Coaching Change Updates - 6-5-26

St. Scholastica has found its man - Rob McDonald - to take the reigns of the Saints program.

 So wanted to provide everyone with an update on the latest coaching changes happening in and around the MIAC.  Just two days ago (Wednesday 6-3), St. Scholastica filled the vacant spot left by Jason Schmitz and hired Rob McDonald to take the reigns of the Saints program.  McDonald comes to the Twin Ports after spending the last four seasons at DII Saginaw Valley St in Michigan where he was an assistant there.  McDonald has had previous stints at other DII schools as well (Saint Leo University and Lincoln University) but he has MIAC ties as he was both a basketball and football standout at St. Olaf so he knows the conference.  All in all this appears to be a pretty solid hire by AD Jessica Cherry and unlike a number of other institutions across the country in DIII, McDonald isn't inheriting a moribund program - far from it in fact as the Saints posted a solid 16-10 record this last season - good enough to snare the sixth spot in the MIAC Playoffs and a (presumably anyway) pretty solid nucleus returning.  So he's coming into a very good situation up at St. Scholastica.  

But the bigger news on this day was over in the WIAC where UW-Oshkosh Head Coach Brad Fischer announced that he is stepping down after 14 seasons at the helm of the very successful Titans program that saw him lead the program to numerous WIAC regular season and Championship Game titles along with numerous NCAA Tournament appearances as well - including runs to the Final Four in both 2025 and this last season.  Fischer is headed out to Lincoln, NE where he has accepted an Assistant Coaching position with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  I'll admit that this is one that I did not see coming.....I wouldn't have expected it anyway.  But I can understand it the more I think about it as DI opportunities simply don't come along that often and he probably had to take it while he could get it.  And hey, Lincoln's a great university town and a big BNSF stronghold too so I can understand why he made the move.  The big question now is who does UW-Oshkosh target to fill the vacant position?  You can bet that this job is going to attract a number of highly-qualified candidates.  But the timing of this is what makes it difficult for UW-Oshkosh Assistant Chancellor For Intercollegiate Athletics Darryl Sims and the UW-Oshkosh Administration.  Had this happened, say, two or three months ago, you'd be working with a much wider window of time.  In this particular case, the window has narrowed considerably and that could affect the number of potential replacement candidates for the position.  But this whole process will be interesting to watch to say the least - especially in what has already proven to be a true coaching merry-go-round offseason over on the WIAC side.  

Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Results For Tuesday 6-2-26

It was definitely good to be able to catch the opening night of the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League and although I had to leave early as I had jury duty the next morning, there were some interesting games that I did get to see.

6:15 PM Games

UW-Stout - 37

GAC Gold - 35

Team Jody - 71

Free Agents - 44

Wash-Ups - 80

St. Olaf - 42

Team One - 75

Auggies - 40

7:15 PM Games

UW-Stout - 70

Auggies - 50

GAC White - 53

Northwestern - 42

Sara's Shooters - 52

Backcourt Baddies - 33

Midway Monsters - 44

Anoka-Ramsey - 32

The best game in my time over at the Midtown YWCA on this night took place over on Court 1 in the 6:15 PM timeslot between the UW-Stout team and the GAC Gold team.  Things looked promising for the GAC Gold team early on as they managed to jump out to a 4-0 lead by the 7:40 mark of the opening period but the UW-Stout team quickly woke up and came back with a vengeance as they would unleash a 14-2 run that had them up 14-6 with 2:05 left in the first period and that's where this game would be once the first period came to a close.  The UW-Stout team would stay in firm control with a 19-8 lead near the midway point of the second period and although the GAC Gold team briefly got back into single-digit range down 19-10 with 2:50 left, the UW-Stout team would recover and hold a ten-point cushion at the halftime break up 23-13.  Not much changed when the third period got underway with the UW-Stout team up 27-15 by the 6:03 mark and things still looked very good for this UW-Stout team up 29-21 by the end of the third period.  But you kind of knew that this GAC Gold team would find a way to come back in this thing and that's exactly what happened once the fourth period got underway as they were able to slice the deficit down to six at 33-27 near the midway point and although the UW-Stout team still had the upper hand with a 37-32 advantage with 1:02 left in regulation, the GAC Gold would pull back to within a single possession with a three-point bomb with :12 left in regulation.  But the UW-Stout team would manage to milk out the clock and was able to preserve a precarious nail-biting win......No such drama over on Court 2 in this timeslot where the Team Jody team was taking on the Free Agents team.  Things would be tight at the beginning as the Team Jody team would hold a 5-2 lead at the 7:20 mark of the opening period but the Free Agents team would eventually claw back and forge a 12-12 deadlock with 2:35 left and although the Team Jody team would get a bit more breathing room by the end of the first period with a 19-14 advantage, this was so far looking like a very close contest.  But the Free Agents team was unable to rekindle whatever magic they had found earlier in this game as the Team Jody team slowly but surely built its advantage as they held a 31-22 lead at the 5:22 mark of the second period and would get the lead to ten at 38-28 with 2:25 left and still had the upper hand with a 40-32 advantage by the halftime break.  The third period didn't see things change significantly as the Team Jody team enjoyed a 46-37 advantage at the 6:35 mark and the Team Jody team maintained that nine-point cushion up 51-42 with 4:20 left.  But if there was still a lifeline for the Free Agents team by this point, it was effectively choked off by the Team Jody team as they would grow their lead to 55-44 by the end of the third period.  And the Team Jody team would start running away with this one once the fourth period got underway and they would be coasting with a 64-44 lead with 4:15 left in regulation as they rolled to an easy win......It was a somewhat similar story over on Court 3 where the Wash-Ups team was taking on the St. Olaf team.  This contest would be tight early on with the Wash-Ups team holding a 10-7 advantage with 2:50 left in the first period but a quick 6-0 run by the Wash-Ups team pushed their lead to 16-7 with 1:30 left and by the end of the third period, the tone had been set with the Wash-Ups team enjoying a 20-9 lead.  Things would get progressively worse for the St. Olaf team once the second period got underway as the Wash-Ups team got its lead to 27-12 by the 6:40 mark and the Wash-Ups team would grow its lead even more to 31-14 by the midway point.  The Wash-Ups would be in firm command up 33-17 with 2:00 left and by the halftime break they were still enjoying a 35-20 advantage.  This pattern would continue as the Wash-Ups team held a 37-23 advantage at the 8:30 mark of the third period and they would be up 51-35 with 2:40 left.  By the end of the third period, the Wash-Ups team was rolling with a 57-38 advantage.  The Wash-Ups team would have things in cruise control the rest of the way as they held a 76-42 lead with 2:50 left in regulation as they romped to an easy win......And it was more of the same over on Court 4 in this timeslot between the Team One team and the Auggies team.  The Team One team would bolt out to a quick 5-0 lead by the 9:15 mark of the opening period which helped set the tone for this game and with 1:15 left in the first period, the Team One team had grown its lead to 21-10.  Although the Auggies team was able to get back to within single-digit range at the end of the first period down 21-13, they weren't able to make further inroads as the Team One team enjoyed a 28-19 lead near the midway point of the second period and they still enjoyed a nine-point lead at 32-23 by the halftime break.  The Team One team was able to break this one open once the third period got underway as they held a 42-25 advantage at the 6:10 mark and they would still hold a firm grip on this game up 51-27 with 2:20 left.  By the end of the third period, the Team One lead had established a twenty-point cushion at 55-35 and things would only get worse for the Auggies team from there as the Team One team ballooned its lead to thirty at 70-40 left with 2:00 left in regulation as they too romped to an easy win.

In the 7:15 PM slot, two team that saw action earlier - the UW-Stout team and the Auggies team - would face off against each other over on Court 1.  This contest would be tight in the early going with the UW-Stout team holding a 4-2 lead at the 8:35 mark of the opening period and the UW-Stout team would still be clinging to a 7-6 advantage with 4:00 left.  But a 7-3 push down the stretch by the UW-Stout team gave them a bit more breathing room with a 14-9 lead with 2:15 left and they were able to maintain this five-point edge up 16-11 by the end of the first period.  It wouldn't take the UW-Stout team long to pad its lead once the second period got underway as they would enjoy a 20-11 advantage at the 8:35 mark and they would still be in very good shape with a 28-19 lead with 3:40 left and they would maintain this nine-point cushion up 31-22 with 2:00 left.  By the halftime break, the UW-Stout team had built a double-digit cushion up 33-22.  The UW-Stout team would slowly build on this lead as they would hold a 37-24 lead by the 8:40 mark of the third period and with 3:40 left, the UW-Stout team would enjoy a 45-33 advantage.  By the end of the third period, UW-Stout had upped the lead to 49-33 and things would only get worse for the Auggies team as they would be on the wrong end of a 55-36 score at the 7:25 mark of the fourth period and by that point the UW-Stout team had things in cruise control the rest of the way; enjoying a safe 64-49 lead with 2:40 left in regulation as they got an easy win this time around......Things would be a bit more contested over on Court 2 in this timeslot as the GAC White team took on the Northwestern team in a MIAC-UMAC clash of sorts.  This game would be leveled at three a piece by the 8:50 mark of the opening period but the GAC White team was then able to shift into higher gear as they would own a 16-7 lead with 3:35 left in the first period and a short time later with 2:05 left, the GAC White team had a ten-point cushion up 20-10.  By the end of the first period, the GAC White team seemed to be in full control with a 24-10 advantage.  To their credit, the Northwestern team went on a 6-0 run in the early moments of the second period that had the deficit down to eight at 24-16 by the 7:10 mark but they were unable to sustain this momentum as the GAC White team would then embark on a push of their own that re-established the double-digit cushion with a 30-18 lead with 4:20 left and by the halftime break, the GAC White team definitely seemed to have their opponent in a vice grip with a sizable 38-20 advantage.  Indeed, the GAC White team would have a twenty-point cushion at its disposal up 42-22 by the 8:15 mark of the third period and they seemed to be cruising along just fine up 45-26 with 4:35 left.  But the Northwestern team then erupted with an 8-0 push down the stretch that suddenly made things interesting with the GAC White team's lead down to eleven at 45-34 by the end of the third period.  Unfortunately for the Northwestern team, they were unable to sustain their newfound momentum once the fourth period got underway as the GAC White team was able to maintain its edge as they would hold a 47-34 lead at the 7:35 mark and would have a 49-38 lead left with 4:00 in regulation as they got the dub on this night......The game over on Court 3 in this timeslot between the Backcourt Baddies team and the Sara's Shooters team followed a somewhat similar story.  The Backcourt Baddies team would be holding onto a slim 4-3 advantage at the 8:00 mark of the opening period but they would slowly build their lead to 8-5 at the 6:10 mark and would push their lead to four at 11-7 with 2:15 left.  But the Sara's Shooters team would then launch a 6-2 push that had this contest on even terms at 13 a piece by the end of the first period.  This game would be knotted again at 18 a piece by the 6:20 mark of the second period and all indications appeared to be that this would be tight throughout.  But it was here that the Sara's Shooters team was able to establish a bit of separation as they would build a 30-23 advantage with 1:05 left and hold that same lead at the halftime break.  The Sara's Shooters team would push its lead to nine at 33-24 by the 7:05 mark of the third period and with 2:05 left the Sara's Shooters team had a double-digit cushion with a 41-28 lead and that lead would grow to thirteen at 43-30 by the end of the third period.  The Backcourt Baddies team was unable to make much in the way of dents in that cushion once the fourth period got underway as the Sara's Shooters team still held a 47-35 advantage by the 6:20 mark and they would get some insurance down the stretch with a 50-33 lead with 1:50 left in regulation as they came away with the win on this night......Meanwhile over on Court 4 there was an interesting contest going on between the Midway Monsters team (made up of current Hamline players) and the Anoka-Ramsey team.  This one would be tight in the early going as well with the Midway Monsters team holding a 5-3 edge at the 6:00 mark of the opening period and with 1:05 left they would still be clinging to that two-point lead at 12-10.  But a late three-point bomb gave the Midway Monsters a bit more breathing room with a 15-10 lead at the end of the first period.  Things would still be close by the midway point of the second period with the Midway Monsters team owning a 16-12 lead but then the Midway Monsters team was able to kick things in gear a bit with a key 6-0 push that had them up 22-12 with 1:05 left and they would hold this same lead by the halftime break.  The Anoka-Ramsey team found some new life once the third period got underway as they cut the deficit down to six at 25-19 by the 6:20 mark and a suddenly-struggling Midway Monsters team saw their lead dwindle to just three at 25-22 with 1:25 left before a late score gave them a bit more breathing room with a 27-22 advantage by the end of the third period.  The Anoka-Ramsey team managed to stay within striking distance by the midway point of the fourth period down by only six at 31-25 and a short time later with 4:00 left in regulation, the Midway Monsters team appeared to be in a bit of hot water with their lead down to just four at 31-27.  But the Midway Monsters team managed to recover and closed out this contest with a 13-5 push as they secured the victory on this night.

Had to head back home after the 7:15 games to get ready for jury duty this next day and wasn't able to make it over on Wednesday night either.  But now that jury duty is officially in the rearview mirror for me, I'm looking forward to covering all games this next Tuesday and Wednesday evening.   

The Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League Is Back!

The Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League is set to launch another season on Tuesday evening (6-2) with games on both Tuesday night and Wednesday night the first two weeks before reverting to a Wednesday night format on Wednesday 6-17.  A lot of good teams will be partaking in the fun this year as well with games in the 6:15, 7:15 and 8:15 PM slots and there promises to be a lot of good action with four games in each time slot.  I'm hoping I can be down there for both nights this week but things are a little uncertain at the moment for me as I have to report for jury duty on Tuesday morning (😟) but am hopeful it won't be for an extended period of time.  

Anyway, make sure to get yourself down to the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League on Tuesday and Wednesday this week!   

MIAC Coaching Change Updates

St. Kate's made the big announcement yesterday (Tuesday 5-5) that former standout Audra Clark is coming home to take the reigns of the Wildcat program.

So I wanted to provide everyone with updates on a couple of coaching changes that have taken place in the MIAC in this young offseason.  First, Don Mulhern stepped down at the helm of the St. Kate's program on March 26 after a nine-year stint at leading the Wildcats as personal health considerations and his desire to become a family caregiver were drivers in the decision.  After interviewing a number of candidates, St. Kate's on Tuesday (5-5) decided on bringing a famous alum back home - Audra Clark (St. Kate's '19) - to take the reigns of the Wildcat program where she holds the leading scorer of all time along with being tops in assists and other records as well.  After graduation, Clark joined former St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton's staff at Oswego St for two seasons and also spent two seasons at another SUNYAC school - Cortland.  She then moved to Bowling Green St where she served as Director of Player Personnel (and also reunited with former St. Kate's Coach Tim Kjar) and then this past season she was an assistant at Northern Illinois in DeKalb, IL.  I'll admit that there's a part of me that wondered if her lack of previous head coaching experience might work against her.  But when I look at what she did as not only a former standout player at St. Kate's but also her previous assistant coaching gigs (particularly with Pinkerton at Oswego St) and her immense knowledge of not only the game but particularly of this St. Kate's program and the fact that she played two seasons under Mulhern's tutelage, this is not only as close as you can get to a relatively seamless transition but also looking at it from a larger perspective, this is about as close to a home run hire that you can find for St. Kate's.  Clark will bring a renewed energy and youthful enthusiasm to this team and I have no doubt that she'll be able to recruit well.  And I think when you look at how MIAC Women's Basketball is now more competitive than ever with four teams making it to the Dance this last season, Clark is exactly the type of coach that you would want to help elevate the St. Kate's program as she knows this program inside and out and what it stands for.  There's always challenges for a new, young coach coming into the ranks but I feel very confident that Clark will meet those challenges head-on and there's going to be some very exciting things in store for this Wildcat program with Clark now at the helm.

Meanwhile up on the shores of (always cold) Gitche Gumee, the St. Scholastica job opened up on on April 23rd when Jason Schmitz resigned to take an assistant coaching job at UST with Mandy Pearson now at the helm of that program after longtime Head Coach Ruth Sinn pulled the pin there after this last season.  Schmitz, who spent five seasons at the helm of the Saints program, slowly but surely brought this program around since St. Scholastica joined the MIAC back in 2021.  This last season, the Saints went 16-10 overall and 11-7 in conference play which included a huge upset of a Bethel team in mid-January that would make it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and snared the sixth-seed in the MIAC Playoffs.  Though their playoff journey was short as they would fall to said Bethel team in Arden Hills in the quarterfinal round, this was a team that showed a lot of promise and hope for the coming season so I guess in that regard, the timing of his departure is unfortunate.  However, whomever St. Scholastica selects as a successor to take the reigns of this program, it won't be a situation where they're walking in and finding empty cupboards as the Saints will return a good nucleus from this last season.  For the moment anyway, I haven't heard anything about possible candidates and/or whom they may have talked to.  But, even though the Twin Ports may not necessarily be the desired destination for some, it's still a very good, very solid job and a chance to coach a program in one of the premier conferences in DIII Women's Basketball so it'll be interesting to see who St. Scholastica brings in.  

Thoughts On Another Season Gone Down

Congrats to Rosemount for capturing their first-ever Class AAAA state title!

I waited a bit longer than I should have, perhaps, to write this particular article but in a way, I think it's smart that I waited because I truly needed to (1) get all the emotions out from this last season and (2) take a bit of a break to get my batteries re-charged as well.  In so many ways - but particularly from my coverage of the MIAC Women's Hoops scene and D3 Women's Hoops in general - this last season was a season unlike any other and it will leave a lot of good memories for me personally.  

And what a year it was indeed for MIAC Women's Basketball that saw not one, not two, not three but FOUR teams make it into the Big Dance and two of those teams - Concordia and Bethel - making deep runs to the Elite 8 and Sweet 16, respectively.  After years of waiting and wondering if the MIAC might ever get to be in this kind of position, it finally happened.  And all of you that read my blog know full and well how I've made my rants over the years about how the conference needed to ditch the ridiculous round-robin schedule that would allow teams to play more non-conference opponents (read quality opponents).  Now, we're finally beginning to see the rewards of that bold move that not only have provided an opportunity for more teams to get national exposure but have given the conference as a whole a lot more exposure as well.  And I feel pretty confident in saying that we'll see the benefits keep flowing; particularly when it comes to recruiting because prospective recruits coming out of high school now will look at MIAC schools from a different perspective given what these four teams accomplished this last season.  And I think too that the programs currently in the lower echelon of the conference will benefit as well - not that the ladder they have to climb will be easy by any stretch given the highly-competitive nature of the conference.  But there's still a ladder there for them nonetheless.  It's going to be fun to see.  Bottom line here - the MIAC is now right up there with the other big-name conferences and it's just great to see!  

But success certainly wasn't limited to the MIAC Women's Hoops scene.  On the D2 side, three teams from the NSIC, Concordia St Paul, Minnesota St and UM-Duluth all got bids to the NCAA Tournament as well.  Now, as many of us know, the NCAA Tournament on the D2 side is a much, much different animal than it is on the D3 side (and in an unfortunate way, IMHO) as the NSIC teams basically had to cannibalize each other in the process before one emerged to have a shot in the Elite 8.  Minnesota St, for example, lost its first round game to UM-Duluth while Concordia St Paul managed to win their first round game over Northwestern Oklahoma St and also beat Fort Hays St in their second round game before falling to said UM-Duluth team in the Regional Championship in a gut-punching double overtime affair.  And that win by the Bulldogs in that Regional Championship Game may very well have been a pyrrhic victory in retrospect as UM-Duluth was rudely bounced by Colorado Mesa in the Elite 8.  But overall, it was still a highly-successful year for these three teams.  Over on the junior college side, we finally saw Anoka-Ramsey make a return to its glory days as the Golden Rams won the NJCAA Region XIIIB Championship Game over Northland in convincing fashion that sent Anoka-Ramsey down to Brownwood, TX for the National Tournament where the Golden Rams beat Owens Community College in their first round game and then again had to face Northland in the second round where Anoka-Ramsey held on for a narrow victory that propelled them to the National Championship Game.  Ultimately, the Golden Rams would fall to another MCAC opponent - Minnesota West - in a tough one but it was still a great season for Anoka-Ramsey.  

And while I unfortunately didn't get to do much on the high school front this year, it was still a memorable season nonetheless - particularly for Rosemount.  I was at the Barn for Thursday night's semifinal action and while Hopkins dumped Maple Grove in the 6:00 PM slot, the nightcap between the Irish and Rochester Mayo was a wild affair that could have easily gone either way.  Ultimately, Rosemount found a way to prevail 65-64 but there was definitely a lot to like about that Rochester Mayo team and you have to think that the future is indeed bright for that program.  That set up the Saturday night showdown between the Royals and the Irish and while the smart money may have been on Hopkins on this night, Rosemount finally found a way to have the bright lights shining on them for a change as a last-second defensive stand by the Irish preserved another thrilling one-point win.  Congratulation to Head Coach Chris Orr and his staff and team and don't be surprised if the Irish find themselves as one of the top favorites in Class AAAA this next season.  Likewise, congratulation have to go out to Benilde-St. Margaret's and Head Coach Tim Ellefson and his staff on their Class AAA state title win over a very good Stewartville team.  And what can you say about Providence Academy and their shining star Maddy Greenway who helped lead the Lions to their FIFTH straight state title in Class AA and shattered the state scoring title with a total of 5,621 points in her career at Providence Academy.  And you know that she's going to do big things at Kentucky.  Congrats to Head Coach Connor Goetz and his staff and team for another glorious run to immortality in Minnesota Girls High School Basketball.  And a hearty congratulations to Sleepy Eye St. Mary's and Head Coach Bruce Woitas and his staff and team on their Class A State Championship Game win over a very good Mountain Iron-Buhl team.

And, like it seemingly always does, the proverbial coaching carousel comes to the forefront once the season gets completed and there's some notable changes close to home worth mentioning.  Here in the MIAC, Head Coach Don Mulhern stepped down just a short two weeks ago at St. Kate's after nine seasons there.  While the number of potential candidates to fill the vacancy at St. Kate's is uncertain as of this writing, the situation could be muddled a bit as current AD Eric Stacey was recently promoted to a VP position within the university and Deputy AD Madge Makowske will assume the AD position on 6-1-26 so we'll just have to monitor the situation for the time being.  Across the River in WIAC country, the big change was UW-Eau Claire snagging Hannah Iverson from conference rival UW-Stout to fill the vacancy after Tonja Englund announced her retirement at the end of the season.  In my mind, it's a bit unusual for a school to poach a coach from within the conference although not unprecedented.  In this particular case, however, it's something of a homecoming for Iverson as she hails from Eau Claire and it's probably a natural fit for her and there's little doubt that she's going to do well there and will get the Blugold program back into the thick of things in a crazy-competitive WIAC.  UW-Stout meanwhile was quick to counter as they were able to quickly fill the subsequent vacancy with Sam Clayton who comes to the Blue Devils program after eight seasons at Michigan Tech.  Given what UW-Stout has been able to accomplish over the last few years - particularly with the memorable run to the Final Four a mere season ago - I think they've made a solid hire here and they get someone who's familiar with the lay of the land there as well.  And former MIAC member and now DI UST has a new face at the helm after Head Coach Ruth Sinn retired at the end of this last season as they got Mandy Pearson from UM-Duluth after 11 seasons with the Bulldog program.  Pearson; who spent nine seasons at SMU before taking the UM-Duluth job after the 2015 season has had good results - including an appearance in the D2 National Championship Game three seasons ago.  While I tend to believe that there's likely a ceiling as to what she can do at a (now) mid-major program such as UST, there's still every reason to think that she'll have good results nonetheless.  

So that kind of wraps things up for this season on my end.  I'm still planning to attend the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Games down in Northfield tomorrow and, who knows, maybe you just might catch me at some AAU event this spring and you'll most definitely see me at the Midtown YWCA Women's College Summer League beginning in early June.  

Saturday Night Update - Concordia's Magic Carpet Ride Ends As They Fall To Scranton In The Elite 8 3-14-26

Scranton was simply too good on this Saturday night as they took down Concordia to advance to the Final Four.  

Had to take some time on this Saturday night with the Blizzard of the Century (?) aka Winter Storm Iona bearing down on Minnesota and the Twin Cities.  So, as you know by now, Concordia fell to a great Scranton team tonight at Long Center as the Royals punched their ticket to the Final Four with a resounding 67-42 win.  It was fairly easy to see from the get-go that it was going to be hard (if not difficult) for the Cobbers to match up with this team as Scranton possesses not only length but great speed and quickness to go with it.  It was just very hard for the Cobbers to do much in their halfcourt offensive sets and equally difficult to work the ball down low as the Royals denied the entry pass on so many different occasions on this night.  You'll recall that I said earlier today that Concordia's margin for error in this one was razor-thin (if that) and Scranton pounced on every error that the Cobbers made in this game.  

Still, I give the Cobbers a ton of credit for hanging in there and actually making things interesting in the third period.  Down 38-21 at the half, they cut the deficit down to fourteen down 49-35 with about a minute left in the third period but the Royals quickly closed the door for good as the fourth period progressed.  Ultimately, you just have to tip your hat to Scranton.  Their defense is just stellar and there's a reason that their defense was not only tops in the Landmark Conference but also ranked best in the nation in DIII women's basketball as well.  And their national semifinal game with NYU this next Thursday night in Salem, VA could easily be the game of the year.  There wasn't much to cheer about from a Concordia standpoint on this night other than the fact that they were outrebounded by just one at 27-26 and they had the edge in bench points at 18-11.  Other than that, it was kind of on the ugly side with Scranton having a whopping edge in points in the paint at 36-16 and the Cobbers suffering 20 turnovers on this night and Scranton cashing in at the bank for 21 points off of those turnovers.  And Concordia had to endure a rough night at the office from a shooting standpoint going 13-38 for 34.2% from FG range and 2-11 from downtown for 18.2%.  Look, the bottom line is that they just ran into a great team tonight and guess what?  That happens all the time in the NCAA Tournament and this Scranton team just might be the group that takes down mighty NYU this next Thursday night and winds up winning the whole damn thing.  They're definitely good enough.  Meanwhile for Concordia, finishing the year at 26-5 that includes a MIAC regular season championship and making a run to the Elite 8 and knocking off some very, very good teams in the process certainly isn't something to stick your head in the oven about (a saying my dear departed father used with me all the time 😅).  This team and program can be awfully proud of what they accomplished this season and now the bar has been set even higher for Concordia which is even better.  But I obviously wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't praise this great senior group for the Cobbers and everything that they've achieved and done for this program.  Molly Musland, Taylor Safranski, Taya Jeffrey and Leah Lenz, thank you so much for the memories.  

I was also able to watch the Minnesota Girls Basketball Championship games on TV today as well (I only got to attend on Thursday night this week) and there were some very good games played (especially the Class AAAA game between Rosemount and Hopkins).  I'll need a few days to digest everything that's transpired over these last few weeks (and maybe a few cold ones tonight too) and get some much-needed things caught up on my end as well but I'll have more thoughts on everything soon.  

Looking At Tonight's Elite 8 Matchup - Concordia vs Scranton 3-14-26

This Scranton team is 30-0 and absolutely loaded with talent.

I have to admit that I never thought I'd still be blogging at this particular juncture of the 2025-26 season yet here we are as Concordia punched its ticket to the Elite 8 late yesterday afternoon with a 64-59 victory over Johns Hopkins.  So let's take a look at this Elite 8 matchup against perennial powerhouse Scranton tonight.

Concordia vs Scranton (at Scranton, PA 6:00 PM Central time)

I honestly don't know if there's enough superlatives available to describe this Scranton team that the Cobbers will face tonight at the Long Center; the Royals home floor with a trip to the Final Four on the line.  The Royals easily took down Bates in their Sweet 16 matchup last night; building a 40-18 lead by the halftime break and basically had things in cruise control the rest of the way.  There's a reason why many think that Scranton is the only team that can challenge NYU for the whole ball of wax and why they've been consistently ranked right behind NYU all season long.  Even though the final NPI rankings had the Royals at the number four spot, they're obviously the real deal and there's a reason that they're a pristine 30-0 after last night's win against Bates.  I'm not going to go out on a limb and say that they're the DIII Women's Basketball version of the 1985 Chicago Bears (that MIGHT be reserved for NYU) but they're pretty damn close to it.  They dominated the Landmark Conference this year and the only really "close" game they had was when they beat Elizabethtown back in early January 59-50.  Hell, this Scranton team took down the Pitt Panthers in an exhibition game at Pittsburgh back in mid-November for Christ's sake.  When you look at the roster, you'll see a pretty nice blend of veteran leadership and youth but you have to peel back the onion and that's where you'll see why they're so danged good.  They've got FOUR players who consistently score in double figures and they're led by senior guard Kaci Kranson who leads the way at 18.5 ppg and at 5'11", she's simply a matchup nightmare.  Then you've got equally-lanky junior forward Elizabeth Bennett (also at 5'11") who averages 12.3 ppg.  It doesn't fall off much from there either as fellow junior combo guard/forward Katie Gorski (6'0") averages 11.5 ppg along with fellow junior guard Meghan Lamanna who scores at a 10.3 ppg clip.  Another player to keep your eye on is junior guard Kaeli Romanowski along with freshman guard Sophia Talutto.  I suppose it should come as no surprise that the Royals led the Landmark Conference in total team offense, total team defense and margin of victory (38.9 to be exact in that department).  They're tops in team FG percentage, team three-point FG percentage, team offensive rebounds, turnover margin and assist/turnover ratio.  And they were second in team free throw percentage as well so there just simply aren't many weak spots - if any - when it comes to this group.  I'm just going to be honest here:  If you thought Concordia's margin for error against Johns Hopkins yesterday was small (it was), it's that much smaller today.  In order to have any chance at winning tonight, the Cobbers are simply going to have to play the game of their life and it would be an upset of epic proportions if Concordia somehow - God willing - finds a way to pull this off.  I will say this:  This Cobber team has come this far and they haven't come this far just to lay down to a team that's superior on paper.  I know this team will fight until the very end and they'll leave it all out there on the floor.  That's all you can do.  

Will be writing up a recap of this one later on tonight.  Until then - ROLL COBBS!!!!!