1997-1998 MIDWEST CONFERENCE OUTLOOK
SOUTH DIVISION
GRINNELL (1-21, 1-13; away January 23rd, home February 14th)
....1996-97 Scores: (H) Monmouth 65-17, (A) Monmouth 61-45....Monmouth has a 25-14 lead in the all-time series against the Pioneers and has won the last seven games....Scots swept both road and home contests last year in convincing fashion....The Pioneers suffered through a rebuilding year with a completely new team....Grinnell=s only conference victory last year came against former league member Cornell...Pioneers return center Mandi Hill, a Second Team All-MWC selection as a freshman.... Coach Jennifer Wood played on the Pioneers' 1990-91 MWC championship team.ILLINOIS (16-8, 11-3; home January 20th, away February 18th)....1996-97 Scores: (A) Illinois 63-52, (H) Illinois 69-61....IC has won the last 12 meetings in the series and now leads 20-16...Monmouth played the Lady Blues tough in both games last year....Fighting Scots last defeated Illinois in 1991 at home and haven't won in Jacksonville since an 86-79 overtime victory in 1989....IC has qualified for five consecutive MWC tournaments, winning a league title in 1992-93...Lady Blues lost in three straight MWC tournament semifinals (1994-96) and were beaten in the championship game last winter by Beloit....Illinois had three All-Conference First Team selections, including Player of the Year Angie Sapp-Hartman...Hartman has graduated but IC returns junior center Anne Jansen and sophomore forward Martha Vest....With their traditional talent and depth, the Lady Blues are picked as one of the favorite teams again in the South Division
KNOX (14-10, 10-4; home January 30th, away February 20th)....1996-97 Scores: (A) Knox 62-54, (H) Knox 78-66 ....Knox leads the all-time series 28-23 following last year's sweep....The last time either team had swept the season pair was in the 1993-94 season....The Prairie Fire advanced to the MWC tournament as the second-place team in the South Division and finished in fourth place, losing to both Beloit and St. Norbert....Knox fields experience and talent at several positions.....Four underclassmen earned All-MWC honors last year for Knox, including First Team guards Julie Minuskin and Brooke McKinney
LAKE FOREST (17-5, 10-4 MWC North Division; away January 17th, home February 7th)....1996-97 Score: (H) Lake Forest 74-70....Lake Forest enjoys a 5-1 series advantage in the schools
= six previous meetings....LFC managed only a four-point victory last year after blowing out the Scots the year before....The Foresters, one of four North Division schools with 14 or more wins last year, move into the MWC South this season for the first time and should be one of the favorites for the division title...The Foresters return two Second Team All-Conference picks in seniors Jessica Wiehrdt and Dawn Smith.BELOIT has won two of the last three Midwest Conference championships, adding last year
=s title to their win in the 1994-95 season. Beloit defeated South champ Illinois College 76-60 to win the overall league crown and should again be one of the favorites in the MWC North. ST. NORBERT, which matched Beloit=s 11-3 record in league play but lost both head-to-head games to the Bucs, made the tournament field and finished third. With Lake Forest moving to the South Division, LAWRENCE is the best of the rest and has posted back-to-back 10-4 division records. RIPON and CARROLL are expected to finish out the division. Teams from the North Division have won 12 of the last 14 league championship trophies with Grinnell (1991) and Illinois College (1993) the only South champions since 1983.