Monday, November 13, 2006

Midconfans News 11/13/2006

Solving riddle in nick of time--The Chicago Tribune/span>

College Basketball Roundup--The Daily Southtown

Loyola 77, IUPUI 73

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Blake Schilb scored 14 points, including a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left that put Loyola ahead to stay,in the third-place game at the BCA Classic.

Majak Kou scored 23 points and J.R. Blount had 14 for Loyola (2-1), which trailed 42-35 at the half in spite of shooting 64 percent from the field.
...
Western Illinois 72, Upper Iowa 64

MACOMB, Ill. -- Sammy Hunter scored 18 points to lead Western Illinois over Upper Iowa in the season opener for both teams.

Jerryck Owens-Murrey scored 15 points for Western Illinois, and David Jackson added 14.


Oakland knocks off Green Bay Men's HOOPS--The Detroit Free Press

Marygrove College at OU women--The Oakland Press

— CRYSTAL EVOLA

When: 7 tonight Where: Oakland Athletics Center
Broadcast:
www.ougrizzlies. com
Records:
Marygrove 1-0; OU 0-0
Overview: Sophomore Jessica Pike (Clawson) and senior Nicole Piggott each scored 16 points to help lift OU to an 81-54 exhibition victory over Western Ontario last week. ... The Golden Grizzlies head into their season opener looking to fill big offensive voids created by the graduation of guards Anne Hafeli (Bloomfield Hills Lahser) and Jayme Wilson, who combined for approximately 45 percent of OU’s offense. Piggott is one of three starters back from last season’s squad that made a second NCAA Tournament appearance. Piggott averaged 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds as a junior. ... Point guard Rikka Terava is expected to be sidelined because of a stress fracture in her leg. ... OU has six newcomers for the 2006-07 season, including Charlese Greer, a junior transfer and a Pontiac Northern graduate. According to OU’s on-line record book, this is the first time the two teams will meet.
Up next: OU at Wisconsin-Green Bay, 8 p.m., Wednesday.


Grizzlies to be tested by schedule--The Oakland Press

By CRYSTAL EVOLA Of The Oakland Press


ROCHESTER — With good reason, the challenging nonconference schedule Oakland University put together for its men’s basketball team has received a lot of attention.
Likewise, the women’s team deserves equal recognition for its though schedule that is loaded with big-named programs.
Before jumping into that frying pan, however, the Golden Grizzlies will get a mild test when they kick off the 2006-07 season against Marygrove College at 7 p.m. today at the Oakland Athletics Center.
It gets tougher from there.
While OU men’s coach Greg Kampe set up road meetings with top-notch teams including Michigan State, UMass, Cincinnati, Arkansas, UCLA, Marquette and Northeastern, the women have done their share to try to jump into college basketball’s national spotlight.
The OU women await difficult road contests with teams like Wisconsin-Green Bay, Florida State, Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green, Auburn, West Virginia and for the first time ever — drum roll, please — UConn.
No, that’s not a typo.
The Grizzlies will travel to Connecticut to face the Huskies, who have won five national championships under longtime coach Geno Auriemma.
UConn has won the Big East regular-season title 14 times and has captured 13 tournament titles to earn top billing in the conference’s ’06-’07 preseason poll.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” OU sophomore guard Jessica Pike said. “We have four games against ranked teams in the nation. It’s probably one of the best schedules Oakland’s played in a while.”
Here’s a look at some of the credentials of which other OU opponents boast:
Wisconsin-Green Bay, picked first in the Horizon League preseason poll, returns all five starters from last season’s team that made an WNIT appearance. Florida State, which went 20-10 last season en route to a fourth-straight NCAA tournament appearance. EMU was picked to repeat as Mid-American Conference West Division champions. Bowling Green was picked to lead the MAC’s East Division. West Virginia returns all five starters from a team that made a surprise run in the Big East tournament.
Auburn, a member of the prestigious SEC that features sophomore guard DeWanna Bonner, who played on the USA Basketball under-20 National Team.
“I believe Kampe and I both have the same strategy on this,” OU women’s coach Beckie Francis said, “we went out and we tried to schedule extremely tough non-league games in hopes that it will prepare us for our conference season.”
More specifically, the conference tournament part of the season.
The winner of the Mid-Con tourney earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
The Grizzlies made tournament runs and enjoyed being part of March Madness in 2002 and 2006.
Still, the Grizzlies were picked sixth in the Mid-Continent Conference preseason poll.
They will look to fill the void created by the graduation of a pair of OU career scoring leaders, Anne Hafeli (Bloomfield Hills Lahser) and Jayme Wilson.
Francis will open up the season with a veteran starting lineup in hopes of making up for the approximately 45 percent of offense that was lost with Hafeli’s and Wilson’s departure.
Senior guard Joya Puryear, Pike (Clawson), senior forward Nicole Piggott, sophomore guard April Kidd and senior guard Bonnie Baker are all slated to start tonight. Piggott leads the returning cast. She averaged 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds last season.
“They know our system so well and they’ve just come off a championship,” Francis said. “I think they deserve it. We have some very nice incoming players and we’re very deep. Almost anyone could start, but those five are playing very well together. We’ll see how it goes.”


OU whips Horizon League contender, UWGB--The Oakland Press

By CRYSTAL EVOLA Of The Oakland Press

ROCHESTER — It was one of those games that could have slipped out of reach.
Not this time.
Oakland University reaped the benefits of having a veteran starting lineup that displayed tough defensive hustle en route to a 74-57 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay in non-conference action at the Oakland Athletics Center.
“It was the first Division I team that we played and we knew that we had to come out of the gates strong and make a statement,” OU senior forward Vova Severovas said. “That was a perfect game to do it, against a strong conference favorite.” Mission accomplished. Though it’s only the second game of the season, it was a significant victory for OU. For starters, Green Bay was picked to finish second in the Horizon League’s preseason poll. Not to mention, it proved to be a nice send off for a Grizzlies team that will not play at home again until Dec. 2.
And finally, it was a must-win kind of game considering OU will face teams like UMass, Michigan State, Northeastern and Pitt before returning home next month.
“This was a very important game for Oakland University,” coach Greg Kampe said. “One, to find out if we can play at the level that a championship team plays at. And two, we don’t have many left at our level now.
“We’re going to be playing the big boys now for a month, two months. We needed to get this win to go into those games feeling good about ourselves.”
Sophomore guard Erik Kangas hit three, 3-pointers to help ignite OU during its 18-2 run to open the game.
The Grizzlies never seemed to look back, as they enjoyed a 20-point cushion throughout a bulk of the game.
Severovas shot 14-for-15 from the free throw line to help lead OU’s offensive effort, scoring 13 of his gamehigh 22 points in the second half.
“We really tried to get Vova the ball in the second half,” Kampe said. “He did great job at the free-throw line.”
Severovas added nine rebounds and three steals to fuel OU’s defensive effort.
The Grizzlies hustled for 31 rebounds and 11 steals compared to Green Bay’s four.
OU scored 27 points off turnovers compared to Green Bay’s 10. Green Bay shot just 9-for-23 from the fi eld in the first half and created a dozen turnovers, as OU cruised to a 41-23 lead at the break.
“I really thought defensively, since we made the move to Division I era (starting in 1997-98),” Kampe said, “I will tell you that the first half is the best half of defense that an Oakland team’s played.”
Senior Rick Billings added 12 points, six rebounds and two steals for OU (2-0).
Senior guard Ryan Evanochko led Green Bay (0-1) with 21 points and six rebounds.
Terry Evans made two free throws with 12:14 left in the second half to pull Green Bay within 12, but that’s the closest the gap closed down the stretch.
OU 74, UWGreen Bay 57
The game:
Erik Kangas’ shooting gave the Grizzlies (2-0) an early lead they’d never relinquish. Up next: OU vs. UMass, CAA Basketball Classic at Pitt, Friday, 2 p.m.


Jaguars lose to Loyola; Hill out 8-12 weeks--The Indy Star

Kangaroos start season hoping to bounce backThe Kansas City Star

Florida Atlantic at UMKC--The Kansas City Star

Western downs Upper Iowa in opener--The Macomb Journal

Loyd: Beware of Mastodons--The Post-Tribune

Drew looking for improvement--The NWI Times

WIU men win opener; women fall to Drake--The Peoria Journal Star

Hodson inks four hoopsters during early signing period--The Spectrum

Men's basketball: Phoenix gets off to sluggish start--The Green Bay Press-Gazette

IUPUI CAN'T HANG ON AS LOYOLA ESCAPES WITH 77-73 WIN AT BCA CLASSIC--IUPUI JAGUAR ATHLETICS

IUPUI BASKETBALL TEAM ADDS BACKCOURT DUO FOR 2007-08--IUPUI JAGUAR ATHLETICS

UMKC Women Look To Continue Winning Ways At Colorado State--UMKC Kangaroos

Hot Start Carries Oakland Past UW-Green Bay--OUGrizzlies.com

Women's Basketball Opens Season Tonight Against Marygrove--OUGrizzlies.com

Thunderbirds Play Second Of Three Season-Opening Road Games--SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS

11/12/06: T-Birds Defeat Utes Play-by-Play #1--KSUU News/Podcasts

11/12/06: T-Birds Defeat Utes Play-by-Play #2--KSUU News/Podcasts

11/12/06: T-Birds Defeat Utes Play-by-Play #3--KSUU News/Podcasts

11/12/06: T-Birds Defeat Utes Post Game Interview--KSUU News/Podcasts

Crusaders Try to Make It Two in a Row Monday in Fort Wayne--www.valpo.edu

Tickets Available for Valpo-Ohio State--www.valpo.edu

Crusaders Set to Face Second Straight Big Ten Opponent as Valpo Travels to Indiana Wednesday--www.valpo.edu

Leathernecks defeat Upper Iowa 72-64 in regular season opener--Western Illinois Athletics

Women's basketball to open home portion of 2006-07 schedule against Hannibal-LaGrange--Western Illinois Athletics

Western falls to Drake 79-45 in first game of the 2006-07 season--Western Illinois Athletics

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