PREVIEW FOR 2005 NCAA III WOMEN'S SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT AT CALVIN COLLEGE
(Written by Calvin Sports Information Director Jeff Febus and Albion Assistant Sports Information Director Ross Weener)
Calvin College will serve as one of four host sites for sectional tournament play in the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship. The University of Southern Maine, the University of Scranton (PA), and Randolph-Macon College (VA) will also host sectional tournaments March 11-12, with the survivor of each advancing as one of the final four teams to the Division III national semifinals in Norfolk, Va., March 18. The NCAA's small-college national title game is set for March 19 in Norfolk.
In the Calvin sectional, semifinal games will be played at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Friday, and the winners will advance to the title contest at 7 p.m. Saturday.
All four teams competing at Calvin are ranked in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll with the first game on Friday pitting sixth-ranked Millikin University (25-2) up against 11th-ranked Wisconsin-Stout (24-6) while game number-two will match 22nd-ranked Calvin (24-4) up against 20th-ranked Albion (25-4).
MILLIKIN/UW-STOUT SEMIFINAL
The matchup between Millikin and Wisconsin-Stout will feature the sixth meeting between the two schools including the second in NCAA III Tournament play. Millikin leads the series 3-2 with Stout winning the last meeting * a 69-47 regular-season game during the 2002-03 season. The only NCAA III Tournament meeting between the two schools came in 1997 with Millikin recording an 81-77 victory.
Millikin University
Millikin advanced to the NCAA III Tournament by winning the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW)Tournament crown after also winning the CCIW regular season title. Millikin is making its 11th appearance in the NCAA III Tournament under veteran head coach Lori Kerans and is 13-11 in NCAA III Tournament play under her watch. Overall, Millikin is making its 14th appearance in the NCAA III Tournament and is 16-14 all-time in NCAA III Tournament play. Millikin's best national finish came during the 1984-85 season when it reached the NCAA III Final Four and finished in third place. Millikin is also making its sixth appearance in the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA III Tournament. Millikin advanced to this weekend's sectional by winning a second round game with Washington University of St. Louis this past Saturday night 67-58.
Nicknamed the Big Blue, Millikin features three players that average double-digits in scoring by junior Lindsey Koehn, a 5-8 guard, who averages 12.4 points a game and is connecting on 46.3 percent of her three-point field goal attempts. Millikin's inside game is built around 6-2 junior forward Joanna Conner who averages 12.3 points and 8.2 rebounds a game. Junior Karin Olson, a 5-10 junior forward, is next on the scoring list with an average of 12.0 points a game.
Other players to watch for Millikin are 5-11 forward Laura Zimmerman and 5-5 senior point guard Audrey Minott. Minott averages 6.4 points, 3.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds a game. Zimmerman is averaging 9.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
The University of Wisconsin-Stout
Wisconsin-Stout is making its seventh trip to the NCAA III Tournament. The Blue Devils are 3-6 all-time in NCAA III Tournament play. All seven of Stout's NCAA III Tournament appearances have come under the direction of head coach Mark Thomas who is in his 18th year at the helm of the Blue Devil program. Wisconsin-Stout is making its first-ever trip to the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA III Tournament this weekend.
Wisconsin-Stout advanced to the NCAA III Tournament by winning a share of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular season title and then winning the WIAC Tournament title. Stout opened NCAA III Tournament play with a 70-59 win first round win over Edgewood College and then topped Ripon 62-57 in a second round game this past Saturday.
Wisconsin-Stout is led in scoring by 6-2 sophomore forward Kelsey Duoss and 6-0 senior forward Lindsey Erichsen. Duoss averages 13.3 points and 7.7 rebounds a game while Erichsen averages 12.0 points and 7.1 rebounds a game. Wisconsin-Stout's starting backcourt is made up of 5-8 senior Erin Churchill and 5-6 freshman Lindsey Geissler. Churchill is averaging 7.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Geissler is averaging 8.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
CALVIN-ALBION SECTIONAL SEMIFINAL
Friday's second semifinal game will be an all-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) affair at the Calvin Fieldhouse on the campus of Calvin College. Albion and Calvin will be meeting for the fourth time this season, a series that has seen the Knights win all three games this season. Most recently, Calvin defeated Albion 60-47, to win the MIAA Tournament and earn the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. Albion is 25-4 on the season while Calvin is 24-4 and has won its last 10 games. Since the MIAA instituted women's basketball as a varsity sport in time for the 1978-79 academic year, Calvin and Albion have met 61 times with Calvin winning 45 and Albion 16. Friday's meeting will also mark the first-ever meeting between Calvin and Albion in NCAA III Tournament play. In addition, it will mark the first time that two MIAA opponents will meet in the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA III Tournament.
Albion College
Albion is making its second trip to the NCAA III Tournament. The Britons are 1-1 in NCAA III Tournament play. A year ago, Albion bowed out of the NCAA III Tournament with a 66-62 first round loss to eventual national champion Wilmington College.
Albion is led by its two All-MIAA first team selections, senior Sarah Caskey and sophomore Ruthie Sventickas. The duo are the only two Albion players who average double-digit points, and they have combined to be the leading scorer in 24-of-29 games this season. Caskey, the school's all-time leading scorer, is the reining MIAA Most Valuable Player as she finished second in the league in scoring and assists, and was in the top 10 in the categories of free-throw shooting percentage and assist-to-turnover-ratio. In the MIAA Tournament final she set the Albion single-season scoring record*it now stands at 448 points.
Sventickas, who averages 12.9 points-per-game, has been Albion's leading scorer in four of the last five games. She netted 14 points and four rebounds in a 63-44 win over Denison University in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this past Saturday.
The Britons received a boost from freshman post player Katie Elder last Saturday against Denison as she posted a career-high 11 points, three assists, and two blocks in just 17 minutes. Elder is part of a solid post group that includes Liz Marcuz, Blair Meyer, and Emi Guimond.
Joining Caskey in the starting backcourt are Vanessa Thompson and Jaime Fornetti. Both players scored 10 points while Thompson netted two-of-three three-point attempts and Fornetti, the Defensive Player of the Year in the MIAA, grabbed eight rebounds.
Albion head coach Doreen Belkowski, now in her fourth season at the helm, has helped the build the Britons into a nationally recognized program. Belkowski and the Britons have notched back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history. She has compiled a 70-31 mark at Albion, which places her first on the all-time wins list in Albion women's basketball history.
Calvin College
Calvin is making its ninth appearance in the NCAA III Tournament. The Knights are 10-8 all-time in NCAA III Tournament play with Calvin reaching the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA III Tournament in 1999 and 2000. Calvin has never won a game in the "Sweet 16" round as it dropped a 61-59 decision to Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 1999 and a 76-72 double-overtime decision to Baldwin-Wallace College in 2000.
Calvin is led by the one-two punch of 6-0 sophomore forward Lisa Winkle and 5-7 senior guard Kristen McDonald*both players were All-MIAA first teams selections. Winkle averages 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds-per-game and is ranked fifth in nation in field goal shooting, with a 60.8 field goal percentage. She also leads the team in blocks with 65. Also a talented track and field athlete, Winkle was a national qualifier for the NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships last May and later earned NCAA III All-America honors as a member of Calvin's 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay teams.
McDonald is averaging 14.8 points, 6.3 assists and 2.5 rebounds a game. Earlier this year, she was named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week. McDonald has stepped up her offensive game in MIAA Tournament and NCAA III Tournament play as she is averaging 24.0 points-per-game over her last five. She is also fifth in the nation in assists-per-game.
Another player who has come on strong for Calvin in the post-season has been 6-0 senior center Lisa Nanninga who collected 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 74-60 first round NCAA III Tournament victory over Franklin last Wednesday and followed with nine points and 10 boards in a 72-62 second round win at DePauw University Saturday. Like Winkle, Nanninga is also a talented track and field athlete. Last spring, she established a new MIAA record in the shot put and later earned NCAA III All-America honors in the event with a seventh place finish at the NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The Knights are under the direction of head coach John Ross who is in his second season with the Knights. Under his direction Calvin has compiled back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1999 and 2000 campaigns. It also marks the first time that the Knights have advanced to the Round of 16 since the 2000 season. The 2004 MIAA Women's Basketball Coach of the Year, Ross has a 47-8 record at Calvin.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Tue Mar 8 21:16:43 2005
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