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Post by skrapheap on Feb 23, 2023 22:54:02 GMT -6
Green Bay clinched a share of the regular season title tonight as they completed the season sweep of Cleveland State at home, 64-49. The game was close for three quarters before the Phoenix pulled away. The top seed in the HL Women's Basketball Tournament is Green Bay's as the Phoenix have the tie-breaker over the Vikings.
Milwaukee plays the Vikings in the season finale at home on Saturday. Purdue Fort Wayne travels to Green Bay. Cleveland State are locked in as the second seed for the tournament. Barring a major upset by PFW, the Vikings will finish in second place in the regular season standings. A Viking win over the Panthers coupled with the afore-mentioned upset by Purdue Fort Wayne would tie the standings, but the sweep of the Vikings by the Phoenix means the best possible finish for CSU would be the second seed in the Tournament.
The Panthers would have to play a game like their most recent league wins at Youngstown State and at home versus PFW in order to have a chance against against the Vikings. It is not out of the realm of possibility, as the Panthers seem to be overcoming their inability to play solid defense for a full game. The question is can the Panthers withstand the pressure defense they have struggled against all season? If the defense continues to lock down the opposition and the offense has a good game, the upset is a real possibility.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 25, 2023 22:49:15 GMT -6
The Panthers regular season finale ended pretty much as expected, although the final score was closer than most would have predicted. Cleveland State won by seven points, as neither Megan Walstad nor Emma Wittmershaus had a good scoring game, although they accounted for nine if the Panthers' eleven blocked shots-a season high, and which tied the program record. The Panthers remain susceptible to scoring droughts, experiencing one in the fourth quarter which prevented them from catching the Vikings. The loss lands the Panthers in seventh place, hosting tenth-place Robert Morris on Tuesday night. The Panthers beat the Colonials by twelve at home, and lost a road game to RMU that that they should have won easily. Earlier in the season they lost to Purdue Fort Wayne on the road, another game they should have won, and lost to Wright State at home, although they were somewhat short-handed. If the higher seeds all win their first round games, the Panthers would travel to Cleveland to play the Vikings a third time in the quarter-final round. HL Women's Tournament Bracket
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 28, 2023 22:07:32 GMT -6
Round one of the Women's Tourney featured #6 Purdue Fort Wayne hosting #11 Detroit Mercy and #6 Oakland hosting #9 Wright State as the early games. The 6-11 game went pretty much as expected for most of the game, with PFW getting out to a comfortable lead and maintaining it. Detroit managed to keep the lead under double digits and closed to within three points with less than two minutes remaining. The Titans hit a three-point shot to tie the game with 23 seconds left. The Mastodons got a last second shot and a couple of free throws to win 65-61.
The 8-9 game was more interesting. It was much more back and forth. The Raiders played their game, hitting three point shots but getting in a mix of closer shots. It was 57-43 Raiders at the end of three. The Raiders opened things up a bit in the fourth quarter, getting up to a 10 point lead with 34 seconds left in the game. The Raiders hit six of twelve three-point shots to only five of seventeen for Oakland. The final score was 79-69.
The first half of the Panthers game with Robert Morris was also tightly played. The Panthers did most of their work inside, as they hit only one of eight three-point shots. They shot 56% from the field in the half. An 8-1 run at the end of the second quarter (beginning with Megan Walstad's three-pointer) put the Panthers up over the Colonials 35-30. Kendall Nead had 10 points, including the first six points for Milwaukee, followed by Walstad with nine and Emma Wittmershaus with six. The Panthers had 12 assists, and a 22-12 advantage on points in the paint.
The second half was more of the same initially, with the Panthers occasionally opening up a lead to to as high as nine points midway through the third quarter. The Colonials then went on a 9-2 run for the rest of the quarter and reduced the lead to 45-43. The Panthers rebuilt the lead to six point and then seven points at 56-49 with 6:10 left in the fourth quarter, and kept pace with the Colonials the rest of the way to win 64-58. Kendall Nead led all scorers with 21 points. Wittmershaus was the only other Panther in double digits with 10 points. Walstad finished the night with nine points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.
The victory means the Panthers will play at Cleveland State on Thursday. The game will tip off at 4:30 PM Milwaukee time. The Panthers lost both games to CSU, most reently by a 63-56 score, at home. The Panthers got the score to 59-55 on a Angie Cera three-pointer with 46 seconds left but could get no closer, and the Vikings closed out the game with free throws.
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Post by skrapheap on Feb 28, 2023 23:13:50 GMT -6
The quarterfinal round of the Women's Tournament should be interesting.
Two of the games start relatively early, as both Cleveland State and Youngstown State are hosting tourney double-headers with their women's and men's teams. In addition to the Panthers vs the Vikings starting at 4:30 PM, 4th seeded YSU hosts 5th seeded Northern Kentucky at the same time.
Only one lower-seeded team advanced from the opening round, Wright State, and they will travel to Green Bay to play the latest, with a 7:00 PM CT tipoff. Many of the teams in the bottom half of the league surged late in the season, quite possibly no team more than Wright State, who got five of their six league wins in the second half of the season. The Raiders live and die with the three-point shot, but they can score in the lane when teams tighten up against the deep shot. One of their second half of the season losses was a 20 point loss in Green Bay, right after the Raiders beat Milwaukee in Milwaukee. It will take a great shooting night for the Raiders to beat the Phoenix, but if they shoot well, they will make the game interesting, to say the least. Wright State finished the season at the top of the league in three-point shooting percentage at .364, even while shooting far more three-point shots than any other league team; and it wasn't close: the Raiders shot 150 more three-point shots than the second place team, IUPUI, and made 64 more than the Jaguars. Green Bay was fourth at .326; they shot 252 fewer three-pointers than WSU, and made 112 fewer. Green Bay finished second in the league in defense against the three point (and their opponents shot the most three-point shots in the league), so the Raiders will have their work cut out for them.
The Panthers, as noted earlier, will travel to Cleveland to play the Vikings. The Panthers did not play consistently good basketball over the season, but when they played well they played really well. They will need their best game of the season to beat the Vikings, but it is, as has often been noted in basketball, difficult to beat a team the third time. I don't know what the oddsmakers have to say.
The 4-5 game could also be competitive. The Penguins swept the Norse in league play, but both games were close: 59-55 at NKU and 52-51 at YSU. YSU won eight of their first ten league games, including beating Green Bay in Green Bay. YSU then went 5-5 in the second half of the season, including 20+ point losses at home to Milwaukee and Green Bay. NKU was up and down all season, finishing at 10-10.
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 4, 2023 5:37:22 GMT -6
Kyle Rechlicz just completed her 11th season with a career record of 165-173. She's had two top-3 finishes. Thoughts?
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 4, 2023 14:20:19 GMT -6
She had three dreadful seasons at the start of her tenure, which left a huge deficit to overcome. Her three best seasons have come in her last six seasons. She recruited two impact players in Jenny Lindner and Steph Kostowicz, who were key players on her best teams. She has recruited some good players since, but has not had the same results.
Injuries have hampered her teams to some extent. Megan Walstad lost a season to a knee injury. A number of injuries knocked key players out of multiple games this season. Inconsistent play was an issue all season, even at full strength. If Women's basketball had more cachet, a coaching change would have happened by now.
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 4, 2023 14:30:42 GMT -6
She had three dreadful seasons at the start of her tenure, which left a huge deficit to overcome. Her three best seasons have come in her last six seasons. She recruited two impact players in Jenny Lindner and Steph Kostowicz, who were key players on her best teams. She has recruited some good players since, but has not had the same results. Injuries have hampered her teams to some extent. Megan Walstad lost a season to a knee injury. A number of injuries knocked key players out of multiple games this season. Inconsistent play was an issue all season, even at full strength. If Women's basketball had more cachet, a coaching change would have happened by now. In short, to paraphrase Big D from UIC (writing about Jimmy Collins): "She's had a nice three-year run here. Unfortunately, she'll soon be entering her 12th season."
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Post by Cactus Panther on Mar 4, 2023 15:42:10 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 4, 2023 20:46:08 GMT -6
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 5, 2023 10:24:49 GMT -6
Gotta open up the wallets or our A.D. needs to have more realistic goals.
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 5, 2023 11:20:27 GMT -6
Gotta open up the wallets or our A.D. needs to have more realistic goals. I wonder if Amanda is paying any attention.
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 7, 2023 13:15:03 GMT -6
The Horizon League Tournament final between first-seeded Green Bay and second-seeded Cleveland State was dominated by the Vikings after the first quarter.
The final score was CSU 73, GB 61. The Vikings were one of the league's best teams at shooting three-pointers, and the Phoenix were the league's best at defending the three-point shot. The Vikings won the game from outside, hitting almost fifty percent of their shots (13-27), while the Phoenix hit less than twenty percent of their shots from distance (6-31). The loss ended a 13-game winning streak for Green Bay, who had won their last eleven regular season games, including a home game with the Vikings which locked in their first place finish. The Phoenix' only losses in league play were to Milwaukee and Youngstown State.
The Vikings had won 16 of their first 17 games, a streak which ended when the Phoenix beat them in Cleveland. CSU lost only two league games after that, on the road at Northern Kentucky and the late season loss to GB.
Green Bay has the league's autobid to the WNIT, and Cleveland State will learn their NCAA tournament opponent on Selection Sunday.
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Post by skrapheap on Mar 26, 2023 21:20:54 GMT -6
Cleveland State was a 13 seed in the NCAA Women's tournament and got thumped in the first round.
Green Bay won their first WNIT game big, but lost in the second round to Bowling Green, who has made the round of eight in the WNIT.
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Post by thetruth on Apr 18, 2023 10:14:44 GMT -6
I'm surprised a coaching move hasn't been made yet. We know what Kyle is at this point. The program is not in a good spot. She has a career 165-173 record (105-95 HL) in 11 years. She finished first once (2020-21) and second once (2015-16). Then fourth once and fifth twice. What are we expecting next year? Another seventh-place finish? We had high standards for other basketball coaches in the past, what am I missing here?
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Post by skrapheap on Apr 18, 2023 13:57:49 GMT -6
I'm surprised a coaching move hasn't been made yet. We know what Kyle is at this point. The program is not in a good spot. She has a career 165-173 record (105-95 HL) in 11 years. She finished first once (2020-21) and second once (2015-16). Then fourth once and fifth twice. What are we expecting next year? Another seventh-place finish? We had high standards for other basketball coaches in the past, what am I missing here? No one (or nearly no one) is clamoring for her to be fired, as would be the case with the men's coach. If Women's Basketball was a revenue-producing sport, there might be more incentive. I'd suggest Green Bay as a comparison, but they have such an entrenched culture of success, I can't see a coach being left in place up there for eleven years with the same record. I'm not close to the program, but it appears that Coach Rechlicz has the support of players and their parents. Sandy Botham lost her job largely because she had lost the respect of key players on the team. Whether the poor records of her last few seasons were because of that or other factors, there were issues which weren't getting resolved. A couple of seasons ago, the Detroit Women's Coach lost her job because her players wouldn't play for her and the players' parents were publicly agitating for the coach's removal. I don't know how much of Coach Rechlicz's contract is left. I could see her not getting extended if the team doesn't have more success. But absent a very public problem, I don't think she is going away under present circumstances. As for expectations for next season, i am not sure what to expect. The Panthers are losing a great deal of both scoring and defense with the graduations of Walstad and Wittmershaus. Kamy Peppler gradually played better and better as the season wore on, so that's a positive sign. There are key players returning. I expect the season will turn largely on whether the newcomers on the roster will be able to contribute.
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