WBB: Northwest Conference

Started by swiss, March 07, 2005, 12:40:48 AM

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mkt

Quote from: BruinFan on January 16, 2014, 08:31:21 PM
[...]
It currently has 2 teams ranked in the top 10 and last year had 3 teams in the tournament and George Fox was not one of the three!

Yup, that pretty well describes the strength of the NWC.

Quote
We will learn a lot this weekend with all 3 teams at 4-0 in conference matching up in Newberg. Whitworth @ George Fox on Friday and then Whitman @ George Fox on Saturday.

mkt, do you still think Whitman is the heavy favorite to win the conference?

At the moment, yes.  But the only game of George Fox's that I've seen so far was their too-close victory over Lewis & Clark last week.  GFU did not look like a Top 10 team, but I think everyone -- players, coaches, and fans alike -- agreed that they were out of synch that game.  Can they consistently play close to their potential, and more importantly how good is that potential?  In recent years, the graduation of players such as Hannah Munger, Keisha Gordon, and even Ariana Mohsenian meant that the Bruins were losing talented athletes, with replacements who frankly did not look nearly as good.  They had a lot of freshmen last year who did not impress me -- but they seem to have made strides between then and now, Justine Benner especially.  If their young players have more potential than I was thinking, then GFU may have successfully reloaded.

But with Whitman, we KNOW they're good.  GFU is to me still a question mark; I'll be at Saturday's Whitman@GFU game and look forward to seeing some answers to those questions.  For the moment, I think the current and pre-season polls are correct to put the Missionaries over the Bruins but we will see.


mkt

Quote from: d3wbbfan on January 17, 2014, 06:05:58 PM
After many years following and being involved personally in both DI and DII, I happened to stumble upon D3 WBB online, last March. Whitman at Lewis & Clark. Instantly hooked. I basically haven't missed a Missionaries game since (even going Live Stats, if I have to.)

[...]

The best teams DIII teams play the game exactly the way I love to see it played.

Whitman is both good, and fun to watch.  But you caught only the ending chapter of a memorable Lewis and Clark squad; it's only my third year of living in Portland but if I live here twenty-three more years I don't expect to see another local D3 team as fun to follow as that one was.  They were good, but of course the past couple of years there've been a number of good teams in the NWC.  What I liked about that team was the way that I could tell that the coach knew she had five good players and wanted to give them more minutes, but felt that she had to bow to convention and keep one or two big players on the floor.  But she kept straining against convention and last year finally took the attitude of scr*w it, I'm going to put my best five on the floor for critical minutes.  Those five were 2 point guards, 2 shooting guards, and swingperson Taylor Wang, who would be the tallest Pio on the floor at 5'9".  With that small-ball squad, the Pios pressed and double-teamed on defense, and ran on offense.  All five could and did do everything on the court:  handle the ball, drive fearlessly to the hoop, and shoot 3-pointers.  They were skilled and aggressive.

What they weren't of course was tall, and there's only so far you can go in basketball without some good height.  And they had to get past Whitman in the NCAA playoffs to get out of that tough NW section, and that's where Whitman showed that they were a legit top team.  But it was a good run for the Pios. 

You are correct that this year's Lewis and Clark team is depleted, due to losing the NWC player of the year Katrina Williams and NWC All-conference Sara Villanueva.  So that memorable Pio team is no more.

BruinFan

Good to have some responses from mkt and d3wbbfan. I suspected there were others like me who do more reading than writing on this d3 site.

I especially like that we have some variety with mkt keeping an eye on Lewis and Clark and d3wbbfan on Whitman. Those are strong programs that have not had much representation on these boards.

Will post more later this weekend, but want to make sure mkt is aware of the 4 PM start time today for Whitman @ George Fox.
I'm looking forward to this one. A Whitman victory puts them in control and a George Fox win will keep us guessing deep into February.

d3wbbfan

Thanks, BruinFan. I know of your team's high-quality pedigree in recent years, and I truly hope you were closely following George Fox in the "Blue Zone", when they won it all a few years back. There's just no feeling like winning it all! I caught a good part of the Whitworth battle Friday night. Coach Meek does a solid job playing to the strengths of his roster. And Wheeler (your place) and Pamplin (Lewis & Clark) clearly have the largest and rowdiest NWC fan bases. Great to see such in-person support for the ladies!

With Anderegg, Traver and White all seniors, this is clearly the year that it has to happen for the Missionaries, if they hope to include their name with the Bruins, among recent NWC teams to reach the Final Four. Whitman's last two efforts have been off. Their bigs usually never miss from point blank range. But they have been - repeatedly - during the past week. And if the Missionaries have this continue tonight, the Bruins will win in Newberg by double digits. But, from what I've seen of them, the bigger the stage, the better Whitman seems to play.

Your clear size advantage was already gonna be helped by Lovelace being out all season for Whitman, so far. But their top frontcourt sub (Maeda) didn't play at all at Linfield Friday. If she's still out Saturday, I see the Bruins size edge as even more of an advantage. George Fox will have an absolute feast down low, if anyone besides Whitman's starters, Maeda, Ketner or Brewer has to play double digits minutes.

mkt, I'm so glad you enjoyed last season's Pio squad like you did. That's what it's all about. And you're right about my late arrival. Point taken. I do know that Tayler Wang had a very tough NCAA game vs. Whitman, but that's she's having a great SR campaign so far. Losing Christina Williams was huge. And I do think I probably caught your '13-14 Pios on-line at some random, down moments. (And I likely happened to see PLU at their best times.) Therefore, I do now think that both the Pios and Puget Sound are quite solid, and that they will likely be fighting it out for 4th.

Thanks for the chance to talk NWC women's hoops. More later.... 


mkt

(Thanks BruinFan, I made sure to know about the 4pm start, although I still missed the first few minutes of the game due to %$#@ heavy traffic on 99W.)  Whitman won 75-63, but anyone who watched or followed the game knows that it was much closer than that, a very hard-fought contest.  Both teams played their trademark pressure defense; Whitman's offense looked just a little better than GFU's.  But for awhile in the second half, George Fox dominated on the offensive boards, and got ahead by ... I forget 7 points or maybe 9 points.  I don't know if it was a halftime adjustment or just a random streak, but that rebounding streak could have meant the difference in the game.

But then Whitman managed to start grabbing defensive rebounds; again I don't know if they made a counter-adjustment or if it was just random. 

The other source of tension was GFU's depth that d3wbbfan mentioned vs Whitman's not-as-deep roster (especially with Lovelace out, and Maeda playing hardly at all this game).  The game was hard-fought throughout; would Whitman's players be able to keep it up or would they get worn down by GFU's depth?  As it turned out, in the second half both coaches used radically shortened benches, with both teams playing only three substitutes for meaningful minutes in the second half.

So both of those questions were answered in Whitman's favor, but it wasn't until the final minutes that a Whitman fan could breathe easy.  This game lived up to its billing as a battle of the northwest titans, likely the best and most exciting game we'll see ... until GFU travels to Whitman for the re-match (and then there'll be the NWC tournament, and a good chance that these teams might meet yet again in the NCAA tournament).

A couple of observations about players:  Lovelace is a big loss for Whitman (but Megan White really stepped up against GFU, so Whitman managed to always have a quality big person on the floor).  In the past I've thought that Maeda looked like a good substitute big person -- but I may've been watching her play against inferior competition, and the under-sized Lewis&Clark squads.  Possibly she's just not good enough to put on the floor against top-quality competition such as GFU?

Hayley Cusick was on fire in the first half; not only were her 11 points the most that I'd seen her score in a half, she looked unstoppable in doing so.  She always towers above the PGs who are trying to defend her, but in the first half she showed explosive speed and quickness on both the break and in the halfcourt, plus crossover moves which left defenders grasping at air while she blew around them and into the lane.  And most importantly she was looking to drive and to score much more than I'd seen in the past.  But IIRC she went scoreless in the second half.  Perhaps her coach thought she was doing too much 1-on-1 (one of the things that makes NWC basketball so fun to watch is that the good teams play a team-oriented game rather than having prima donnas).  If Cusick and GFU can figure out how to meld her 1-on-1 talents (which I hadn't seen on display much, despite her being the starting PG for the two previous seasons) with the team offense, GFU will have moved up a notch offensively.

Finally, this was a battle of the Hayleys and Megans.  I'd need to look at the rosters again but I think there were three Megans and four Hayley's (counting variant spellings such as Halie) on the two teams combined.

d3wbbfan

mkt, thanks for the in-person game report. Love your point about Cusick. She sure is talented. And you are totally spot on about how beautifully pure and team-oriented top-level NWC ball is. And it stands out like a sore thumb, when someone's gone "off grid" on that philosophy. And she surely did. The same thing can happen with Johns, on occasion. She's just so athletic, and she's been no doubt blowing past her man, off the dribble, since the first day she ever picked up a ball. But she usually reaches the goal still running way too fast, and will, annoyingly often, miss an easy two, by just firing up an out-of control shot, as best she can, basically praying that it somehow goes in. But, about half the time, Johns' shot will careen way too hard, off the glass. All that work. No payoff. Not to mention that any player's ability to actually aim the shot correctly is also adversely affected by their excess foot speed. They're nowhere near squared up. Almost 100% of quick, slashing guards have this exact same issue - be it DI, II or III. Watch for it, going forward. You'll see what I mean.     

This particular shooting problem seems to apply almost exclusively to women's players, for some reason. Fast players love to play fast. 100% of the time. Slowing down is against every basketball instinct they possess. I always taught this: When driving, excess speed kills, right? When shooting a basketball, shooting with excess speed/body movement will kill a player's FG%. What these slashing guards all need to do, to actually score the goals, is to "decelerate", during their last step or two, before they release the ball. It is absolutely vital. They'll suddenly start making almost all of them. And yeah, one or two of these new, "slower" layups might get blocked, due to this sacrifice of speed allowing for a defender's occasional recovery. But that's OK. Because they've made 50 more layups, over the course of a season, with them shooting them this way instead. It's a very positive trade-off. But it's extremely difficult to get these players to actually slow down, at the very end of a slash, for shot accuracy's sake. The way these quick guards shoot many of their layups now, it's like they're trying to make a right turn in their car, while going 30MPH. Way too fast. (And bad things happen then, too.) Watch how often players make this one mistake. And it's not just the guards - wings and posts can also be thrown off shooting, in this very same way, when they get motoring - it's just not as common at the 3, 4 or 5 spots.

mkt, with all due respect, your speculation about Maeda hardly playing at all Sat possibly being a coaches' decision is 100% incorrect. Maeda is 6th in total minutes played, and 5th in most FGs made. If you read the Whitman site's recap of the Friday win at Linfield, Coach Ferenz mentions "we are dinged up right now, and it messed with our rotations tonight." She was talking about one person: Maeda. In that regard, Coach is a 1st-half creature of habit: Ketner, then Maeda, then Brewer (unusually early foul trouble excepted) - every game. Can't speak to last year, mkt, but Maeda is a very valuable part of the Whitman rotation this year. But, with all due respect to Gray, the second I saw Katie enter on Sat. (avg: under 8 mpg), I knew that Hailey Ann was still hurting - big time. Because that never happens. (And you're right about the names: Whitman alone has a Hailey, a Hallie, and a Hailey Ann. I bet the first practice was fun. I can hear Coach saying, "OK, each of you 3 ladies pick a unique nickname for yourself - right now!")   

It wasn't until Anderegg and White had picked up 2 first half PFs each, when Coach found herself in a major frontcourt bind. She basically had to ask Maeda if she could give her just a couple of minutes, before halftime. She toughed it out, but, to those of us who know her game, you could see that Maeda just wasn't right at all. And she was DNP in the 2nd half. Maeda has been averaging over 17 mpg this year. She's only a sophomore. Her major leap in PT this year is three-fold: Lovelace's injury, she's gotten better, and starting '12-'13 wing Mary Madden has graduated. Maeda is actually far more of a natural offensive threat than White is. And while I absolutely love Meghan to death, no coach would ever choose to teach either White's footwork or her "shotput" stroke. (And I admit, I do say a prayer before *every* FT White takes! - it worked Sat: 3-4 vs the Bruins.)  :)   But White is a major, clutch, late-game performer. Just like Anderegg, Johns & Traver is (who the Bruin guards did a superb job guarding, all game long.) Those three late, consecutive White hoops were absolutely vital in igniting the Missionaries' big late run Sat., to give Whitman the hard-fought road win.   

It was eerily similar for Whitman, vs. perennial national power St. Thomas (MN), in the season opener, up at Whitworth in Spokane. Whitman down 10 - about 7 mins to go - but then three late, clutch 3-pt daggers in a row, all by Traver, and Whitman squeaks out the win by one. They were also trailing the entire NCAA Elite 8 game against Emory (GA), out in MA. Down double digits early. But the Missionaries start to peck away. And they keep pecking away. Finally, Whitman takes their first lead of the game, inside of the final minute. In the handshake line, Emory didn't know how their season had just ended. They were walking, "good game" zombies! Nothing fazes this Whitman team. They're iron-willed, and none of them ever gets tired. All 5 have a great handle, and can easily bring the ball up (it happens every game. I was actually doing cartwheels when the Bruins started out pressing full court. That strategy will *never* work against Whitman. They're far too versatile a bunch.) I know they will again do the NWC proud, come March. And that's a good thing. Because next year, I expect it'll be the Bruins back on top. But we're in the "now". And this '13-'14 Whitman team is a fearless, ultra-competitive, veteran group. It's not just that they have ice water in their veins. They treat pressure like it's an energy bar: The more of it, the better. That's extremely rare. And this quality showed up, yet again, Saturday in Newberg. And every one of them is bound and determined to give every possible shred of effort that they possess inside them, to advance as far as they possibly can in postseason. I've already seen on-line at least a dozen other top DIII teams, each who have more overall talent than Whitman does. But what Whitman does have is this "X" factor. The guts of a burglar. And last year's run has fueled this year's Missionaries even more. Man, I'd love to see then play DePauw. Win or lose, it would be a DIII "Battle Of The Titans" I'd never forget.

As for the Bruins? They are a talented, tough group. And they definitely came to play on Sat. Great game to watch. Very high level. My sincere congratulations to them. The only concern I would have, were I a George Fox fan, is the lack of late-game FGs. The Bruins were up 8 Friday (55-47?) - with under 4 to go. I believe that all 4 of their remaining points came from the FT line. As a result, you guys were just a missed McConnell 3-ptr at the buzzer, from going to OT with the Pirates. Hey, that can happen to any team once. Bad day. But this same, late Bruin drought on offense did show itself again on Saturday. Granted, it happened against the other two, NCAA-likely NWC teams. And you guys would know far better about this than me. But is this an issue that has surfaced before this season for George Fox? If so, I'm sure Coach Meek and his team of great young ladies will work hard to fix it, ASAP. And, among other things, re-double their efforts to now ruin Whitman's Valentine's Day evening, in the rematch up in Walla Walla. Looking forward to it!

mkt

Thanks for the info re Maeda, makes sense.  Your remark about over-speeding players is timely, one of the things that I noticed about Heather Johns in this game was how effective she was when she paused and faked; once the defender had committed she'd step around and under to get off her shot and usually get either a field goal or free throws or both.  Fred Brown used to do that in the NBA (but he usually shot 2-handed from outside whereas Johns was usually doing this in the lane and often putting up one-handers), and among post players Kevin McHale.  It's a wild shot for most players, but if you can make those shots you're pretty much unstoppable 1-on-1.

I also agree that we can already foresee the Bruins coming on strong next year, whereas Whitman's two best bigs are seniors (I've liked how Lovelace and Maeda have looked, but it's very hard to replace a player like Anderegg), plus Traver's a senior too.  Whitman still looks like the favorite in the NWC, but one thing that GFU  fans can still hope for is rapid growth of their young players, so that they're a stronger team when the end-of-season tournaments begin.  OTOH, Whitman's got some promising-looking young guards too.  Ketner made what was probably the shot of the game, something which made even Johns' acrobatic shots look staid.  That provoked me to look at her season stats ... 41% FGs on the season is not promising, so maybe it was just a lucky slop shot.  But she's 46% in conference play; if that shot was a sign of what she can do rather than just luck, then she could be a player to watch in the future.

mkt

A couple of more responses to your observation about overly speeding guards.   That's one of Lewis&Clark's  Katie Anderson's strengths; she'll build up a head of steam and just streak to the basket -- but she will usually make those shots (and often draw a foul too -- or sometimes an offensive foul because she's pretty much out of control by the time she gets to the basket, but she still manages to make the shot or draw the contact).  GFU's Jamie Roos has some of this ability too, but as you said often when the speed goes up, accuracy goes down and she's not immune to that.

And then Cusick.  More than any of the other women players I've seen in the NWC, I can easily imagine Cusick being on a playground for hours each day playing against male players.  She has ease and confidence handling the ball, plus height and speed -- a combination of natural talent and what seems to be a gym rat background.  Your observation about speed vs accuracy applies to her too.  What I find interesting is that last year she shot 43%; she's never been one of the big scoring guns for GFU.  But so far this year she's at 51%, while upping her scoring to double digits per game.  Those stats, plus her hot first half against Whitman and reticent second half suggest that she may be in the process of working out how to feature her offensive game more, but without hogging the ball or shooting too many of those wild layins.

Finally, even though you limited your "speed kills" story to women players, I think it applies even to NBA players -- or at least it used to.  One of Lenny Wilkens' specialties was what Seattle Sonics' announcer Bob Blackburn called his "running left-handed hook" as he exploded to the basket and put up a shot as he streaked by.  Wilkens was naturally left-handed so he had a bit of an advantage there.   When Bill Russell encountered Wilkens' running left-handed hook he could only shake his head and say "pure junk".   It's probably a more routine, make-able shot for current NBA players, but the principle that you describe was there.

d3wbbfan

mkt, another thoughtful, enjoyable post - thanks.

The Missionaries stay perfect, riding their usual big-game tightrope to score the final 5 points, eking out Part I of the "Battle of the Whits", 62-57, inside a Sherwood Center that was sadly as populated as the Movaje desert. (The ladies from both teams deserved so much better. At this rate (Whitman now #3 in DIII), will surely be hosting multiple postseason games. Loyal L&C WBB fans always seem to support their Pios in large numbers. Here's hoping that the top-tier NWC club's fan bases will travel well, come March.) Heck, no wonder Whitman plays better on the road. Even with classes now well underway, and against their traditional rival, you could count the # of students there in single digits. Man, I'd kill to be there in-person, but I'm a country away, here in CT! I could watch many CBB games, both M and W, from coast to coast, on-line. (And of course, I watch every UConn WBB game on TV.) Yet, out of the whole lot, I choose to watch Whitman WBB. To me, they're the best of the best. (And *many* thanks to the WC Athletic Dept., for making all their home WBB games available, with nice guy Bob McCoy on the call; my check is going out the school next week!) Even if UConn is playing at the same time, Whitman is still who I will watch. It's truly a shame that this special 13-14 Whit team is going so totally unsupported in Walla Walla. Is there that much else to do there? I thought it was a small town....

mkt, you are *so* right about their FR Ketner. Her 3 against the Bruins, to tie it up late (59-all?) to finally get Whitman even again, was the single biggest hoop of the game. Alysse has been coming on really strong, since conference play. Tonight, to no one's surprise, the Pirates got out quick in both halves, against the always-slow-out-of-the-gate Missionaries. But Ketner was quickly inserted in the 2nd, and was basically the only player scoring at all for Whitman, for a 5-7 minute stretch, to keep them close. (She'll clearly be their #2 player next year.) Maeda was back to her usual minutes, and added 9 key boards. Johns hit her 20 ppg average, with every one badly needed. My personal fave, Sarah Anderegg, had a double-double (12 and 10), but has shot just 21-52 over her last 4 games; mainly from way in close - way below her norm, and not like her at all. It simply can't last - she's their top player. They've also been bricking from the stripe of late, missing 10 tonight, and had 14 crucial misfires recently, in their OT win vs PLU. Including many, late 2nd half 1-of-2's vs Whitworth, with the outcome still highly in doubt.

I've liked Whitworth's PG (Zappone) all year. Long arms, great handle, nice interior passer. But she had two late TO's, inside of the last 2 minutes. Coupled with final minute misfires by Lahue and McConnell (who I also like a lot), that was the difference Tuesday night. Johnson was very quiet. Belton-Sharp had a couple of key late hoops. I think Higgs is a fine coach. Her team brings it every minute of every game, and that's a credit to everyone involved with the Pirates.

For the Missionaries, they wrap up a 4-games-in-8-days stretch Friday, as well as their first conference go-round, when the aforementioned Pios come to Sherwood Center, before Whitman gets a well-needed, full week off from the grueling NWC wars.

BruinFan

mkt and d3wbbfan,
You two have greatly raised the level of discourse on this site. I'm still catching up on your posts as I've been away from logging in this week. Busy with life, but also bummed about the finish George Fox had against Whitman last Saturday.

Some observations and thoughts to add to the mix.
Finishing games is now an issue the Bruins need to resolve. They went 1-6 from the free throw line at Lewis and Clark during the final couple of minutes, but still managed to win. FG's were scare as noted by d3wbbfan at the end of the Whitworth game and it happened again against Whitman.
So, I'm looking to see how they finish the game tonight against UPS. Hoping for an increased ability to score to close at a game.

Haley Cusick is having an outstanding senior year. The difference is that as aggressive as she is 1-1 with the ball, she picks her spots better and plays more under control than in previous years. She has always looked like a player that spent a lot of time on a school yard court. I think it is foolish for anyone to tightly guard her individually beyond the arc. You have to protect a bit against the 3, but she loves the challenge and opportunity to get past any player who attempts to stop her dribble.

I was very impressed with the Whitman guards. Stable, efficient, and effective. That kind of guard play will serve them well in the tournament. Add Anderegg and the pieces are in place to dream big.

Linfield anyone?  Are they improving or just catching teams by surprise?

Whitworth gave Whitman some trouble this week - is that correct? 
After today, the 1st half of conference play will be done. How about posting your predictions for final conference records heading into the 2nd half?

It's almost time to get to the gym for GF and UPS.  Enjoy the games everyone.

d3wbbfan

BruinFan, for heaven's sake, keep your head up! Your team is deep, talented, experienced and extremely well coached. And while I was quite pleased that the four Whitman seniors were finally able to claim their first-ever win in Newberg, one January game does clearly not make or break the season of a perennial power like Fox, whose Top 25 poll ranking didn't drop at all, despite the loss to Whitman. How many teams can truly go undefeated? It's a long season - even in DIII!

With Whitman off Saturday, I was able to watch a good chunk of your home game vs UPS. Your Bruins are a rock-solid eight deep. I'd like to concur with your assessment of Cusick. Very athletic, and very talented. I really enjoy watching her play. To me, she's a clear mismatch against any other NWC PG, except Johns. And, just like Johns, there are times when Cusick needs to sit for a couple, just for a mental reboot. But that doesn't make either one of them bad people - just human. Both are a major reason why their teams are so successful.

Peacock is really settling in. And I love the experienced "glue" players you have, Arnoldy and Heckendorf. They will never lose you a game. And Benner is gonna become an even bigger headache for NWC opponents, over the next 2+ seasons. I think Meek exercised very shrewd judgement, by moving Roos into the 6th man role this year. I also credit Meek (as well as Lauren herself) for Codling's play. The JC transfer has immediately fit right in, which I always feel is the #1 challenge for an upperclassmen newcomer.

BruinFan, you asked about the Whitman-Whitworth battle. Your eyes must've overlooked it, because my last post had already recounted details of that game, in some depth.

I think predicting second NWC go-round results is very dangerous. Who really knows? (Besides, we always pencil in our faves to win out, right!)   :)   And, although the standings may not show it, conference play is a major grind. The second that any upper-tier NWC team thinks they can relax, next thing they know, they're adding an unwanted "L" to their won-loss ledger. You mentioned Linfield. They're a perfect example of this. Whitman never could shake the Wildcats, winning by just 8 in McMinnville. Couple that with the Missionaries recent OT home win vs. PLU, and I'm positive that Michelle Ferenz isn't gonna have to jump up and down for too long, imploring her troops to perform both well, and with a sense of urgency, during each of their last 8 conference battles. At Whitworth is gonna be especially dicey, for both Whitman and Fox. Because the Pirates already do happen to have 5 losses (although none are bad ones: St. Thomas (MN) (13-3), NAIA powers Lewis-Clark St (20-2) and Eastern Oregon (18-5), along with at George Fox and at Whitman), it would surely improve Helen Higgs' NCAA at-large bid chances if she could keep as "clean" a conference sheet as possible, from here on in. Especially with Whitworth having the two other NWC powers coming to Spokane this time around. And while the Bucs are surely good enough to win the NWC Tourney again this March, as they did last season, no good team wants to view the NWC automatic bid as their only way in.

I thought the Pios did have some good moments in their Whits road swing. Taylor Wang's play was absolutely stupendous, in both games. And I've liked Katie Anderson's game all year. mkt also made the point to me that it's wasn't just Kristina Williams' graduation, but also Sara Villanueva's, that has been difficult to replace from last year's NCAA team. I can see that. To me, this year's club demonstrates a very high basketball IQ. The only problem with that is just about other NWC team I've seen does, too! Also, this league is absolutely chock full of very quick players. Buff, lean, athletic types abound, to my eyes. From top to bottom. But L&C has struck me as a bit slower of a club, in overall team speed, and one that I would try to make run - and run - and run. And I'm not talking about the two players mentioned above. Their builds are both 100% game ready. I won't name any names, but I have noticed three particular Pio players that I felt could clearly be exploited, from both a defensive and a quickness standpoint. Not all "big boned" players I've seen necessarily have these weaknesses. In my opinion, the giveaway is does the level and productivity of such players noticeably decline, the longer that they're out there? (Beyond needing the usual breaks, that all players benefit from, over 40 minutes.) If it doesn't, then the player just has a solid build. But if it does decline, I do then consider that it's possibly an athlete's conditioning level. Two of these L&C players are seniors, and both play quite a bit. (Hoping I might be wrong on that last observation, as I much prefer focusing on the many positive aspects of what I see on the floor.)

Now to some Whitman bullet points, as I see it. No one needs to remind Coach Ferenz that her club is now both senior-laden, and over-relied on Anderegg and Johns for the bulk of their points last season. Entering '13-14, both her other starters, and the bench's offensive production was a major question mark. To me, the top negative that emerged from that reality is that Whitman was *way* too eager to launch long, low-percentage, thread-the-needle "QB-to-WR passes" on the break, even when the opponent's man was back on D. (Case in point: check out the box score of the Whitman 2013 NCAA win over Emory, that got them into the Elite 8. It was the *only* time that I have ever seen a PG (Johns) have double-digit TO's (10), yet still have her team come out on top. To me, it was because of this "Dan Fouts/Mad Bomber" mentality.)

That tactic is "gimmicky", however, and is just not sound offense, long-term. But it was likely necessary, given last season's personnel. There is nothing at all wrong with taking advantage of numbers on the break, and utilizing an overall team speed advantage, to score quick and easy points. But both 2-3 quick dribbles upcourt, or shorter-length passes will achieve the exact same result, without incurring 1/10th of the high turnover risk, that came from having Johns again trying to fit a "heave pass" inside of a 2-inch catch window. In fact, the Missionaries were still employing this "pants on fire, over-force the fast break, at all costs" tactic, in the early part of this season. But, to Ferenz' credit, she's now getting away from it. Her team doesn't need to do it anymore. Her team now is deeper. More skilled. Besides, there's just no reason to minimize her team's time spent in the half-court set. Whitman executes. They run great stuff on offense. They score out of it - often. So why on earth would they opt to prevent these scores from ever happening, because they lost possession 20 seconds earlier, by playing "4th and 50 Football Roulette" with the ball, 8-10 times a game?

The genius of Coach Ferenz this season is that her team has now developed genuine, quality depth. And hasn't taken a single loss in the process, to date. That is *not* an easy thing for a coach to accomplish. After 3 years of not being a 3-pt threat at all, in a previous post, I've already detailed Traver's sudden emergence, as quite possibly the NWC's best '13-14 3-pt shooter in (41 made,  40%+ FG pct, 5-8 vs L&C Friday.) And how Traver single-handedly erased a late 2nd-half, 10-pt deficit, to pull out a narrow win against the powerful St. Thomas (MN) Tommies, in their season opener. But, from Whitman bonus range, there's also now the FR Ketner (who went 3-3 vs the Pios - she's now 50% from 3, on the year), while the FR Brewer also went 1-1 (now 35%, and rising). Ferenz now gives both of the latter the green light, to bomb away from 3, when open. These two have been earning still more minutes each game, making solid contributions. So much so, I don't think Whitman ever gets by Whitworth last week, without Ketner's play. Maeda played just 12 mins Friday (still a bit dinged up), but she still snared 6 rebounds. I also think SR Meghan White has, by far, the best hops in the NWC. Despite what the roster says, White can't be more than 5'10". But she jumps center, and is as crafty and clutch as they come. She also grabs 9 RPG. I honestly don't think that Whitman manages to defeat Fox on the road without White's multiple, late-second-half heroics. There. That's THREE different Missionaries, whose play on a given night has basically kept their team undefeated so far. Shockingly, none of them is named either Anderegg or Johns!   

And more of the same is exactly what's gonna be needed, against the very best DIII teams. I also have a gut feeling that three more Whitman meetings with George Fox are on the horizon. Because Fox is just as deep, experienced and well-coached as Whitman is. To their credit, Whitman already knows this. With two now injured in her frontcourt, Ferenz recently moved 5'10" JR Hallie Buse (who was previously another 3-pt option) to small forward. Buse went 2-2 from the floor, in 10 good minutes vs L&C. Look for more of Buse at the 3 spot, going forward. Arguably the "heartbeat" of the team, popular SR Marah Alindogan, and back from a torn ACL of her own last year, gives Johns an occasional rest at PG, without getting frazzled, benefitting from having logged many minutes for Whitman, over her four seasons. This is a very tight group, and the gregarious Alindogan is the off-court team ringleader. Every great club, in all divisions, seems to have a "pulse of the team" player like Marah on it. But what's special about DIII is that many of these players get to play, and actually contribute, while the game is still in doubt. I absolute love that this happens!!!!!

Weird NWC factoid of the week: Who is the only married starting backcourt in the NWC WBB? Whitman's Tiffani (Brewer) Traver, and Heather (Worley) Johns. Both got married before their sophomore seasons with the Missionaries. (Whitman FR Chelsi Brewer is Traver's younger sister.....)

I initially thought that it was gonna be was a bit of an "empty cupboard" for '14-15 Whitman WBB. But I no longer think this. Anderegg is gonna be a huge loss, no doubt. (I heard a Bruin announcer, after observing a good power move by Peacock on Sat, say "Oh, that *so* much reminded me of what Munger used to do for us!") I read an old article about her injury, this past week. Hannah is a very special young lady, and I'm honestly still so sad for both her, and all Bruin fans, that she tore her ACL during the '11-12 NCAA final, of all times. And how, despite everyone's very best efforts last season, it continued to affect both Munger's minutes and productivity. (Was a redshirt ever considered by Hannah/George Fox? I understand that many DIII athletes choose to not do that, and to just move on with their lives. And I would 100% want Hannah to do what was best for her. But can you imagine what Munger, now back to 100%, would've added to this year's team? Frightening. Forgive me for my naivete, BruinFan. Perhaps you can catch me up on her situation, then and now.) I know I'll be thinking the same thing next year, without Sarah "The Barbie" (her nickname) down low for Whitman.

But with Johns, Ketner, Maeda and Brewer looking like certain starters for next year, I do think incumbent starter/speed demon/defensive specialist Hailie McDonald will need to fight hard to re-win her starting job next season. (But, then again, she came off of an almost *no* PT year last year, to win her starting spot this season. I'm not betting against her.) I'm obviously hoping for a solid Whitman recruiting year. Even with the Missionaries' NCAA run last March, it clearly came too late to have any real positive impact on Whitman's '13-14 recruits. (That being said, it was still a great class.) But combine that big NCAA run, with their 17-0 start so far now? Coach Ferenz and her staff can now finally use all of their recent "positive program mojo" to present to current recruits. Hopefully, some 6'0"+ young ladies (we need some height!!!!) will find Walla Walla irresistible. (Now that the school has finally figured out a way to pack Sherwood Center - offer all students free pizza! It worked Friday night!!!!)

d3wbbfan

Whitman survives yet again against George Fox, 51-46, in Walla Walla. Missionaries' 3-pt halftime lead fluctuated between 1 and 9 in half #2, but Fox could never actually grab a lead. It was like the 5 Bruin players had one leg cuffed to each of the 5 Whitman players, all game long. Absolute defensive struggle. Unusually high turnover numbers for both teams (Cusick 9; Johns/Ketner 6 each) but it was the result of mutual, in-your-shirt d, rather than carelessness either way. A knock-down, drag-out contest was clearly Meek's game plan going in.

Only 1 3-ptr all game for Fox (Codling, in the waning seconds of the 1st half.) Peacock, who I really like, surprisingly went scoreless, and Cusick really struggled on O. Every other Bruin was solid. Usual suspects Anderegg, Johns, and Traver (4 3-ptrs, some *very* clutch) all delivered double figures for WC on Friday night. (Solid bench minutes helped with some Whitman starters' foul trouble.) Fox is a *great* ballclub this year. I also follow the NESCAC (New England) closely, and to me, the NWC top 3 is clearly the stronger league this year (which is really saying something). Man, why does every Whitman/G Fox/Whitworth game feel like an Ali/Frazier fight this year? I don't envy Fox here at all, who's still got Pt. 2 of the "Whits Road Trip" to go. That's gonna be another WBB war for the Bruins....

Good health and good luck to all my fellow NWC fans, as we start winding down...

d3wbbfan

Whitworth has seemingly been lurking under both the NWC and national radar all season. Yes, Whitman/Fox have gotten all the NWC attention so far, with two early Pirate losses to NAIA powers to blame, in part, along with another to the ranked St. Thomas (MN) Tommies. But NAIA games, win or lose, aren't used by the NCAA to calculate a team's worthiness for a tourney bid. So Whitworth has just 3 "official" NCAA losses. Also, to their joint credit, "The Whits" jointly participated in three early weekend events (in Santa Cruz, CA, and one in each's home venue), trying to play/attract other top West Region teams, without actually playing each other yet. Well, the Pirates' tough pre-conference slate surely looks to be paying off now. By the luck of the '13-14 NWC draw, both the Whits got most of their tougher road games over with early on, while the Bruins hadn't yet travelled to either Spokane, Walla Walla or the always-hard-to-win-at Puget Sound, until the last 10 days of conference play.

Helen Higgs has *got* to be a serious contender for NWC Coach Of The Year (although I grant you, at 23-0 so far, Michelle Ferenz has to be the favorite, and deservedly so. Last March, Whitman's big NCAA run had a "play loose, nothing to lose" feel to it. But in 13-14, Whitman's been "The Hunted" since Day 1. That's a totally different deal. Big target. Lots of pressure. You get everyone's best shot. Yet they've still managed to win, time and time again, all the while integrating fully half of their 8-man rotation with meaningful minutes for the first time.) But back to Higgs. Height-wise, is Whitworth the shortest quality DIII WBB team in the US? How many teams jump their PG at center? (Zappone.) To me, watching Kendra Lahue effectively guard Peacock was amazing. (She's gotta be only 5'8", with no hops, and built like a brick house. And I mean this as a compliment!) Collectively, the Pirates are as serious as a heart attack. In a good way. When they score, they *all* act like they've been there before. Not a smile, or even a quick high-five. There's not an iota of "giddy" in their personality. Right back to work. Whitworth relentlessly focuses on their goal. Every second. To win. It payed off Saturday when a Pirate (McConnell, I think), snuck in to steal a Fox inbound pass after a Whitworth made FT, inside of the final minute. Combine that with the previous play, which was a truly unfortunate, self-generated, right baseline ball bobble out of bounds by Benner (who was absolutely fantastic on Saturday for Fox). Justine was clearly their #1 option late, and deservedly so.   

Pirates Kayla Johnson and McConnell are both fairly consistent. Zappone and Knutsen are totally interchangeable at PG. Kendra's slightly better on O, while Zappone's a bit better passer/athlete. It's a great luxury for Higgs; few coaches legitimately have 2 PGs this accomplished. Both played together late vs Fox, which Higgs hardly ever does. Very astute late personnel move. It worked. Lyons reminds me of a poor man's Arnoldy/Heckendorf. Belton-Sharp seems to play more in the 2nd half of Pirate games, and always gives them a lift. Bottom line: IMO, the Whitworth whole is far, far better than the sum of the parts. And that's because of Coach Higgs. When I look over at the Bruin roster, I see significantly more talent there. I'm taking no shot at anybody here. But take Blizzard, for example. She's usually 2nd/3rd off the bench for Fox. She surely would've started for the Pirates since Day 1. Taking nothing away from either player, but Nicole is clearly much more skilled than veteran Pirate starters Lyons and Lahue.

I stand by my assertion that Meek is an excellent bench coach. His club has just been "snakebit" this season. One or two key mistakes, at just the wrong time, has resulted in all three Bruin losses. Surely some late execution errors played a part, to be fair - but luck has not been on Fox's side, so far. Must be very frustrating for Bruin fans, especially coming off of last season's lack-of-tourney disappointment. The one area of concern I see now is that it looks like Meek is still searching for the right combination of players who should be on the floor in the final minutes. It's awfully late in the season for questions like those. And right smack dab in middle of this Bruin conundrum is one Hayley Cusick. She was DNP at Pacific last Tuesday, for some reason (injured?), but she looked 100% healthy over the weekend. She's just so gifted. But when you're a high risk/high reward talent, any coach can start to get gun shy after multiple, narrow losses. I think I'd stay with her, but I trust Coach Meek. My sincere hope is for the Bruins to work it all out, and to play well in March. I'm a bit surprised that Bruin posts have dropped off of late here. Heck, Whitman lost at home in the NWC semis last year. It was our 5th loss. They then got the surprise at-large NCAA bid, and look what happened! If I were a George Fox fan, I'd be keeping the faith. Despite this weekend, your team still has just 3 total losses, in the highly-regarded NWC. You've been in the national Top 10 all season, and the Bruins are a longtime, very well respected, "brand name" DIII program!

I've thought all along that all 3 top NWC teams would make the NCAAs, no matter who wins the NWC tourney. Assuming the Missionaries manage to secure the #1 seed next weekend, the Whitman at Whitworth result Tuesday night could determine who hosts the #2/#3 playoff battle. Fox must win at UPS to have any chance to host Whitworth, as all 3 top clubs have only lost to each other (if at all) so far. If the Pirates win Tuesday, they'll surely claim the #2 seed. But if Whitman stays perfect Tuesday up in Spokane, and the Bruins/Pirates both finish 13-3, it's a coin flip to host, right? If so, I'm picking the home team to win the semifinal.   

BruinFan

LC win over Whitworth is the surprise of last night.

Pioneers still trying to climb up to the #4 seed and stays alive with the big win.

If GF takes care of business tonight, then WW will come to Newberg next week. WW had the tiebreaker over GF, so they missed the chance to host the game with the loss at Lewis and Clark.

LC hosts Whitman and UPS is at home against Pacific. Advantage to the Loggers for the #4 seed. If LC and UPS remain in a tie they will have to go to record in descending order against other teams since they split against each other. LC goes 1-1 against Whitworth and that trumps the 0-2 record UPS had against the Pirates - giving LC the fourth seed.

The best indicator for NCAA tournament selections are the regional rankings. The second regional ranking for the West came out on Wednesday and had Whitman at #1, George Fox at #3, and Whitworth at #6.  While I would like to believe that Whitworth has a good chance, if they lose in the semi to George Fox following the loss at LC, they may be a bubble team. Just not that many pool C slots to give out around the country.

d3wbbfan

You're 100% right, BruinFan. Absolutely DEVASTATING loss for Whitworth at L&C last night. As you stated, the Pirates won the pre-season coin flip vs Fox, and it looked nearly certain that they'd be hosting the Bruins. Now they'll travel to Newberg. It was an even more surprising result, given that Wang hasn't played the last 4 or so games for the Pios. (Must be an injury.) SR Katie Anderson clearly wants one more playoff run. She just went off Friday. 31 pts. Played all 40 mins. I was quite surprised that the Pirates played at the Pios' slower tempo. Bad idea. It kept L&C fresh. (Although when I saw backup Pio post Reese DeHart take an totally ill-advised, 1st-half, right corner 3, that clanged off 5 different pieces of metal and glass before somehow dropping in, it hinted that the Pios might have some special mojo brewing.) I also agree that Whitworth's at-large chances took a monumental hit with that Pio loss. I'd say they're now under 20%. And will drop to zero with a loss in the semis. The only downside for the Bruins now hosting the 2-3 game is that the Pirates are a wounded animal. Higgs' club is no doubt mad as all heck, and will likely will be arriving in Newberg as angry as a pack of rabid dogs! BruinFan, I do sincerely congratulate you on this bit of Fox good fortune, however. I meant it when I said upthread that your team 100% deserved a 13-14 "bounce" to finally go your way. And the Bruin at UPS last night was clutch. The Loggers wanted it bad, and they are always extra tough at home - well done.

A final note. #1 DePauw was stunned today at Ohio Wesleyan, 65-64, in their league finale. Should the Missionaries be fortunate enough to survive at L&C tonight (and I do think, by the way, that the Pio PA announcer should at least *announce*, and not just ignore, most baskets scored by the visiting team. To me, it crosses the line of poor sportsmanship. Especially for Division III), Whitman should move up to #1 nationally. Sure, that and 2 bucks will buy you a Starbucks, but it would be a nice reward, for both Whitman and the NWC. (And it might help Whitworth's case, too. I LOVE your point about Pool C at-large bids being VERY precious commodities. SO true! But that said, there's a very good chance that not just 3, but *four* NCAA teams will be coming out of the NESCAC. They claim the top four spots in the latest NE regional rankings. Despite the fact that the only 6-4 in the NESCAC Williams team earned just a #6 tourney seed, and got throttled in their playoff QF this afternoon at #3 Bowdoin, to boot! I now think the Ephs (who have some bad losses) should clearly not qualify. But they keep getting major love in the polls, week after week. If all 4 do get in, how can you then deny Whitworth? I watch a ton of both leagues. Their level of play is very similar. The Pirates are also defending NWC tourney champs, and still have their playoffs ahead. We'll see.)