Women's Basketball 2024

[D2Rover]

Well, the bracket is out. I think the biggest surprise for me is Anchorage being left out for Point Loma and Cal St LA. Also thought Southern Connecticut might get in ahead of Mercy, but wasn't surprised that one went the way it did. Virginia State losing out to West Virginia State is an interesting one too. Tough breaks for teams like Missouri Southern and Texas A&M International, really solid teams in regions that had more tournament-worthy teams than available spots.

[Bballfan]

Point Loma has Katie Scott, a highly decorated player in Missouri girls basketball. She was committed to Drury. Followed Molly Miller to Grand Canyon and was the Western Athletic Conference Freshman Player of the Year. Then left there and went to Oral Roberts. Then left there and now comes off the bench for Point Loma.

What a long strange trip it has been!

[D2Rover]

Elite Eight schedule is set for Monday:

(3) Ferris State vs. (6) Tampa, 1 p.m.
(2) Texas Woman's vs. (7) Daemen, 3:30 pm.
(1) Gannon vs. (8) Cal St. San Marcos, 7 p.m.
(4) Ga. Southwestern vs. (5) Minnesota St., 9:30 p.m.

[D2Rover]

The Gannon v San Marcos matchup should be a really good game. Great guard play on both sides, both teams have a high-level scoring forward. I think San Marcos has the edge defensively, especially inside.

Texas Woman's and Minnesota State seem like favorites in their matchups. Not sure what to expect from Georgia Southwestern, there's not a ton of inter-region play to measure the Southeast against. Minnesota State made a tough region look easy, if they stay hot they'll be almost impossible to stop.

Not sure about Ferris v Tampa. Ferris has pretty well proven they can beat anybody at this point. Tampa clearly has some offensive firepower, but hasn't been all that consistent against stronger competition.

[Bballfan]

The Gannon v San Marcos matchup should be a really good game. Great guard play on both sides, both teams have a high-level scoring forward. I think San Marcos has the edge defensively, especially inside.

Texas Woman's and Minnesota State seem like favorites in their matchups. Not sure what to expect from Georgia Southwestern, there's not a ton of inter-region play to measure the Southeast against. Minnesota State made a tough region look easy, if they stay hot they'll be almost impossible to stop.

Not sure about Ferris v Tampa. Ferris has pretty well proven they can beat anybody at this point. Tampa clearly has some offensive firepower, but hasn't been all that consistent against stronger competition.

Great analysis. As always the committee overrated a school from the east. They clearly were the worst team in the tournament.

I think Texas Women prevail. They seem to be more disciplined and consistent. Reminds me of Ashland last year. Minnesota State reminds me of Glenville State. They are like Glenville State 2.0. They were lucky to win in the semis if it wasn't for some bad bounces, they might not have. Scary thing about Texas Women, they lose nobody.

[zimmy21]

Great analysis. As always the committee overrated a school from the east. They clearly were the worst team in the tournament.

I think Texas Women prevail. They seem to be more disciplined and consistent. Reminds me of Ashland last year. Minnesota State reminds me of Glenville State. They are like Glenville State 2.0. They were lucky to win in the semis if it wasn't for some bad bounces, they might not have. Scary thing about Texas Women, they lose nobody.

Fair assessment of the Mavs. Their game is chaos. The tight reffing kept our defense back at times last night though. Plus the 3pt shooting was terrible.

It very well could be a blow out for either team tomorrow depending on the calls and lucky bounces...or we could be in for an awesome game

[Bballfan]

Indeed it was a blowout as the 3's were falling. The chaotic style of play has now won 2 out of the last 3 national championships. That is not a knock on Minnesota State, it is just indicative of how that style has achieved success in D2 women's basketball lately. If you hit shots and generate a lot of turnovers, good things happen. They completely dominated the game from start to finish.

It does show how the regional ranking system has flaws. You can only achieve what your schedule brings you. It does look pretty silly though that just the 7th seed in a region is the best team in the nation. If they don't win their conference tournament, do they even get in the tournament?

[laker]

I didn't know there was a Charlie Creme of D2.

Charlie Creme is actually the Inkblot of D1. Inkblot covers all the sports.

[zimmy21]

Indeed it was a blowout as the 3's were falling. The chaotic style of play has now won 2 out of the last 3 national championships. That is not a knock on Minnesota State, it is just indicative of how that style has achieved success in D2 women's basketball lately. If you hit shots and generate a lot of turnovers, good things happen. They completely dominated the game from start to finish.

It does show how the regional ranking system has flaws. You can only achieve what your schedule brings you. It does look pretty silly though that just the 7th seed in a region is the best team in the nation. If they don't win their conference tournament, do they even get in the tournament?

Yes, I believe MSU was getting in regardless but it does show that maybe too much stock is put on early out of conference games. Teams can be completely different from November to February. Especially if they were missing an All-American.

[Bballfan]

Only in-region non-conference games count though. So the loss to Texas Women for instance was a non-factor. And injuries play do play a factor. It is always good to peak in March. No doubt Minnesota State did. I think South Carolina won't win either as I think they peaked too early. They have had a lot of close calls over the last month. Eventually you are going to get bit.

[Inkblot]

I still think Minnesota State's seed was reasonable, considering that they went 0-3 against tournament teams in the regular season; of course all three games were in an 8-day span in November, but the D2 selection system doesn't take into account injuries or give special consideration to late-season performance. We now know that MSU can beat all three of those teams (because they have), but there was no way of knowing that three weeks ago.

As for whether they would've gotten in without winning the conference tournament, it seems pretty clear that they wouldn't.

[tuffeagle]

I still think Minnesota State's seed was reasonable, considering that they went 0-3 tournament teams in the regular season; of course all three games were in an 8-day span in November, but the D2 selection system doesn't take into account injuries or give special consideration to late-season performance. We now know that MSU can beat all three of those teams (because they have), but there was no way of knowing that three weeks ago.

As for whether they would've gotten in without winning the conference tournament, it seems pretty clear that they wouldn't.

That's just astounding. Shows games in November mean almost as much as games late in the year because of the ranking system. North Carolina State is another example. One of the four top teams in the nation right now. Yet if they don't win their conference tournament, they are not in. Even getting in they are an 11 seed.

All about making the tournament and getting hot at the right time!

[D2Rover]

I get the comparisons to Glenville, but I think Minnesota State has deeper offensive talent and is generally a better half-court team than the Glenville teams were. Watching MSU live, it's better basketball than just chaos, they execute what they want to do offensively and defensively even when the game looks out of control.

As far as making the tournament, it might be the strongest case yet against the regional format. But it is also evidence that tournament play is about peaking at the right time, because I don't necessarily think some of the in-conference performances I saw from MSU during the year were going to dominate the MIAA. Not saying the team didn't deserve to be in (although they wouldn't have been, as Inkblot noted), but I don't think they were clearly 15-20 points better than everybody like they looked at the regional.

[Bballfan]

I get the comparisons to Glenville, but I think Minnesota State has deeper offensive talent and is generally a better half-court team than the Glenville teams were. Watching MSU live, it's better basketball than just chaos, they execute what they want to do offensively and defensively even when the game looks out of control.

As far as making the tournament, it might be the strongest case yet against the regional format. But it is also evidence that tournament play is about peaking at the right time, because I don't necessarily think some of the in-conference performances I saw from MSU during the year were going to dominate the MIAA. Not saying the team didn't deserve to be in (although they wouldn't have been, as Inkblot noted), but I don't think they were clearly 15-20 points better than everybody like they looked at the regional.

My only criticism of MSU would be is I think they take shots a little too quick. Glenville was the same way. A lot of bad shots can go up. Yes, they get a lot more shots so they are counting on making more due to the volume of shots. If a team didn't turn it over as much (nobody couldn't though) and their possessions were limited, I think they would struggle in a lower scoring game. Regardless they made it through a tough region and were underseeded in the Elite Eight. I would have slotted them at 2 or 3 personally. Gannon had no business being the #1 seed, and that was evident when they played.

[D2Rover]

Regardless they made it through a tough region and were underseeded in the Elite Eight. I would have slotted them at 2 or 3 personally. Gannon had no business being the #1 seed, and that was evident when they played.

If it were reseeded based on how it went, Gannon is probably 4th? I think San Marcos and Texas Woman's were clearly the 2nd and 3rd best teams there. Take your pick between Gannon/Ferris for the 4/5. I don't think losing to San Marcos in OT is a terrible performance, that (or maybe the MSU/CSUSM semi) was probably the best game of the tournament.