And Now, We Dance

On a Wednesday in November, I paid a visit to Merner Fieldhouse to go say hello to a women's basketball team preparing for a new campaign with something to prove. Hearing from many people around that team, there was a lot of talk about something special brewing.

Three and a half months, 22 wins, six weeks of Top 25 appearances, three weeks of high regional ranking, 143 loud yells of "THREEEEEEEEE!" and about 872 rants about how good this team is later, this happened.

We aren't done yet!! #NCC #tourneytime 💪🏀 pic.twitter.com/uRqRht1TCB
— Jamie Cuny (@jamiecuny) March 2, 2015

It's been 31 years since the last time North Central made the NCAA Tournament. Just to reference how long it's been, my parents were still in college back in North Dakota the last time this program made it to The Dance. Of course, that team went to the Final Four, a nice follow up to winning it all back in 1983, their only two prior visits. This year's team has a chance to join that pantheon of great Cardinals women's basketball teams.

Of course, it won't be easy; it never is. 63 teams all have the same dream this Cardinal team does. In a few weeks in Grand Rapids, Michigan, one of them will take home the crown. But that's a few weeks away. Right now, the focus turns to the road ahead.

First and Second Round Site

Van Noord Arena: Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI) 

You may note that the championship is being held in Grand Rapids. Yes, this likely means that Calvin College, who is the host team out of this four-team pod, can play in front of home crowds all the way up through the NCAA Championship Game. They've been playing games here since 2009, and while I've never been, it's clearly a good facility since the NCAA is willing to host their championships here.

With that out of the way, let's take a look at the other teams who will be playing there this weekend.

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans
22-6 (11-5), 2nd in WIAC, Won WIAC Tournament

North Central's opening opponent was ranked seventh in the final public Central region rankings, but took all the guesswork out of their tournament chances by beating Wisconsin-Superior on Sunday. This is their 12th NCAA Tournament appearance and second in a row, and they also have one national championship (1996). There's some history here between North Central and Oshkosh, as after North Central won the inaugural matchup in the '88-'89 season, the Titans have won four in a row, including a 95-75 win against The System back in 2012. Looking at the raw numbers, this appears to be a pretty good defensive team that holds opponents to just 53.5 points per game and just 38.7 percent shooting from the field. They force almost 18 turnovers a game (just shy of 10 per game coming off steals). Offensively, they only boast a single double-digit scorer in Taylor Schmidt (11 PPG, but only 38.7% shooting, though she did shoot 35.4% from three). The Titans do, however, boast balanced frontcourt scoring with Katelyn Kuehl (9.0 PPG, 48.7% shooting), Alex Richard (8.9 PPG, 43.2% shooting) and Eliza Campbell (8.2 PPG, 46.4% shooting). These ladies will probably finish above their averages in the next game, as such is the nature of The System, but these shooting numbers on the whole are really not that great. They force turnovers, sure, but how will they deal with the pace North Central plays? And who will guard Tess Godhardt? And most importantly: how will they deal with the bevy of threes that will be launched?

I think North Central wins its opener; I like this matchup, especially after talking with Coach Roof yesterday. So what happens should they play again on Saturday? Here's a look at the other two teams in this pod.

Calvin College Knights
27-0 (16-0), 1st in MIAA, Won MIAA Tournament

One of four undefeated teams left in the nation, the host Knights are making their 15th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2013 after running the table and still only finishing second in the final public Great Lakes regional ranking (Thomas More also ran the table). The Knights have made numerous deep runs in the NCAA Tournament but have never made the final weekend. This year's team might be different, partially because of home court advantage, but also because of their talent. This team scores a ton (80.4 PPG) while also playing tremendous defense (55.2 PPG allowed). The tricky part to stopping Calvin is that you can't just key in on one person. The Knights have four players averaging double figures, led by Breanna Verkaik (13.9 PPG on 54.9% shooting, including an astounding 46.9% from three) and Kayla Engelhard (12.1 PPG on 45.5% shooting, with a 34% mark from three) in the backcourt. Their frontcourt is led by Hannah Acre (10.6 PPG on 56.3% shooting), and they might have the Sixth Woman of the Year in Anna Timmer (10.8 PPG, 56.6% shooting, though a modest 30.3% from outside). All four of these players average between four and six rebounds per game, and Verkaik also leads the team in blocked shots (1.3 per game). Overall, this team shoots 34.4 percent from outside on almost 26 attempts per contest... not quite as reliant on it as North Central, but a lot, which is probably because they're just so good at it. I'd be interested to see how they handle trapping up top of their halfcourt offense. Maybe we'll get to find out. Historically, North Central is 3-5 against the Knights, including losing their last two matchups, but the Cardinals haven't played Calvin since the '05-'06 season.

Baldwin Wallace University Yellow Jackets
22-6 (14-4), 3rd in OAC, Won OAC Tournament

The final team in the pod is also a conference champion, but they did it as a 3 seed, which was probably their only way in as the ninth-ranked team in the Great Lakes region in the final public ranking. This is the 12th NCAA Tournament for the Jackets and second in a row, though this team has never made a Final Four. This is another team that relies on defense, allowing just 56.3 points per game, and opponents shoot a so-so 36.5 percent from the field against them. The Jackets only boast a single double digit scorer in inside-outside threat Audrey Smolik (12.7 PPG on 43.6% shooting) and have three others that average over 7.5 points per game. Clara Lemmon is their other primary inside threat (7.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, but only 46.3% shooting). This team shot a strong 74.3 percent at the charity stripe, which is probably their biggest offensive strength. Overall, they don't have anyone who shot more than 50 percent from the field on the season, which kind of sticks out to me. It's just a question for them now of whether or not they will be able to keep pace with Calvin offensively (my guess: probably not). If they do and end up facing North Central in Round 2, it would be their second ever matchup and first since the '90-'91 season, which the Cardinals won.

I've been saying for the past few weeks that home court matters. That's Calvin's biggest advantage coming into the Tournament, as they scored higher than their season average at home this year. Of course, since the NCAA mandates neutrality from personnel working the game, that diminishes the home court advantage a little bit, though fans will still play a major role.

North Central looked pretty good even though they lost the CCIW title game to Wheaton, and spirits of the team are pretty high. Even though this is a tough challenge, there's no reason why the Cardinals can't continue dancing into next week. It'll take an effort similar to what they brought to Wheaton this weekend, but Coach Roof knows what she's doing. This team will be ready for the big stage.