Shocker WBB @ Missouir State - Saturday, March 9th, 2:00 pm

[1972Shocker]

Heading into the final weekend of the season there are 3 teams still in the hunt for a Valley championship or co-championship.

The Shocks (20-9. 14-3) have only their game with Missouri State (14-15, 6-11) on Saturday.

Creighton (21-6, 13-3) hosts Evansville (8-19, 6-10) on Thursday and last place SIU (4-23, 1-15) on Saturday.

Illinois State (20-8, 12-4) plays on the road at Bradley (13-14, 7-9) on Thursday and at UNI (14-14, 9-7) on Saturday.

The Shocks have the possibility of finishing in sole possession of 1st place, a 2-way tie for 1st, a 3-way tie for 1st, sole posssion of 2nd place or a tie for 2nd place depending on the outcome of this weeks games.

A Shocker win over MSU would assure the Shocks of no worse than a co-championship with Creighton. It's 1st ever Valley title, shared or otherwise. A Shocker loss brings into play all the other possibilities mentioned above.

I really don't see Creighton losing to Evansville or SIU at home. So a co-championship is most likely the best the Shocks can hope for, although their is the small chance Creighton could lose and leave the door open for the Shocks to finish in sole possession of 1st. I wouldn't bet on that happening. Evansville has lost 9 of its last 10 games with its only win over SIU. SIU is a horrible basketball team (not sure the term team really applies).

MSU would like nothing better than to ruin the Shocks' season and despite their struggles this year they can be a dangerous team, especially offensively. They defeated a good Illinois State team 91-76 in Springfield. The Lady Bears would probably like to finish the regular season at 0.500 overall. I am not totally sure, but I think the Lady Bears still have a chance to avoid the Thursday play-in game in the Valley Tournament if they can beat the Shocks twice and if Bradley loses to both ILS on Thursday and INS on Saturday. So, yes the Lady Bears have something to play for at this point.

Also we do not know if Jessica Diamond will be able to play Saturday. On her radio show Monday, Jody did not say what was wrong with Jessica but did say she was getting better. Jody did not say whether Jessica will be available for the MSU game. The impression I got was that Jessie is day-to-day. Maybe @oldtimewomen's hoopcoach has been out to the Lady Shocker practices and has some light to shed on Jessica's status.

So with the opportunity to win or tie for their 1st Valley championship in program history does that make this Satruday's game the biggest in program history. Considering the Lady Shocks have never made the NCAA Tournament either I would probably answer that in the affirmative. It would be shame if Jessica was not available to help us attain that goal.

:wsu_posters:

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Heading into the final weekend of the season there are 3 teams still in the hunt for a Valley championship or co-championship.

The Shocks (20-9. 14-3) have only their game with Missouri State (14-15, 6-11) on Saturday.

Creighton (21-6, 13-3) hosts Evansville (8-19, 6-10) on Thursday and last place SIU (4-23, 1-15) on Saturday.

Illinois State (20-8, 12-4) plays on the road at Bradley (13-14, 7-9) on Thursday and at UNI (14-14, 9-7) on Saturday.

The Shocks have the possibility of finishing in sole possession of 1st place, a 2-way tie for 1st, a 3-way tie for 1st, sole posssion of 2nd place or a tie for 2nd place depending on the outcome of this weeks games.

A Shocker win over MSU would assure the Shocks of no worse than a co-championship with Creighton. It's 1st ever Valley title, shared or otherwise. A Shocker loss brings into play all the other possibilities mentioned above.

I really don't see Creighton losing to Evansville or SIU at home. So a co-championship is most likely the best the Shocks can hope for, although their is the small chance Creighton could lose and leave the door open for the Shocks to finish in sole possession of 1st. I wouldn't bet on that happening. Evansville has lost 9 of its last 10 games with its only win over SIU. SIU is a horrible basketball team (not sure the term team really applies).

MSU would like nothing better than to ruin the Shocks' season and despite their struggles this year they can be a dangerous team, especially offensively. They defeated a good Illinois State team 91-76 in Springfield. The Lady Bears would probably like to finish the regular season at 0.500 overall. I am not totally sure, but I think the Lady Bears still have a chance to avoid the Thursday play-in game in the Valley Tournament if they can beat the Shocks twice and if Bradley loses to both ILS on Thursday and INS on Saturday. So, yes the Lady Bears have something to play for at this point.

Also we do not know if Jessica Diamond will be able to play Saturday. On her radio show Monday, Jody did not say what was wrong with Jessica but did say she was getting better. Jody did not say whether Jessica will be available for the MSU game. The impression I got was that Jessie is day-to-day. Maybe @oldtimewomen's hoopcoach has been out to the Lady Shocker practices and has some light to shed on Jessica's status.

So with the opportunity to win or tie for their 1st Valley championship in program history does that make this Satruday's game the biggest in program history. Considering the Lady Shocks have never made the NCAA Tournament either I would probably answer that in the affirmative. It would be shame if Jessica was not available to help us attain that goal.

:wsu_posters:

Just got back to Wichita. I'll see what I can find out about Jessica. I have to admit I liked Alex at the One. She made some nice passes off of the pick and roll. I'd like to see Jessie primarily as an offensive threat.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Just got back to Wichita. I'll see what I can find out about Jessica. I have to admit I liked Alex at the One. She made some nice passes off of the pick and roll. I'd like to see Jessie primarily as an offensive threat.

Took a walk around the round; the women were practicing, Jessie was not. I wasn't there at a time the team was done with practice to ask. I'm guessing after she hit her head a couple of times in the last game it could be realted to that. Of course she has a surgically repaired shoulder, so who knows. A tough kid like all of the Shox. Hopefully she heals soon.

[cmoore]

Jessica is in one of my classes and she told me earlier this week that she had a concusion.

[1972Shocker]

Jessica is in one of my classes and she told me earlier this week that she had a concusion.

Did she say anything about whether she though she would be able to play Saturday at Missouri State?

[1972Shocker]

Thursday's Valley Results:

Bradley 71 - Illinois State 69: This result assures that the Shocks will finish no worse than sole possession of 2nd place. Also the win by Bradley locks Missouri State into the play-in round in the Valley Tournament. MSU still could get the #7 seed with a win over the Shocks. The #7 seed does have some value in that you get SIU in the play-in round which is almost a guaranteed win.

Creighton 74 - Evansville 69 (OT): Good effort by the Aces in Omaha but they fell just short of the upset losing in OT. Shocks just can't one to bounce their way. Creighton put up 44 treys in this game making 13. CU put up 71 shots to only 43 for EU. The difference in the game was an 18-7 advantage in offensive boards and 24-11 advantage in turnovers for CU. This almost assures Creighton of no worse than a tie for 1st. Creighton hosts SIU (4-24, 1-16) on Saturday and a win by SIU would be Chaminade-over-Ralph-Sampson-&-Virgina-esque if not more unexpected.

Northern Iowa 75 - Indiana State 49: I think the Shocks may have knocked the starch out of Indiana State on their Senior night. UNI breaks out of a 4th place tie with the Sycamores. Indiana State as horrible, shooting 29.2% from the field, 0-5 from three and shooting 21-33 from the line. Jacqui Kalin goes for 29 point for UNI and probably locks up Valley POY honors.

Drake 80 - Southern Illinois 65: SIU shows why their chances of upsetting Creighton are between extremely slim and none.

Shocks and Bluejays now tied for 1st at 14-3.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks off to strong start 38-18 with 5:00 minutess remaining in the 1st half. I have to leave now, so I hope the Ladies can keep it up for another 25 minutes.

Go Ladies! Go Shocks!

[ShockTalk]

Lady Shocks beat MSU 74-69. Way To Ladies!!

[ShockTalk]

Shocks off to strong start 38-18 with 5:00 minutess remaining in the 1st half. I have to leave now, so I hope the Ladies can keep it up for another 25 minutes.

Go Ladies! Go Shocks!

You do realize that you leaving almost cost us the game. Finished the first half leading 39-26, then squeeking out a win at the end.

[flyingMoose]

... squeeking out a win at the end.

Down to 61-60 at one point, I think.

[1972Shocker]

Creighton defeated SIU as expected 61-42.

BTW, Jessica Diamond did not play in today's game. MSU rallied a little bit over the final 5 minutes of the 1st half to pull within 39-26.

The Shocks came back out in the 2nd half and built the lead to 21 points at 54-33 with 13 minutes remaining. As is the tendency of this Shocker team to give up big leads MSU game back strong over the next 8 minites outscoring the Shocks 27-7 to pull within 1 wiht just under 5 minutes remaining in the game.

A jumper by Alex and a layup by Jaz sandwiched around a basket by MSU gave the Shocks a 65-62 lead.

Alex then made a steal but missed a jumper, however, Jaz pulled down the offensive rebound and scored for a 67-62 lead with 3 minutes to go.

MSU scored to pull within 3 but Jaz answered again with a jumper to maintain 69-64 lead with 2 minutess to go. The Shocks then hit enough free throws down the stretch to hang on for a 74-69 win, that was probably tougher than it should have been.

Jaz Gordon lead the way with 20 points on 9-13 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds. The senior picked a great time to have her best game of the year leading the Shocks to their first ever Valley championship, although it share with Creigthon.

Michaela added 17 points on 6-9 FG (2-4 on treys) and 3-3 from the line. Alex chipped in 16 points but needed 18 shots to do it and she shot an uncharacteristicly poor 4-7 from the line. The Shocks did have 18 assists to 10 turnovers which is ouststanding.

Kudos to Jody and her players for winning 2 of their final 3, all on the road with the loss being on a last second prayer by ILS, to set several new program bests. Most wins in a season, most Valley wins in a season and best Valley finish in program history with a Co-championship. Shocks have had to overcome a lot of adversity in the forms of injuries including Michaela (broken hand), Alie Decker (2 separate knee injuries), Jaz Gordon (concussion), Chynna Turner (concussion) and Jessica Diamond (reportedly a concussion).

:applause::applause::applause:

Shocks have the tiebreaker over Creighton so they will be the #1 seed in the Valley tournament. Another program 1st.

[1972Shocker]

You do realize that you leaving almost cost us the game. Finished the first half leading 39-26, then squeeking out a win at the end.

Yes, I realize that and I apoligize profusely. But all's well that ends well.

[tgcshock]

Have to give credit to Coach Adams and her staff as well as this senior class. Not only is this the first championship (but not the last) for WSU in women's BB, but the last five years have been the overall best in the history of the program. Let's see if we can top it off with an MVC tournament win and an invite to the NCAA tournament.

[1972Shocker]

Here's the Bracket for the Valley Tournament.

Hopefully, Jessica will be able to play in the Tournament. Need all hands on deck to win 3 in 3 days.

Creighton might make the NCAA Tournament without winning the Valley Tournament. Their RPI is currently 31. They probably need to won 1 game, maybe 2 to get in.

The Shocks have the next hightest RPI at 68. So the Shocks and all the other Valley teams need to win the Valley Tournament to get to the Big Dance.

[1972Shocker]

A couple of other thoughts after watching the replay of the MSU game on ESPN3. The Shockers post-game on-court celebration was quite subdued. You would have never have guessed that the team had just won the 1st Valley championship in program history. Perhaps that had to do with the fact it was senior night for MSU and they recognize their seniors in post-game ceremonies. In any case the Lady Shocks showed great class, grace and sportsmanship. Now I can't say what the locker room celebration was like. Hopefully it was loud and proud.

Michaela fouled out with 8 minutes left in the game with 17 points. That was about the time that MSU began their big run to get back into the game. Hard to know whether one had anything to do with the other but Michaela has become one of our more effective offensive weapons and her strength is helpful in dealing with MSU's bulk (Whitney, Shorter and Snow) inside. Kudos to the Shocks for holding off the Lady Bears down the stretch on the road with a ton riding on the outcome without the services of Michaela or Jessica.

Shocks blocked 13 shots in the game.