2007-08 All-Conference/Award Winners

Kate Gluckman (right), who helped build a successful women’s basketball program as an assistant coach at Tufts University, has been named the new women’s hoops coach at Grinnell.

Gluckman replaces Andy Hamilton, who resigned as the Pioneers’ mentor after serving six seasons. Gluckman has coached at Tufts since 2006. In her first season at the Massachusetts school, the Jumbos compiled an 18-8 mark. Tufts bettered that record this season, going 26-4 while advancing to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Gluckman also played basketball at Tufts, where she served as team captain in 2003-04 on a squad that went 18-6, the program’s best mark to that date. She was also a member of the Jumbos’ track and field team and earned All-New England honors in the discus in addition to collecting academic all-conference honors.

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Lake Forest athletic director Jackie Slaats officially announced on March 31 that Tamlyn Tills (right) will replace her as the school’s next head women’s basketball coach. In addition to her coaching duties, Tills will be an advisor/coach for the club golf program and assume administrative responsibilities within the department.

Slaats was the team’s head coach for 22 years before resigning from that position at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season.

Tills recently completed her sixth season at Concordia ( Ill.) and her 13th as a collegiate head coach. Her team finished the 2007-08 campaign 17-10 overall and 13-5 in Northern Athletic Conference play. The Cougars reached the semifinals of the conference tournament and came within one win of the program’s record for victories in a season.

Prior to her time at Concordia, Tills was a head coach for three seasons (1999-2002) at Loras and four (1992-96) at Concordia-St. Paul. She was also an assistant coach at the Division I level for three years each at Marquette (1987-90) and Cal State Fullerton (1996-99).

Tills was also a successful player, scoring more than 1,000 career points at both Milwaukee Lutheran and UW-La Crosse. She was an All-American and part of a national championship team at La Crosse and is a member of the school’s Wall of Fame.

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Carroll senior guard Crystal Hoewisch (right) was named a First Team All-American by D3Hoops.com for the second consecutive season. Hoewisch is the first player in MWC history to be selected to the website’s All-America First Team twice and joins Lake Forest’s Allison Grubbs (1999-2001) as the second three-time All-American in conference history after earning Honorable Mention honors from the D3Hoops in 2006.

Hoewisch matched Grubbs earlier this season when she won her second straight MWC Player of the Year award, an accomplishment the pair share with one other player. Hoewisch proved to be the quintessential all-around player in her senior season, as the 5-9 guard ranked sixth or better in the MWC this season in scoring (19.1 ppg), field-goal percentage (.515), assists (3.17 apg), free throw percentage (.811), steals (2.33 spg) and assist- to-turnover ratio (0.99). Hoewisch entered the year with a career average of 3.6 rebounds per game, but nearly doubled that number (6.2 rpg) during her senior season en route to a career-high five double-doubles.

D3Hoops.com All-America Team

The announcement of the 2007-08 D3Hoops.com Women’s Basketball All-Central Region Team saw a trio of MWC athletes receive recognition, while St. Norbert head coach Connie Tilley (right) was named the Regional Coach of the Year.

Tilley, who will now be on National Coach of the Year ballot, led St. Norbert to a 22-5 overall record and 15-1 conference mark in 2007-08. The Green Knights won their eighth MWC Championship this season and followed the title with a road upset of nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Carroll senior guard Crystal Hoewisch (left), the two-time defending MWC Player of the Year and Preseason All-American, was selected to the All-Region First Team and is now eligible to be voted to the All-America Team. Hoewisch ranked sixth or better in the MWC this season in scoring (19.1 ppg), field-goal percentage (.515), assists (3.17 apg), free throw percentage (.811), steals (2.33 spg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.99).

Howeisch’s teammate, senior center Kim Wickert, and Grinnell senior guard Hannah Wolf were both honored on the third team. Wolf led the MWC in scoring this season at a 20.2 point per clip, wile also adding 7.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.0 steals per contest. Wickert ranked among the conference’s best in scoring (13.0 ppg), rebounding (7.4 rpg), field-goal percentage (.476) and blocks (2.92 bpg).

D3Hoops.com All-Central Region Team

Carroll senior guard Crystal Hoewisch (right), the two-time defending MWC Women’s Player of the Year, was named to The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-Region squad, making her a finalist for the 2008 State Farm Coaches' All-America Basketball Team.

Hoewisch was recognized on the Region 7 team after ranking sixth or better in the MWC this season in scoring (19.1 ppg), field-goal percentage (.515), assists (3.17 apg), free throw percentage (.811), steals (2.33 spg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.99).

Forty total players were named All-Region by the WBCA, ten of whom will be recognized as All-Americans on March 20.

WBCA All-Region Teams

St. Norbert was unable to pull its second upset in as many days, as the Green Knights women’s basketball team fell to the University of Chicago 65-52 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Stevens Point, Wisconsin on Saturday (March 8).

Connie Tilley’s (right) squad had knocked off host and nationally ranked foe UW-Stevens Point 71-57 on Friday to advance to the second round.

The University of Chicago controlled the pace early in the contest, before Stefanie Bunday gave St. Norbert its first lead of the game with a free throw at the 7:32 mark in the first half. The Maroons answered with a 21-4 run to close the half and went into the locker room with a 32-16 advantage.

The game appeared to be out of reach as Chicago’s lead grew to as many 24 points early in the second half, but St. Norbert managed to put together a string of 13 unanswered points to cut the deficit to 52-44 with 8:03 remaining. Chicago scored on its next possession and St. Norbert was unable to cut the lead below double-digits again in the game.

Bunday led St. Norbert with 13 points, while Linsey Propson added nine points. Morgan Strasser and Cortney Biese each scored seven points apiece.  

St. Norbert’s women’s basketball team became the sixth straight Midwest Conference squad to win a first round NCAA Tournament contest, as the Green Knights (22-4) pulled off a 71-57 road upset over #13/12 UW-Stevens Point (24-5) on Friday, March 7.

Connie Tilley’s (right) Green Knights will now face the University of Chicago (21-5) at 7 p.m. in Stevens Point, Wisconsin on Saturday, March 8. Chicago advanced after downing St. Thomas 62-59 on Friday evening. A live stats link to the game is available below.

St. Norbert opened the contest on a 14-4 run led by the team’s lone senior starter, Linsey Propson, who accounted for half of the team’s points on that opening surge en route to a team-high 20 points overall in the game. The Pointers would draw even at 21-21 with 6:46 remaining in the first half, but the Green Knights managed to take a 31-27 lead into halftime as Denise Heuser closed out the first half with a layup.

The Green Knights momentum continued to grow after the break, as the team scored the first five points of the half to take a nine-point lead. The Pointers would get as close as 43-40, but St. Norbert countered with a 15-2 run that all but sealed the game, as the Green Knights led by 17 points with 5:11 remaining in the contest.

St. Norbert shot 57 percent from inside the arc in the contest, while limiting the Pointers to 39 percent shooting from the field for the game. Morgan Strasser and Rachel Hermus added 14 points apiece for St. Norbert in the win.

St. Norbert’s women’s basketball team travels to Stevens Point, Wisconsin to take on UW-Stevens Point in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 8 p.m. tonight. The game can be heard via the internet on the Pointers home station of WSPT, while live stats will also be available (links to both below).The winner faces either St. Thomas or the University of Chicago at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Stevens Point.

Connie Tilley’s (right) Green Knights (21-4, 15-1) are led by a veteran backcourt of All-Conference First Team guards in junior Morgan Strasser (11.8 ppg) and senior Linsey Propson (8.8 ppg). St. Norbert gets considerably younger from there, as freshmen Rachel Hermus (7.3 ppg) and Stefanie Bunday (6.6 ppg) are joined by junior Cortney Biese (7.0 ppg) in the starting lineup.

The Pointers are more experienced on paper with three seniors and two juniors in their starting lineup, although no player on either team has ever played in an NCAA Tournament game. UW-Stevens Point’s offense is paced by senior guard Haley Houghton (12.8 ppg) and senior forward Chelsea Kranz (9.5 ppg).

St. Norbert owns two straight wins over the Pointers, with the last coming in 1997. UW-Stevens Point downed Ripon in the first round of 2004 NCAA Tournament, while the last MWC-WIAC postseason meeting game a year later in the tourney when Ripon fell to UW-Stout.

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Click here for Live Stats

The 2007-08 Midwest Conference Men’s Basketball All-Conference Teams and yearly award winners have been revealed after the league coaches completed their voting following the league tourney.

Carroll All-American Crystal Hoewisch (right) adds another distinct honor to her decorated career after being voted the 2007-08 Midwest Conference Player of the Year. The defending MWC Player of the Year becomes just the third player in conference history to win the award in consecutive seasons and multiple times overall, joining Illinois College’s Angie Sapp Hartman (1996, 1997) and Lake Forest’s Allison Grubbs (1998, 2000, 2001).

St. Norbert head coach Connie Tilley (left) was tabbed as the MWC Coach of the Year for the second time in her career (2003) by her fellow coaches. Tilley’s Green Knights posted a 15-1 mark in conference play during 2007-08 en route to hosting the league championship tourney and winning an MWC-best eighth conference title.

2007-08 All-Conference/Award Winners

St. Norbert’s (21-4, 15-1) destination and first round opponent in the 2008 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament were revealed on Monday, March 3, as Connie Tilley’s (right) Green Knights will travel to Stevens Point, Wisconsin to face UW-Stevens Point.

The Green Knights and Pointers will clash on Friday, March 7, with the winner meeting the winner of St. Thomas vs. University of Chicago in Stevens Point on March 8. The contest will tipoff at 8 p.m. on Friday.

St. Norbert is making its eighth overall NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since it reached the Sweet 16 in 2003. St. Norbert, who was the MWC’s top seed and conference championship tourney host, won its MWC-best eighth conference title with an 83-64 win over nationally ranked Lake Forest on Saturday in the league tourney finals, clinching the league crown and earning the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA tourney. The Green Knights will look to become the sixth consecutive MWC squad to win a first round NCAA tourney contest.

UW-Stevens Point (24-4) enters the NCAA Tournament via an automatic berth as well, as the Pointers won the WIAC conference tournament after finishing third in the conference in the regular-season. The Green Knights and Pointers had common opponents in Carroll, Lawrence, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire during the regular-season. The Pointers defeated Carroll and Lawrence, who St. Norbert beat twice apiece in conference play, while the Green Knights topped UW-Oshkosh, who was 2-1 vs. UW-Stevens Point. The Pointers were 2-1 vs. UW-Eau Claire, who edged St. Norbert in their lone meeting.

St. Norbert is 0-3 against NCAA Tournament qualifiers this season. The Green Knights fell to UW-Eau Claire (61-57) at home in November and then dropped back- to-back games to Amherst (65-62) and Medaille (67-53) on neutral sites in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in January.

The MWC posted an overall record of 1-6 against non-conference NCAA Tournament qualifiers in 2007-08, with Carroll’s 65-64 triumph over Gustavus Adolphus in San Diego, California in December accounting for the lone win.

#1 St. Norbert 83, #2 Lake Forest 64 – Saturday’s MWC Championship game between top seed and host St. Norbert and #2 Lake Forest was also a matchup of legendary MWC coaches. In the end, St. Norbert’s Connie Tilley (right) added to St. Norbert’s league-best total of eight conference championships, while Lake Forest’s Jackie Slaats (left) closed out an extraordinary career. Slaats, who won 386 games and six MWC titles in 22 seasons, is stepping down as basketball coach, but will remain on as the school’s athletic director. Lake Forest jumped out a 17-10 advantage early in the game, but St. Norbert rallied and took the lead for good on Denise Heuser’s three-pointer with 7:26 remaining in the first half. The Green Knights led 41-33 at halftime and extended their league to double-digits on Morgan Strasser’s layup at the 17:52 mark. Lake Forest was unable to cut the lead below 11 points from that point on, as the Green Knights rolled behind four players in double-digits. Heuser scored a game-high 22 points, while teammate Linsey Propson added 16 points. Lisa Nassin paced Lake Forest with 11 tallies in nine minutes of action.

St. Norbert receives the conference’s automatic berth to the 2008 NCAA Tournament and will find out its first round opponent and location at noon on Monday, March 3.

#2 Lake Forest 69, #3 Carroll 64 (OT) – Lake Forest made sure that retiring head coach Jackie Slaat’s career extended for at least another day, as the Foresters outlasted the Lady Pioneers 69-64 in overtime to advance to their second straight MWC Championship game. Claire Schmidt (right) scored eight of her 13 points in the extra session for Lake Forest, as four Foresters reached double-figures in the game. Carroll’s Kim Wickert forced the extra session, as the senior center made a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining in regulation. The Foresters failed to get off a shot at the buzzer, but got four straight points from Schmidt to open up a 65-60 overtime advantage that would never shrink below three points. All-American Crystal Hoewisch scored a game-high 19 points to pace Carroll. The Foresters will face host and top seed St. Norbert at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

#1 St. Norbert 50, #4 Beloit 44 – Beloit made things interesting with a late rally, but the Bucs were unable to become the third No. 4 seed in MWC history to upset a No. 1 seed, as the Green Knights prevailed 50-44 at home in the second semifinal at the 2008 MWC Championship Tournament. St. Norbert built a 44-31 lead with 6:55 remaining in the game behind the scoring of Linsey Propson (14 points) and Cortney Biese (12 points), before Beloit used a 13-4 run to cut to the lead to 48-44 with 26 seconds left on the clock. The Bucs were led by Katie McCool, who tallied a game-high 20 points. The Green Knights enter the finals with a 20-4 overall record, while Beloit closes its campaign at 14-10.

Saturday's tourney final is available on MWCTV

The 2008 Midwest Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament has plenty of things that will keep attention focused on St. Norbert’s Schuldes Sports Center (De Pere, Wis.) on Friday and Saturday, February 29-March 1. Host and top-seeded St. Norbert features a balanced attack and veteran coach Connie Tilley (right) nearing 500 wins. Lake Forest has its own legendary coach patrolling the bench in her final season in Jackie Slaats (left). Carroll has a seasoned, veteran group and one of the best players at the NCAA Division III level. Beloit features a rising program that is more than capable of winning two games and the school’s first championship since 1997-98. Still a winner-take-all scenario, this weekend’s winner will earn the 2008 Midwest Conference Championship and the league’s automatic berth in to the 2008 NCAA Division III Tournament. The semifinal games feature host St. Norbert and fourth-seeded Beloit, and second-seeded Lake Forest against third-seeded Carroll.

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The 2008 Midwest Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments will be webcast live on MWCTV ( www.midwestconference.tv) for the second consecutive season on Friday and Saturday, February 29-March 1. The pay-per-view webcasts can be purchased as single games ($6.95) or in men’s or women’s three-game tournament packages ($12). Click here for more information from the MWC’s promotional flier or

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After six seasons as the Grinnell women’s basketball coach, Andy Hamilton (right) will resign his post at the conclusion of the 2007-08 campaign.

Hamilton, who recently began serving as an assistant athletic direc tor at the college, will continue his duties as the head men’s and women’s tennis coach.

Hamilton took over the basketball program in 2002 after serving as a long-time assistant coach for football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. Under his guidance, Grinnell compiled a 16-8 mark in 2003-04 and qualified for the four-team MWC Tournament. That season marked Grinnell’s first winning season since 1992-93.

Beloit senior guard Angie Meehan became the 12th Buccaneer women's player in school his tory to reach the 1,000-point plateau during a 77-56 win at Lawrence on February 16. Meehan also became the Beloit career leader in made three-pointers earlier this season and now has 202 threes after fittingly reaching 1,000 points exactly with a trey.

Lawrence sophomore forward Caresse Reiland (right) was named to D3Hoops.com’s National Team of the Week for her performance in a pair of games last week (Feb. 4-10). Reiland recorded the conference's first triple-double in two years. She scored 16 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked a school-record 10 shots in the Vikings' 66-51 loss to Monmouth. She then tallied a game-high 25 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and swatted five shots as Lawrence fell to nationally-ranked Lake Forest 71-60.

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Monmouth’s Ashley Yeast (right) and Grinnell Hannah Wolf (left) were both named CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honorees. Yeast became Monmouth’s first three-time selection after being placed on the District V College Division second team, while Wolf was a second-team selection on the District VII team.

An accounting and business major, the 6-1 senior center is a seven-time Dean’s List recipient and a tow-time all-conference and academic all-conference performer. Yeast holds the Fighting Scots’ women’s season rebounding record (315), single-game rebounding record (21) and career rebounding record (937).

Wolf, a senior guard majoring in psychology, currently leads the MWC in scoring at a 21.0 point per game clip. She also ranks in the top 10 in the conference in rebounding (7.4 rpg), assists (3.41 apg), steals (2.00 pg) and 3-point field goal percentage (.369).

In conjunction with the website’s 10 th anniversary, D3Hoops.com released its All-Decade Women’s Basketball Team on February 4. A pair of Midwest Conference student-athletes were recognized among the 25 players selected as the best in NCAA Division III over the last ten years.

Allison Grubbs (right), a 2001 Lake Forest graduate, was selected to the All-Decade Third Team. Grubbs was a three-time MWC Player of the Year (1998, 2000, 2001) and a three-time D3Hoops.com All-American (1999, 2000, 2001) during her career. Lake Forest posted an overall record of 80-17 and conference record of 56-5 with Grubbs on the roster, including MWC Championship seasons in 1999-00 and 2000-01. The 5-6 guard posted career averages of 17.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

Jayme Anderson, who played her freshman season at Beloit, was also recognized on the All-Decade Third Team. Anderson was a D3Hoops All-American as a freshman with the Buccaneers.

D3Hoops.com will release its Men’s All-Decade Team on February 10.

D3Hoops.com Women’s All-Decade Team

Carroll senior Kim Wickert became the 11th player in Carroll women's basketball history to reach the 1,000 career point plateau., while Grinnell senior guard Hannah Wolf (right) passed 1,500 points for her career over the weekend.

Wolf needed just four points to reach the 1,500-point milestone for her career on January 26 and she accomplished the feat 88 seconds into the Pioneers 78-72 win over Lawrence.

Wickert's (left) 999th and 1,000th points came at the free throw line with 3:07 remaining in the Lady Pioneers 62-47 win over Lake Forest on January 25. The 6-2 center is no stranger to the Carroll record books. Last season she became the 11th player in program history to grab 500 career rebounds and this season became the all-time leader in blocked shots.

Monmouth junior guard Melissa Gorski (right) was named to D3Hoops.com’s National Team of the Week for her performance in a pair of Fighting Scot victories last week (Dec. 3-9). Gorski recorded back-to-back double-doubles in the contests, averaging 22 points, 12.5 rebounds and four assists per game while shooting 40 percent (13-for-27) from the floor.

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Lake Forest ’s Jackie Slaats (right) announced to the Forester women’s basketball team December 10 that the 2007-08 campaign will be her last as head coach. She will direct the squad for the remainder of the season and a national search for her replacement will begin in February. Slaats will continue as the College’s Athletic Director and assume significant new responsibilities as Senior Advisor to the President.

The Foresters are 373-130 in Slaats’ 22nd year as head coach and she entered the season ranked 20th in NCAA Division III history with a .739 career winning percentage. Slaats has led the team to a 208-69 mark in Midwest Conference play and league championships in 1992, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2007. She has been named MWC Coach of the Year six times since 1995, the first year of the award, and has also earned five Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year honors. Before assuming athletic director responsibilities in 1992, Slaats served as the College’s head volleyball coach and posted a six-year record of 100-84.

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With two blocked shots against Beloit on December 5, Carroll senior Kim Wickert (right) became the Lady Pioneers all-time leader in blocked shots. The 6-2 center pushed her career total to 192 blocks, surpassing the mark of 190 set by Jane Stoklasa from 1978-1982.

Wickert blocked 52 shots as a freshman during the 2004-2005 season and followed that with 41 blocks as a sophomore. Last year, she swatted a league- and personal-best 76 shots, falling just short of Stoklasa's single-season record of 79.

The Beloit women’s basketball team ended Carroll’s 11-game MWC winning streak on Wednesday, as the host Buccaneers downed the nation’s 19th ranked squad 78-72. The Bucs used a balanced effort in the upset, as four players reached double-figures, including junior guard Christine Brown (17 points, 11 rebounds) and sophomore guard Mary Brown (16 points, 8 rebounds). The Lawrence and St. Norbert men will be gunning for upsets of their own this coming Saturday with a pair of non-conference matchups against Top 10 foes on the docket.

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Monmouth senior center Ashley Yeast (right) broke Monmouth's 15 year old women's career rebounding record with a 16 rebound performance in a 75-70 overtime win against Lawrence on December 1. Her career total now stands at 819 boards, passing Penny Rowan, who set the previous record in 1992.

Yeast led NCAA Division III in rebounding during the 2006-07 season, when she averaged 13.7 boards per contest.

The 2007-08 Midwest Conference men’s and women’s basketball conference seasons open on Friday, November 30 and continue on Saturday, December 1.

All 10 MWC men’s and women’s teams will be in action this weekend, with 10 total contests on each day. Every game will be available live with full video and audio on MWCTV. Interested viewers can visit www.midwestconference.tv for more information or to order the pay-per-view contests to watch on their computer. A high-speed internet connection is recommended for all viewers.

Season packages are also available by visiting the MWCTV website or by clicking here. A team season package featuring one MWC schools entire men’s or women’s schedule is $69.95 and contains at least 16 games. A league package ($89.95) allows a viewer to watch every men’s or women’s contest on MWCTV this season, a total of over 80 games. Package purchases include the respective men’s or women’s 2008 conference tournament as well.

All men’s and women’s contests can be purchased as single games for $6.95.

Lake Forest and Carroll’s women’s teams are now both in the Top 25 in a pair of national polls following 5-0 and 4-0 starts, respectively, by the two teams. Lake Forest’s perfect start helped the Foresters jump from “receiving votes” to No. 20 in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll, while Carroll’s road win over then No. 13 Millikin pushed the Lady Pioneers from “receiving votes” to No. 25 in the same rankings. The WBCA’s USA Today/ESPN Top 25 saw Lake Forest move up from No. 25 to No. 22, while Carroll leapfrogged the Foresters to No. 21 after “receiving votes” in the previous week’s poll.

Click here for Weekly Notes release

Kris Jacobsen (right), the 10th year head coach of the Carroll women’s basketball team, has amassed more victories than any coach in school history. The 133rd victory of Jacobsen’s career came on the road against a ranked foe, as the Lady Pioneers handed Millikin, ranked as high as No. 13 in one national poll, a 64-59 loss on Tuesday, November 20.

Jacobsen has led Carroll to the MWC championship game four times (1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2006-2007) and won the school’s first ever league title in 2005-2006. The Lady Pioneers have advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons.

MWCTV’s 2007-08 basketball slate debuts on Friday, November 15 when Lake Forest’s women’s basketball team hosts Elmhurst at 8 p.m. The live pay-per-view webcast, featuring full video and audio, is available for $5.95. The Foresters contest on Saturday (November 16), which will start at 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. based on Friday’s results, will also be streamed on the internet via MWCTV.

Interested viewers can visit www.midwestconference.tv for more information or to order the contest. A high-speed internet connection is recommended.

A men’s or women’s single-team conference season package (16 games) or a men’s or women’s league-wide conference package (80 games) will be available for purchase soon. All non-conference games are sold separately as single games.

Carroll’s Crystal Hoewisch (right) opens her senior season the same place she ended her junior year in terms of All-American recognition, as 5-9 senior guard was named to the first team on D3Hoops.com’s 2007-08 Preseason All-American Team.

Hoewsich became the second player in conference history to be named a first-team All-America by the website at the conclusion of the 2006-07 season, which saw Carroll post a 22-5 overall record and win a first round NCAA Tournament contest. Hoewisch paced the squad by finishing second in the MWC at a 22 point per game clip, while also ranking among the league’s best in field-goal percentage (.520), assists (101), free throw percentage (.848), steals (48) and three-point field goal percentage (.354).

Click here for All-American Team

Carroll and Lake Forest both posted 15-1 marks in conference play last season, as the Foresters went on to defeat the Lady Pioneers in the Midwest Conference Women’s Basketball Championship game. Both teams, who also went on to win first round NCAA Tournament games last year, could find themselves ranked in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll with a strong start to the 2007-08 season.

The Foresters received 112 votes in the website’s preseason poll, while Carroll followed with 102 votes. Only three teams outside the Top 25 received more votes the two MWC squads.

Click here for D3Hoops.com Top 25

Carroll has established itself as one of the top women’s basketball programs in the region over the past three seasons, as Kris Jacobsen's (right) Lady Pioneers have recorded 35 league victories in that time, won the MWC title in 2005-06 and advanced to the second of the NCAA Tournament in each of their last two campaigns. After posting a 15-1 conference record in 2006-07, Carroll is the overwhelming favorite to win this season’s championship according to the 2007 Midwest Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. Carroll received eight of the nine possible first-place votes to top the poll for the second straight season.

Lake Forest and St. Norbert followed the Lady Pioneers in second and third place in the poll, respectively, as each school grabbed one of the two remaining first-place votes. Monmouth edged Lawrence by a single point for the fourth-place slot, while Beloit finished three points behind the Vikings in sixth. Ripon followed in seventh, with Grinnell and Illinois College tying for eighth place, while Knox rounded out the poll’s final spot.

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Defending Midwest Conference Women’s Basketball champion Lake Forest enters the 2007-08 season ranked 25th in the nation in NCAA Division III according to the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Poll. The Foresters posted a 24-3 overall record and a 15-1 mark in league play in 2006-07 en route to winning the league championship tourney and a first-round contest in the NCAA Tournament.

Carroll (22-5, 15-1 MWC), who fell to the Foresters in the league tourney finals last season before winning a first round NCAA Tournament game, fell under the “receiving votes” category in the poll. The Lady Pioneers received 31 votes, nine less than the Foresters, and were separated from the Top 25 by three teams.

Carroll is led by a pair of first team All-MWC returnees in Crystal Hoewisch and Kim Wickert, while fellow all-conference first teamer Nicole Baich paces Lake Forest in 2007-08.

Click here for Preseason Top 25 Poll

Carroll is ranked 25th in SmallCollegeHoops.com’s 2007-08 Preseason NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Top 25 Poll. The Lady Pioneers, who finished 22-5 overall a year ago, qualified for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team and won a first-round tourney game over Illinois Wesleyan 86-59.

Four starters from the Wesleyan victory are set to return in 2007-08, including D3Hoops.com First Team All-American Crystal Hoewisch (right). As a junior in 2006-07, Hoewisch averaged 22 points per game, while also ranking among the league’s best in field-goal percentage (.520), assists (101), free throw percentage (.848), steals (48) and three-point field goal percentage (.354).

Monmouth College women’s basketball coach Melissa Jones and five of her players recently returned from a nine-day trip to Europe, where they played four exhibition games and toured sites in Italy, Croatia and Bosnia.

The Monmouth contingent was joined by a pair of players from the West Coast on the trip, which was offered by USA Athletes International. Jones was recruited by the organization to serve as a coach, and she opened the travel opportunity to her team. Taking her up on the offer were juniors Melissa Gorski and Apryl Wishecoby and sophomores Megan Baum, Lynsey Barnard and Libby White. Another Fighting Scot, senior Ashley Yeast, was part of a similar trip to Australia.

Ashley Sims (right) was named the assistant women's basketball coach at Knox on August 13.

Sims was a standout performer at Alexis High School, helping the team to two regional titles and three conference crowns. She was named to the all-Lincoln Trail Conference team after her junior and senior seasons. Sims earned Quad City all-area recognition as a senior.

Sims played basketball and softball at Lincoln College before earning her bachelor's degree in sport management from Monmouth College in 2005. She went on to receive a master's degree in sport management from Western Illinois University in 2007.

The Alexis, Illinois, native was the head seventh-grade girls basketball coach at United High School from 2004-06 and was the assistant varsity and junior varsity girls basketball coach at United from 2005-06.

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Lawrence Director of Athletics Robert Beeman announced Michelle Walsh (right) as the school’s new women's basketball coach on Wednesday (May 23).

Walsh replaces Amy Proctor, who resigned in April after coaching 19 seasons at Lawrence. Proctor compiled a record of 247-192 and won three conference championships.

Walsh comes to Lawrence from William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y., where she joined the staff in August 2006 to serve as the assistant basketball coach and head golf coach. The Herons basketball team finished 17-11 this past season and won the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Upstate championship. Walsh spent two years at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., as the assistant basketball coach before going to William Smith.

Walsh is a 1998 graduate of Swarthmore College, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. A three-sport standout in basketball, field hockey, and softball, Walsh served as captain of all three teams. An All-American in field hockey, Walsh also earned ECAC Player of the Year honors in softball.

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