On to the Third Round of the NCAA DIII WBB Tournament. Who is Still Standing?

There were 442 DIII WBB teams competing when we first tipped off this season. Now there are only 16. This year is a lesson about how big time players step to the front when the times are big.

There are more DIII schools than there are in DI or DII. But, there are fewer Missouri and Kansas grads playing in DIII than in the other two. That is because of the scarcity of DIII schools in this area. Most are clustered East of the Mississippi River, towards to the East Coast and to the South. The schools are smaller and have smaller budgets which limit their recruiting reach. Our local ladies play mostly for the nearby DIII schools. However, there is a notable exception this year.

There were 15 local ladies who made the postseason tournament. Three of those survived the first round. In the second round last evening, the season finally ended for Hannah Ermeling (Francis Howell North/Millikin Univ.) and Gabbi Thomason (Francis Howell Central/Millikin Univ.) when Millikin lost to Transylvania, 71 to 59. Being underclassmen, both of those ladies can help their Big Blue teammates return to the postseason next year.

In the sub-title, I mentioned how big time players show they are big time when the times are big. Sometimes they do that in the big city. That describes the last remaining local grad in the DIII WBB Tournament. Natalie Bruns (Kirkwood/New York University) has had a memorable week. On Thursday, the always very competitive University Athletic Association announced that not only Natalie is a First Team All-Conference honoree, but she is the UAA WBB Player of the Year. One day later, she led her Violets into the postseason tournament. In the first two rounds played this weekend, Natalie made 5 assists, stole four balls, blocked 5 shots, grabbed 20 rebounds, and scored 39 points. That is coming up big in the big time.

NYU will play Trine University in the Sweet 16 this Friday at 3:30 CST. You can keep up with the game time action here.