Women's Mid-Con Tournament: Day 1 in review (TW)

[ORUTerry]

Women's Mid-Con Tournament: Day 1 in review

By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer

3/5/2006

Player of the day:

Western Illinois senior center Zane Teilane. The two-time conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year was simply dominant in leading the top-seeded Westerwinds past Southern Utah 50-37. Teilane had 13 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots.

Quote of the Day:

"I've never seen a stat sheet that looked the way this one does. We had more rebounds (50) than points (40). They took two shots for every three shots we took. I've never seen a game like that." -- Chicago State coach Angela Jackson, whose team fell 51-40 to IUPUI.

News and notes

Misses and makes:

Made shots were at a premium in Saturday afternoon's two quarterfinal games. Western Illinois and Southern Utah combined to make 34-of-96 shots. That total was helped by the Westerwinds' 14-of-26 effort in the second half as they pulled away for a 50-37 win. The second game, between IUPUI and Chicago State, featured even more frigid shooting. The Jaguars and Cougars combined to make 33-of-120 shots (27.5 percent).

"It's our first game in the tournament and everyone is excited and steps up their defense," IUPUI forward Brooke McAfee said. "I think it was a combination of the first-game jitters and everyone

getting up for the tournament."

Feeling no heat:

Western Illinois downplays the notion that it must deal with pressure of being the top seed. The Westerwinds have won the past four regular-season conference titles, and Saturday's victory gave them a school-record 22 wins. But the Macomb, Ill., school has not fared well in the tournament. Western Illinois has lost in the semifinals the last three years.

"People have said all year long we've had a target on our back. We don't feel that target -- either that or we're used to it," Western Illinois coach Leslie Crane said. "When you are a successful program, there's going to be a little bit of pressure. But our kids handle it well."

Tourney mementos:

As he prepared to leave the interview room, Southern Utah coach Joe Hillock asked if he could have the name placards used for him and his players in the postgame press conference.

"All my girls are scrapbookers," Hillock said. "I don't know if that's a Utah thing or not."

Press conference moderator Scott Higgins gave Hillock the placards for all the Southern Utah players.