The T-Birds will look to snap a two-game losing streak when they host Centenary on Monday on the Centrum.
The T-Birds haven't won since beating Chicago State for their only Mid-Con win on Jan. 28. Centenary, which won the first meeting between the two schools, 76-67 in Shreveport, La., on Jan. 16, has lost three straight games heading into tonight's match-up at Chicago State.
It will be SUU's first game in a week.
Cassie Hahl leads the team in scoring at 13.6 points, while Charmaine Piula and Cheryl Grant also average in double figures with 13.5 and 10.6 points, respectively.
The game tips at 5:15 p.m.
Today's Game--The Detroit News
UMKC at oakland
Matchup: Oakland University 9-15, 4-8 Mid-Continent; Missouri-Kansas City 10-12, 7-4.
Tip-off: 6 p.m., Oakland Athletics Center, Rochester.
Overview: It's the home finale for the Grizzlies, and they need a victory to stay in the race for one of the final spots in the conference tournament. Oakland is 3-4 at home in the Mid-Continent after one of its worst games of the season, a 90-53 loss Thursday to Oral Roberts. Junior guard Quinton Day leads UMKC in scoring at 20.1 points a game, but missed the team's last game with a sprained ankle.
OU wants to end home season well--The Oakland Press
By DUSTIN FRUCCI Special to The Oakland Press
ROCHESTER — Oakland University is on pace to set a season attendance record, but ironically, the largest crowds in OU’s history might witness the first losing season at home since the school moved to Division I and the first in head coach Greg Kampe’s 22 seasons at the helm.
OU is 6-6 at home after suffering its worst Mid-Continent loss ever, a 90-53 thrashing by Oral Roberts on Thursday.
Today, OU tries to stay on the winning side of things as it hosts the University of Missouri-Kansas City at 6 p.m. It’s the last game of the season at the Oakland Athletics Center.
“The game is huge for us,” Kampe said after the Oral Roberts loss. “We haven’t even assured ourselves a spot in the (Mid-Con) tournament yet, and we finish with our last three games on the road. We have to win one or two of these last games to make sure we get in.”
OU sits in seventh place in the Mid-Con at 4-8. Only the top eight (of nine) teams advance to the Mid-Con tournament.
UMKC is 7-4 in the league, two games out of second place. The Kangaroos are coming off an 82-81, double-overtime victory over Chicago State on Monday night.
The Kangaroos beat OU on Jan. 14 in Kansas City. OU stormed back from a 22-point halftime deficit to take the lead briefly, but the Kangaroos made clutch free throws to escape with a 93-91 win.
Although OU had problems guarding the perimeter in its last outing against Oral Roberts, some of that had to do with the zone defense it played to keep the reigning Mid-Con Player of the Year, Caleb Green, from doing damage in the paint. OU will play more man-to-man defense against UMKC.
The other problem Thursday for OU was the foul trouble of Calvin Wooten. The junior guard had four fouls before the end of the first half.
“I just have to play smarter,” Wooten said. “I need to know when to drive and when to pull up. Some of those fouls were just miscommunication.”
Wooten also expressed the urgency of winning games to have momentum going into the tournament.
“Last year was last year,” he said. “We can’t go in and expect just anything to happen. We have to play well to get in, and that confidence will give us a chance.”
UMKC at Oakland men--The Oakland Press
— DUSTIN FRUCCI
When: 6 tonight Where:
Oakland Athletics Center, Rochester
Broadcast:
www.ougrizzlies.com
Records:
UMKC 10-12 (7- 4 Mid-Con); Oakland 9-15 (4-8)
Overview: Oakland looks to erase the memory of its worst Mid-Con loss ever, a 90-53 defeat at the hand of Oral Roberts. … UMKC beat OU on Jan. 14 in a 93-91 thriller that saw OU storm back from a 22-point halftime deficit to nearly knock off the Kangaroos. … With the game against UMKC, OU will have played the first-, second- and third-place teams in the Mid-Con in consecutive games. … OU has been outscored by 96 points from the 3-point line in the last four games, including 54 points from beyond the arc by Oral Roberts. … With over 2,000 in attendance today, OU will set a new home attendance record.
Up next: Oakland at Centenary, 8 p.m. Feb. 18 in Shreveport La.
UMKC at Oakland women--The Oakland Press
— DUSTIN FRUCCI
When: 3:30 p.m. today Where: Oakland Athletics Center, Rochester
Records:
UMKC 7-14 (5-5 Mid-Con); Oakland 9-12 (5-5)
Overview:
OU looks keep its four-game home winning streak going during a visit from UMKC. The Kangaroos are on the other side of a streak, with back-toback losses. The teams are tied for fifth place in the Mid-Con and could see each other in the first round of the Mid-Con tournament come March. … The Kangaroos beat OU, 75-61, on Jan. 16. The Kangaroos held OU to just 38.1 percent shooting. … OU’s starting five is averaging more than 54 points a game, nearly six points more than any other team’s starting five in the Mid-Con. … Senior guard Jayme Wilson has scored in double figures in 20 of 21 games.
Up next: Oakland at Oral Roberts, 8:05 p.m. Monday, Tulsa, Okla.
Local state colleges games--The Indy Star
Blackwell ready for more responsibilityThe Kansas City Star
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: First place on the line for VU--The Post-Tribune
Feb. 11, 2006
By Steve T. Gorches / Post-Tribune staff writer
One down, two to go in the most important stretch of the season for the Valparaiso women’s basketball team.
Besides the beginning of the season, which included two exhibition games, this is the only time all year that the Crusaders have three consecutive home games.
And they need them all.
Step one came last Monday with an easy 91-44 victory over Centenary in which everything worked to near perfection for VU offensively and defensively.
The Crusaders were especially able to use their height inside with Mayella Kuikhoven and Tamra Braun to push around the Ladies and open up every other aspect of their game.
“I thought we got off to a terrific start,” coach Keith Freeman said. “We got the ball inside right off the bat to establish our size advantage. Mayella and Tamra both could take advantage of (Centenary’s) lack of interior presence.”
That post play set up the outside game in which Andrean grad Jamie Gutowski is thriving lately. The senior hit three 3-pointers against Centenary on her way to 11 points in just 15 minutes. She drained six threes in the previous victory over Southern Utah.
Kuikhoven had a season-high of 14 points, only one short of her career high. Braun had 10 points in only 17 minutes.
And VU will need both of those post players to step up even more today when Western Illinois comes to town and first place on the line.
Earlier in the season before the Crusaders traveled to Macomb, Ill., to face the Westerwinds, Freeman downplayed the importance of that game by saying, “there’s a lot of season left.”
That was on Jan. 16. This game is No. 2 in the three-game homestand with Chicago State on the docket a week from today.
A victory would move Valparaiso into a tie for first with Western with four games remaining.
It won’t be easy with the Westerwinds sixth in the nation in points allowed with 52.5 and 16th in the country in field goal percentage allowed from the floor with 35.4 percent.
Mid-Con preseason player of the year Zane Teilane is not disappointing her supporters. The 6-foot-7 center averages 17.4 ppg and 10.3 rpg while swatting away 4.1 shots per game.
The future WNBA draft pick was named Mid-Con player of the week last week for the third time this season by averaging 22.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.0 blocks in victories over Centenary and IUPUI, who was tied with Western for first before the loss.
WINNING TRADITION: The Crusaders have guaranteed a .500 season with a 14-8 record at the moment.
One more victory will assure VU of its 15th winning season in the last 16 years and its 13th winning Mid-Con campaign in 14 years.
THREE-POINT FEVER: With its scalding accuracy from beyond the 3-point arc in the last two games, VU has improved its percentage from 3-point range to 39.9 percent, which is well ahead of the school record. The 1997-98 squad finished the season at 37.1 percent.
The biggest improvement in the last week has come from Gutowski, whose season percentage has risen to 46.7 percent on the season, but an even better 59.5 percent (22-of-37) in conference games.
Contact Steve T. Gorches at 648-3141 or sgorches@post-trib.com
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Crusaders hope ARC the tonic after loss--The Post-Tribune
Feb. 11, 2006
By Justin Breen / Post-Tribune deputy sports editor
IUPUI found a way to stop Dan Oppland on Thursday night.
Oppland scored eight points — the first time he had been held under double digits in more than a year — in part due to the Jaguars’ box-and-one defense that prevented him from getting good shots.
Oppland finished 3-of-11 from the field in the Crusaders’ 75-67 loss, which eliminated them from any shot at the Mid-Continent Conference regular season title.
Earlier this season, Oppland had far more success against Western Illinois, tonight’s opponent at the Athletics-Recreation Center. On Jan. 14 at Western, in front of several family members and friends, Oppland had a career-best 35 points on 13-of-16 shooting in Valpo’s 82-68 victory.
The Crusaders (13-9, 6-6 Mid-Con) have won two straight games at the ARC and have just two more home games after tonight remaining on their schedule.
On Thursday, IUPUI officials said the school had its largest crowd in history, more than the official number of 2,000 that was released.
Perhaps the crowd noise had an impact on the Crusaders, who shot just 26-of-64 (40.6 percent). The Crusaders had just two bench points, and they were 6-of-23 from 3-point range, including Seth Colclasure’s 0-for-7.
While the Crusaders struggled, the Jaguars were on fire from long range, making 8-of-16.
“They have a knack for hitting big shots,” Valpo coach Homer Drew said after Thursday’s loss. “We knew to win we would not need a good effort. It had to be a great effort.”
Ron Howard said the Jaguars, who rallied from 22 points down in the second half to beat the Crusaders in overtime in the teams’ other meeting this season, “deserved both wins.”
Western (7-16, 3-9) is coming off a 66-59 loss at IUPUI on Monday. The Leathernecks have gone 2-4 in their last six games, but all six were decided by nine points or less.
They also beat Oral Roberts 70-65 at home on Jan. 24.
Showdown at the ARC--The NWI Times
Solving VU's puzzle tough for Drew--The NWI Times
Scouting VU men's basketball--The NWI Times
CENTENARY--The Shreveport Times
The Centenary Gents (4-18, 2-9 Mid-Con) travel to Chicago today to face the Chicago State Cougars (5-17, 4-7 Mid-Con) at 5 at the Jacoby Dickens Center.
CENTENARY--The Shreveport Times
The Centenary Ladies (3-20, 2-10 Mid-Con) will take on conference foe Chicago State (9-12, 4-6 Mid-Con) today at 2 in the Jacoby Dickens Center in Chicago.
MEN'S SENIOR NIGHT HEADLINES FINAL HOOPS DOUBLEHEADER OF THE SEASON--IUPUI JAGUAR ATHLETICS
UMKC and Oakland To Meet At The O'Rena On Saturday Night--UMKC Kangaroos
UMKC Women Visit Oakland, Look To Snap Two-Game Skid on Saturday--UMKC Kangaroos
Golden Grizzlies Go For Five--OUGrizzlies.com
Men's Basketball Plays Final Home Game Saturday Against UMKC--OUGrizzlies.com
Golden Eagles Head to IUPUI--Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles
Oppland Named to Academic All-District V Team--www.valpo.edu
VALPO LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK SATURDAY VS. WESTERN ILLINOIS--www.valpo.edu
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