WBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[wmjofva]

1/25/11 schedule will feature EMU vs Bridgewater.  The young EMU players are still learning how to close out games they have won and Bridgewater will want to get back on the winning tract.

With the exception of RM, Roanoke and W&L, teams will be playing for position in the tournament and peaking at that time.

It's good to see Hollins is playing much better this year and the E&H game this evening should be a good one.

Va W is always trouble at home, so W&L must be prepared.  It appears the injury to their center is a factor in the way they are playing.

It appears from the stats that RM shot selections have improved.  The loss for the season due to injury of one of their up and coming good guards gave more playing time to their other guards and it's stunning to see how their shooting % went up.

[wmjofva]

Is Madison Dulaney OK?  Have not seen her in the RMC box score after Christmas.

Madison had a foot injury that needed surgery last year.  She tried to avoid it and play tho it this year...after 9 games it became apparent she had to have the surgery.  This has been done and they are looking forward to  her coming back next year.  Having watched Molly A and Renee play tho stuff last year, she tried but it wasn't to be.

The hard (but legal) floor of RM has taken it's toll on the women over the years.  The men love it, the ball comes up very well, but structure of women's bodies doesn't do well..vollyball, basket ball etc...I have seen the floor affect their play more than any ODAC  defense.

The 20 mins a game Madison was getting  has been spread out among the other guards, as well as finding someone else to run point behind Jennifer(who has played hurt her entire career)  The team has responded very well.

[hasanova]

1/25/11 schedule will feature EMU vs Bridgewater.  The young EMU players are still learning how to close out games they have won and Bridgewater will want to get back on the winning tract.

If there's a winning "tract", what's the address and is it for sale?  Or am I headed down a losing "track"? 

[BH2OFan]

With the exception of RM, Roanoke and W&L, teams will be playing for position in the tournament and peaking at that time.

W&L is playing for their tournament seeding lives, particularly after last night. I predict the RMC-Roanoke rematch winner takes the regular season title. BC has their 3 losses against the 3 teams above, with all 3 rematches at home- I like them winning 2 of 3 but couldn't tell you which ones.

[Bammer]

Disappointing performance last night for the Generals but I would not write them off just yet.  They are about on the pace of last year and a third place seeding.  They did OK last year from the 3 slot.  Lots of bball to be played.  This year's Generals team is unique with Bolton coming back in the second semester and some injuries.  Hopefully they will peak at the right time.  It will be interesting to see how Burkholder does down the stretch.  She has posted nice numbers but can she carry a team in critical games?  It should be a great finish to the season and an exciting time in Salem with a competitive tournament.  Good win for BC last night.  They are especially tough at home.

[whitecaylxx]

"Disappointing" seems to be an appropriate phrase for W & L's season, thus far.  After last year's results, there was no reason not to be close to a "repeat".  One person's slow healing injury should not be "making it, or breaking it" for the Generals.  As I have said before, it is odd that the Generals did not reload this season.  Nevertheless, there is still time to right the ship.  As for Burkholder and Jean Willi - I sure wouldn't count them out!

[wmjofva]

Jordan Burkholder will become the all time leading scorer in Bridgewater women's basketball history and lead them to a very fine year.  Coach Jean Willi has many good basketball players but not as many as some of the other programs.  She finds a way...Jessica Mullen has become a book end to Burkholder but the lack of quality bigs to back up Hottinger is an issue. Their style is to attack with aggresive defense and that is helped by the 'small' gym at Bridgewater.

W&L last year played most of the starters 30+ min a game..that caught my eye; if everyone is back but not in the same mind set or is 'dinged', that really does hurt you...as discussed before, if there are school lmits on getting quality freshmen then it's much harder.  I think W&L players and staff will right the ship. They play smart basketball, share and value the ball.

Bridgewater is 0-3 against odac's best....If you check you will find they havn't beaten anyone that isn't around .500.....Ottawa is 7-13; Manchester 9-9.  However they may hold the key to who is the ODAC regular season champ and if indeed thay can go 2-1 against the big 3...they could be in the fight for regular season championship.  I for one, hope they do go 2-1.as long as it's the right 2-1

[dukeofargyle]

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.

[2RMCFans]

The Jackets earned a big win today at home against VWC: 67-53.  It was a great day with lots of alumni on hand and a bigger crowd of fans than ever.  Way to go, R-MC women's hoops!

GO JACKETS!!!

[Bammer]

Some good games this week.  Starting it off will be RC @ BC.  BC lost a heart breaker at RC so I look for them to return the favor.  I believe the BC guards will be a big enough advantage to offset the height advantage of RC.  This is a big game for BC to show they can beat a tough team.  Their last game was turnover city.  The team that takes care of the ball should win and BC has better guards.  It is great that BC and RMC have such good turnouts for their games. 

[BH2OFan]

BIG BC win last night- tremendous halftime adjustment by the coaching staff. Moats/Goulson had 15 and 12 respectively at the half, finished with 19 and 18. Burkholder a triple-double, missing the quadruple by only 3 steals. Mullen 27 points to follow up her 30 in the first meeting. Logan and Hottinger in double figures. Great crowd- the Eagles have 5 of 7 at home to finish the year which will be a huge advantage.

[wmjofva]

In post game radio show, Coach Willi said she 'challenged' Hottinger during half time to play better , she really responded, going 9-11 from the foul line, showing she was positive going to the basket! 

At the end of the first half, I thought Bridgewater had played as well as they could ..but were behind 40-45.   The defensive change really helped.  It was a total team effort, but it shows what the team can do if Jordan keeps herself on the floor....she has been told that for four years.  On a night she was honored as setting a school record for most points scored in four year period, she may have set another school record.  Willi said she doesn't know if anyone had ever had a triple-double...3 more steals and it would have been quadruple.


R-MC played a complete game as they shot 49.3% from the field including a 7-for-18 mark from three and held a 47-38 rebounding edge.
R-MC Junior Taylor Wieczorek scored a career high 21 points and set another career mark with 19 rebounds as Randolph-Macon Women's Basketball downed Eastern Mennonite 82-58 in Ashland Tuesday.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

First Regional Rankings: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/category/ncaa-stuff/regional-rankings/

[wmjofva]

The first record is in-region record, followed by overall record.

At first I thought they had RM-C wrong, but the first record isn't the conference, it's the "in-region'....that would be loss to Ferrum and EMC (conference).

Great we have two ODAC teams rated; If Bridgewater can keep playing as they did, we could have three going into the ODAC tournament.

[BH2OFan]

Great we have two ODAC teams rated; If Bridgewater can keep playing as they did, we could have three going into the ODAC tournament.

I am new to regional rankings, but I suspect that if BC moves in it will be at the expense of RC and/or RMC instead of in addition to as head to head outcomes (1 down, 1 to go ) with those clubs help BC the most. Of course results throughout the region could have all 3 there.