WBB: 2015 MVC Tournament

[1972Shocker]

My son is there with the pep band. He estimates about 150-200 Shocker fans. I would think that's pretty good, no?

I would say yes.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks 59 - Loyola 42. A good warm up game for the Shocks and as is normally the case the Shocks defense carries them to a win.

I do think the Shocks will have to shoot the ball better to win this tournament. Kelsey and Michaela in particular struggled today combining to shoot 5 of 20 from the field but a little bit of a silver lining in that they did hit 4 of their last 6 shots so let's hope the 1-14 start has gotten that out of their system.

Alie Decker stepped up and did her job knocking down 4 of 6 three pointers.

While Kelsey struggled with her shooting she did lead the Shocks with 8 rebounds while Jamillah grabbed 6 rebounds as the Shocks edged Loyola on the boards 35-33.

Loyola shot 58.3% from he field in the 2nd half but only got 12 shot attempts. The Shockers had 33 shot attempts in the 2nd half and for the game had 29 more shot attempts (64-35) than Loyola.

The starters got a little bit of rest in this game. About 5 minutes each but that is more than they are used to.

I believe the Shocks also set a new school record for wins in the season with #27 as they move to 27-4 on the season.

Alex with her usual outstanding all-around game today. 16 points on 7-11 shooting, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 7 steals and 1 blocked shot. That's an average game for Alex over the past 2 years. Alex probably had another half dozen passes that would have been assists had the Shocks been more on their game with their shooting. I thought Alex was particularly good on the defensive side of the ball today.

The Shocks turned Loyola over 21 times while only committing 8 turnovers themselves and outscored Loyola 20-5 on points off turnovers. In other words the Shocks played their game.

[The Mad Hatter]

With 15:36 to go, SIU had a 7 point lead over UNI. Now with 1:39 to go UNI is up 9 thanks to SIU being on a 2 for 20 stretch from the field. SIU's last field goal was at the 10:44 mark and they have only had 3 free throws since then.

[The Mad Hatter]

Suddenly SIU has hit 2 three pointers in the final minute (their first 3's of the game) and it is at 6 with :28 to go. Probably too little, too late.

[The Mad Hatter]

UNI wins 59-50.

[tgcshock]

+ and -'s for the Shocks. UNI is clearly a better coached and smarter team than SIU so you can't take them lightly at all in spite of the fact that they lack some athleticism. On the other hand, SIU plays extremely physical with real athletes and tend to beat you up and wear you out even when you win against them. IF we make the final, we should be a little less worn out having played UNI than SIU. At the end of the day though, if you are a championship team, your fate is always determined by HOW you play rather than WHO you play.

[1972Shocker]

So it will be the Shocks vs UNI tomorrow at 1:30pm

I a way I prefer a matchup with the #4 seed Panthers than the #5 seeded Salukis. SIU is maybe the only team that can match or exceed the Shock's athleticism although SIU has not played well down the stretch and today they only made 2 of their last 19 FG attempts.

OTOH hand we get an opponent with a better RPI in UNI at 114 compared to SIU at 169.

As anticipated the Shocks RPI jumped from 37 to 41 after their win over Loyola. Selection Sunday will be a very nerve wracking day with a loss to UNI.

The Shocks won at UNI 70-52 and the won at Koch Arena 66-54. I take a repeat of either game.

[tgcshock]

At tournament time, I would happily take a one point win!

[1972Shocker]

At tournament time, I would happily take a one point win!

They all count the same don't they.

I was looking at the stats for the SIU-UNI game and saw that SIU took 80 shots today to 57 for UNI. 50 points on 80 shots! SIU's 3 starting guards (Napier, Macklin and Giebelhausen) combined to shoot 6-42 (14.3%).

SIU outrebounded UNI 57 to 41. 98 rebounds to be had. Hope the rims weren't damaged.

[The Mad Hatter]

Speaking of scoring runs, Evansville goes on an 8-0 run to end the half with a 28-25 lead over 2-seed Drake.

Evansville actually had an 8 point lead that they squandered away with a huge scoring drought before coming back with the aforementioned run.

[The Mad Hatter]

Evansville upsets Drake in overtime 84-79. This was with EU's Dickey only shooting 3-17.

[1972Shocker]

Evansville upsets Drake in overtime 84-79. This was with EU's Dickey only shooting 3-17.

I was actually thinking that Missouri State was the best team on that side of the bracket any way. Drake seemed to have everything going their way until they ran into an alley cat otherwise knows as the Wichita State Shockers at Koch Arena. They just have not seemed to be the same team since the Shocks dismantled them.

Update: #3 Missouri State 75 - #6 Indiana State 57

[1972Shocker]

Wichita Eagle article on Alex's scoring milestone:

Wichita State coach Jody Adams rarely takes time to reflect on anything other than the task at hand, but Harden’s accomplishment deserved recognition. The coach marveled at the growth of a player who entered the program without much ball-handling ability.

“Now she’s our point-forward, our LeBron,” Adams said. “She can do it all. She didn’t come with that, she worked to that. When other people are sleeping, she’s working.”

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/sports/college...#storylink=cpy

[1972Shocker]

I wish I had $1 for everytime I have seen Alex Harden in this situation on a basketball court.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks need to be on their game today. UNI is solid, well-coached team that is certainly capable of knocking off the Shockers.