SLIAC

[jdoug2]

Big game tonight. Fontbonne vs Maryville. I wish one of these schools were broadcasting over the web. Probably will have to wait until 10:30 to know who won the game. I hate waiting.


GO FONTBONNE!!!!!!!!!

[y_jack_lok]

jdoug, I'll be there. While you may get the score before I get home to post anything, I'll give you my observations of Lauren's game. I may not pay as much attention to her as I would in a game against anyone else (except for Webster) because two Fontbonne players and two Maryville players played for Webster last season.

[jdoug2]

I'll be looking forward to your report on Lauren and the game as a whole. I just wish the teams played on a Saturday. By the way, which 2 players on Fontbonne played for Webster?

[y_jack_lok]

Amber Karnes and Liz Seeley. Liz also plays softball.

[jdoug2]

Cool. Both of them played pretty well in the game I saw. Amber played tough defense and ran well. Liz pushed the ball when she got in. I've always been a fan of a team that plays tough D and then pushes the ball on offense.  Drives me nuts when a coach is always calling plays. Let them play ball.

[y_jack_lok]

jdoug, Maryville 73-Fontbonne 58. All in all a pretty ragged game for both teams. Lauren played about like her teammates. I didn't keep track, but I'm guessing she had 12 or 13 points. Halftime score was 34-29 Maryville. Fontbonne hung tough as best they could. This game between two of the top four or five teams in the conference is clear evidence that SLIAC women's basketball has been declining for the past two years, notwithstanding Maryville's fine season last year and their win in the NCAA tournament.

[pantherpride06]

Final from Fulton, Mo.

Greenville 80, Westminster 78 (F)

Greenville was down one player, Frost (25), due to the flu bug.  Doctor sidelined her for two days and then starting guard, Reddell (20), was injured 3 mins into the game when she hit the floor and broke a tooth and cut her face open.  That required stitches.

Draege (40), King (35), Lappe (11), and Banal (10) all play alot of minutes all scored 15+ with Lappe playing all 40 and scoring 19.  Big win for Greenville.  It keeps them in the running for 2nd or 3rd with Fontbonne's loss tonight.  Maryville again may run away with a 18-0 mark in SLIAC play.  Wowzers.  It would be interesting to find the record for most conference wins w/o a loss at any level.  I'll work on that for tomorrow!

[jdoug2]

Jack I appreciate the score and the report on the game, even though I'm not a fan of the outcome. My niece said they were fouling at the end to try and catch up. Obviously that didn't quite work.  

I was actually intending to ask about the overall quality of play in the SLIAC. From checking scores of the better teams in the conference against other conferences  it definitely appears as though the SLIAC is not one of the premier leagues. Is there a reason for this? I know several of the schools have a religous alignment, but not sure if this is a determining factor. Do other conferences simply place a greater emphasis on sports?

I guess in the end if the school graduates a productive kid and someone we can all be proud of that is all that really matters. Not so sure any of them will be in the NBA or WNBA. School should be preparing them for the "rest of their life".

[jdoug2]

Sounds like Greenville pulled out a tough one. Tough to overcome the loss of 2 key players. Congrats.

Still hoping someone can knock off Maryville. Not that I have anything against them, just rooting for Fontbonne and  a little balance.

[y_jack_lok]

jdoug, re your question about the SLIAC, I'm not sure what the answer is. The conference itself only formed about 23 years ago I think. Most, if not all, of the schools have been around longer than that, but none that I know of has a long history and tradition of athletic accomplishments. Eureaka, for example, left another conference to join the SLIAC this year so that they could compete on a more level playing field, as they were not succesful in the other conference. It was a good move for them and we SLIAC fans are happy to have them. I do think the conference is improving its competitiveness with other conferences in many sports, but slowly. And there will likely be a two steps forward, one step backward experience as time goes on. I think that women's basketball is in the one step backward phase at the moment, but I'm sure there will be steps forward in the coming years. Also, many of the non-St. Louis schools have quite small enrollments -- around 600-700 students, making it hard to field competitive teams in enough sports to be members of NCAA Division III.

Perhaps some other posters who know more than I do, would be willing to add more to this conversation, and correct me if I have said anything that is not accurate.

[jdoug2]

I guess I'm not too familiar with the enrollment of the schools in the SLIAC or in other conferences. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the school itself placing emphasis on sports. Just looking on this website at other conferences you can see how much more involved their fans are. They were discussing how one womens game had 2000 fans. And from what I'm guessing, most of the schools in the SLIAC would be happy with 10% of that total. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with either attention level. I'm merely trying to determine the level of play and support in this conference.

I would also like to hear from fans in other conferences. I like reading about all the teams in this central region.

[y_jack_lok]

According to d3hoops here are the full-time undergraduate enrollments for the 10 SLIAC schools. I am assuming these figures were provided to d3hoops by the institutions.

Non St. Louis schools:
Blackburn - 585
Eureka- 498
Greenville - 1,159
Lincoln Christian - 576
MacMurray - 603
Principia - 545
Westminster - 888

St. Louis schools:Fontbonne - 2,300
Maryville - 1,474
Webster - 2,531

[fcnews]

jdoug - the conference started play in 90-91 season. As for FU, 88-89 was the first year they played a full time college schedule. FU is very young in all sports. They were an all womens school till 30 years ago. The SLIAC womens basket ball has usually had 2-3 teams that have been competitive regionally. Started with FU then WU and now MU is on quite a run.

[sully309]

Women's basketball at Eureka began in 1975 and has an overall record about 70 games over .500. The Red Devils were regularly competitive in the old conference (NIIC) in the sports of women's basketball and softball, but struggled to to be in the top half in anything else. The SLIAC is a much better fit. The EC women's team made it to the conference championship game 2 years ago and was tied for 4th last season. Having watched the teams, they would have been able to give this year's Maryville team a tough game, especially the 2004-05 squad. This year's team has played well when its guards gave a good game, but obviously has a problem with turnovers (26.5/game).

[pantherpride06]

Wow.  Lots of good information on schools.  Greenville also started as an all girls school... however that was back in the 1855 when we were Almira College.  Name changed to Greenville in 1892.  I know the men started basketball in 1942.  Not sure when the women began.  I know they have played for a while.  I'll try to find out today when we began.  We were apart of the NAIA for a long time and didn't join the NCAA or SLIAC until 1995-96.