Great congrats to RMC for the trophy this season! 

If La Haye plays the defense & the jackets put up the FG% they did all tournament, RMC should go far into the NCAA's. Hopefully, their stellar defense can contain Schweers & Co if they meet them next.

We are behind you, Jackets -  We are proud to have you represent the ODAC!

Folks,
This is where a short roster really tells...  5 Gennies with that virulent flu bug last week. Plus, some all-nighters due to a physics test late in the week.  Two in infirmary, one losing it right before game.  Leaves you totally wiped.  In fact, these were impact players. 

...here's hoping most have recovered by RMC game Tuesday.

IMO, The situation at W&L is more a combination of "little things" than anything major.

A. Bolton joining back in the second semester and missing out on all pre-season and the first month of the season.
B. Lingering injuries to Herman with resulting changes in internal dynamics & lineup.
C. Integrating the sophomore class into major playing roles whereas most all the starters last year played 30 some minutes per game.
D. Losing a highly talented and experienced assistant coach to Lynchburg and that position being replaced by a first year assistant with much potential but no experience.
E. Finally the 'curse' of being picked pre-season favorite which only adds a 'bulls eye' to the Gennies back and makes each and every game much more intense and more competitive for them. Witness to this from EMU website after a 1 point EMU OT win: "Coach Kevin Griffin was thrilled with the game. "That's a huge win," he said. "W&L is a veteran team, a really good team. They won the ODAC last year and for as young as we are that's just a big win."

While all the above and more have played a part in a less than expected performance at some games in regular season, I will agree with Bammer that W&L is in better shape than last year and placing themselves into a potential third seed from which they won it all last year. Hopefully, Coach King can get back to playing the same team that 'brung 'em there' last year. I believe W&L has one of the best 1 through 5 lineups in the conference.

These young ladies are a group of intense, hardworking overachievers and Coach King knows her business. Providing the focus & the chemistry holds true and the healing continues, IMO the Gennies will be a much harder team to beat in the tournament then they have been in the regular season so far.

Yes; awesome, Meg!

The Gennie's Class of 2012 has been very, very good to us, the basketball fans...

Quote from: jknezek on December 06, 2010, 03:50:50 PM
W&L is always going to have some issues recruiting, although you'd think it would be easier with small squads like basketball than large squads like football. That being said, I am concerned about the lack of freshman this year. I was hoping to see some carry over from last year into a little more recruiting. Of course, from what I remember about my own recruitment for soccer in the mid 90s, W&L didn't really recruit. Or maybe I just wasn't a priority  .

The fact of the matter is, the way the school works is you get in first, and then the coach is going to worry about whether you can play or not. There isn't going to be a whole lot of help getting a kid in the door because, frankly, the admin really isn't all that interested if you can improve the teams. If you are borderline, then being an athlete helps break a tie with another admin candidate, or provides you with the slightest advantage. But if you don't have the grades/test scores/extra-curriculars/alumni parents  , etc., no coach begging or pleading is going to do you any good.

Now don't get me wrong, I know that's how a lot of D3 schools work and they have excellent athletic programs. So I'm not claiming that W&L is all that different since we actually DO have an excellent athletic program (just not in the major sports most of the time!). But I do feel for the coaches when they see a kid that is a great player, wants to come to W&L, but is outside of the top 10% of their class and only has good SAT scores. Cause that poor coach knows that kid is going to be lining up somewhere else. Of course, I also feel bad when they see the kid who has the whole package and then decides to go try and walk on at Wake or Vandy or Duke and ends up playing intramurals quite happily throughout their college career!

Ah well. Lightning in a bottle last year and we definitely have the pieces to make another run this year. If we stay healthy. Some depth would be wonderful, but I'm just not holding my breath!

jknezek; You are very right.  IMO - The recuiting challenges & difficulties will not change at W&L for the coaches, despite ODAC Championship wins... at W&L- why would coaches spend many hours recruiting even within in the academic top 10% of high school athletes, when even this is in itself is no guarantee of admission?

BH20FAN- You are very right, in some cases! Still -  every D/III school is different regarding admissions. I have been told that the W&L admissions office is quite antagonistic to any idea of coaches coming in to persuade them to accept any athletic recuits at all.  The coaches sweat out the admissions decisions along with the recruits.

I repost below what I said last February as regards the subject of W&L recruiting:
Quote from: whitecaylxx on February 10, 2010, 11:42:36 am
I don't think W & L gets a recruiting pass just because they demand high SAT scores.  More and more females (and males ) are playing AAU and League Ball.  There is a ton of talent out there - plus the players have the added bonus of brains to go with the brawn.  You have to play to your strengths.  I agree, though, that playing a basketball season and maintaining good grades at a school like Washington and Lee would be a definite challenge for any athlete.
Bammer:
Not a pass, just a tougher job than the rest of the league's coaches have to perform.  Lots of talented high schoolers and many current ODAC players could not get into W&L.  Also I do not recall 1 transfer suiting up for the Lady Generals ever.  The availability of transfers has certainly helped out the Maroons this year.  I am not complaining, just pointing out what an outstanding job that Coach King and Coach Pyzik have done and continue to do.  This team is in third by 1 1/2 games late in the season.

-------------------
Bammer, I am going to have to agree with you, despite caylxx's excellent point that so many more students are now playing extracurricular sports. Even so, numbers don't lie. From a strictly mathematical point of view, it's a widely known fact that those students who are presently applying to college in the USA are made up of roughly 60% women and 40% men.

For a college that admits, let's say, an 80% of its applicants (the average of the acceptance rates for 9 of the 11 ODAC colleges), the pool of possible talented athletes is pretty deep, and the recruiting coach can be relatively secure that his/her often highly decorated high school athletic prospect who is a good 3.0-3.5 GPA student will be accepted and come to play in his/her program.

On the other hand, if there is a college which admits only 20% of its applicants, (W&L's approximate acceptance rate) this issue is even more complicated by the fact that the top academic schools in the country can skim off the top academic women to achieve their 50% ratio of women to men.  Which they do.

Do the math. At W&L, which does have a student gender ratio of about 50%/50%, men would then be getting in at a rate of about 25% to the 16% of women who gain acceptance to make up that total average of 20%, because of the higher number of women that apply.  Which leaves the women's coach in schools such as these recruiting the necessarily smallest number of academically qualified athletes.  

The statement that the players "have the added bonus of brains to go with the brawn" is a good one, except that it begs the point of the original post: which is whether or not the W&L coaches have a harder time recruiting and placing 11 very athletically gifted young women on the floor to field every position in basketball or in any in other sport than do the other coaches in the ODAC.  

Further, I agree that Coaches King and Pyzik have done an exceptional job with this team.

Yes; it was a tough loss. Didn't make the game but streamed it from home.

From what I could make out several factors were in play. Gennies shots just not falling either half- in the 30 % range for both FG & trifectas vs 52% for the Jackets. Big differential in RB's- +11 for the Jackets.  Herman went down on leg that was injured in postseason about 3 minutes into game & played no more after this, so the Generals had no defensive or offensive answer to Jackets young post players for 37 minutes of the game. The Gennies short bench is even shorter in low post with the only center injured and Becca still finishing up her semester at Duke, especially when our many talented backcourt players' shots aren't falling.

True, Crenshaw gym is admittedly a hard place to play.  In checking the boxscore it's interesting to note that each team had 20 TO's and there were almost 40 fouls in the game (pretty equally distributed between the teams). That's an average of 2 referee whistles per minute. Sure can be difficult for either team to enter into a flow in that type of game. Still, all props go to the Jackets, who did a much better job of shooting than the Generals this time around.

Regarding Hollins- this is a great development. Every year brings a new dynamic to the ODAC & it is great to see that Hollins has some new talent coming up. This can only strengthen the conference as a whole. 

Congrats to RMC on their win over UMW! 2 ODAC wins over a ranked opponent should draw some attention to this conference.  Roy had a real nice game. Trust that La Haye will use her talent to the fullest.

Interesting that RC lost to UMW yesterday, though Moats put up some impressive points & lived up to her D1 rep from last year in that game.

Bammer,
Though at present the Gennies are short handed, these two games proved that the W&L run to the Championship last year was not a fluke. This team looks good to go with this year's balanced attack. Real exciting to watch. Playing the top teams – win or lose - always pays off in the long run.  I will be interested to see how CNU fares over Messiah next- another ranked opponent.

Ingram's a fierce, intense competitor. She had a great game-  an all-around player that does it all;  has the classic shooters' mentality- she's just going to keep shooting  'til she get her points each game (& she does!) Scores , dishes out assists, picks pockets & even  goes up for the block. Katy Wilson is fearless & as clutch as it comes. Kari Ann had a nice night- I love to see her go off on a trifecta tear like that.

Real nice to have so many scoring options- Yep; I'm pretty confident as well going into conference. The only concern is the short roster. So - Hope everyone stays healthy.

54-49 W&L over MWU.  GREAT game defensively for both teams – real low scoring first half ending at W&L 18- MWU 11.  

Amazing performance from Meg Ingram, Kari Ann Pfannanstein & Rachel Warrick who lit it up for a combined 42 points. UMW's guard Rachel Martin poured in 23 points for the Eagles. Seemed like it was Martin vs. W&L in the second half!

W&L up by as much as 16 buckets at one point over the Eagles - the 17th ranked team in the country.  Held the Eagles to 36% shooting...Gennies also had a 19 of 20 performance from the charity stripe. All this with Bolton absent attending Duke and Herman ailing from a knee injury!

Kudos to all the young ladies- way to go in first one out of the gate!

Coach Applebury is one stellar coach, there is little doubt.  Factors to consider: How will the defense fair against the Eagles? The short bench is talented but is it ready? The subs will need to make a difference each and every time they hit the floor.

The Gennies do not have a great record in opening season games, but hopefully with returning everyone and the amazing chemistry that is with any luck still on the team, the Gennies will break out of the gates at a run.  

No doubt that Becca's absence will be felt.  Who will step up? Allie Long is indefatigable at the point – unselfish, with great court vision. Herman can make - or break games; she can be; has been; virtually unstoppable. Ingram is an intense & gutsy player who will light up the scoreboard for double digits every time.  Pfannenstein is as unselfish as it comes and can and does kill you with her 3 point shot.  

Still, last year we saw the Gennies playing exhausted in the first round of NCAA's because of CN's coach sending in MANY fresh talented legs every 3 minutes from their deep and wide bench.  

In 5 minutes the moment we have been waiting on since last year will begin.......

Quote from: hoopstermom on March 15, 2010, 07:07:49 PM

Agree, great showing for the ODAC, and I'm definitely rooting for an all ODAC men's final, but Guilford is in North Carolina.

Good catch hoostermom, Guilford is in North Carolina.

I realize I'm splitting hairs here, but The Old Dominion Athletic Conference does refer to the Old Dominion, which is NOT North Carolina! Never a bad thing to draw attention to the talent here in the South.

So, here's hoping that one or both ODAC teams play in the men's final.  I maintain it's one of the strongest conferences in the country...

CNU is no longer undefeated. Both CNU and Marymount were downed in the Sweet 16:
CNU by Rochester and Marymount by Hope.

For Virginia on the brighter side, ODAC Men's teams RMC and Guilford are still smokin': they're both in the final four on opposite sides of the bracket, though EMU fell in the elite eight:
http://www.d3hoops.com/notables

Shows real well for the ODAC!

There is a great reason the CNU team is undefeated. Against both of the ODAC teams (despite Roanoke's two D-1 transfers,) CNU just had too many weapons.

Captains went a legit 12 out of 14 deep – plus great coaching by Carolyn Hunter. She ran a full court press every minute of the game against the Gennies, who put only 7 players on the court for the first 38 minutes. Hunter sent in fresh legs from the CNU bench every 3-4 minutes.  Captains were up by 16 at the half and won over W&L by 17 points; 51-68. Still, the Gennies held Schweers to 16 points and the Captain's biggest scorer in the game was Alysa Kerr with 17.  Unsurprisingly, the Gennies, exhausted after the relentless pressure, ran out of legs but still played better in the second half than in the first half. The Gennies held CNU to pretty close to the same scoring margin as they had in November: 17 points.  Allie Long played an amazing 38 minutes with full court pressure.

Unfortunately; the #1 ODAC team, Roanoke, fared even worse than the Generals against CNU tonight.  

Although senior Caitlyn Long scored 28 points, no other RC players put up double digits.  Caitlyn will be sorely missed next year for the Maroons. For CNU, Kerr (not Schweers) put up 24 points in the game and Schweers had a double-double against RC (the only one for any team in the NCAA first round weekend) with 18 points and 11 RBs.

Roanoke's only leads of the game were a few 2 point leads early. By half, CNU was up by 17 points: 42-25, and they finished out by downing the Maroons by 24 points: 72 to 48.

Best of luck to the CNU Captains for the rest of the way. Sure would be good to have a Virginia team win it all this year!

Yep, we seem to have some good posts on here for this CNU/W&L game. My final thought is simple and basic: no matter the schemes, game plans or dreams coaches come up with - what it all comes down to in my book is 99% hard work, and 1% fate.

NEVER underestimate that small word "FATE".
Consider:

1.  The game behind the movie Hoosiers
2.  Man O' War versus Upset
3.  The '69 Mets
4.  Villanova versus Patrick Ewing and Georgetown
5.  NC State versus 5 Slamma Jamma
6.  Ruland Gardner versus Alexander Karelin - Olympic Wrestling
7.  USA Hockey's Miracle on Ice
8.  Buster Douglas versus Iron Mike Tyson
9.  Division II Chaminade beating #1 ranked Virginia and Ralph Sampson
10. Division II Appalachian State beating mighty Michigan at the "Big House" in Ann Arbor

It would probably take 10 minutes of googling for each girl at W&L to find out a little bit about all the above sporting events and maybe it might be worth it. They might not win this evening no matter what, but two things are for sure from this moment on for the Generals and their awesome coaching staff and that is...

1. They have EARNED and WON the respect of their ODAC opponents, friends and basketball fans.

2. IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER, so with 99% heart & hard work and a 'lil bit of FATE it won't be over for them on Friday night.

PS...Check out #2 on the above list, so if nothing else, you'll know why it's called an UPSET.

Question:

I thought I saw the RC transfer big girl Moats on crutches, limping in to the Civic Center on Sunday. I this correct? Did she get injured?  It would be a shame going into the Big Dance with 2 ODAC teams, but with one (RC) who is not completely healthy~

Hope I am wrong!

All good tips, wmjofva & Brookland, but you also help out my points.

Playing Schweers up man to man is obviously what would be needed. Still when a guard is as offensive- minded as she is, they often do not specialize in defense much - if at all.

Pfannenstein with her height would keep Schweers out of her comfort zone, but Wilson comes in for fresh legs as well as to body up, as she is not afraid to do just that.  Last game, Wilson came down for a rebound & was dazed when she fell & had a hard knock.  A physical defense on a 5'7 Schweers may give her pause to think.  Playing the box would help keep Herman out of foul trouble, though that may have been the plan for RMC as well, and Molly was still taken out of her game by the fouls.

Also, is the CMU defense as good as their offense? Could be, but doesn't seem as though they have depended on it as much as their sharp offensive weapons to keep them up in games.