Another night of conference tournament action is in the books! The NCAA Tournament picture is becoming more and more clear, as well. Nine conference championship game matchups have been finalized already, and we’ve got plenty more semifinal duels on the schedule tonight! The ARC, MIAC, CCIW, Landmark, OAC, Empire 8, and SCIAC are all in action this evening, which will give me plenty to write about tomorrow morning…but first, here’s a look at how Wednesday’s biggest matchups played out, starting with the WIAC semifinals.
Contents
- 1 WIAC Semifinals: UW-Stout, 69, UW-Whitewater, 59
- 2 WIAC Semifinals: UW-Oshkosh, 77, UW-La Crosse, 52
- 3 WLC survives upset bid
- 4 Babson with a strong performance at Coast Guard
- 5 Which Conference Championship Games were finalized on Wednesday night?
- 6 Also…conference championship games determined prior to Wednesday (games from Sunday-Tuesday)
- 7 What to watch for today
WIAC Semifinals: UW-Stout, 69, UW-Whitewater, 59
In front of a crowd of nearly 1,000, UW-Stout came up with a 10-point win on the road, and likely secured an NCAA Tournament bid in the process. The Blue Devils’ eighth straight victory improved their overall record to 20-7, and with the win, Stout has moved from being a “bubble” team to a team that is very much trending towards being a Pool C lock should the Blue Devils not beat UW-Oshkosh in Friday’s WIAC title game and earn the Pool A bid outright.
What a start it was for Stout, with an 18-9 lead after the first quarter, doing exactly what is necessary to pull off a win of that caliber on the road. Whitewater pulled back into contention in the second and third quarter, but never overcame the offensive struggles that persisted early, including missing nine of their first 10 shots. The Stout lead got down to five points, 64-59, with 29 seconds left on a Kacie Carollo free throw, but credit to the Blue Devils, who finished the game by going 5-of-6 at the FT line over the final 28 seconds.
Amongst the takeaways in the victory, I thought Raegan Sorensen came up big for Stout. Even Whitewater head coach Keri Carollo noted that postgame. “She’s one of the best players in our conference,” Carollo told Parker Olsen of The Gazette. “She’s so explosive and can do so many different things. It’s hard to stop her.”
Sorensen had eight points in the first 10 minutes and finished with a game-high 22, along with nine rebounds. She was key, playing 30 minutes for Stout, but that said, it was clearly a team win for the Blue Devils. The offensive balance that has come into play in win after win the last several weeks was seen again as Stout shot 41.4% from the field. Amanda Giesen was incredibly efficient, shooting 6-of-7 from the field, and Lexi Wagner, who scored 11 points, had a huge 3-pointer in the right corner just before halftime that gave Stout a 34-25 lead at the intermission.
» Parker Olsen did a great job of summing up the game in his postgame story for The Gazette (Janesville, Wisconsin local newspaper), so check that out here.
WIAC Semifinals: UW-Oshkosh, 77, UW-La Crosse, 52
On the other side of the bracket, Oshkosh won yet again on its home court in commanding fashion, clinching a WIAC championship game berth. What has impressed me with Oshkosh this season is the consistency we’ve seen through WIAC play, with a constant emphasis on the defensive end, and an often unmatched level of intensity.
The Titans won the battle on the boards by 23 last night, 43-20, which is not a rebounding margin seen often in the WIAC, and especially not in the posteason. But Oshkosh attacked the glass time and time again, and it yielded 12 second-chance points for the Titans, compared to just two for La Crosse. That is huge.
50 points in the paint was a glaring statistic as well, and again, Oshkosh really made a concentrated effort (or at least it seemed) to work the ball into the paint and fight for those short-range opportunities. The Titans just seem to keep getting better and better. Exceptional stat line for Kayce Vaile, who had a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double for the Titans, and affected the game on both ends of the floor. Her contributions have continually been key to the success through WIAC play.
WLC survives upset bid
We nearly saw a massive upset in the NACC Tournament with No. 8 seed Rockford pushing top-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran to the very brink in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. WLC pulled out a 48-42 victory, but trailed at multiple points through the second half, as Rockford put up a remarkable defensive performance. Despite shooting just 26.6%, the Regents were in the game down to the final seconds, challenging WLC much more than I anticipated they would, especially playing on WLC’s home floor. Never underestimate a team playing with its season on the line!
But what hurt Rockford the most? A 5-of-14 performance at the free throw line. When shots aren’t falling, you have to, at the very least, convert from the line. And Rockford failed to do that, while WLC really shot well at the charity stripe (18-of-24). That may have been the most crucial stat of them all.
Babson with a strong performance at Coast Guard
Like UW-Stout, Babson is catching fire at the right time. The No. 5 seed in the NEWMAC Tournament, the Beavers went on the road to fourth-seeded Coast Guard, and left with a statement victory, 65-49. Sure, Babson had won the first meeting on Jan. 24, but to win by 16 in the postseason is notable for the Beavers.
20 points off the bench, including 10 from Emily Flynn, helped establish Babson’s lead as the Beavers gained separation with their depth in the rotation. By comparison, Coast Guard used just seven players, and the lack of available depth really challenged the Bears, as evidenced by Babson’s 24-8 run to close the game. That run in itself was pretty incredible and noteworthy, as the Beavers just kept adding to the lead, going from a tied game at the beginning of the quarter to a double-digit advantage by the 3:37 mark. 19 points off 21 turnovers also proved key for Babson in the victory, as it created defensive momentum and took away opportunities for Coast Guard to counter on the offensive end. Babson now plays at Springfield on Friday night in the NEWMAC semifinals.
Which Conference Championship Games were finalized on Wednesday night?
Atlantic East (AEC), Region 5: #3 Neumann at #1 Marymount, Saturday
MAC Commonwealth (MACC), Region 5: #2 Widener at #1 Messiah, Saturday
MAC Freedom (MACF), Region 4: #2 Arcadia at #1 DeSales, Saturday
United East (UEC), Region 4: #1 (Volt Division) PSU-Harrisburg at #2 (Skye Division) St. Elizabeth, Saturday
Upper Midwest (UMAC), Region 9: #2 Minnesota Morris at #1 UW-Superior, Saturday
Wisconsin Intercollegiate (WIAC), Region 9: #3 UW-Stout at #1 UW-Oshkosh, Friday
Also…conference championship games determined prior to Wednesday (games from Sunday-Tuesday)
North Atlantic (NAC), Region 1: #1 (West Division) SUNY-Cobleskill at #1 (East Division) Maine Maritime, Saturday
New Jersey Athletic (NJAC), Region 4: #2 NJCU at #1 TCNJ, Friday
City University of New York (CUNYAC), Region 4: #2 John Jay at #1 Brooklyn, Friday
What to watch for today
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The Game of the Day is in the CCIW Tournament, where #15 Millikin (who beat Elmhurst on Tuesday) travels to face #19 Carroll. Carroll is 2-0 on the year against the Big Blue, but Millikin is led by the nation’s No. 2 scorer in Elyce Knudsen (26.0 PPG). Expect an all-out battle in this one, though both teams are safe for Pool C bids coming out of Region 8.
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The Landmark Conference Tournament has a pair of huge semifinal matchups, as #7 Scranton hosts Elizabethtown and #10 Catholic hosts Susquehanna. While Scranton and Catholic are Top 10 teams in the national D3hoops.com Poll, this is the postseason, and anything can happen. Elizabethtown already got past Scranton once this year, and is playing with its season on the line, having seen its Pool C chances greatly diminish within the past several weeks. Susquehanna has flown under the radar this season, but is 18-8, with the most wins in a season for the program in the past decade.
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Keep an eye on the OAC semifinal matchups as well. Fourth-seeded Ohio Northern faces No. 1 seed Baldwin Wallace and while ONU is 0-2 against BW this season, the last meeting was decided by a single point, 72-71. The veteran leadership of Brynn Serbin and others for ONU gives the Polar Bears a fighting chance against a BW team that comes off a 15-point loss to Marietta on Saturday. Speaking of Marietta, the Pioneers host Capital in a No. 2/No. 3 seed duel that should be a dandy. Marietta looked stellar against BW on Saturday, but Capital has won five of its last six. I expect both matchups to be single-digit type games throughout. And there are no Pool C “locks” in the OAC, though Marietta’s chances to make the national tournament are currently at around 60%. BW’s chances are hovering closer to 30% right now.
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In the nightcap, Occidental and La Verne play in the SCIAC semifinals in California. These are two talented squads, and this matchup feels very 50/50. Occidental won the last meeting convincingly, 72-54, but this is a La Verne team with four straight wins coming into the rematch. Occidental is in the midst of a historic year, with its first 20-win season since 2011-12, and first SCIAC playoff appearance since 2012-13. 10:00 p.m. ET tip-off in that one.
» Be sure to visit D3hoops.com for today’s full slate of games, as well as links to livestreams and live stats.
» Keep up with every conference tournament via the D3hoops.com Conference Tourney Tracker! Find that here.