Post by stlvufan on Jan 29, 2006 13:39:11 GMT -5
Colleges--The Chicago Sun Times
INDIANA-PURDUE-INDIANAPOLIS 87, VALPARAISO 82: George Hill scored seven of his 26 points in overtime, and the Jaguars (13-7, 8-1) rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to stun the Crusaders (11-8, 4-5) in a Mid-Continent Conference game in Valparaiso, Ind. Dan Oppland scored 27 points for Valparaiso.
...
OAKLAND (MICH.) 68, WESTERN ILLINOIS 64: Ricardo Billings led five players in double figures with 17 points to pace the Golden Grizzlies (9-13, 4-6) past the Leathernecks (6-15, 2-8) in Mid-Continent Conference play in Rochester, Mich.
SOUTHERN UTAH 73, CHICAGO STATE 59: Nate Janes led a balanced attack with 15 points, and the Thunderbirds (7-14, 5-3) overcame a 20-point effort by Royce Parran to rip the Cougars (4-15, 3-5) in a Mid-Continent Conference game in Cedar City, Utah.
Big Ten/Midwest Roundup--Daily Southtown
S. Utah 73, Chicago St. 59
CEDAR CITY, Utah — Nate Janes scored 15 points and Lubor Olsovsky added 14 in Southern Utah's victory over Chicago State.
Rand Janes scored 13 points for the Thunderbirds (7-14, 5-3 Mid-Continent).
Royce Parran led Chicago State (4-15, 3-5) with 20 points. Kevin Jones Jr. scored 15, including 13 in the second half.
...
Oakland (Mich.) 68, Western Illinois 64
ROCHESTER, Mich. — Ricardo Billings scored 17 points to lead Oakland (9-13, 4-6) over Western Illinois (6-15, 2-8) in the Mid-Continent Conference. Fred Oguns led Western Illinois with 18 points.
SUU ends a 9-game loss streak--deseretnews.com
Surprising T-birds take care of Chicago State--deseretnews.com
Balanced offense carries Golden Grizzlies--The Detroit News
College basketball: Women's roundup--The Detroit News
Mid-Continent
Oakland 68, Valparaiso 67: Jayme Wilson gets 16 points and six assists and Anne Hafeli 15 points and six rebounds for Oakland (8-11, 4-4). Becky Rietema (Grand Rapids South Christian) gets 18 points and nine rebounds for Valparaiso (11-8, 5-3), which had won 11 straight at home.
[glow=red,2,300]Oakland takes care of Leathernecks[/glow]--The Oakland Press
By CRYSTAL EVOLA Of The Oakland Press
ROCHESTER — It looked as if Oakland University had depleted all of its offensive fi repower.
But as it turned out, the offense just needed a slight rest.
The Golden Grizzlies hit key shots when they needed them and played solid defense down the stretch to pull out a 68-64 Mid-Continent win against Western Illinois in a men’s basketball game Saturday before an announced crowd of 2,235 at the Oakland Athletics Center.
OU (9-13, 4-6 Mid-Con) has won backto-back games for the first time since winning three straight Nov. 19-30.
The Grizzlies managed to clinch the victory despite 0-for-8 shooting from 3-point range in the first half and 39 percent shooting from the field for the game.
“We were kind of slow to start,” said OU coach Greg Kampe, whose team was 8-for-24 from the field in the fi rst half. “But in the second half, we came out with the game on the line and did our job.”
Freshman Derick Nelson went 3 for 4 from the foul line in the final 14 seconds to help seal the victory.
The Grizzlies’ defensive effort with 10 seconds left also helped deny WIU a 3-pointer that would have tied the game.
Eliz Cepeda’s basket after Sean Blalock stole the ball from Calvin Wooten with 22 seconds left pulled Western Illinois within 65-64, but the Grizzlies didn’t panic.
It was OU’s second turnover of the half and just its seventh of the game.
Wooten then recovered by getting the ball to Nelson, who eventually was fouled, despite being defended by three players.
“It looked like, for all purposes, we were going to panic and throw the game away, and we didn’t,” Kampe said. “We held our poise, we ran a good in-bounds play. … As a coach, I’d have to be extremely pleased with the way the game fi nished, especially for this team because we haven’t finished games this year.”
This proved to be OU’s closest win in conference play so far. The Grizzlies suffered one-, two- and three-point losses earlier this month.
“I think we would have lost this game a couple weeks ago,” Kampe said. “This is the type of game we struggled with. We came down the stretch and made our free throws today.”
Junior Rick Billings scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half to lead OU.
“I was just trying to have my team feed off my energy,” Billings said.
Billings has scored in double fi gures in five of his last eight games. He carried the load while OU had a rare off night from its scoring leader.
Wooten, who had 40 points Thursday, scored 10 points and took just 11 shots.
[glow=red,2,300]MEN’S ROUNDUP[/glow]--The Oakland Press
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mid-Continent
• IUPUI 87, Valparaiso 82, OT
— At Valparaiso, Ind., George Hill scored seven of his 26 points in overtime to lead IUPUI over Valparaiso. IUPUI (13-7, 8-1 Mid-Con) made 6-of-6 free throws in the final 23 seconds of the extra period.
[glow=red,2,300]Oakland women dismiss Valparaiso too[/glow]--The Oakland Press
WOMEN’S ROUNDUP
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Make it two wins this week for an Oakland University basketball team over Valparaiso.
Two days after the men’s team ended a 16-game losing streak to the Crusaders, the OU women’s team recorded a 68-67 win at Valpo on Saturday.
Jayme Wilson scored 16 points, Anne Hafeli scored 15 points and Nicole Piggott added 12 points to lead the Golden Grizzlies (8-11, 4-4 Mid-Continent), who next host Western Illinois at 7 p.m. Monday.
OU led 42-36 at halftime and 61-49 with 7:37 remaining, but the Crusaders (11-8, 5-3) cut the lead to one at 67-66 with 23.9 seconds left.
After a free throw by Piggott gave the Golden Grizzlies a 68-66 lead with 18 seconds remaining, Valparaiso’s Betsy Rietema had a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line after a foul with two seconds left, but only made one free throw before seeing OU run out the clock.
Jaguars top Crusaders, keep Mid-Con lead--Indy Star
UMKC falls to Centenary--Kansas City Star
Kangaroos hold off Centenary--Kansas City Star
Westerwinds' streak stalls out at 46--The Macomb Journal
MEN’S BASKETBALL: VU: Very Ugly defeat--Post Tribune
Jan. 29, 2006
By Justin Breen / Post-Tribune deputy sports editor
VALPARAISO — Valparaiso’s sports information department doesn’t keep track of the largest blown leads in school history.
But Saturday night’s devastating 87-82 overtime loss to IUPUI would have to rank near the top.
Ahead by as many as 21 points in the second half, the Crusaders experienced a collapse of train-wreck proportions and lost for the fourth straight time.
“We’re all frustrated. Sure we’re disappointed,” VU coach Homer Drew said. “We wanted to come out with a W. We’re tired of losing.”
The defeat mostly likely ended any chance for the Crusaders (11-8, 4-5 Mid-Continent Conference) to win the regular-season conference title. With seven Mid-Con games left, IUPUI (13-7, 8-1) remained in first place by finishing off an epic comeback in OT.
“These kids know how to win,” IUPUI coach Ron Hunter said. “This is a special group of kids.”
Angelo Smith’s free throws in overtime gave IUPUI a 79-78 lead, the Jaguars’ first since it was 10-8. Brandon Cole then hit a jumper for a three-point edge, and the Jaguars sealed it with a Smith block of a Jimmie Miles 3-pointer.
The Jaguars made 13-of-14 free throws in overtime, and they shot 68 percent from the field in the second half.
“They are a very good team, and they showed why they’re on top of the conference right now,” said Dan Oppland, who had a game-high 27 points.
Oppland scored six in overtime, when Mohamed Kone, Ali Berdiel and Ron Howard all fouled out. Drew — who at one point yelled at officials “you’re fouling everybody out! — was so desperate for personnel, he inserted Miles, who had missed the last seven games with a viral infection, in the extra session. Miles had a chance to give VU the lead in OT but missed a wide-open layup.
VU led 60-39 early in the second half, but IUPUI tied it at 72-all with 40 seconds left on a George Hill fastbreak layup.
Cole had a chance to win it for IUPUI in regulation, but he missed a fadeaway 3-pointer.
“You could just see the momentum swing,” said senior Seth Colclasure, who had 15 points, all on 3-pointers. “In terms of frustration, this is probably one of the most frustrating games I’ve had, at least in my mind.
“We kind of gave the game away. They took control in the second half, and we didn’t get it back.”
Valpo spotted IUPUI a 7-0 edge but then poured it on, outscoring the Jaguars 45-18 before halftime.
“They just smacked us in the face in the first half,” Hunter said.
For large portions of the game, Valpo’s offense hummed like a finely tuned engine. The parts consisted of Colclasure treys, Kone dunks and other scoring sparks from Moussa Mbaye, Berdiel and Oppland.
But IUPUI, which also rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat Oakland 82-81 on Jan. 4, would not be denied.
“We knew we could do this because we’ve done it before,” said Hill, who scored 26. “This is just a tremendous feeling.”
Notes
IUPUI has played in four one-point games this season, going 3-1. ... IUPUI sophomore transfer Gary Patterson (Bishop Noll) is sitting out this season after playing at Butler last year. ... IUPUI entered the game as the Mid-Con’s top free throw shooting team (75.4 percent), good for 21st in Division I. ... Jaguars senior center Michal Vavrek played his senior high school season at Highland as an exchange student. He started seven of IUPUI’s first 14 games, averaging 1.2 ppg. ... Hunter was assessed a technical early in the first half for arguing with officials. Valpo followed the “T” with an 11-0 run. ... West Side grad Brandon Cameron played three minutes. He has been dealing with ankle problems, which has reduced his playing time.
Contact Justin Breen at 648-3122 or jbreen@post-trib.com
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Valparaiso can’t overcome early deficit--Post Tribune
Jan. 29, 2006
By Justin Breen / Post-Tribune deputy sports editor
VALPARAISO — Valparaiso’s women’s team proudly promotes its defensive prowess.
The Crusaders came into Saturday’s game against Oakland allowing an average of 55.1 points per game — good for second in the Mid-Continent Conference.
So when the Golden Grizzlies shockingly pumped in 42 by halftime, Crusaders coach Keith Freeman wasn’t exactly happy.
“First half was absolutely the worst I’ve ever seen,” Freeman said. “It was awful. It was awful.”
VU responded in the second half but could not complete a late rally before losing 68-67 Saturday at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
“We’ve slipped defensively, in terms of our teamness,” said Freeman, whose Crusaders fell to 7-1 at home and 1-3 in games decided by five points or less. “We’ve just got to get better.”
Oakland beat VU at the ARC for the second straight year.
With her team trailing throughout the second half, Valpo’s Carrie Myers hit a 3-pointer with 56.1 seconds left to get VU within 67-64. After Oakland missed a trey, Agnieszka Kulaga, a late defensive substitute, sank two free throws with 23.9 remaining for a one-point VU deficit.
OU’s Nicole Piggott made 1-of-2 free throws to increase Oakland’s lead to 68-66, and VU called timeout with 13.3 remaining.
Oakland’s Bonnie Baker had the game in her hands after stealing the inbounds pass, but she missed a wide open layup. That allowed VU’s Betsy Rietema a chance to tie it, and on her drive to the basket, she was fouled.
But after making her first free throw, Rietema missed her second, and with 1.2 ticks left, Baker was fouled during a struggle for the rebound.
Baker missed both free throws, but VU did not have enough time to attempt a shot.
“I guess it was their night,” Myers said.
Rietema led VU (11-8, 5-3 Mid-Con), which lost its second straight, with 18 points. Myers had 17, including five 3-pointers, while Tamra Braun added 11.
Jayme Wilson had 16 for the Golden Grizzlies (8-11, 4-4), who won their second consecutive game.
“It’s definitely a big loss, but we don’t give up,” Myers said. “We have heart.”
Oakland shot 50 percent (14-of-28) in the first half, including 9-of-14 from 3-point range, on its way to a 42-36 halftime lead. It would have been worse, had Launa Hochstetler not dropped a buzzer-beating triple to end to end the half.
“They shouldn’t have been able to put up that many points in the first half,” Braun said. “We’re supposed to be giving up 40 points a game, not 40 points a half.”
“They were just incredibly hot from 3 tonight. They were just throwing it up, and they were going in.”
Notes
Valpo beat Oakland 69-55 in Michigan on Jan. 2. ... Braun, who had 10 rebounds, became the 13th player in VU history to record at least 500 rebounds. Braun passed Katie Boone for 12th place on the all-time list. ... Boone and other Crusaders alumni were honored at halftime. Debbie Bolen, who holds several school records, was among the alumni present. ... Through Monday, VU was shooting 39.8 percent from 3-point range, good for sixth in the nation.
Contact Justin Breen at 648-3122 or jbreen@post-trib.com
Dark defensive day for Valpo--NWI Times
Monumental collapse--NWI Times
Cameron has message for Gary athletes--The NWI Times
46-game win streak at home ends for WIU--The Peoria Journal Star
Hahl, Stradling lead T-Birds' first Mid-Con win--The Spectrum
T-Birds top Cougars--The Spectrum
Ladies get second Mid-Con win--The Shreveport Times
Slow start dooms Gents in loss to UMKC--The Shreveport Times
T-birds defeat Chicago State--The Salt Lake Tribune
Ladies Hold Off UMKC for Second Mid-Con Win of Season--GoCentenary.Com
UMKC Holds on to Capture Close Win Over Gents, 70-67--GoCentenary.Com
Women's Basketball Loses at Southern Utah , 55-44--Chicago State Athletics
Cougars Fall at Southern Utah , 59-73--Chicago State Athletics
IUPUI OVERCOMES 22-POINT SECOND HALF DEFICIT TO SWIPE WIN FROM VALPO--IUPUI JAGUAR ATHLETICS
Klein's Double-Double Not Enough, Kangaroos Drop One to Centenary--UMKC Kangaroos
Day and Blackwell Propel Kangaroos To Win At Centenary--UMKC Kangaroos
OU Breaks Streak at Valpo; Beats Crusaders 68-67--OUGrizzlies.com
Oakland Holds Off Western Illinois, 68-64--OUGrizzlies.com
SUU STOPS CHICAGO STATE, 55-44--SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS
Thunderbird Men Hold Off Chicago State--SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS
Valpo’s Late Comeback Falls One Point Short--www.valpo.edu
IUPUI Roars Back to Stun Valpo--www.valpo.edu
Women's Basketball Loses to Oral Roberts, 47-37--Western Illinois Athletics
Oakland Knocks Off Western Illinois, 68-64--Western Illinois Athletics
INDIANA-PURDUE-INDIANAPOLIS 87, VALPARAISO 82: George Hill scored seven of his 26 points in overtime, and the Jaguars (13-7, 8-1) rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to stun the Crusaders (11-8, 4-5) in a Mid-Continent Conference game in Valparaiso, Ind. Dan Oppland scored 27 points for Valparaiso.
...
OAKLAND (MICH.) 68, WESTERN ILLINOIS 64: Ricardo Billings led five players in double figures with 17 points to pace the Golden Grizzlies (9-13, 4-6) past the Leathernecks (6-15, 2-8) in Mid-Continent Conference play in Rochester, Mich.
SOUTHERN UTAH 73, CHICAGO STATE 59: Nate Janes led a balanced attack with 15 points, and the Thunderbirds (7-14, 5-3) overcame a 20-point effort by Royce Parran to rip the Cougars (4-15, 3-5) in a Mid-Continent Conference game in Cedar City, Utah.
Big Ten/Midwest Roundup--Daily Southtown
S. Utah 73, Chicago St. 59
CEDAR CITY, Utah — Nate Janes scored 15 points and Lubor Olsovsky added 14 in Southern Utah's victory over Chicago State.
Rand Janes scored 13 points for the Thunderbirds (7-14, 5-3 Mid-Continent).
Royce Parran led Chicago State (4-15, 3-5) with 20 points. Kevin Jones Jr. scored 15, including 13 in the second half.
...
Oakland (Mich.) 68, Western Illinois 64
ROCHESTER, Mich. — Ricardo Billings scored 17 points to lead Oakland (9-13, 4-6) over Western Illinois (6-15, 2-8) in the Mid-Continent Conference. Fred Oguns led Western Illinois with 18 points.
SUU ends a 9-game loss streak--deseretnews.com
Surprising T-birds take care of Chicago State--deseretnews.com
Balanced offense carries Golden Grizzlies--The Detroit News
College basketball: Women's roundup--The Detroit News
Mid-Continent
Oakland 68, Valparaiso 67: Jayme Wilson gets 16 points and six assists and Anne Hafeli 15 points and six rebounds for Oakland (8-11, 4-4). Becky Rietema (Grand Rapids South Christian) gets 18 points and nine rebounds for Valparaiso (11-8, 5-3), which had won 11 straight at home.
[glow=red,2,300]Oakland takes care of Leathernecks[/glow]--The Oakland Press
By CRYSTAL EVOLA Of The Oakland Press
ROCHESTER — It looked as if Oakland University had depleted all of its offensive fi repower.
But as it turned out, the offense just needed a slight rest.
The Golden Grizzlies hit key shots when they needed them and played solid defense down the stretch to pull out a 68-64 Mid-Continent win against Western Illinois in a men’s basketball game Saturday before an announced crowd of 2,235 at the Oakland Athletics Center.
OU (9-13, 4-6 Mid-Con) has won backto-back games for the first time since winning three straight Nov. 19-30.
The Grizzlies managed to clinch the victory despite 0-for-8 shooting from 3-point range in the first half and 39 percent shooting from the field for the game.
“We were kind of slow to start,” said OU coach Greg Kampe, whose team was 8-for-24 from the field in the fi rst half. “But in the second half, we came out with the game on the line and did our job.”
Freshman Derick Nelson went 3 for 4 from the foul line in the final 14 seconds to help seal the victory.
The Grizzlies’ defensive effort with 10 seconds left also helped deny WIU a 3-pointer that would have tied the game.
Eliz Cepeda’s basket after Sean Blalock stole the ball from Calvin Wooten with 22 seconds left pulled Western Illinois within 65-64, but the Grizzlies didn’t panic.
It was OU’s second turnover of the half and just its seventh of the game.
Wooten then recovered by getting the ball to Nelson, who eventually was fouled, despite being defended by three players.
“It looked like, for all purposes, we were going to panic and throw the game away, and we didn’t,” Kampe said. “We held our poise, we ran a good in-bounds play. … As a coach, I’d have to be extremely pleased with the way the game fi nished, especially for this team because we haven’t finished games this year.”
This proved to be OU’s closest win in conference play so far. The Grizzlies suffered one-, two- and three-point losses earlier this month.
“I think we would have lost this game a couple weeks ago,” Kampe said. “This is the type of game we struggled with. We came down the stretch and made our free throws today.”
Junior Rick Billings scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half to lead OU.
“I was just trying to have my team feed off my energy,” Billings said.
Billings has scored in double fi gures in five of his last eight games. He carried the load while OU had a rare off night from its scoring leader.
Wooten, who had 40 points Thursday, scored 10 points and took just 11 shots.
[glow=red,2,300]MEN’S ROUNDUP[/glow]--The Oakland Press
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mid-Continent
• IUPUI 87, Valparaiso 82, OT
— At Valparaiso, Ind., George Hill scored seven of his 26 points in overtime to lead IUPUI over Valparaiso. IUPUI (13-7, 8-1 Mid-Con) made 6-of-6 free throws in the final 23 seconds of the extra period.
[glow=red,2,300]Oakland women dismiss Valparaiso too[/glow]--The Oakland Press
WOMEN’S ROUNDUP
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Make it two wins this week for an Oakland University basketball team over Valparaiso.
Two days after the men’s team ended a 16-game losing streak to the Crusaders, the OU women’s team recorded a 68-67 win at Valpo on Saturday.
Jayme Wilson scored 16 points, Anne Hafeli scored 15 points and Nicole Piggott added 12 points to lead the Golden Grizzlies (8-11, 4-4 Mid-Continent), who next host Western Illinois at 7 p.m. Monday.
OU led 42-36 at halftime and 61-49 with 7:37 remaining, but the Crusaders (11-8, 5-3) cut the lead to one at 67-66 with 23.9 seconds left.
After a free throw by Piggott gave the Golden Grizzlies a 68-66 lead with 18 seconds remaining, Valparaiso’s Betsy Rietema had a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line after a foul with two seconds left, but only made one free throw before seeing OU run out the clock.
Jaguars top Crusaders, keep Mid-Con lead--Indy Star
UMKC falls to Centenary--Kansas City Star
Kangaroos hold off Centenary--Kansas City Star
Westerwinds' streak stalls out at 46--The Macomb Journal
MEN’S BASKETBALL: VU: Very Ugly defeat--Post Tribune
Jan. 29, 2006
By Justin Breen / Post-Tribune deputy sports editor
VALPARAISO — Valparaiso’s sports information department doesn’t keep track of the largest blown leads in school history.
But Saturday night’s devastating 87-82 overtime loss to IUPUI would have to rank near the top.
Ahead by as many as 21 points in the second half, the Crusaders experienced a collapse of train-wreck proportions and lost for the fourth straight time.
“We’re all frustrated. Sure we’re disappointed,” VU coach Homer Drew said. “We wanted to come out with a W. We’re tired of losing.”
The defeat mostly likely ended any chance for the Crusaders (11-8, 4-5 Mid-Continent Conference) to win the regular-season conference title. With seven Mid-Con games left, IUPUI (13-7, 8-1) remained in first place by finishing off an epic comeback in OT.
“These kids know how to win,” IUPUI coach Ron Hunter said. “This is a special group of kids.”
Angelo Smith’s free throws in overtime gave IUPUI a 79-78 lead, the Jaguars’ first since it was 10-8. Brandon Cole then hit a jumper for a three-point edge, and the Jaguars sealed it with a Smith block of a Jimmie Miles 3-pointer.
The Jaguars made 13-of-14 free throws in overtime, and they shot 68 percent from the field in the second half.
“They are a very good team, and they showed why they’re on top of the conference right now,” said Dan Oppland, who had a game-high 27 points.
Oppland scored six in overtime, when Mohamed Kone, Ali Berdiel and Ron Howard all fouled out. Drew — who at one point yelled at officials “you’re fouling everybody out! — was so desperate for personnel, he inserted Miles, who had missed the last seven games with a viral infection, in the extra session. Miles had a chance to give VU the lead in OT but missed a wide-open layup.
VU led 60-39 early in the second half, but IUPUI tied it at 72-all with 40 seconds left on a George Hill fastbreak layup.
Cole had a chance to win it for IUPUI in regulation, but he missed a fadeaway 3-pointer.
“You could just see the momentum swing,” said senior Seth Colclasure, who had 15 points, all on 3-pointers. “In terms of frustration, this is probably one of the most frustrating games I’ve had, at least in my mind.
“We kind of gave the game away. They took control in the second half, and we didn’t get it back.”
Valpo spotted IUPUI a 7-0 edge but then poured it on, outscoring the Jaguars 45-18 before halftime.
“They just smacked us in the face in the first half,” Hunter said.
For large portions of the game, Valpo’s offense hummed like a finely tuned engine. The parts consisted of Colclasure treys, Kone dunks and other scoring sparks from Moussa Mbaye, Berdiel and Oppland.
But IUPUI, which also rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat Oakland 82-81 on Jan. 4, would not be denied.
“We knew we could do this because we’ve done it before,” said Hill, who scored 26. “This is just a tremendous feeling.”
Notes
IUPUI has played in four one-point games this season, going 3-1. ... IUPUI sophomore transfer Gary Patterson (Bishop Noll) is sitting out this season after playing at Butler last year. ... IUPUI entered the game as the Mid-Con’s top free throw shooting team (75.4 percent), good for 21st in Division I. ... Jaguars senior center Michal Vavrek played his senior high school season at Highland as an exchange student. He started seven of IUPUI’s first 14 games, averaging 1.2 ppg. ... Hunter was assessed a technical early in the first half for arguing with officials. Valpo followed the “T” with an 11-0 run. ... West Side grad Brandon Cameron played three minutes. He has been dealing with ankle problems, which has reduced his playing time.
Contact Justin Breen at 648-3122 or jbreen@post-trib.com
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Valparaiso can’t overcome early deficit--Post Tribune
Jan. 29, 2006
By Justin Breen / Post-Tribune deputy sports editor
VALPARAISO — Valparaiso’s women’s team proudly promotes its defensive prowess.
The Crusaders came into Saturday’s game against Oakland allowing an average of 55.1 points per game — good for second in the Mid-Continent Conference.
So when the Golden Grizzlies shockingly pumped in 42 by halftime, Crusaders coach Keith Freeman wasn’t exactly happy.
“First half was absolutely the worst I’ve ever seen,” Freeman said. “It was awful. It was awful.”
VU responded in the second half but could not complete a late rally before losing 68-67 Saturday at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
“We’ve slipped defensively, in terms of our teamness,” said Freeman, whose Crusaders fell to 7-1 at home and 1-3 in games decided by five points or less. “We’ve just got to get better.”
Oakland beat VU at the ARC for the second straight year.
With her team trailing throughout the second half, Valpo’s Carrie Myers hit a 3-pointer with 56.1 seconds left to get VU within 67-64. After Oakland missed a trey, Agnieszka Kulaga, a late defensive substitute, sank two free throws with 23.9 remaining for a one-point VU deficit.
OU’s Nicole Piggott made 1-of-2 free throws to increase Oakland’s lead to 68-66, and VU called timeout with 13.3 remaining.
Oakland’s Bonnie Baker had the game in her hands after stealing the inbounds pass, but she missed a wide open layup. That allowed VU’s Betsy Rietema a chance to tie it, and on her drive to the basket, she was fouled.
But after making her first free throw, Rietema missed her second, and with 1.2 ticks left, Baker was fouled during a struggle for the rebound.
Baker missed both free throws, but VU did not have enough time to attempt a shot.
“I guess it was their night,” Myers said.
Rietema led VU (11-8, 5-3 Mid-Con), which lost its second straight, with 18 points. Myers had 17, including five 3-pointers, while Tamra Braun added 11.
Jayme Wilson had 16 for the Golden Grizzlies (8-11, 4-4), who won their second consecutive game.
“It’s definitely a big loss, but we don’t give up,” Myers said. “We have heart.”
Oakland shot 50 percent (14-of-28) in the first half, including 9-of-14 from 3-point range, on its way to a 42-36 halftime lead. It would have been worse, had Launa Hochstetler not dropped a buzzer-beating triple to end to end the half.
“They shouldn’t have been able to put up that many points in the first half,” Braun said. “We’re supposed to be giving up 40 points a game, not 40 points a half.”
“They were just incredibly hot from 3 tonight. They were just throwing it up, and they were going in.”
Notes
Valpo beat Oakland 69-55 in Michigan on Jan. 2. ... Braun, who had 10 rebounds, became the 13th player in VU history to record at least 500 rebounds. Braun passed Katie Boone for 12th place on the all-time list. ... Boone and other Crusaders alumni were honored at halftime. Debbie Bolen, who holds several school records, was among the alumni present. ... Through Monday, VU was shooting 39.8 percent from 3-point range, good for sixth in the nation.
Contact Justin Breen at 648-3122 or jbreen@post-trib.com
Dark defensive day for Valpo--NWI Times
Monumental collapse--NWI Times
Cameron has message for Gary athletes--The NWI Times
46-game win streak at home ends for WIU--The Peoria Journal Star
Hahl, Stradling lead T-Birds' first Mid-Con win--The Spectrum
T-Birds top Cougars--The Spectrum
Ladies get second Mid-Con win--The Shreveport Times
Slow start dooms Gents in loss to UMKC--The Shreveport Times
T-birds defeat Chicago State--The Salt Lake Tribune
Ladies Hold Off UMKC for Second Mid-Con Win of Season--GoCentenary.Com
UMKC Holds on to Capture Close Win Over Gents, 70-67--GoCentenary.Com
Women's Basketball Loses at Southern Utah , 55-44--Chicago State Athletics
Cougars Fall at Southern Utah , 59-73--Chicago State Athletics
IUPUI OVERCOMES 22-POINT SECOND HALF DEFICIT TO SWIPE WIN FROM VALPO--IUPUI JAGUAR ATHLETICS
Klein's Double-Double Not Enough, Kangaroos Drop One to Centenary--UMKC Kangaroos
Day and Blackwell Propel Kangaroos To Win At Centenary--UMKC Kangaroos
OU Breaks Streak at Valpo; Beats Crusaders 68-67--OUGrizzlies.com
Oakland Holds Off Western Illinois, 68-64--OUGrizzlies.com
SUU STOPS CHICAGO STATE, 55-44--SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS
Thunderbird Men Hold Off Chicago State--SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS
Valpo’s Late Comeback Falls One Point Short--www.valpo.edu
IUPUI Roars Back to Stun Valpo--www.valpo.edu
Women's Basketball Loses to Oral Roberts, 47-37--Western Illinois Athletics
Oakland Knocks Off Western Illinois, 68-64--Western Illinois Athletics