhelm and Wemlinger come to play.

Westminster Over Webster
     Even though Webster has an advantage when it comes to rebounding, i dont think they will be able to hold down Westminsters 3 pointers. Webster is getting to that point where they are going to be in must win situations.

Blackburn Over Fontbonne
    With the loss by 8 at Fontbonne earlier in the year i think blackburn will come in hungry and defend their home court. blackburn is a much wiser team now because these girls look like they are finally starting to mesh. although the last game these two played was a street ball game, catch and go type of game, i think blackburn will prevail this time.

Eureka over Greenville
     Byard and Crum will do enough rebounding and scoring to take down Banal and the Panthers..

Let me know what you guys think.

[y_jack_lok]

Westminster Over Webster
     Even though Webster has an advantage when it comes to rebounding, i dont think they will be able to hold down Westminsters 3 pointers. Webster is getting to that point where they are going to be in must win situations.

If Westminster has a typical night shooting 3-pointers then Webster's key to counteracting that will be offensive rebounding in the paint and successfully putting the ball in the basket after a missed shot. All the offensive rebounds in the world won't help if they can't be converted into points.

I think everyone except Maryville is in a must win situation at the moment. If the current teams 2 through 4 win the next couple of weeks, the current bottom 5 may be all but out of the race for a tournament spot. However, in spite of the standings, I think there is more parity in the conference than it appears, so I expect the race for spots 2-4 is far from over.

[GorlokFan]

I doubt anyone is interested but here are my picks for the rest of this weeks games.

MacMurray over Lincoln Christian
I would agree with this.  If Lowe is on then this might be a twenty/thirty point win.

Maryville Over Prin
     I do believe this will be a close game though. Even though Speer has done a lot of work under the boards this year, but i think Wilheml will be able to hold her down. i think Maryville is too quick and scores so much that they will take the W espically not if but when Wilhelm and Wemlinger come to play.
If Maryville shows up, it will be another 30+ victory.  If Maryville shoots from the 3pt line like it has the last couple it could be a 10 point game at most.

Westminster Over Webster
     Even though Webster has an advantage when it comes to rebounding, i dont think they will be able to hold down Westminsters 3 pointers. Webster is getting to that point where they are going to be in must win situations.
I do not think this will be closer than 10 points.  Webster is not the same team that lost the last time but they do not have a good enough PG to get the ball across half-court against Backes.  Auer has no left and will get picked everytime.  I think Stanfill is physical enough that Reily will get into foul trouble from trying to go over her back. 

Blackburn Over Fontbonne
    With the loss by 8 at Fontbonne earlier in the year i think blackburn will come in hungry and defend their home court. blackburn is a much wiser team now because these girls look like they are finally starting to mesh. although the last game these two played was a street ball game, catch and go type of game, i think blackburn will prevail this time.
I am going to take FU in this game by 4.  I think the guards of FU will give Blackburn fits and if FU is on from beyond the arc it will be more than that. 

Eureka over Greenville
     Byard and Crum will do enough rebounding and scoring to take down Banal and the Panthers..
  Who knows in this game?  I think it will depend on who shoots the best from outside the arc. 

[Coach Will]

Christina Speer is the most dominant player in the SLIAC!!!! She is a match-up problem for every team, as she can post up, hit the 3, hand the ball vs. the press and block a ton of shots. She will be the conference player of the year. I am sure that many coaches in the SLIAC, will be happy to see her Graduate. Great Job Christina, your a BEAST!!!!!

[HCACBBALL]

Coach, I echo that!!!! Ms. Speer is one of the best posts that I have seen in D3 in awhile.  The mind boggling thing is she is probably a better volleyball player. 

The SLIAC has some good ones to watch, Speer, Lowe, Shipley, etc.

[hopefan]

not to disparage what Ms Speer has accomplished or the views of Coach Dubb and HCAC - but in the first conference game of the year, Prin played Maryville...  Ms Speer had 13 points (5 for 10 from the field), 6 rebounds 5 turnovers...  the two Maryville post players, Wilhelm and Viehmann, were also 5 for 10, 14 points, 11 rebounds and 2 turnovers  ....   Granted Speers was in foul trouble....

The best always want to play their best in big games-  lets hope Ms Speer stays out of foul trouble tonite vs Maryville and can show her stuff against the best team in the conference...

[jdoug2]

Good win for Fontbonne. And on a selfish note sounds like my niece got a few minutes and played pretty well.   

[theoneandonly]

Huge win for fontbonne. close game the whole time. one box out at the end for blackburn would have been huge. ludwig came up huge for the FU girls at the end. good game to both teams.. Blackburn on a 2 game slide needs to wake up this next week or their tourney hopes may go down the drain.