Leatherneck Nation

Personally I think this game comes down to Taylor Morgan and Farrow at least 2 of 3 need to be on from the outside SDSU did a great job in the game here of packing the lanes so Emily wasn't getting easy looks which left our shooters open and they just didn't hit. Blumer has had kind of a down year time for her to step up.

OldHare, my Facebook post below regarding weather and game:

The weather is raw here and my joints are aching.
It's Necks vs Jacks today and a spot in the championship game is up for the taking.
If yesterday is an indication, our Leathernecks will be more than ready.
I know Coach JD will be steering EmClem and crew "rocky" steady.
Get up on 'em early and let 'em know trouble is brewing.
The Leatherneck win will leave lots of SD folks stewing.
Well, the snow is starting to fall now so I better quit.
I need a good rhyme word now but I am all out of wit.

#GoLeathernecks

South Dakota beat Oral Roberts 65-53 in Monday's first semi-final game.

South Dakota State won the game 80-51.

Morgan Blumer led the Western scoring with 14 points. Taylor Higginbotham had 10. Sam Pryor and Michelle Farrow each had 6. Grace Gilmore and Olivia Braun each had 4. Emily Clemens had 3. Olivia Kaufmann and Krishna Merriman each had 2.

Western shot 31% (18 for 58).

Attendance for the afternoon session = 6,424.

The announcers on the Midco telecast said that Western should get a NIT invite. They also said that both SDSU and USD should get into the NCAA tournament.

wiu712 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:21 pm The announcers on the Midco telecast said that Western should get a NIT invite. They also said that both SDSU and USD should get into the NCAA tournament.

I was checking out the WNIT selection process near the end of the game. Looks like the bracket is announced the evening of March 12th (next Monday).
The WNIT is a 64-team tournament. 32 spots are conference "auto-bids" given to the highest finishing team in each DI conference that is not invited to the NCAA tournament. If the SD team that doesn't win the championship game gets an invite to the NCAA tournament, then we should get invited to the WNIT automatically due to being the #3 team in the conference and having #1 and #2 in the NCAA tournament. The remaining 32 spots are at-large. Considering we still had a VERY good season (22 wins), there's a very good chance we'll get invited to that if we don't get the auto-bid. I don't know how deep into the tournament they have schools host, but it's at least the first couple of rounds, so there's a chance we could have basketball back at Western Hall again before the end of March.

ST_Lawson wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:29 pmI don't know how deep into the tournament they have schools host (for the WNIT), but it's at least the first couple of rounds, so there's a chance we could have basketball back at Western Hall again before the end of March.

All games, including the semi-finals and championship, are hosted by participating schools.

Here is more info about the WNIT: https://www.womensnit.com/event-info1.html

During warmups, I sat behind the bucket that SDSU was at. Those gals were all stroking it with confidence. I knew right then we were in for a tough game. Macy Miller is as polished as they come. OldHare told me she is a cousin (or fairly close relative) of Mike Miller who played for Florida and then in the NBA.

Just an obvious observation. The talent level from top to bottom in the Summit League spans the Grand Canyon. We are somewhere in the middle of the pack. To get to their level, we will need to recruit some length. And it might take 2 or 3 with length.

ORU was able to stay close to USD primarily because they did have some size.

Jacks stifle Western in Summit semis.

From the McDonough County Voice:
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/sports/20 ... mmit-semis

sealhall74 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:50 pm During warmups, I sat behind the bucket that SDSU was at. Those gals were all stroking it with confidence. I knew right then we were in for a tough game. Macy Miller is as polished as they come. OldHare told me she is a cousin (or fairly close relative) of Mike Miller who played for Florida and then in the NBA.

Just an obvious observation. The talent level from top to bottom in the Summit League spans the Grand Canyon. We are somewhere in the middle of the pack. To get to their level, we will need to recruit some length. And it might take 2 or 3 with length.

ORU was able to stay close to USD primarily because they did have some size.

So....we need to find ourselves another Zane Teilane?

ST_Lawson wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 7:24 pm So....we need to find ourselves another Zane Teilane?

And with the coaching JD could provide instead of the coaching Zane got, we'd have a stellar center! Unfortunately for Zane, she had to survive on already developed talents without coaching to help her get even better.