Good morning to all.  Check out the top academic teams in D3.  Very surprised to not see Bowdoin, Bates, Colby in the mix.  Certainly tough standards though.  An interesting mix though.
Article is on the home page for D3hoops.


Only a couple months to go.  Dont want to wish away the sunshine though. What a gorgeous day in Maine today!!

Congrats to Calvin.  I will miss not seeing our Huskies in Springfield, but Calvin was the better team today. Good luck tomorrow vs either Depauw or Emmanual.  Enjoy Boston. Some great restaurants and sites to see.  Probably a few Red Sox fans around too !!!

USM fans, anyone awake?  10-1  and getting contributions  from several players.  Barring any more injuries, looks like the NCAA tourney  awaits.

Will there be another rematch between Bowdoin/USM?  The question is where will the regional be played?  I think it is not this regions turn but it will depend on who wins and who can /wants to host.  Lets hear some chatter!!

Should be a competitive game but Bowdoin by  10+. 

As predicted,  the gym was very warm at Bates.  Both teams were just about as warm shooting.  Bates in the upper 40's and USM in the 50's  as far as fg%.

Now the Bowdoin -USM  game this Tuesday.  Again should be another great night of hoops in the great state of Maine.  Any thoughts, predictions, etc.??

I had just heard about Coffins injury.  I am sure I speak for everyone that we feel  bad for her not being able to play.  One gets such a short time to play and to have an injury that keeps you out like this is sad.  She is such a fun player to watch.

Bates vs USM on Tuesday at Bates.  I will bring some shorts and a tank top as I am sure the gym will feel like Texas in July!!  Always hot.  Anyone  going to be in attendance?  Should be a good one  as always.

FOLKS!!!  It is here.  Time to talk some hoops.  How will our beloved Huskies fare?  Some new faces.  Tough early schedule.  Games 3 & 4 on the road at Bates and then at Bowdoin.  Win or lose,  great nights of hoops
in the great state of Maine. 

Anyone else  have some info on other  Little East teams? 

Washington University or Hope.  Both great teams.  Saw both games.  Daughter played on 2000 USM team.  Went as a fan this year.

Personally I thought the Wash U team was the best I had seen.  (Fischer, Rodgers, Tucker, etc.OUCH!!)
Take nothing from Hope.  They were/are outstanding.  Love our Huskies but in both games the better team won.  No shame in losing to either.  Just great basketball!!!

Feces Monkey:

I will continue to follow the huskies. 

On to next year.  I know of 3 freshman that plan on attending.  1 outstanding pt guard and 2 combo/off guards, small forwards.  All very good athletes.  All 3 from Maine.  1 took her freshman  year off from playing hoops and just studied.  She missed it tremendously and should be a help next year.  Either Welch  or Samuelson will need to improve as a presence in the post, which both are capable of.   Never know who else might show up or transfer but the 3 that will be there will help. 

They will miss all 3 seniors.  Both Myles and Frost will be hard to replace.  Donna Cowing will be very difficult to replace as well.  She made so many plays that the boxscore  never shows. Whether they are at the level they were this year remains to be seen.  I am sure they will be very competitive.
ONLY 7 MONTHS till practice starts again!!!

Hope was very good.  The hard thing about the polls is there is such limited crossover that it is hard to know who really are the top teams.
I was at the games in Springfield and thought that Hope was the best team.  It would have taken an outstanding game from USM to pull it off and that did not happen.  There were possessions in the first half when the Huskies were in the lead that they did not open up that lead.
All in all a fabulous atmosphere.  I will be in attendance next year regardless of who is there.  D3 womens hoops at its best!!

Marble will play next year.  After playing Volleyball at The university in Orono,  she transferred.  Still has one more year.  The frontcourt needs to get better though.  She plays well but is undersized when coming up against the size she saw this past weekend.

An interesting post from the frontpage on thoughts about Springfield.  Someone thought there was great motivation about Hope getting snubbed to some extent in relation to the ranking and all americans.

Any list of that magnitude with 400 plus schools is educated guesswork sometimes.  No one person can possibly evaluate that many girls.  You know how that goes.  Pick these 15 and someone gets thier nose bent.  Certainly, winning the title puts Hope to the front and would probably get  more thoughts in relation to rankings etc.

Because teams dont cross over and play until the tourney, there could probably be 4 polls, kind of like what the NCAA regional polls represent.  Not perfect either way.  Think of it this way.  You got the big trophy.  I think that is the ultimate prize!!

Wanted to send along a big congratulations to Hope.  I am  a big supporter of USM but I thought the best team won on Saturday. Your entire community should be ecstatic.

For those who missed the weekend in Springfield, I feel badly for you.  What an incredible atmosphere.  Great basketball, fans, etc.Springfield did an excellent job.

Kudos to all the fans that attended.  The Hope fans were great.  Some great cheers. Loved the stretching routine!!

Again congrats.  You are an outstanding team

Should be a great 2 days of basketball.

We actually got brave and blocked hotel rooms at the Best Western in W. Springfield back in October.  Figured they would jack the rates up and we could always cancel if they did not advance.  Blocked 8 rooms and they are all filled!!!

Let the fun begin!!

Go HUSKIES!!!!

** Newsflash**

Looks like USM will host according to a post from Pat Coleman.  No other details.  Should be an incredible atmosphere for basketball again in Maine.  USM/Bridgewater  and Bowdoin/Mary Washington.

Would not surprise me to see Wesleyan or Williams get shipped out as well.  That would leave 8 teams.  Just not sure how they would bracket them.  2 NESCAC's would have to be in the same bracket 1st weekend.  Maybe somebody getting a bye is possible or 3 sites in New England with some shuffling in Mass and CT with those teams.  The NCAA does not like to fly teams at this level if at all possible.  We shall see in the am. 

I will say that I think it was very smart to allow more time to bracket.  Guess the NCAA should get some credit occasionally!!