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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 13, 2022 15:16:19 GMT -6
To paraphrase Big D's observation of Jimmy Collins, "She's had a pretty good six-year run here. Unfortunately, she's now entering her 11th season!"
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 13, 2022 16:22:14 GMT -6
Last season the Panthers were picked to finish seventh in the league, and tied Wright State for the regular season title. This season they were picked to finish second and they finished seventh.* They certainly underperformed with respect to expectations.
The 2021-22 team basically beat the teams below them in the standings, but split with or were swept by the teams in top half of the league. They got pretty much the expected contributions from their starters, but did not get the same kind of contributions from the bench. There was a stretch where the offense went cold and nobody stepped up to carry the load.
Three of the starters were super-seniors: McKaela Schmelzer, Miquela Santoro, and Sydney Staver were big contributors to the success the team had. I think the difference between this season and last is that the rest of the squad, with the exception of Megan Walstad, the team's only member of the all-league teams, did not play as well this season. Emma Wittmershaus was not a consistent producer, but when she does produce, she can be a game changer. Kendall Nead was another player who did not have as good a season as she did last season.
The league was much more competitive as a whole this season than last. IUPUI continued to be the team to beat. Youngstown State continued their upward trajectory, and Cleveland State played considerably better than they did last season. Green Bay continues to be a contender, but showed vulnerabilities they haven't displayed previously. All four of those teams spent at least part of this season on the Mid-Major Top 25 poll. IUPUI was ranked all season, finishing at number eight. It's not surprising that the Panthers struggled against these teams, given that the team did not build strongly on last season's results.
I don't know if this season's freshman class saw the court or not. I don't think they did, so the season was essentially a red-shirt season. Macy Mcaglone, a red-shirt freshman, saw progressively more game time over the course of the season, because she improved as the season wore on.
You can point to what AB claims are the standards for team performance all you want; it's pretty clear that those standards were cooked up to fire Rob Jeter. I don't see coaches getting fired for underperforming in the other sports programs. PBS got fired, but his teams performed far worse than those standards. Since AB hasn't pulled the plug so far, I expect Coach Rechlicz will continue to coach the team next season.
The 2022-23 season should be interesting. The Panthers will be replacing three starters, but they have Walstad to build around. They have a number of players with at least some game experience who might fill those spots. Jada Donaldson was the backup at point guard. Nead and Angie Cera played a fair amount. Lior Halevi and Grace Crowley saw a lot of game time at the end of the season. There are two incoming freshman, one of whom, Kamy Peppler, is this year's Miss Basketball for Wisconsin. She will probably be expected to be a major contributor.
* None of the HL Coaches picked the Panthers to finish first this season. Coach Rechlicz, I believe, was not allowed to pick the Panthers to finish first, and none of the other eleven coaches chose them to win the league, either. IUPUI got eleven of twelve first place votes in the preseason poll; YSU got the twelfth vote.
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 14, 2022 10:57:13 GMT -6
IUPUI is the Horizon League's only team in the NCAA tournament. The Jaguars are a 13 seed and will travel to play a 4th seeded Oklahoma squad in the first round.
Youngstown State got the league's autobid to the WNIT. Green Bay got an at large bid. I am surprised Cleveland State did not also receive a bid, as they got to the tournament final and lost by only seven points. The pairings will be announced later today.
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Post by davedome on Mar 14, 2022 13:32:57 GMT -6
Class act but has been given a free pass. No tourney appearances in a decade with an average overall record. She shouldn't be fired but AB has to have consistent expectations between programs.
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Post by reginaldkdwight on Mar 14, 2022 14:53:42 GMT -6
I would have guessed they got to the big dance once but ouch not even a run one time. Need serious improvement next year or time to move on IMO.
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 20, 2022 0:48:11 GMT -6
IUPUI is the Horizon League's only team in the NCAA tournament. The Jaguars are a 13 seed and will travel to play a 4th seeded Oklahoma squad in the first round. Youngstown State got the league's autobid to the WNIT. Green Bay got an at large bid. I am surprised Cleveland State did not also receive a bid, as they got to the tournament final and lost by only seven points. The pairings will be announced later today. IUPUI lost their first round NCAA tournament game, but kept it close through the first half. Oklahoma took full control in the third quarter and got the lead up to double digits. The final score was Oklahoma 78, IUPUI 72. Youngstown State and Green Bay lost their opening round WNIT games. Green Bay lost to Minnesota, 83-75. YSU lost to Kent State, 68-59. Cleveland State accepted a bid to the WBI and have won their first two games, beating Northeastern 73-60 and Nevada 58-50, to put the Vikings into the tournament semi-finals.
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