Midcon Women's tournament Day 2

Game 1: IUPUI Lady Jaguars vs. Western Illinois Westerwinds

Close game. In the first half, Western had a lead of 6, but the Jags made a run of their own to pull even again.

I couldn't help myself. As soon as #50 Julie Whitted came in for the Jags, all I could think of was: "The Fridge". That being said, she can play and is a presence in the paint on defense at least. She's athletic for a Fridge-shaped player.

I lost track of the lead changes. It was definitely back and forth. Western hung around the entire game, but just couldn't quite get over the hump. Despite missing a few FTs down the stretch, the Jags shot quite well from the charity stripe.

Sat at the table where Commissioner Douple was eating a late lunch, along with VU AD Mark Labarbara and a representative from the NDSU Bison who will start Mid-Con league play next year. Later, a representative from IPFW, also a newcomer, sat down. Apparently the President's meeting has already taken place and the one bit of info I heard was that Ft. Wayne is not going bid the tourney for year after next. Not quite sure why that is.

Game 2: ORU Lady Eagles vs. UMKC Lady Roos

I can't figure out why UMKC never brings their band to the tourney (except when it was at Kemper). It's not that far of a trip. I can see not bringing them to Ft. Wayne, but Tulsa shouldn't be a problem.

A paltry showing by ORU fans for their Ladies. The maniac section was barely half full.

The Lady Eagles have a Hebrew inscription across the front of their warm-ups. One fan told me it has something to do with David and Goliath. I said, "that figures."

I can't help taking notice of the fact that Alicia Seay doesn't start anymore. 3 years ago, she was part of the Elisha Turek, Alicia Seay dynamic duo.

Roos made some sloppy passes in the opening minutes. The Eagles couldn't hit bunnies. Scoreless in the first 2 minutes. Leigh Mead and Chazny Morris both hit 3's and Morris made 1 of 2 FTs; Jenny Hardin had a nifty 3-pt play underneath and Jenny Voelker hit 2 FTs; at the first media timeout it was UMKC 7 ORU 5.

The Roos built up a 6 point lead on a couple of turnovers, one leading to a breakaway, and a 3-pt play. The Eagles fought back to trail 16-14 at the 2nd media timeout.

It was a very tough battle the remainder of the half, tied for much of it. ORU made a late push and led at halftime 30-25.

ORU post players started taking over a bit toward the end of the first half and into the 2nd half as well. UMKC scuffled for awhile remaining 9 down, but ORU started getting a bit ragged and UMKC made a 5-0 run including a 3 by Chazny Morris off a turnover to pull within 4 at the first media timeout, 36-32.

She hit another one after another ORU miss, but Camargo hit a layup to make it 38-35 ORU. ORU missed another one (not getting good shots lately) and Morris hit a 2 to pull within one again.

UMKC seemed to want it more, in spite of ORU's superior talent. 38-37 ORU at the 2nd media timeout. After a few scoreless possessions, Morris put UMKC ahead with another basket. At the 3rd media timeout it was UMKC 39 ORU 38.

During one of the media timeouts, the UMKC Kangaroo mascot put on quite an acrobatic display drawing raves from the ORU-dominated crowd. It must have been quite a workout for whoever wore the suit, because it is so big. The routine included a couple of flips and a lot of high-stepping.

UMKC was content after the timeout to let Marianne Comargo shoot from beyond the arc, which she declined to do.

As of 7:22 there had been a total of 5 2nd half fouls called. Off another miss, Chazny Morris hit another 3, giving her 21 points for the game. No sooner do I say that but 2 straight fouls are called, one on each team. ORU hit a basket but failed to connect on the FT. Alyssa Klein got a put back to stretch the lead to 4. Another ORU miss gave UMKC the ball with a 4pt. lead.

Rachel Watman finally gave the hometown crowd something to cheer about with a 3pt basket to cut the lead to 1. Leigh Mead launched 2 straight ill-advised 3's, a HUGE no-call where a Lady Roo got shoved to the ground by an ORU player, Turek started getting looks inside and suddenly ORU was up by 3. Another UMKC airball led to the final media timeout with ORU leading 47-44 with only 2:08 remaining. The Roos are letting this one slip away.

ORU had the ball with a chance to widen the lead, but turned it over. Morris missed a 10 footer. Jenny Hardin hit a layup and was fouled by Klein. She hit the FT (got the shooter's bounce). ORU tightened up on defense. Turek bailed out the Roos with a foul, putting Klein on the line. She missed both FTs (the 2nd one missed entirely). The Roos have missed a lot of FTs in this game. 34.5 seconds to go, down by 6, ORU has the ball, it's going to be real tough… unless ORU makes a bad pass.

However, UMKC could not convert. ORU held on for victory.

This game was lost by UMKC as much as it was won by ORU, if not moreso. That horrendous no-call (obvious to everyone in the arena except for the officials) became the turning point in the game. UMKC just lost their confidence and passion, while ORU finally started playing with passion. The play fired up ORU. The Lady Roos also shot horribly from the FT line. It was one bad call, but the Roos folded instead of sucking it up and persevering.

So, the women's semifinals are set:

Monday, March 5

#4 Lady Jaguars vs. #1 Lady Golden Grizzlies, 12:00 PM CST
#3 Lady Golden Eagles vs. #2 Lady Crusaders, 2:30 PM CST