Category Archives: NCAA stuff

Hope 09: Whodda thunk?

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There are too many great stories from the 2008 – 2009 women’s Division III basketball season to summarize them all in one post. Doubtless there are many we never uncovered the past four months, despite our efforts. But the one that will define the year from a national perspective is George Fox’s incredible, undefeated run to the national championship.

By now, you’ve heard the story several times already. The Bruins graduated all five starters and added 10 first year players to a trio of juniors and senior Kristen Shielee whose play before this season was pretty non-descript. George Fox rumbled through the regular season but, in a year in which NWC observers said the conference was a little down, it was tough for some of us east coasters to determine exactly how good the Bruins were until the NCAA tournament began. Then they cruised by Chapman, rolled past Oglethorpe, handled Hope, took care of The College of New Jersey and withstood Washington U. in a run that touched most of Division III’s regions. And so George Fox becomes just the fifth program to win a Division III women’s national championship without a loss.

Given the make-up of the George Fox roster and their preseason placement (fifth in the NWC poll), the Bruins’ run was certainly unexpected. It’s even more unlikely if you consider where Kristen Shielee was entering the off season at this point last year. The quiet giant who anchored the stingy 2-3 zone defense and scored the biggest baskets of the year late in Saturday’s championship wasn’t even a lock to return for her senior season, as we learned in the retrospective posted below.

Other than returners Elise Kuenzi, BB Gardner and Lindsay Keener, the other contributors to the title team were also hidden in unknown places at this point last year. Sage Indendi, D3hoops.com Rookie of the Year, was playing high school ball in Livingston, Mont. and looking for a college home. She told us about her journey to Oregon and what she wants to do for an encore in the podcast below.

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Is it too early to look ahead to next season since this one only ended a couple hours ago? If we do, we see a George Fox team that returns four starters, another exceptionally deep Hope team, and an Amherst squad with most of the big contributors back. And maybe somewhere out there, there’s a couple role players who are ready to take a much larger role, a couple high school seniors who haven’t even picked a college yet and a team that will have us scratching our heads with a smile on our face at this point next season.

More championship coverage:

Game story (Greg Chandler, MIAA)
D3hoops.com: Magicial run was not foretold
Holland (MI) Sentinel (Dan D’Addona): From cubs to champs – Young George Fox wins Division III national championship (with photo gallery)
Holland (MI) Sentinel (Alan Babbitt): Long, unlikely road for tournament MVP
The Oregonian (Lindsay Schnell): George Fox women win title, go undefeated
Photo gallery (The Oregonian)
St. Louis Post Dispatch (Alan Babbitt): Bears come up short in final
Holland (MI) Sentinel (Alan Babbitt): Hope defeated by best…again

More George Fox coverage:

D3hoops podcast: Rejector, Rookies, Rueck
Around the Nation: George Fox hunting again
Holland Sentinel (Alan Babbitt): Alaska family reels in some hoops

Hope 09: Getting ready for game day

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Welcome to our continuing coverage of the 2009 Women’s Division III Basketball Championship tournament. Throughout the next couple days, we’ll use the Daily Dose as command central for all sorts of coverage from Holland, Mich. where Hope College hosts the final four teams in the tournament.

Check back for game previews and reviews, interviews, podcasts and links galore. Our broadcast coverage begins with pregame coverage at 3:00 pm EDT on Friday. But if you can’t wait until then, let’s take a look ahead to tomorrow’s games.

National Semifinal Game 1 – 4 PM EDT
No. 6 Washington U. Bears (25-4, 13-1 UAA) vs. No. 11 Amherst Lord Jeffs (29-2, 8-1 NESCAC)

Video broadcast
Audio broadcast
Live Stats

Bears’ road to Hope: UAA champion (automatic bid); tournament wins over Capital (77-72), Transylvania (83-57), St. Benedict (56-43) and No. 1 Illinois Wesleyan (58-53)

Lord Jeffs’ road to Hope: At-large bid; tournament wins over Babson (77-54), Emmanuel (76-37), No. 14 NYU (74-51) and No. 25 Brandeis (68-54)

Washington U, the most experienced team in the semifinal field, meets one of three national semifinal newbies.

Amherst is in just its second NCAA Tournament appearance ever after advancing to the sectional round in 2008 when the Lord Jeffs fell to DePauw. Wash U is in its 20th straight tournament, but failed to reach the sectionals a year ago. The Bears will be the Lord Jeffs’ third straight opponent from the UAA. Last weekend Amherst handled NYU and three-time UAA Player of the Year Jessica McEntee, who was limited to just six points in the defeat. Amherst won the sectional for the first time in school history by topping Brandeis. Amherst Head Coach G.P. Gromacki takes his second different school to the Final Four after reaching the championship game with St. Lawrence in 2002. The Lord Jeffs only allow 48.7 points per game and outrebound opponents by more than eight per contest.

Washington U. doesn’t have a single player averaging more than 8.9 points but is in the national semifinals for an eighth time to tie the University of Scranton for most appearances ever. The Bears won four straight titles under current Head Coach Nancy Fahey from 1998-2001, and Fahey’s squad brings a 14-game win streak to Holland. The Bears lost to DePauw in the 2007 National Championship Game during their last visit to the Final Four. Nine players currently on the roster were a part of that defeat and will look to make their second visit much more memorable. The Bears, who stumbled to a 4-3 start, also outrebound their opponents by over eight per game and won at #1 Illinois Wesleyan to advance to Holland and avenge an earlier defeat.

(Game preview by Tim Calderwood, D3hoops.com)

More Washington U. coverage:
Team page (D3hoops)
Team page (Wash. U)
D3hoops.com feature: Off the floor, Bears all friends
Game notes (Wash. U)

More Amherst coverage:
Team page (D3hoops)
Team page (Amherst)
D3hoops.com feature: Nope, no pressure
Player blogs (Amherst)
Game notes (Amherst)

National Semifinal Game 2 – 6 PM EDT
No. 3 George Fox Bruins (30-0, 16-0 NWC) vs. The College of New Jersey Lions (27-4, 11-2 NJAC)

Video broadcast
Audio broadcast
Live Stats

Bruins’ road to Hope: NWC champion (Automatic bid); first round bye, defeated Chapman (83-40), defeated No. 5 Oglethorpe (71-56), defeated No. 2 Hope (58-46)

Lions’ road to Hope: NJAC champion (Automatic bid); defeated No. 19 DeSales (64-51), defeated No. 16 Tufts (57-55), defeated No. 8 Rochester (70-58), defeated No. 20 Scranton (54-48)

Defense will be the name of the second game when two zone defenses battle for a chance to win a national championship. Both schools are making their first ever visit to the national semifinals.

After losing to Hope in last year’s sectional semifinal, George Fox graduated its entire starting five, yet still finds itself as the last remaining unbeaten in Division III. The Bruins, who won their third straight Northwest Conference title, avenged their loss to Hope by denying the Flying Dutch the chance to play for the title on their home floor with a 58-46 decision at Thomas More in the sectional final last Saturday. West Region Player of the Year Kristen Shielee blocked nine shots in the win over Hope, including five in the final eight minutes. The Bruins have 10 first year players, including All Region selection Sage Indendi and fellow back court starter Keisha Gordon.

The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) has been the surprise of the tournament, becoming the first team to reach the national semifinals after entering the tournament unranked since Wilmington did it in 2004. After starting the season 3-3, the Lions switched from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone defense. TCNJ has won 13 in a row since a loss to confernece foe Kean on January 29. Led by Atlantic Region Player of the Year Hillary Klimowicz, who is the tournament’s leading scorer at 21.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, the Lions denied Scranton another Final Four appearance by beating the Lady Royals in Rochester last Saturday. Klimowicz is a strong National Player of the Year candidate, but don’t sleep on Alexandra Gregorek who anchors the zone defense and came up big last weekend. TCNJ outrebounds opponents by over 10 a night, ninth best nationally.

(Game preview written by Tim Calderwood with contributions from John McGraw, D3hoops.com)

More George Fox coverage:
Team page (D3hoops)
Team page (George Fox)
D3hoops podcast: Rejector, Rookies, Rueck
Game notes (George Fox)

More TCNJ coverage:
Team page (D3hoops)
Team page (TCNJ)
D3hoops feature: Hillary K, TCNJ in the Final Four

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DeSales’ double dip

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DeSales basketball fans know LeighAnne Burke as the sweet-shooting senior guard who has led the Bulldogs to consecutive MAC Freedom Conference championships. Opponents know her as the player who averages more than 20 points per contest, leads the team in assists and steals and can take over a close game late. But to eighth grade students at Lower Macungie (Pa.) Middle School, she’s Ms. Burke the math teacher. Those aspects combine to make her a finalist for the Jostens Trophy. We caught up with her after DeSales’ 70-60 win over Manhattanville to discuss that, what makes her nervous and her special bond with fellow senior captain Kim Rarick.

Meanwhile DeSales’ men’s team is headed to the tournament for the first time since 1996. The Bulldogs had been close to making the big dance several times and finally broke through with a 72-58 victory over Manhattanville. Coach Scott Coval talks about how he prepared for this year’s final in light of previous results and what makes the Bulldogs’ highly rated defense tick. He also shares his thoughts on the tournament selection process and life as an athletic director in difficult economic times.

Click the play button below to listen. You can load the podcast page in iTunes or can also get this and any of our future podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://d3blogs.com/d3hoops/?feed=podcast

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The committee answers questions

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NCAA men’s basketball committee chair Jim Dafler and women’s committee chair Karen Tessmer appeared on our Hoopsville broadcast earlier on Monday and took questions from us and from our listeners. Here’s what they had to say.

Click the play button below to listen. You can load the podcast page in iTunes or can also get this and any of our future Hoopsville podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://d3blogs.com/d3hoops/?feed=podcast

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Hoopsville Podcast: March 2, Tournament Special

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The brackets are announced for both the men and women’s Division III Basketball Championship Tournaments and despite plans, they were done simultaneously! That doesn’t mean we weren’t ready to get those brackets to you and get reaction from the Championship Committee Chairs! If you missed any of the show (or all of it)… take some time to listen to why some teams didn’t make the tourney, where the surprises where, and why some hosting decisions were made accordingly.

Guests included:
– Men’s Committee Chair Jim Dafler
– Women’s Committee Chair Karen Tessmer

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