Contact: Lou Groce, Director of Media and Information, 920-229-8157
GRINNELL, Iowa – Top-seeded St. Norbert College will host the 2016 Midwest Conference (MWC) Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Schuldes Sports Center and will face fourth-seeded and rival Ripon College in the semifinals. In the other semifinal, Grinnell College and Cornell College will play for a spot in Saturday’s championship.
The Green Knights went a perfect 18-0 in the conference regular season, winning their third league title in a row and their sixth in the past seven years. St. Norbert dominated the first matchup against the Red Hawks this season, 61-26, but Ripon made it close in Ripon later in the year, 69-60.
Ripon has made drastic improvements since last season under third-year head coach Lauren Johnson. Last season, the Red Hawks went just 2-21, but this year have improved to 14-9 and 10-8 in the MWC. Ripons is making its first appearance in the MWC Tournament for the time since 2010. Nicole Herkert has led the resurgence after averaging 8.1 points per game in MWC action and leads the team at 6.0 rebounds per game. Maggie Oimoen is Ripon’s top scorer, despite starting just two games. Oimoen has shot over 50 percent from the field in conference play and averages nearly 12 points (11.9) per game. Ripon scores just 58.3 points per game so it must rely on tough defense if it wants to spring the upset.
St. Norbert has won 46 of their past 47 games in conference play and recently completed the first undefeated conference season in the MWC since Beloit College went unbeaten in 1997-98. The Green Knights have dominated conference foes this year, outscoring them on average by over 25 points per game. One of the keys to their success is taking care of the basketball. St. Norbert has committed just 322 turnovers this season compared to their opponents’ 463.
Regan Carmichael, the reigning MWC Performer of the Week, leads the Green Knights in points per game (12.2), assists (91), rebounds (119), made three-pointers (56) and minutes played (27.6). Brianna Byrne and Stephanie Weigman are also staples of the starting lineup and are averaging 10.8 and 10.5 points per game, respectively. Mallory Nickerson and Jill Kleiman are also among the first five for veteran head coach Connie Tilley.
Grinnell College is making their first postseason appearance since 2004 and the first under head coach Dana Harrold. The Pioneers lost both regular season games to Cornell, but both were by single digits. Grinnell had lost just one game in 2016 until last week when they dropped consecutive games to Knox College and Illinois College.
Alissa Hirsh and Kayla Morrissey provide a solid 1-2 scoring punch for the Pioneers. Hirsh averaged over 15 points per game in MWC action and leads the team with 4.6 assists per game. Kayla Morrissey has averaged 12.6 points per game this season and pulled down an average of 5.7 rebounds. On the glass, Alex Neckopulos pulls down an impressive 10.7 rebounds per night and averages 9.2 points.
The Rams are no stranger to the MWC Tournament after finishing second to St. Norbert last season and qualifying in each of the past four seasons. Cornell stumbled out of the gates and sat at 5-4 after its first nine games. Over winter break, however, the Rams regrouped and won 13 straight games before their streak was snapped last Saturday in the season finale. Two of Cornell’s three league loss came at the hands of the top-seeded Green Knights.
Junior Diamond Boyd has been a force for the Rams this season. Boyd averages 15.4 points per game and leads the conference with 82 steals. She also leads the team with 8.7 rebounds per game and has blocked 26 shots. Forward Maggie Hogen grabs another eight boards per game and averages 11.1 points. Kellie Kuzmanic and Sierra Bisso are solid weapons from beyond the arc and have hit a combined 75 on the year.
Grinnell and Cornell will play in the first semifinal at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. St. Norbert will take on Ripon at 8:00 p.m. with the winners playing for a spot in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.