SLIAC

[jdoug2]

Since Fontbonne does not have one outstanding player, I would defer to another team for player of the year.

My brother in law said Fisher was the best player he has seen in the conference. And I saw Speer play in a game where she was mostly ineffective vs Fontbonne.

[NO RESPECT]

JDoug, I would take a great team over a great player any day. This is why Greenville, Fontboone and Maryville are the top three teams in the conference. Gotta give some acknowledgement to the Beavers of Blackburn as well, as it looks like they have clinced the 4th seed. Great job...now you get to play Maryville for a third time.

[furbug]

For some reason I still think Maryville can be beaten. Not that there is any evidence to my theory.

Yes, they can be beaten. There is now evidence to your theory. Webster came within 2 crucial turnovers in the last couple of minutes of doing so.  I guess that we still need to play the games.

[hopefan]

Absolutely fantastic comeback by Webster's ladies vs Maryville - down by 27 in the first half, they clawed there way ALMOST all the way back....  lesson for everyone from this one!!!!

[HCACBBALL]

Just my two cents but the Shipley kid is impressive.  She may not be the best player in the conference this year but she can take over any game at any time.

[y_jack_lok]

Just my two cents but the Shipley kid is impressive.  She may not be the best player in the conference this year but she can take over any game at any time.

I assume you mean Blackburn's Sierra Shipley. Yes, she's a very good player. Before I had seen her play for the first time someone had raved about her and my expectations were way too high. But she is definitely in the uppper ecehelon of talent in the conference.

[HCACBBALL]

Yes, that would be the one from Blackburn.  My expectations were low and she exceeded them greatly.  But I guess it goes on the game you saw.  I was not impressed with the first game I saw of Speers from Prin but the second game she was dominate. 

I personally though would like to give praise to the "teams" in the conference.  The top 3 teams have all showed to play as a team on a nightly basis with different players stepping up.  That is when you are going to be successful.

[jdoug2]

How in the heck did Webster do it? Did Maryville just put it on auto-pilot? I'm not trying to devalue the Webster team... just wondering if Maryville lost focus.

I did see Shipley play. She has a nice open court game, but when Fontbonne layed off her and forced her to take the outside shot her game lacked. She was really nice pushing the ball and drew quite a few fouls.

[y_jack_lok]

I didn't see the game because I was sick and couldn't make it. From the box score, the key state of the game is that Maryville hit only 3 of their 20 3 point attempts. If they just have an average night shooting 3s and hit another 3 or 4, then a 7 point game is a 16-19 point game. Taking nothing away from Webster. Hopefan was there and he is not prone gloss over things. His post suggests that Webster played inspired ball. I trust his judgment.

[furbug]

On the best player discussion, I will throw in Abby Lowe of MacMurray, but I think it all depends on the games a person saw. Christina Speer did not look all that good when I saw her this year at Webster. I have not seen Nicole Fisher yet this year.  Christina may well be the best multi-sport athlete however, or Natalie Lappe of Greenville for that matter.

As far as Webster last night, they did play inspired ball, shooting 58% for the second half, 47% for the game. Prior to this in recent games a good shooting game for Webster was when they reached or exceeded 30%. They also hit 90% on free throws and did a reasonably good job on Allie Wilhelm. This was a fired up Webster team who wanted that win badly. Remember they were the last conference team to beat Maryville, but it was post season and they are not getting any credit for that. Several of them told me after the game that they badly wanted to snap that streak.

[jdoug2]

Big props to Webster. I am dutifully impressed without seeing the game.

As for P.O.Y. it really depends on how many players you were able to see and how they performed in those games. I hate to say it, but you have to take stats into the equation. Also, I would find it difficult to choose a player whose team is below .500 in conference. I know it is an individual award but if you are player of the year you need to lift your team.

[NO RESPECT]

I agree, the best player should come from one of the top three teams in the conference, unless a dominant player does not have other talented players to play with.

Top players in conference:

1. Fischer
2. Speer
3. Lowe
4. Shipley
5. Banal/Gardner


just my opinion.

[HCACBBALL]

Personally, mine would be

1. Lowe
2. Speers
3 Fisher
4. Shipley

I am amazed by what Lowe can do as a guard.  She has to handle the ball and from the handful of games I have seen has been the main attraction of the opponents.  Her stats have come down as the season had gone along but that could be due to the fact she has to carry much of the load.

[hopefan]

You guys follow the ladies much closer than I do, but it's hard to imagine that someone from Maryville doesn't rate consideration in your list - likely either Wemliger or Wilhelm.  By naming 5 candidates for POY without including a Maryville player, you imply that no Maryville player even makes first team all conference, though Maryville wins the conference by 3 or 4 games.   That doesn't sound logical to me.

[jdoug2]

I have to agree with hopefan. Even though I have not seen a Maryville game, someone on that team has to get some P.O.Y. consideration. You are talking about the dominant team.