Posted by WMC 3/30/2024 10:10 am | #81 |
And then there was one. St Louis stayed alive in the WNIT last night. St Joe's and Duquense both lost on Thursday night.
WBIT:
Villanova (H, 21-12) 67, St Joseph's (28-6) 57. Tayla Brugler led the Hawks with 20 points although she had no rebounds. Mackenzie Smithe was 13/7. Laura Ziegler had 6 points with 1 - 14 FG but 9 rebounds and 5 assists. FR Gabby Casey scored 11 off the bench. The remaining 4 teams in the tournament are from Power conferences: Illinois, Washington State, Penn State, besides Villanova.
WNIT
Purdue (H, 15-18) 71, Duquense (21-13) 50. Dukes remained consistently inconsistent for their season. Jerni Kiaku scored 19 off the bench. Megan McConnell led the starter with 12 points (4-12 FG) and 10 rebounds. The other 4 starters were a combined 5 - 22.
St Louis (19-18, that's what their record is listed as now) 82, Purdue Fort Wayne (H, 23-13) 78, Peyton Kennedy remained hot with 31 points and 9 rebounds. Kyla McMakin scored 17. Tierra Simon as 12/11. Julia Martinez only had 4 points off the bench (and 2 missed FTs in the last minute) but had 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals. Kennedy Calhoun added 6 steals.
Billikens travel to Wisconsin (15-16) for the quarterfinals (the Great Eight) Besides the Badgers and Boilermakers, Minnesota is still alive. As is Vermont.
Last edited by WMC (3/30/2024 10:13 am)
Posted by WMC 4/02/2024 6:19 pm | #82 |
Another dive into the postseason tournaments. St Louis stayed alive with a win at Wisconsin, and reached the Fab Four. That's what they're calling it.
WNIT
St Louis (20-18) 65, Wisconsin (H, 15-17) 60. Badgers had a late 6-0 run to take a one point lead before Kennedy Calhoun and Peyton Kennedy each hit key FGs, to retake and hold the lead. Billikens shot 8 - 10 FTs in the last few minutes to close out the game. Kyla McMakin lead St Louis with 18 points. Peyton Kennedy added 16 while Kennedy Calhoun had 10. Tierra Simon had 7 points and 8 rebounds. Julie Martinez had 6 points. She made her only 2 FTs late and added 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Her only 2 steals came in the final minute and led to 3 - 4 St Louis FTs. St Louis travels to Burlington for a Wednesday game with 25-11 Vermont, which won at Purdue (15-19) 67-59. Catamounts finished 3rd, 12-4, in America East. The other WNIT Fab Four game is Minnesota (19-15, 5-13) traveling to Alabama to meet Troy (22-11, 15-3 Sun Belt.)
The WBIT final, at Hinkle Fieldhouse, features Villanova and Illinois.
Of the ten remaining teams. 3 are from the Big 10, 2 from the Big East, 1 each from the SEC, ACC, Atlantic 10, America East and Sun Belt.
Posted by WMC 4/03/2024 8:33 pm | #83 |
St Louis advances to the WNIT final to play Minnesota on Saturday., behind a strong second half.
St Louis (21-8) 57, Vermont (25-12) 54. Billikens struggled offensively in the first half, especially in the second quarter when they went scoreless until 2 late field goals. Catamounts led 24 - 17 at the half. St Louis scored 24 in the 3rd quarter and shot 16 - 24 for the second half. St Louis switched defenses often in the second half using a press and a zone effectviely.
Peyton Kennedy led St Louis with 23 points, 10-13 FG, and 3-6 from beyond the arc. Brooklyn Gray scored 13 while Kennedy Calhoun had 8. Kyla McMakin was scoreless in the first half but had 6 points in the second half. Julia Martinez was scoreless in the first half and finished a fairly typical 2 - 7 FG. But she had 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Had 3 nice passes that led to layups in the second half.
In two seasons under Rebecca Tillett, St Louis is 10 - 2 in postseason play, having won the A10 tourney last year, losing in the NCAA, going 2 - 1 in the A10 this year. They've won 10 of 11 the only loss to Rhode Island in the A10 semis. Billikens are 5-0 in the WNIT, four games on the road. This is their 3rd season with 20 wins and second with 2 wins over Power 5 teams, Missouri early in the season and Wisconsin in their last game. I know it's only the WNIT, but it's still nice to have an A10 team still playing.
Minnesota, 17 -15, beat host Troy, 19-12, by 74-67. Who gets to host the final?
In the WBIT championship game, Illinois beat Villanova 71 - 57. I believe the Illini are coached by Dayton's last coach, Shaun Green. It's possible that a Big 10 team could win all 3 tournaments.
Posted by WMC 4/06/2024 6:30 pm | #84 |
WNIT Championship
St Louis (22-18) 69, Minnesota (20-16) 50. Billikens were to be the home team, but gym was being used for a Zac Brown concert. They played at SIU Edwardsville gym. I guess I had Gophers' record wrong. It's hard to keep up to date when the "official" records aren't.
First A10 team to win WNIT. It used to be the second most prestigious postseason tourney. Third Billikens win over a Power 5 team. Sixth win in a row. Game was on CBSSN. Meghan McKeown was the analyst. She's gotten pretty good.
Kyla McMakin went out with a bang and 20 points. Peyton Kennedy, tournament MVP, scored 19. Kennedy Calhoun had 11 and Brooklyn Gray had 8. Tierra Simon didn't scored but had 7 rebounds. Julia Martinez' only basket was a three pointer to end the half. She had 10 rebounds 6 assists and 5 steals.
Ending the season on a high note for the A10. See you in the transfer portal page but not tonight.