Post by stlvufan on Jan 31, 2006 12:03:45 GMT -5
COLLEGE HOOPS--The Detroit Free Press
Oakland 66, Western Illinois 57: Bonnie Baker scored 21 points for host Oakland (9-11, 5-4 Mid-Continent). Western Illinois is 15-4, 7-2.
College basketball: Roundup--The Detroit News
State women
Oakland 66, Western Illinois 57: Bonnie Baker scores 21 for Oakland (9-11, 5-4 Mid-Continent Conference).
[glow=red,2,300]Baker leads Oakland over Western Illinois[/glow]--The Oakland Press
By CRYSTAL EVOLA Of The Oakland Press
ROCHESTER — Oakland University found a way to overcome whatever challenge it faced Monday.
The Golden Grizzlies lost their starting point guard, watched their top offensive player spend a chunk of time on the bench because of foul trouble, and their second-leading scorer was shut out in the first half.
Not a problem.
OU hustled on defense and capitalized on free-throw opportunities in a physical matchup to pull out a 66-57 win against Western Illinois, the Mid-Continent Conference’s top team, before an announced crowd of 635 at the Oakland Athletics Center.
Junior Bonnie Baker’s performance helped OU win its third straight and avenge a 74-65 overtime loss at Western Illinois earlier this month.
The win gave OU a confidence boost with seven games left in the regular season.
“Basically, it means we know we can beat anybody,” Baker said.
Baker had a career-high 21 points and no turnovers in 24 minutes of action.
“She was fearless,” OU coach Beckie Francis said. “Not only did she play good defense and take it to the hole against Zane (Teilane), but her three assists, no turnovers and three steals, and getting to the free-throw line, it was just amazing. I’m really proud of her.”
Baker’s solid performance came about even though she had the tough task of guarding Teilane, a 6-foot-7 center.
Teilane, the conference’s top player, finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. She shot just 5-for-12 from the field because of OU’s double- and triple-teaming efforts and saw limited playing time when she picked up her third foul with 16:53 left in the game.
Despite Western Illinois’ obvious height advantage, the Grizzlies (9-11, 5-4 Mid-Con) outrebounded the Westerwinds, 35-31.
Freshman April Kidd had no trouble stepping in for OU’s starting point guard Riikka Terava, who was unavailable because of a lower leg injury.
Kidd matched her career high with 14 points. She added six rebounds and two steals to help hand Western Illinois (15-4, 7-2) a second straight loss for the first time this season.
“April Kidd just delivered,” Francis said. “But so did the other players. … They all stepped up.”
Terava walked into the training room on crutches to undergo further examination by a physician at halftime.
X-ray results were not yet known.
Terava played 36 minutes in Saturday’s win at Valparaiso despite being in pain. She is unsure exactly how the injury occurred.
Baker and Kidd carried a bulk of OU’s offensive load despite a rare off night from their top two scorers.
Jayme Wilson, who is the Mid-Con’s third leading scorer, logged just 13 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble and ended up with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Anne Hafeli was just 1-for-7 from the field and finished with seven points, all of which came in the second half.
[glow=red,2,300]ROUNDUP[/glow]--The Oakland Press
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mid-Continent
• Oral Roberts 74, UMKC 56
— At Kansas City, Mo., Caleb Green had 15 points to lead Oral Roberts over Missouri-Kansas City at Kemper Arena.
Oral Roberts stuffs Kangaroos--Kansas City Star
Road woes continue for Leathernecks--The Macomb Journal
VU-TIFUL WIN--Post Tribune
Jan. 31, 2006
By Steve T. Gorches / Post-Tribune staff writer
VALPARAISO — After two consecutive losses and three in the last four games, Monday’s game against IUPUI was about as much of a must-win as you can get with a month left in the regular season.
So how did coach Keith Freeman handle that perceived mentality of needing to end a bad streak right now?
By playing four of his five starters nearly the whole game as the Crusaders fought all 40 minutes for a 55-48 victory over the Jaguars.
Instead of the usual substitution pattern that has become a trait of Freeman and the Crusaders (12-8, 6-3, the starters had the outcome on their backs for the most part.
Lauren Bechtold played all 40 minutes. Junior center Tamra Braun played 37 minutes. Betsy Rietema and Carrie Myers each tolled 38 minutes on the floor.
Though Freeman doesn’t like to talk in absolutes of must-wins, he knew what the team needed against an IUPUI squad that was tied for the conference lead going into Monday’s contest.
“We needed Lauren (Bechtold) on the floor because Lauren’s our best at guarding the ball. We needed Tamra on the floor because she’s our best at guarding the post. Betsy’s our second-best at guarding the perimeter, and Carrie’s our best offensive player,” Freeman explained why those four put in the extra workload.
The strategy worked with three of those players scoring in double figures — Rietema led the way with her second straight 18-point output — and Bechtold limiting the Jaguars (12-7, 7-2) starting point guard, Brykeesha Tate to zero points in 39 minutes.
And thanks to an upset victory by Oakland over Western Illinois, VU moved back to one game behind the Westerwinds in the Mid-Con.
At least one of the Crusaders admitted that ending the losing slide now was very important.
“I would say so,” said Rietema when asked if the game was a must-win. “We needed to get a win against a good team, and this was definitely a challenge for us.”
Another starter agreed with the sentiment that now was the time to get a victory.
“I think we had a sense of urgency,” said Myers, who finished with 14 points with four more 3-pointers made, all in the first half. “We’ve lost the last three close games.”
Freeman, on the other hand, has the big picture on his mind instead of wins or losses.
“People get wrapped up in outcomes. It’s not the outcome, it’s the process to get to where you want to go,” he said. “If you sit there and focus on, 'we need to win this game or if we lose this game it’s over’, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
“It’s not about that. This is the best we’ve played in terms of playing every possession hard no matter how good or bad we did on the previous possession.”
The epitome of that request of his players came early on with VU clinging to a three-point lead with 7:30 left in the first half.
Rietema, Braun and Krystal Taylor each had shot attempts in the paint. Each time on the possession they were swatted by Valparaiso High grad Brooke McAfee, who had seven blocks in the game to move into fourth on the all-time NCAA career blocked shots list. Each time they grabbed an offensive rebound to keep the possession alive before Myers sank one of her patented quick 3-pointers.
Contact Steve T. Gorches at 648-3141 or sgorches@post-trib.com
IUPUI shot-blocker struts her ’stuffs’ at VU--Post Tribune
Jan. 31, 2006
By Steve T. Gorches / Post-Tribune staff writer
VALPARAISO — Even though he’s attended hundreds of basketball games, most of them in Valparaiso, Larry McAfee couldn’t help but feel extra apprehension on Monday.
His daughter, Brooke, was in town as a member of the enemy IUPUI squad after graduating from Valparaiso High School in 2002.
And Larry was sitting in his normal spot for a Valparaiso University women’s game a couple rows behind the scorer’s table. But for the only time of the season, he wasn’t cheering for the home team at the ARC.
He also admitted to feelings he rarely has before Brooke’s games.
“Oh my gosh. I’m just so nervous right now,” he said. “She’s playing Valpo and she’s 0-7 against them. Ever since Brooke was a freshman they’ve lost to Valpo. Plus we’re 7-1 (in the Mid-Con) and they’re 5-3, so if we ever had a chance, tonight’s the night.”
Make that 0-8 against her hometown college as VU defeated McAfee’s Jaguars 55-48.
Brooke’s dad wasn’t the only one who looked nervous, especially in the first half. The 6-foot-2 senior forward who guards the opposing team’s center most of the time had four blocked shots in the first 20 minutes.
But she failed to take a shot from the field, missed both of her free-throw attempts and committed a turnover in the final 40 seconds to lead to a VU basket. She also only played 11 minutes due to two fouls in the first 6:27 of the game.
“I get a little nervous for every game,” she said. “It’s good to come out a little nervous before a game. I got those two early fouls so I had to play careful the rest of the half I didn’t really execute on the offensive end. I didn’t get that many shots off.”
She finished with seven blocks, which moved her ahead of University of Connecticut and WNBA star Rebecca Lobo on the all-time NCAA career blocks list with 403.
On her current pace, she should finish her career in second place on the prestigious list with at least eight games remaining and only 25 blocks between her and Cal. State Fullerton grad Genia Miller.
“I really don’t pay attention. It’s not something I think about,” she said. “Our defensive policy is not allow them to get touches. I just try to play team defense and help when other girls get beat.”
Larry has been attending VU basketball games for years. In fact, his presence is noticeable during the game if fans keep their eyes open.
The T-shirts worn by the ball girls who sit beneath each of the baskets during play have the Valpo logo on the front and “McAfee Animal Hospital” on the back, which is where Larry spends his days treating area pets of all kinds.
“I’m a real strong VU women’s fan, just not tonight,” he said. “I like the women’s games better. They play a more fundamental game than the men.”
Besides Larry, there was a whole contingent of fans rooting on the Jaguars, including his wife, Patti, her mother, Loretta Helsper, and six of his staff from the hospital in addition to her former high school coach Greg Kirby.
Contact Steve T. Gorches at 648-3141 or sgorches@post-trib.com
Bouncing back--NWI Times
McAfee's final homecoming extends personal hex--NWI Times
Oral Roberts defense stops Ladies--The Shreveport Times
Oral Roberts and Valparaiso assigned final non-conference games--Mid-Con.com
Poor Shooting Troubles Ladies in 72-50 Loss to Oral Roberts--GoCentenary.Com
HILL PICKS UP SECOND MID-CONTINENT CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR--IUPUI JAGUAR ATHLETICS
SEVEN GAME WINNING STREAK SNAPPED FOR IUPUI IN 55-48 LOSS AT VALPARAISO--IUPUI JAGUAR ATHLETICS
UMKC Drops Home Contest To Oral Roberts--UMKC Kangaroos
Baker’s Career Night Leads OU Past Western, 66-57--OUGrizzlies.com
Golden Eagles Cruise Past Ladies, 72-50--UMKC Kangaroos
Defense and Rebounding Send ORU Past UMKC, 74-56--Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles
Thunderbirds Back On Road; At Oral Roberts, Valparaiso--SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS
Valpo Knocks Off First Place IUPUI--www.valpo.edu
Valpo to Face Niagara February 18 at ARC--www.valpo.edu
Women's Basketball Falls at Oakland, 66-57--Western Illinois Athletics
Oakland 66, Western Illinois 57: Bonnie Baker scored 21 points for host Oakland (9-11, 5-4 Mid-Continent). Western Illinois is 15-4, 7-2.
College basketball: Roundup--The Detroit News
State women
Oakland 66, Western Illinois 57: Bonnie Baker scores 21 for Oakland (9-11, 5-4 Mid-Continent Conference).
[glow=red,2,300]Baker leads Oakland over Western Illinois[/glow]--The Oakland Press
By CRYSTAL EVOLA Of The Oakland Press
ROCHESTER — Oakland University found a way to overcome whatever challenge it faced Monday.
The Golden Grizzlies lost their starting point guard, watched their top offensive player spend a chunk of time on the bench because of foul trouble, and their second-leading scorer was shut out in the first half.
Not a problem.
OU hustled on defense and capitalized on free-throw opportunities in a physical matchup to pull out a 66-57 win against Western Illinois, the Mid-Continent Conference’s top team, before an announced crowd of 635 at the Oakland Athletics Center.
Junior Bonnie Baker’s performance helped OU win its third straight and avenge a 74-65 overtime loss at Western Illinois earlier this month.
The win gave OU a confidence boost with seven games left in the regular season.
“Basically, it means we know we can beat anybody,” Baker said.
Baker had a career-high 21 points and no turnovers in 24 minutes of action.
“She was fearless,” OU coach Beckie Francis said. “Not only did she play good defense and take it to the hole against Zane (Teilane), but her three assists, no turnovers and three steals, and getting to the free-throw line, it was just amazing. I’m really proud of her.”
Baker’s solid performance came about even though she had the tough task of guarding Teilane, a 6-foot-7 center.
Teilane, the conference’s top player, finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. She shot just 5-for-12 from the field because of OU’s double- and triple-teaming efforts and saw limited playing time when she picked up her third foul with 16:53 left in the game.
Despite Western Illinois’ obvious height advantage, the Grizzlies (9-11, 5-4 Mid-Con) outrebounded the Westerwinds, 35-31.
Freshman April Kidd had no trouble stepping in for OU’s starting point guard Riikka Terava, who was unavailable because of a lower leg injury.
Kidd matched her career high with 14 points. She added six rebounds and two steals to help hand Western Illinois (15-4, 7-2) a second straight loss for the first time this season.
“April Kidd just delivered,” Francis said. “But so did the other players. … They all stepped up.”
Terava walked into the training room on crutches to undergo further examination by a physician at halftime.
X-ray results were not yet known.
Terava played 36 minutes in Saturday’s win at Valparaiso despite being in pain. She is unsure exactly how the injury occurred.
Baker and Kidd carried a bulk of OU’s offensive load despite a rare off night from their top two scorers.
Jayme Wilson, who is the Mid-Con’s third leading scorer, logged just 13 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble and ended up with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Anne Hafeli was just 1-for-7 from the field and finished with seven points, all of which came in the second half.
[glow=red,2,300]ROUNDUP[/glow]--The Oakland Press
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mid-Continent
• Oral Roberts 74, UMKC 56
— At Kansas City, Mo., Caleb Green had 15 points to lead Oral Roberts over Missouri-Kansas City at Kemper Arena.
Oral Roberts stuffs Kangaroos--Kansas City Star
Road woes continue for Leathernecks--The Macomb Journal
VU-TIFUL WIN--Post Tribune
Jan. 31, 2006
By Steve T. Gorches / Post-Tribune staff writer
VALPARAISO — After two consecutive losses and three in the last four games, Monday’s game against IUPUI was about as much of a must-win as you can get with a month left in the regular season.
So how did coach Keith Freeman handle that perceived mentality of needing to end a bad streak right now?
By playing four of his five starters nearly the whole game as the Crusaders fought all 40 minutes for a 55-48 victory over the Jaguars.
Instead of the usual substitution pattern that has become a trait of Freeman and the Crusaders (12-8, 6-3, the starters had the outcome on their backs for the most part.
Lauren Bechtold played all 40 minutes. Junior center Tamra Braun played 37 minutes. Betsy Rietema and Carrie Myers each tolled 38 minutes on the floor.
Though Freeman doesn’t like to talk in absolutes of must-wins, he knew what the team needed against an IUPUI squad that was tied for the conference lead going into Monday’s contest.
“We needed Lauren (Bechtold) on the floor because Lauren’s our best at guarding the ball. We needed Tamra on the floor because she’s our best at guarding the post. Betsy’s our second-best at guarding the perimeter, and Carrie’s our best offensive player,” Freeman explained why those four put in the extra workload.
The strategy worked with three of those players scoring in double figures — Rietema led the way with her second straight 18-point output — and Bechtold limiting the Jaguars (12-7, 7-2) starting point guard, Brykeesha Tate to zero points in 39 minutes.
And thanks to an upset victory by Oakland over Western Illinois, VU moved back to one game behind the Westerwinds in the Mid-Con.
At least one of the Crusaders admitted that ending the losing slide now was very important.
“I would say so,” said Rietema when asked if the game was a must-win. “We needed to get a win against a good team, and this was definitely a challenge for us.”
Another starter agreed with the sentiment that now was the time to get a victory.
“I think we had a sense of urgency,” said Myers, who finished with 14 points with four more 3-pointers made, all in the first half. “We’ve lost the last three close games.”
Freeman, on the other hand, has the big picture on his mind instead of wins or losses.
“People get wrapped up in outcomes. It’s not the outcome, it’s the process to get to where you want to go,” he said. “If you sit there and focus on, 'we need to win this game or if we lose this game it’s over’, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
“It’s not about that. This is the best we’ve played in terms of playing every possession hard no matter how good or bad we did on the previous possession.”
The epitome of that request of his players came early on with VU clinging to a three-point lead with 7:30 left in the first half.
Rietema, Braun and Krystal Taylor each had shot attempts in the paint. Each time on the possession they were swatted by Valparaiso High grad Brooke McAfee, who had seven blocks in the game to move into fourth on the all-time NCAA career blocked shots list. Each time they grabbed an offensive rebound to keep the possession alive before Myers sank one of her patented quick 3-pointers.
Contact Steve T. Gorches at 648-3141 or sgorches@post-trib.com
IUPUI shot-blocker struts her ’stuffs’ at VU--Post Tribune
Jan. 31, 2006
By Steve T. Gorches / Post-Tribune staff writer
VALPARAISO — Even though he’s attended hundreds of basketball games, most of them in Valparaiso, Larry McAfee couldn’t help but feel extra apprehension on Monday.
His daughter, Brooke, was in town as a member of the enemy IUPUI squad after graduating from Valparaiso High School in 2002.
And Larry was sitting in his normal spot for a Valparaiso University women’s game a couple rows behind the scorer’s table. But for the only time of the season, he wasn’t cheering for the home team at the ARC.
He also admitted to feelings he rarely has before Brooke’s games.
“Oh my gosh. I’m just so nervous right now,” he said. “She’s playing Valpo and she’s 0-7 against them. Ever since Brooke was a freshman they’ve lost to Valpo. Plus we’re 7-1 (in the Mid-Con) and they’re 5-3, so if we ever had a chance, tonight’s the night.”
Make that 0-8 against her hometown college as VU defeated McAfee’s Jaguars 55-48.
Brooke’s dad wasn’t the only one who looked nervous, especially in the first half. The 6-foot-2 senior forward who guards the opposing team’s center most of the time had four blocked shots in the first 20 minutes.
But she failed to take a shot from the field, missed both of her free-throw attempts and committed a turnover in the final 40 seconds to lead to a VU basket. She also only played 11 minutes due to two fouls in the first 6:27 of the game.
“I get a little nervous for every game,” she said. “It’s good to come out a little nervous before a game. I got those two early fouls so I had to play careful the rest of the half I didn’t really execute on the offensive end. I didn’t get that many shots off.”
She finished with seven blocks, which moved her ahead of University of Connecticut and WNBA star Rebecca Lobo on the all-time NCAA career blocks list with 403.
On her current pace, she should finish her career in second place on the prestigious list with at least eight games remaining and only 25 blocks between her and Cal. State Fullerton grad Genia Miller.
“I really don’t pay attention. It’s not something I think about,” she said. “Our defensive policy is not allow them to get touches. I just try to play team defense and help when other girls get beat.”
Larry has been attending VU basketball games for years. In fact, his presence is noticeable during the game if fans keep their eyes open.
The T-shirts worn by the ball girls who sit beneath each of the baskets during play have the Valpo logo on the front and “McAfee Animal Hospital” on the back, which is where Larry spends his days treating area pets of all kinds.
“I’m a real strong VU women’s fan, just not tonight,” he said. “I like the women’s games better. They play a more fundamental game than the men.”
Besides Larry, there was a whole contingent of fans rooting on the Jaguars, including his wife, Patti, her mother, Loretta Helsper, and six of his staff from the hospital in addition to her former high school coach Greg Kirby.
Contact Steve T. Gorches at 648-3141 or sgorches@post-trib.com
Bouncing back--NWI Times
McAfee's final homecoming extends personal hex--NWI Times
Oral Roberts defense stops Ladies--The Shreveport Times
Oral Roberts and Valparaiso assigned final non-conference games--Mid-Con.com
Poor Shooting Troubles Ladies in 72-50 Loss to Oral Roberts--GoCentenary.Com
HILL PICKS UP SECOND MID-CONTINENT CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR--IUPUI JAGUAR ATHLETICS
SEVEN GAME WINNING STREAK SNAPPED FOR IUPUI IN 55-48 LOSS AT VALPARAISO--IUPUI JAGUAR ATHLETICS
UMKC Drops Home Contest To Oral Roberts--UMKC Kangaroos
Baker’s Career Night Leads OU Past Western, 66-57--OUGrizzlies.com
Golden Eagles Cruise Past Ladies, 72-50--UMKC Kangaroos
Defense and Rebounding Send ORU Past UMKC, 74-56--Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles
Thunderbirds Back On Road; At Oral Roberts, Valparaiso--SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS
Valpo Knocks Off First Place IUPUI--www.valpo.edu
Valpo to Face Niagara February 18 at ARC--www.valpo.edu
Women's Basketball Falls at Oakland, 66-57--Western Illinois Athletics