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RIPON, Wis. – The league’s top four teams will fight for a spot in the NCAA Tournament starting on Friday afternoon at the 2012 Midwest Conference (MWC) Men’s Basketball Tournament. St. Norbert will serve as host to the tournament after a near perfect 17-1 mark in conference play during the regular season and aims to defend its 2011 tournament title.
Monmouth earned the number two seed and will square off against third seeded Lake Forest at 5:00 p.m. which will be followed by fourth seeded Carroll taking on host St. Norbert at 7:00 p.m. at the Schuldes Sports Center.
St. Norbert enters the 2012 tournament as the top seed and will defend its back-to-back titles on home court. The Green Knights enter the tournament as one of the most well-rounded ranking tops in the league in scoring defense (53.5 ppg) and third in scoring offense (69.8 ppg) while outrebounding opponents by almost five rebounds per game. Krista Pelky leads the offensive charge leading the conference in scoring average (18 ppg), shooting 48% from the field and hitting 52% of her chances behind the arc. Tasha Giese is seventh in the conference in rebounding (7.4 rpg) while also averaging 8.9 points per contest and blocking 37 shots (second in MWC). Jamie Kuhl (12.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Krista Hawkinson (11.3 ppg, 49% fg) also average double figures to fuel a potent offense. The Green Knights also lead the league in field goal percentage (45%), assists (16.1) and check in third at free throw shooting (72%).
Monmouth took the Green Knights down to the wire last season, losing in overtime in the championship game, and will look to claim its first MWC Tournament title in school history. Monmouth enters the tournament averaging the second most points per game (73.7) which includes a 127 point effort on January 7th against Knox. Haley Jones leads the way for the Fighting Scots averaging 15.7 points per game (third in MWC) and shoots 50% from the field in just over 30 minutes of action a night. Marla Willard (9.1 rpg) and Zipporah Williams (8.8 rpg) rank second and third, respectively, in the league in rebounding for a team that averages over 37 rebounds a night. Willard is among the league leaders with eight double-doubles this season as she nearly averages one, scoring 10.8 points per game. Williams also averages double-figure points per game (11.7) while Lauren Kellen leads the team with 70 assists while averaging 5.4 points per game.
Lake Forest aims for its first MWC Tournament championship since the 2006-07 season and will rely on strong defense and timely scoring to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Foresters average 66.5 points per game and is fresh off setting a school record when they scored 116 points in a February 15th win over Knox where they pulled down a league-high 81 rebounds. Sam Schuring leads the offensive charge averaging 12.8 points per game while dishing out 69 assists and collecting 49 steals. Liz Radtke leads the team averaging five rebounds per game, while scoring 12 points per contest with teammate Gina Ambrose (9.5 ppg) leading the team with 22 three-pointers made and shooting 80% from the free throw line.
Carroll ended the season as one of four teams that finished 11-7 in Midwest Conference play and won out on tiebreakers to make the four team field. The Pioneers rebounded from a slow conference start where they won only one of the first five games but finished the season with wins in 10 of their last 13 games. Janelle Groer paces the offense as she finished the regular season second in scoring averaging 17.3 points per game which includes eight games of scoring 20 or more points. Groer also led the conference with 92 assists on the season and picked up 52 steals. Emily DeNoyer scored 10.8 points per game this season and pulled down 4.5 rebounds per contest while shooting 34% from behind the arc. Breann Maryanski led the Pioneers in rebounding (6.8 rpg) while averaging 9.8 points per game and shooting 58% from the field.