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Posted Jan. 23, 2003

Carleton survives first-round battles
The Carleton Knights might need some body armor to get through the second go-round of regular season play in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Carleton's reward for getting through the first round without a loss — a variety of injuries ranging from contusions to sprains to fractures to concussions, as three players have missed time in just this past week.

Yet the maladies may be a blessing in disguise. Carleton, which fellow MIAC coaches say is the most balanced team in the conference, has gotten contributions from everyone.

Only four Knights have played in every game, but 10 have averaged 10 minutes per game. No one is averaging more than the 11.5 points per game of freshman reserve Meghan Vig, but eight players are tossing in at least six points per game. Survival has been the story line.

"That's what it is," said head coach Tammy Metcalf-Filzen, who earned win No. 100 at Carleton when the Knights downed Bethel on Wednesday. "That's why we've been able to overcome this. We have four options at the post and five at the guard positions. Because of all of the injuries, we've put more people on the floor than we would have if we had been healthy."

Metcalf-Filzen came to the school six years ago and to that point, the program had managed only one winning season in its history. The turnaround is virtually complete, as Carleton has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons and has put itself in good position to make a run at a championship.

"This year's seniors are the ones that really got us rolling," said Metcalf-Filzen of Angie Grabowski, Karissa Kramer, Cara Jones, and Karen Fricke, above, with whom the team's record is 76-21. "We had seven players when I came in and we started with just working on fundamentals. It was kind of nice, because everything that you did here was good, since there was no history. Each year we get more experienced and understand things a little bit better."

Teams are having trouble understanding the Knights because of all the matchup problems they create. Vig plays ever position except point guard. Fricke, sidelined by a stress fracture, is bigger than most centers at 6-2. Jones is a gritty competitor who is also a soccer goalie and outfielder on the softball team.

"Versatile, rangy, and athletic," is how Metcalf-Filzen describes them.

Two seasons ago Carleton lost at Nebraska Wesleyan in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and last season, the Knights their lost their second-round game at Chapman. Carleton opened this season by beating Chapman, which may be a sign that better things are to come

"Last year we were prepared and ready, but we just didn't play well," said Metcalf-Filzen. "This year, we're not worried about the end of the season yet."

That's because Gustavus Adolphus and St. Benedict are right on their heels. The Gusties and Knights each beat St. Benedict by a point on their home floor, but the Knights ended the Gusties' 21-game regular season win streak with a 10-point road triumph last Monday to claim a tiny advantage.

"Their experience showed," said Gusties coach Mickey Haller, whose team trimmed a double-digit deficit against Carleton to two points with four minutes remaining but could not complete the comeback. "I'm glad how we came back against them. We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen. We were very tight in the first 20 minutes. We're not used to playing with that kind of noise (from the home crowd) in our gym."

Gustavus wears teams out with a very physical defense, implemented a few seasons ago when assistant coach Aaron Kahl convinced Haller that something was needed to push the Gusties up from their usual fourth and fifth place finish in the conference.

"We force other teams out of their games," said Haller, a full-time CPA who charts among other things, a defensive effiency rating that measures possessions versus points. "We exasperate teams with it. It is intense and in-your-face."

Case-in-point was the 43-42 win over CSB, in which the Gusties limited the Blazers, a team that was averaging 81 points per game, to 47 shots, 17 baskets, and 19 turnovers.

"That game reinforced that we could play with teams like them," said Haller. "We beat them two out of three games last year, so we walked in confident and more relaxed (then against Carleton). We played under control and controlled the tempo of the game."

Offensively, the Gusties are reliant on 6-2 senior center Kelly Etzel and junior guard Angie Peterson, right, who combine to average 27 points per game. Everyone else contributes in multiple fashions, such as junior point guard Kate Sandvig, who at 5-2 grabbed nine rebounds against a St. Benedict team that has 11 at 5-11 or taller.

"My team is very unselfish," Haller said. "It's not about minutes or points with them. They've found that the more you give, the more you receive."

What the Gusties hope to get in the end is a spot in the NCAA Tournament. That won't be easy though. It always seems that at the end of the season, the usual teams find their way to the top.

"A big part of this league is getting over the ghosts of the past," Haller said.

CSB has some ghosts of its own to get past, even though it is a perennial favorite in league play. The Blazers had chances to win both games they lost in the final seconds, but did not come through.

"When you get down to one or two possessions, it just shows how close it is from first to third place," said CSB coach Mike Durbin, whose team had not lost back-to-back conference games in his previous 16 seasons as head coach. "I'm not surprised that the games were that close and that tough. The mood of our team is fine. We try to keep everything in perspective. My seniors (guard Michelle Barlau, an All-American candidate, and forward Danni Hannon) have helped me do that."

The Blazers are well known for that approach to the game. The reality of what does take place on the court though is that at least one and possibly two of these three teams, will be denied an NCAA bid. All three coaches take issue with that.

"It's very unfortunate how the teams are selected," Durbin said. "There are three teams in our conference that should be in the Top (50). I think you could ask a lot of coaches and I don't think that anyone would want to come to the upper midwest to play St. Benedict, Carleton and Gustavus."

MISERI LOVES COMPANY: With 40 points in a loss to Marywood, Misericordia's Willie Chandler moved into 11th place on the all-time D-III scoring list with 2,511 points. Andre Foreman of Salisbury State is the all-time leading scorer at 2,940 points, a mark Chandler likely won't catch. Chandler does have a decent chance to reach second place, which is held by ex-NBA and Christopher Newport guard Lamont Strothers with 2,709.

Chandler's teammate, Jason Perry, has 1,433 points and is the third all-time leading scorer at Misericordia. Together, they are now the third-highest scoring tandem in D-III history with 3,944 combined points, trailing only Phil Dixon/Al White (Shenandoah), 4,300 points; and Foreman/Jamie Gosweiler (Salisbury State), 4,037.

CALL US WHEN YOU REACH 80: This columnist is located right in the heart of Huskies country, so we saw much the local and national media attention given to the University of Connecticut's breaking of the Division I women's win streak record. We didn't hear or see any media point out that the actual NCAA record is held by a Division III team. How soon people forget about Washington University's 81-game win streak. Even the second-longest women's streak belongs to Division III — a 60-game tear belonging to Capital.

STREAK-BUSTERS! Speaking of Capital and streaks, an impressive run came to an end earlier this week when Heidelberg downed Capital, 56-54 on Jan. 18. The win snapped the Student Princes' 27-game losing skid. Brianna Hartman hit a layup with seven seconds left to break a 54-54 tie, giving Heidelberg its first win over Capital since Feb. 24, 1990.

RISING STARS: In the first five years, the women's basketball program at Stephens College won a total of four games, including a four-season stretch in which they lost 71 of 72 contests. This season, the Stars already won six, and notched their first triumphs over Division III teams by defeating Alverno and Principia in the past week.

Located in Columbia, Mo., right in the shadows of the University of Missouri, much of the town isn't even aware that the small women's fine arts college even had an athletic program.

Senior forward Jessica Platt recently cleared a milestone, scoring her 1,000th point in a win over Central Bible. The team's top two players are both freshmen — Sara Byrne and Emily Sharp. Neither was going to play this season because of the program's reputation, but first-year coach Kevin Giese, who literally went dorm-to-dorm to recruit, convinced them that things could change. Because of its independent status, Stephens ends up playing most of its games against theology schools.

"This team has come a long way," said Giese, who formerly coached at Dubuque. "We're still learning how to win here."

SENATOR HARRIS? Simpson has a player doing his best Bill Bradley impersonation — Jesse Harris, a candidate for both a Rhodes Scholarship and IIAC Player of the Year honors. Harris, who has a 3.967 GPA in his double-major of history and political science, is averaging nearly 13 points and seven rebounds per game for Simpson, which is 11-3 and 6-1 in league play.

HELP! We're trying to help out a reader who wants to know about homecourt winning streaks for men's and women's Division III basketball, both current and all-time. If anyone out there knows an answer or has a guess that their streak is longest, shoot us an e-mail.

Notes for Around the Nation are compiled with the help of sports information directors across the country. If you have suggestions or information for this column, please send it to mark@d3hoops.com.

Previous columns
2007-08 columns
March 6: Faith restored
Feb. 27: John Jay, Cinderella
Feb. 21: No safety net
Feb. 14: Ursinus better enough
Feb. 8: Hope-TMC on collision course
Jan. 31: Plattsburgh's big shot
Jan. 24: UMD answers call
Jan. 18: Like Bosko, like son
Jan. 11: Keystone stakes
Dec. 13: Unstoppable
Dec. 7: UWW aiming deeper
Nov. 30: Coach's shadow lingers
Nov. 15: Strong duo
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