Who's it going to be?

The Elite 8 was a night of great games, as it should be.
Hope defeated UW-Stevens Point, who ended Final Four host Illinois Wesleyan’s season the night before.
Amherst continues their undefeated season by knocking off Babson. Unranked Rochester shocked Kean.
And, to answer the question from my previous post: No, George Fox won’t do it again. Last night assured that we would not have a repeat National Champion in DIII women’s basketball. For the second year in a row, the George Fox Bruins met Washington-St. Louis in the NCAA Tournament, but this time in the Elite 8.  And this time, they lost.
The score’s of the consecutive match-ups are almost identical, but reversed. Last year, George Fox knocked off Wash U in the national championship game 60-53, and this year Wash U won 59-52. Just like last year, the game was a battle.  Until midway through the second half, the Bears and the Bruins fought back and forth. Wash U finally pulled away with an 11-4 run to solidify their Final Four berth. The Bears’ next game will be another familiar one, as they face Amherst for the second consecutive time in the semifinals.
The first-ranked team in the country won a trip to the Final Four, as Amherst led Babson the entire game. Down three points was the closest Babson could get to evening up the score. The Lord Jeffs were just a little more than Babson could handle, as five of their players scored double digits. If Amherst can get by Wash U, unlike last year, they would be playing to become the third straight national champions with an undefeated season. That title is only two games away, but those will be two difficult games, no matter who they play.
I had the opportunity to see the Elite Eight game that was played at Illinois Wesleyan this weekend; a game between two impressive basketball teams. The Flying Dutch of Hope College were excited at the idea of playing someone other than third-ranked IWU, but knew that defeating Steven’s Point would be no easy task. They were right.
Junior Carrie Snikkers was key in Hope’s win. Her height advantage was apparent from the second the two teams stepped on the court, but her four points in the first half made it seem as if her height wouldn’t matter. But then she dominated the second half, scoring 17 of her 21 points after halftime. She shot 9-for-13, had 12 rebounds and three blocked shots, en route to Hope’s 71-64 victory. Britta Peterson was the leader for Steven’s Point, scoring half the points, and making it clear Hope would not win easily. She just couldn’t miss.  But 30 points later, her team still fell short. The score was close all game, but Hope kept their poise. They played tough defense and hit the big shots when it counted. It was a fantastic feeling for Coach Morehouse and his team after losing the previous two years in the Elite 8 to the eventual national champions. And you could see it in their faces. As the clock ticked down smiles began spreading across the players’ faces and the anxious bench was waiting for the buzzer so they could storm the court to celebrate. When that buzzer finally went off, that is exactly what they did. There were smiles, yells, hugs and tears of joy as the Hope women’s basketball team celebrated finally making it back to the Final Four.
Next up for the Dutch will be a familiar setting. They will play at Illinois Wesleyan for the second weekend in a row, against another team that upset their higher-ranked opponent.
Which bring us to Rochester. It was a great weekend for the Yellow jackets as they ended two undefeated seasons. In the Sweet 16 game, they beat undefeated Christopher Newport, followed by their Elite Eight victory in which they became the first D3 team to beat Kean. The game versus Kean was tied at 13 different times, until just less than eight minutes remaining when Melissa Alwardt’s jumper gave Rochester the lead for good. And like Hope, Amherst and Wash U, Rochester is going to the Final Four.
Every team dreams of being in this position, and for four teams that dream has come true. Four games down, two to go. In the Final Four, all you can think about is winning. These final games will be tough. The crowd will be roaring, and each team’s season is on the line. They will have to take each game one at a time, because they all know that from the moment that first whistle is blown, there is nothing to do but trust that every sprint, drill and shot will be paid off.
So… Hope. Rochester. Washington-St. Louis. Amherst. Who’s it going to be?

DIII NCAA St. Louis Sectional: Can George Fox do it again?

That is the big question on a lot of people’s minds this year (it’s on my mind at least). Can the George Fox Bruins do it again? Last year they won the National Championship with no returning starters and 10 freshmen on the team. That means that the majority of their team is returning this year as they try and win their second championship game in a row.

They did, however, lose a key player when lone senior, Kristen Shielee graduated last year. Shielee has quite a unique story. Her first three years of college were spent sitting on the bench, which would leave almost any player considering quitting and Shielee was no different. According to the George Fox graduate she seriously considered quitting the team, but in the end figured she dedicated three years to the team, so what’s one more? To say her life would be different today if she had quit is an understatement. The most outstanding player at the DIII Final Four, averaged 12 points per game her senior year and blocked 122 shots, a school record. Oh yeah, and she won a National Championship. But not even Shielee could have predicted what she is doing now that she has graduated from college. Last June, she joined the Pamplona Ardoi, a professional team in Spain. It is unexpected because of her first three years, but not because of her ability. She finally was given the opportunity to play her senior year, and she improved tremendously, showing she had only scratched the surface of her potential. Playing overseas will give Shielee the opportunity to make up for lost time. The Pamplona Ardoi fall around the bottom of their conference, meaning Shielee won’t be making enough money to survive on. In addition to playing basketball, she is teaching an English class.

The Bruins have lost two games this year, which is two more than last year’s team. George Fox is ranked fifth by both national polls, and on Friday they will face Carthage College (#14 according to D3hoop.com) in the ‘Sweet 16’. Washington University in St. Louis, last year’s runner-up, will play host for this sectional.

The Bruins may be the defending national champions, but they will face a tough opponent in Carthage who they have never met before. The Lady Reds have beaten the #1 ranked team twice this year, defeating Hope 51-47 in December, and Illinois Wesleyan 72-67 at the end of January. These wins for the Bruins gave both Hope and IWU their only losses of the season.

Carthage’s roster includes first-team All-CCIW player Diana Jacklin. Jacklin averages 14.9 ppg, 7.5 rebounds per game, 1.6 blocked shots per game, 1.76 steals per game, and shoots 55%. She is a sophomore at Carthage, but should really be a junior. The 6’ center played her first two seasons at Florida Gulf Coast University, a Division I school in Ft. Myers, FL. She was red-shirted there her freshman year, but played in 20 games, averaging 2.9 ppg as a sophomore.

George Fox is led in scoring by Keisha Gordon who averages 14.1 points per game, followed by Hannah Munger with 12.1 points per game. Munger also provides the team with a height advantage against most opponents, as the freshman post stands at 6’5. Usually, a plus of having a height advantage is blocked shots, and it’s no different for Munger who has blocked 98 shots this season. Gordon is a 5’10 sophomore guard who averaged 12.7 ppg her freshman year. She was also a leader on last year’s team, scoring almost 400 points in the season, meaning she is well on her way to 1,000 which she will most likely reach sometime next season.

If George Fox comes out with the win they could possibly face a repeat of last year’s National Championship game by facing Wash U. The Bears would have to beat the 26-4 Purple Raiders of Mount Union.

This is Mount Union’s fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and also their fourth trip to the sectional round. The Purple Raiders defeated Washington & Jefferson (PA) 71-48 in the first round, followed by a much closer victory in the second round. Mount Union beat Messiah 62-61 in overtime the next night.

Their opponent, Washington-St. Louis, is among the nation’s elite programs. The Bears won four consecutive National Championships beginning in 1998. Their first round win was an 81-67 victory over Maryville, followed by an almost 20 point win over Thomas More in the second round (68-49). This year is their 21st straight year playing in the NCAA Tournament, and they made it to the Final Four eight of those years, including last year when they lost to George Fox in the finals.

Women's NCAA Tournament Bracket

It's been quite awhile since my last post, but since its time for all the madness (March) to start, I thought it was also time for a post. The women's NCAA Tournament bracket was announced at the beginning of this week and play will start tonight! Go to www.d3hoops.com to check out the match-ups for tonight!

I'll be attending the games played here at Hope College tonight. First up is Lakeland vs. DePauw at 5:30, followed by Denison vs. Hope at 7:30. As I've said before, any team can win any game on any given day, but my predicted match-up for Saturday night is DePauw vs. Hope. I guess we'll see tonight if I'm right! I'm going to try to Tweet some updates from the games, so check out my Twitter, @WTS_kaci. You can also see my tweets on the sidebar of this blog's homepage, so check back during the games for updates!

Week 5 Women's D3 Basketball Top 25

 D3Hoops Top 25 Poll

#	Team	W-L	Pts.	Last Week
1	Illinois Wesleyan (18)	11-0	618	1
2	Amherst (7)	10-0	594	2
3	Washington U.	9-1	572	3
4	Kean	13-1	540	5
5	Bowdoin	9-0	538	4
6	Hope	10-1	463	6
7	Marymount	12-0	457	7
8	Scranton	7-2	402	9
9	William Paterson	13-0	369	13
10	Muhlenberg	7-1	365	11
11	Carthage	10-1	346	15
12	George Fox	8-2	290	16
13	UW-River Falls	12-0	288	18
14	Thomas More	10-1	258	8
15	Tufts	10-1	235	17
16	Mount Union	12-0	227	20
17	Messiah	9-1	210	10
18	Moravian	9-2	198	19
19	UW-Whitewater	9-3	194	14
20	Calvin	11-1	170	21
21	Chicago	8-3	115	22
22	Louisiana College	8-1	105	25
23	Emmanuel	8-1	90	—
24	Howard Payne	9-2	60	—
25	UW-Stevens Point	8-3	58	—

Three teams dropped out of the top 25 this week. No. 23 St. Norbert, and No. 24 Randolph-Macon both lost their spots in the rankings and Trinity (Texas) also surprisingly became unranked after being previously ranked No. 12 in Week 4. St. Norbert moved out of the rankings after a Dec. 30 loss to Wartburg College. Randolph-Macon's move came after losing to Chris. Newport 78-67. Trinity (Texas) lost 74-49 to Austin College leading to their move out of the top 25.
In the top 5, Bowdoin and Kean switched places from Week 4 to Week 5. Thomas More made a big jump all the way from No. 8 down to No. 14. Messiah also dropped all the way from No. 7 down to No. 17.
New to the rankings this week are UW-Stevens Point, Howard Payne, and Emmanuel. Welcome to the Top 25.

USA TODAY/ESPN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOP 25 POLL UPDATES

Rank	Institution - First Place Votes	Previous Ranking	Record	Points
1	Hope College (Mich.) - 5	1	7-0	196
2	Illinois Wesleyan University - 3	2	8-0	195
3	Amherst College (Mass.)	3	8-0	184
4	Bowdoin College (Maine)	4	7-0	167
5	Washington University (Mo.)	5	6-1	162
6	Howard Payne University (Texas)	6	7-0	160
7	Kean University (N.J.)	7	7-1	156
8	Marymount University (Va.)	8	7-0	143
9	Thomas More College (Ky.)	9	7-0	141
10	Trinity University (Texas)	10	5-0	126
11	University of Wisconsin, Whitewater	12	7-1	116
12	George Fox University (Ore.)	14	4-2	98
13	William Paterson University (N.J.)	15	9-0	96
14	Carthage College (Wis.)	13	6-1	95
15	University of Chicago (Ill.)	16	5-2	75
T16	Messiah College (Pa.)	18	8-0	71
T16	University of Scranton (Pa)	11	5-2	71
18	Muhlenberg College (Pa.)	17	7-1	65
19	Calvin College (Mich.)	19	9-1	62
20	Randolph-Macon College (Va.)	20	4-1	48
21	Capital University (Ohio)	25	5-1	31
22	Moravian College (Pa.)	T21	6-2	22
23	Simpson College (Iowa)	T21	5-1	20
24	University of Wisconsin, River Falls	NR	8-0	19
25	Mount Union College (Ohio)	NR	8-0	17

Dropped Out: Emmanuel College (Mass.), University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.
Others Receiving Votes: Emmanuel College (Mass.) - 13; Saint Norbert College (Wis.) - 8; College of St. Benedict (Minn.) - 7; University of Puget Sound (Wash.) - 7; California Lutheran University - 6; Lewis & Clark College (Ore.) - 5; Roanoke College (Va.) - 5; Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.) - 5; Christopher Newport University (Va.) - 4; Tufts University (Mass.) - 4.

what you WILL see in D3 Hoops

There are a lot of things that as a spectator you probably won’t see when watching Division III women’s basketball this season. Most likely, no matter which teams you’re watching, you aren’t going to see the next WNBA draft pick. While it’s not impossible, you probably won’t witness a dunk like Candace Parker. And hopefully, you won’t see a player get pulled to the ground by her ponytail like in the New Mexico vs. BYU women’s soccer game. But—I can tell you about what you will see:

Fearlessness. Most people who knew anything about the George Fox Bruins would have expected the women on the team at Cal Lutheran to be afraid going into Sunday’s game. Clearly, that was not the case. They knew George Fox was the defending national championship team. And they knew that the Bruins were on a 36-game winning streak. Yet they were fearless. The Cal Lutheran Regals led almost the entire game and when the buzzer went off, they had won the game nobody thought they could.

Determination. The Illinois Wesleyan Titans spent the last six weeks of the 2008-2009 season as the No. 1 team in the nation. But when the pre-season Top 25 polls came out on D3hoops.com, they found themselves as #6. While they certainly haven’t had a long history as the top team in Division III, they wanted that position back. And with the team who filled that #1 spot (Washington University) on their schedule early on, they had the perfect opportunity to get it back. So that’s exactly what they did. They had a goal, and they were determined to achieve it. So they played the game, they won, and they earned their spot back on top.

Aggressiveness. Monmouth College lost a lot in their graduating class last year. The team will look to replace last year’s star players Tanesha Hughes and Melissa Gorski. A big problem they will face this season is their lack of size, but the way to make up for that is with aggressiveness. “We’re going to be smaller than most teams,” predicted Head Coach Melissa Bittner. “Lacking the size, we’ll need to be the scrappy, aggressive, athletic in-your-face team.” A team could have all the talent in the world, but if they don’t play aggressively it doesn’t matter. When it comes down to it, the best teams in the nation play aggressive.

Hard work. Every athlete knows that it is almost guaranteed that somewhere another athlete is working longer and harder. The University of Texas at Tyler will have a new head coach for women’s basketball this year.  Coach Stasha Richards will take over for the Patriots this season. When talking about success, she says this: “Everyone in the world would love to have a recipe for success. But, the truth of the matter is there is no sure fire way to ensure anyone will be successful in anything they do. I believe that there are many elements in the equation that can greatly improve the odds. The very first thing is to work as hard as we can in everything we do. We cannot take shortcuts.” Of course, not every single talented player is an extremely hard worker, but hard work can sometimes make up for talent, believe me I’ve seen it happen. Because the one thing no one can ever take away from you, and the one thing you can always control is how hard you work.

Victory. At the end of the season, there will be a team who can call themselves the best team in Division III women’s basketball. Though there will be many successful, hard-working, aggressive, determined and fearless teams, only one can win it all. There will be countless victories for numerous teams throughout this long season, and after all, that is what these teams are playing for. Even though people say “it’s not about wins or losses, it’s how you play the game”, I think Mia Hamm perfectly described how athletes really feel when she said “whoever said winning isn’t everything, probably never won.”