WBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

Started by David Collinge, November 23, 2004, 04:59:39 PM

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David Collinge

Congratulations to DePauw on a great first season in the NCAC. They sailed to the conferece regular-season and tournament crowns, before sadly being upset in the second round of the NCAAs at home. Still it was an outstanding season and one to be proud of. Go Tigers!

mark_reichert

It took looking at the IWU Athletic Calender since the schedule isn't up yet, but the fourth team for the IWU Women's 2012 Tip Off Tournament appears to be Coe College, in Cedar Rapids IA.

YMMV, but I think close losses to Final Four bound teams two years running makes them a fit opponent for the first year in which all of the rotating host teams (Depauw, IWU, WashU) have a national championship.  In fact, half of the last six.

Pat Coleman

Publisher. Questions? Check our FAQ for D3f, D3h.
Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

NotNexttoUganda

So, is there anyone in the league that can challenge Depauw? It seems to me that Depauw has a stranglehold on the NCAC in Field Hockey and Women's Basketball--which is interesting--it certainly challenges the rest of the NCAC to get better...somehow.

Pat Coleman

I had hoped last year that Denison would but it didn't pan out. Denison lost five NCAC games last year, though, so it wasn't just because DePauw entered the league.
Publisher. Questions? Check our FAQ for D3f, D3h.
Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

NotNexttoUganda

Quote from: Pat Coleman on October 31, 2012, 03:55:36 PM
I had hoped last year that Denison would but it didn't pan out. Denison lost five NCAC games last year, though, so it wasn't just because DePauw entered the league.

League Preview can be found here. http://www2.northcoast.org/basketball/pollrelease/2012-13

Depauw picked to finish first, followed by Denison, and then Kenyon and Wittenberg. I'd be surprised if Kenyon found a way to sneak past Denison for that second spot--Denison is one of those teams that Kenyon just hasn't been able to solve. The last time that Kenyon beat Denison was on February 13, 2008. It'll be interesting to see what happens this year, as Kenyon seems to get close to winning, but can't quite do the job.


gordonmann

Courtesy of Illinois Wesleyan's online video, I just watched DePauw blitz the defending national champions 75-52. 

The Tigers seized control of the game late in the first half and led by as many as 32 points in the second half. Illinois Wesleyan couldn't generate any consistent offense out of their press, which is the Titans' M.O.  They looked frustrated with atypical turnovers and missed layups. Despite playing at home, the stands were empty and IWU didn't get any momentum early in the second half when the Titans had a chance to make a game of it.

But take nothing away from DePauw because the Tigers looked great. Early in the game, the Tigers broke the Titans' press and either waited too long to turn the press break into transition points or settled for mid-range jumpers. But the Tigers adjusted, their forwards became more aggressive and DePauw looked like the better transition team for much of the game.

Walker is a really nice point guard who handled the IWU press well. A good scorer and ball distributor, too. Trees is a nice shooter with a quick release.

Alex Gassaway is a smooth player. She made some nice moves around the rim, including a fade away jumper that would've made Dirk Nowitzki smile.  Ellie Pearson played solid defense and, once she became more aggressive, the Tigers' whole offense opened up.  If Gassaway and Pearson continue to play well, this will be a very formidable team.

Hopefully the NCAC opponents can push the Tigers this year. DePauw challenged itself with Washington U., Illinois Wesleyan and Messiah still to come.  But weeks of lopsided games won't prepare the Tigers for the NCAA tournament grind.

Roundball999

Quote from: gordonmann on November 25, 2012, 05:59:45 PM
Courtesy of Illinois Wesleyan's online video, I just watched DePauw blitz the defending national champions 75-52. 

The Tigers seized control of the game late in the first half and led by as many as 32 points in the second half. Illinois Wesleyan couldn't generate any consistent offense out of their press, which is the Titans' M.O.  They looked frustrated with atypical turnovers and missed layups. Despite playing at home, the stands were empty and IWU didn't get any momentum early in the second half when the Titans had a chance to make a game of it.

But take nothing away from DePauw because the Tigers looked great. Early in the game, the Tigers broke the Titans' press and either waited too long to turn the press break into transition points or settled for mid-range jumpers. But the Tigers adjusted, their forwards became more aggressive and DePauw looked like the better transition team for much of the game.

Walker is a really nice point guard who handled the IWU press well. A good scorer and ball distributor, too. Trees is a nice shooter with a quick release.

Alex Gassaway is a smooth player. She made some nice moves around the rim, including a fade away jumper that would've made Dirk Nowitzki smile.  Ellie Pearson played solid defense and, once she became more aggressive, the Tigers' whole offense opened up.  If Gassaway and Pearson continue to play well, this will be a very formidable team.

Hopefully the NCAC opponents can push the Tigers this year. DePauw challenged itself with Washington U., Illinois Wesleyan and Messiah still to come.  But weeks of lopsided games won't prepare the Tigers for the NCAA tournament grind.

Saw much of the game and agree with your assessment.  DePauw showed how to exploit the flaws in the run and jump.  They're also a very good shooting team so a gambling defense is going to result in open shots/makes as long as DePauw stays discplined.  Still, for the 1st 10-15 minutes the Titans showed how good thay can be.  For the first bit of the game the IWU press didn't really result in turnovers but it did repeatedly leave DePauw with little shot clock to run their offense.  Once DePauw got comfortable with the press and turned aggressive, they put the game away.

I don't see DePauw having much of a challenge in the conference.  I've seen Denison twice so far, they were picked 2nd in the preseason conference rankings, and while they are solid I don't see them threatening DePauw.

gordonmann

Roundball:

Agree on IWU. I noticed the athleticism and depth of IWU at forward during the first 10 minutes. I don't take too much away from yesterday's game for the Titans other than they just had a really off game.

mark_reichert

Quote from: gordonmann on November 25, 2012, 05:59:45 PM
Hopefully the NCAC opponents can push the Tigers this year. DePauw challenged itself with Washington U., Illinois Wesleyan and Messiah still to come.  But weeks of lopsided games won't prepare the Tigers for the NCAA tournament grind.

So, did you see Depauw's game against WashU on Saturday?  The disparity of personal fouls was 20 for WashU and 13 for Depauw, but the free throw attempts were 5 for WashU and 29 for Depauw.  Depauw wasn't any less aggressive as shown by the difference in turnovers and points off of turnovers.  Slicker at hiding the fouls or timing them?  It's games like that I wished I had some way of objectively grading the referees because from my seat in the Shirk Center there didn't appear to that much difference in the play between the two teams.

gordonmann

Mark:

No, I didn't see Saturday's game. I had football playoff duty in Dover, Delaware so I can't comment on the referees, though I did see the foul shot discrepancy.

DePauw needs games like that one against Washington U. because those are the kinds of games they will have to win in the tournament.

GoRed

Great interview with Nicole Coggins in Las Vegas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbVRY-kxzt0&list=PL2O_uY7lJEsI1u1qm-tlZlEBoViEmkPNN&index=10

Sounds like she has a great future in bio research, too.  Go Big
Red!

NotNexttoUganda

Going to be interesting to see if Kenyon can knock of Depauw in Gambier when the two teams meet.

Seems to be Depauw is the class of the Conference once again--they're the class of the nation, but Kenyon is doing a good job of cleaning things up in second place right now. Is there any chance that Kenyon could earn an at large if they run through the conference, only losing to Depauw?

NotNexttoUganda

On a side note, Kenyon is 13-4, 3 of their 4 losses have come to teams ranked in the top 11, Depauw, Simpson, and Ohio Northern. That's a pretty darn good season if you ask me. The only other loss came to Cabrini, at the Land of Magic Classic--where Kenyon showed up late due to a snowstorm.

I dunno. Was wondering what it took to get an at-large, and whether Kenyon could get one, unless they somehow beat Depauw--which is not outside the realm of possibility--they only lost to Depauw by 10 on Depauw's home court. If Maureen Hirt and Kayla Ernst get hot, Kenyon has a pretty good shot at winning.

gordonmann

We've released our list of All-Americans. Congratulations to Alex Gasaway and Kris Huffman.

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2013/03/womens-all-americans