Post-game Remarks

Pregame chatter out in Cedar City referred back to the very controversial game in the Gold Dome last month. Both Bill Evans and Rob Flaska agreed that 0.2 seconds shouldn't have been put back on the clock at the end of that game. The difference is, Evans thought there should have been more time, and Flaska thought the game should have been over without that 0.2 seconds.

Thus the setting for the grudge match in the Centrum. SUU jumped out to a 15-9 lead, but Centenary fought back to take a 29-28 lead at the halftime on a 3 by Jackson. Southern Utah managed to regain control in the 2nd half and won 72-64.

Men's Updated Standings after tonight's game:

        Conf.      Overall      Remaining Conf. Games
School  W L  Pct    W  L  Pct    Home               Away
IUPUI  12 1  0.923  17 7  0.923                     CC,CSU,SUU
ORU    10 3  0.761  15 10 0.600  UMKC,VU            CC
UMKC    8 4  0.667  11 12 0.478  SUU,VU             ORU,WIU
Valpo   7 6  0.538  14 9  0.609  CSU                UMKC,ORU
SUU     6 6  0.500  8  17 0.320  OU,IUPUI           WIU,UMKC
CSU     5 7  0.417  6  17 0.261  IUPUI,OU           VU,WIU
Oakland 4 9  0.308  9  16 0.360                     CC,SUU,CSU
WIU     3 10 0.231  7  17 0.292  SUU,CSU,UMKC
CC      2 11 0.154  4  20 0.167  IUPUI,OU,ORU

Southern Utah continues to press Valpo for the #4 seed, and Centenary is left to win out at home and hope that WIU lays an egg in Macomb, neither of which is all that likely.

Women's games:

UMKC played a collapsing zone to shut down Teilane early on, and held their own at 12-12 with about 7 minutes to go in the half. Teilane did get 5 rebounds in the first half, but WIU made 10 turnovers. UMKC also had about the same number of turnovers, but the implication from the halftime report is that UMKC scored more points off turnovers than the Westerwinds did. Interestingly enough, Leslie Crane in her pre-game interview was talking about how the team is playing relaxed and she aims to be relaxed as the coach. Halftime socre: 23-20. Good defense, poor shooting (31% and 2-7 from the line), according to the WIU play-by-play team. Hit a basket at the buzzer, or the deficit would have been bigger. Teilane was scoreless in the first half, but started scoring in the 2nd half, and WIU improved their shooting from the field. UMKC gave it their best shot, but WIU came out on top, 55-46.

Southern Utah jumped out to a double-digit lead and then held off a comeback by the Ladies in the 2nd half to win, 73-61.

Oakland jumped out to an early lead over ORU and held it for much of the half, but ORU made a late run to pull within 1 at the half, 35-34. At the 8:00 minute media tiemout in the 2nd half, Oakland was still hanging on to a 1 point lead, 56-55. Sara Davidson hit a 3 to tie the score at 62 with 3:26 to go. She was then called for a foul, giving the Grizzlies 2 FTs and a 64-62 lead. After Piggot got a layup, Davidson hit another 3 to make it 66-65. April Kidd hit a runner on a no-call but Rachel Watman tied it up with another 3, 68-68. Kidd immediately drew a foul from Davidson which put Oakland in the double-bonus. Amazingly, Kidd missed both FTs, and Turek snagged the rebound. She proceeded to turn the ball over on the other end of the court, giving Oakland the ball. Piggot forced a bad shot, and Watman drew the foul on the rebound. With 55 seconds to go, she hit both FTs to put ORU up 70-68. Wilson soon tied it at 70 off a screen. ORU worked the shot clock, but couldn't score, giving Oakland 7.8 seconds to take the last shot of the half. Hafeli got a good screen at the FT line and hit the shot. Oakland wins 72-70.

IUPUI and Chicago State had a barn-burner at the Jacoby-Dickens Center, with the home team prevailing 66-63.

Updated Women's Standings after tonight's games:

        Conf.      Overall      Remaining Conf. Games
School  W L  Pct    W  L  Pct    Home               Away
WIU    11 2  0.846  19 4  0.826  SUU,CSU,UMKC
IUPUI   9 4  0.692  14 9  0.609  VU,CSU             SUU
Valpo   8 4  0.667  14 9  0.609  CSU                IUPUI,UMKC,ORU
Oakland 7 5  0.583  10 13 0.435  ORU                CC,CSU,SUU
ORU     6 6  0.500  12 11 0.522  CC,VU              UMKC,OU
CSU     6 6  0.500  11 12 0.478  OU                 VU,WIU,IUPUI
UMKC    5 7  0.417  7  16 0.304  ORU,SUU,VU         WIU
SUU     2 10 0.167  9  14 0.391  IUPUI,OU           WIU,UMKC
CC      2 12 0.143  3  22 0.120  OU                 ORU

Valpo had a good night for an off-night. They gained a half-game on IUPUI and ORU, although they lost a half-game to Oakland.

Meanwhile, WIU has moved a significant step closer to clinching the #1 seed. They lead by 2 games and all 3 remaining games are at home.

Southern Utah won a big game for them, moving them ahead of Centenary for the #8 seed, and they lead them by 2 games in the all important loss column.