UND92,96

If you go to the NCC site, and click on "upcoming games" (as opposed to "scoreboard") on the upper right hand part of the screen, it will give a link to video for the game. I'm not clear on whether it's subscription-only, though.

Sometimes it seems being on the top team is a key "unofficial" criterion (see Boese over Quigley), and sometimes it's not (see Quigley over Kimbrough last year). Hard to say how much that will factor into things.

Who's the frontrunner? I'm going to say Ashley Langen--16.6 ppg, 13 rpg, 2.2 assists/game (conference-only stats). Kierah Kimbrough is also a strong candidate with 17.9 ppg and 9.2 rpg. The other primary candidate is probably USD's Jeana Hoffman with 17.4 ppg, but she really doesn't have any other stat that jumps out at you.

I believe the tiebreakers are 1) head-to-head; 2) record against third-place team (and on down the line); 3) not sure after that. I don't recall whether margin of victory ever comes into play with regard to head-to-head. I do recall at least one year where there was a coin-flip.

Good ol' Coyote fan--long-winded as usual. I have no idea who is going to win on Thursday, but if your posting history on d2football.com is any indication, if USD loses you will offer up a 1000 word essay on how USD women's basketball is a huge disappointment (kind of like USD football this year, huh?)

The point is that when you have a terrible rebounding team and no post scoring, your margin for error isn't very great. That describes USD's team. And that is why they will be very vulnerable in the post season. In a one-and-done situation, I'd rather take my chances with a team that can rebound and that has a couple of great low post scorers, as opposed to relying on the 3.

True, the record could be better based upon a probably pretty soft schedule. But whether the caliber of play is better is another question.

I wish I had the answer. This season has been an unmitigated disaster, and there doesn't appear to be many (if any) reasons to think next year will be any better.

Sioux are down by 22 with about 13 and a half minutes left.

SCSU couldn't close the deal, losing by five to USD. If the Huskies actually had a bench (0 points!), they probably could have pulled off the upset. I still can't believe the Sioux lost at home to the Coyotes.

UND 106, UMD 49 final Here's a perfect example of why comparing scores against common opponents is meaningless--both teams' most recent game prior to today was at Augie. UMD lost by four in that game. UND won by eight. Another score of interest--St. Cloud State leads USD by one at the half in St. Cloud.

UND up 44-17 at the half. Kimbrough has 18 points, and Langen has 13 rebounds. Duluth is shooting just 21% from the field.

Late in the first half, UND is up 39-17.

Kristen Gay is the new head coach. link

There certainly are no shortage off theories/rumors out there regarding Purpur's would-be candidacy. I also am still holding out some hope that he may apply at the last minute.

As an aside, will Bismarck-Mandan ever really support Mary athletics, or will it always be similar to what Augie is to Sioux Falls, i.e. not overly popular due in large part to its private school status? Attendance for football and basketball is fairly underwhelming considering the population (4100/game for football, 1300/game bball).

I can't really see this team winning on the road, particularly coming off the debacle in Sioux Falls. If another win is going to happen, it will be the last NCC game ever for UND--March 1 at home vs. UMD.

Here's the UND press release.

Faison has 12 years of a.d. experience between two dI schools (Indiana State and New Mexico State).

What the heck has happened to Youmans? 2 points, 1 assist and 4 turnovers in just 13 minutes. He was playing so well earlier this year. I was expecting more than the 11 ppg he's averaged in NCC play.

I realize that, and neither was Cal Poly, but we have to be open to the idea that USD isn't going to necessarily be a home game as most of us thought it would be, and it's just somewhat hard for me to fathom at this point that we're going to be able to find two or three quality FCS opponents willing to travel to play a non-counter. I hope I'm wrong, I just have a hunch that TAMUK and SCSU aren't going to be the only non-FCS opponents on the 2008 schedule.

Here's the list: Burke Hinrichs Schlickmann Faison Sadler Leonard Hickman I can only assume Massari withdrew?

That's for sure. At this point, I have to think we're probably going to be seeing more than just two dII's (or NAIA's) on the schedule for home games.

UND had just 11 turnovers tonight!

Sioux win 83-75. Actually, I was kind of expecting a blowout win. Augie lost Ashley Holiday for the season in the first meeting between the teams, and they don't have much inside after her.