WBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

BH2OFan · August 13, 2011, 11:08:31 AM

http://bridgewatereagles.com/sports/wbkb/2011-12/schedule

Bridgewater's has changed since I first saw it. When I heard they were playing at the Johns Hopkins tournament I was hopeful for a matchup with them, looks like it is not to be. I would love to see the Eagles play one or two higher level out of conference foes.

hoopstermom · August 16, 2011, 05:38:01 PM

Lynchburg schedule out now:
http://athletics.lynchburg.edu/sports/wbkb/2011-12/schedule

Brookland · October 26, 2011, 10:50:17 AM

Is anybody ready to fire up this string for the new season? Most of the teams have posted their 11-12 rosters (W&L and Guilford being two exceptions I am aware of). Any surprises? Any comments? Any prognostications?
It seems to me that RMC will be the team to beat this year. Bridgewater had some key losses and I don't see them repeating. I think Roanoke lost too much talent and will fall in the standings. I think W&L will be challenged to stay near the top unless they get an infusion of talent (and height) in their freshmen. EMU has most of its talent back and is still a young team; I think they are poised to move up in the standings. Guilford and VWC are question marks in my mind, while Lynchburg should improve its record. Hollins, E&H and Randolph are still building and should fight it out at the bottom for another year.
Overall, I expect a little more balance and fewer blowouts. Of course, it IS the ODAC - there will be the usual tight games and emotional upsets somewhere along the way. It should be another exciting season! Looking forward to some discussion!

Bammer · November 03, 2011, 04:18:55 PM

I have to agree with the preseason poll in most rankings. I thought Guilford would be the dark horse pick but they have already been exposed as a top team at number 2. RMC deserves the top seed. It will be interesting to see how Bridgewater does without Burkholder. They seemed lost without her last year but do return a lot of talent. W&L should be strong with their stout senior and junior classes. Roanoke lost so much and it will be interesting to see how far Moats can carry them. Should be a good year to follow the ODAC.

Brookland · November 04, 2011, 11:11:36 AM

Season preview for the Lynchburg women at:
http://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/women/2011-12/contrib/lynchburg-preview
It's a nice write-up. The Hornets are on the upswing!

Brookland · November 16, 2011, 09:36:56 PM

Hellooo, is anybody out there? Has anyone but me noticed that the season has started? It's starting to feel like a bad SciFi movie!

Nine of the eleven ODAC teams in action last night. Bridgewater and EMU did not play.
EHU beat Hiwassee (a National Christian College Athletic Association team from Tennessee) by 16 despite going 3-29 from 3-point range and 10-19 from the FT line. If I had to take a wild guess, it would be that Hiwassee is not known for its defense, rather than that EHU is poised to become a powerhouse - but the season will tell.
RMC (still my preseason pick for team-to-beat) beat a traditionally good but rebuilding Marymount by 16.
VWC beat N.C. Wesleyan (preseason #8 pick in the USASouth conference) by 12, which doesn't tell me much either way.
Guilford lost by 10 to Greensboro (preseason #1 pick in the USASouth and nationally ranked), which tells me they will be very competitive in the ODAC and their preseason #2 ranking is probably justified.
Roanoke lost by 26 to Ferrum (preseason #2 pick in USASouth), which does nothing to change my opinion that this will be an off year for them.
W&L lost by 16 to a very good Mary Washington team (my pick to win the CAC this year), revealing their biggest weakness as lack of depth. Only 3 bench players, including 2 freshman guards (neither tall). Only 4 bench points vs. 20 from UMW. I don't see how they stay at the top of the ODAC without more bench production - or players.
Lynchburg lost by 4 to Shenandoah (#6 preseason in the USASouth and 2012 new ODAC member). I watched the webcast and it was a very winnable game that came down to the final minutes. It looked to me as if the team is still looking for the killer instinct and sustained focus it needs to put teams away. More mental errors than lack of talent. They started one freshman (who finished with a double-double, 10 each of points and rebounds) and gave significant minutes to another freshman who also played pretty well, so I still think they are on the rise and will be very competitive in at least the middle of the ODAC pack.
Hollins lost a 4 point game to Mary Baldwin, while Randolph lost by 11 to Meredith (starting 4 freshmen - could this be a new direction?)
Anyone else watch a game?

GuyFormerlyPSBBG · November 16, 2011, 10:11:22 PM

I watched the Guilford vs Greensboro game, but I am a USASouth follower. I think the #2 pick for Guilford was probably right, but they are going to have to score more than 49 pts to be more deserving of that #2 preseason ranking. For Greensboro they are going to have to score more than 59 pts to be deserving of their rankings too. I will take the win though, because if Guilford is expected to make a run this year, it wouldn't be hard to see two teams out of the ODAC in the NCAA, it has happened before. Neither team was really impressive it truly was a defensive game. As they say defenses win championships. Both teams will be alright.

BH2OFan · November 20, 2011, 07:26:58 AM

Bridgewater slips past Averett and will get Johns Hopkins this afternoon.
RMC- just bad shooting or do CNU and MWU defend that well?
Roanoke- no one named Moats in the box scores yet, what's up?

Brookland · November 21, 2011, 11:44:15 AM

Roanoke's Moats and Davidson (last season's leading 3 pt shooter) are both out with injuries. I don't know for how long, but their presence is clearly missed...

BigMac · November 21, 2011, 04:10:24 PM

Moats and Davidson are missed by Roanoke but they never gave up Vs UMW. UMW was up by 20+ and the players on Roanoke played hard the whole game.

And yes to BH2OFan, CNU and UMW did play defense that well Vs RMC to stop their scoring. RMC gave up in the second half Vs. CNU and the score showed it. They did play the whole game and never gave up Vs. UMW just could not hang with them. Both games should make them better for the season.

wmjofva · November 22, 2011, 11:42:36 AM

There does not appear to be any ODAC team that will be worthy of top 25. USA south vs and Mary Washington scores show it will take time for the teams to become strong. Even RM with four seniors coming back from last year's run with some votes this year early has to firm up.

RM doesn't have point guard experience nor do they have that defensive stopper they have enjoyed for the past eight years...Merkel, Stein,Williams.

You play offense with your hands and your head, defense with your heart and feet (and mouth). It took last years team to be headed to the worst record in school history..(5-4) before they came back from Fla and started playing man to man help defense and ran off 12 games victories to put them in ODAC lead.

EMU is coming off 113-33 victory off York (NY) at their home tournament last week..they are so young..may be the surprise of the ODAC this year!

Bammer · November 22, 2011, 12:10:12 PM

Guilford- W&L game tonight will tell a lot on how the conference will play out this year. RMC, Bridgewater and EMU should be in the mix also. RC depends on how the injuries play out.

jknezek · November 28, 2011, 03:56:47 PM

Is it just me or does it seem like W&L has just 9 players on their roster? 4 seniors, 3 juniors, no sophs and 2 FY? I also seem to remember they were short-handed last year as well. What will happen next year when almost half the team graduates and you have an entire year that is a hole? Something seems off in Lexington's recruiting lately. It all seems especially odd since the team seems to have been trending upward since that disastrous 02/03 season.

Oddly enough, I'm not overly concerned about starting 1-3 since we did worse last year (1-3 and 2-6 at one point) and the year before (1-3 and 2-6). Seems like they just don't get fired up until January, but the shortage of bodies and the lack of sophs is just really, really unnerving.

wmjofva · November 30, 2011, 09:46:54 AM

The good news for W & L is that if you can make the school and team, you have a good coach and you get lots of playing time!

They had one freshmen last year..it appears she isn't back so that's why there are no sophs.

jknezek · November 30, 2011, 10:19:49 AM

Quote from: wmjofva on November 30, 2011, 09:46:54 AM
The good news for W & L is that if you can make the school and team, you have a good coach and you get lots of playing time!

They had one freshmen last year..it appears she isn't back so that's why there are no sophs.

Unfortunately part of coaching in college is recruiting. While I don't have a lot of ties to the school, I've heard nothing but good things about Coach King and clearly she has had a great affect on W&L's program during her tenure. However, if she doesn't find some more bodies there is going to be a problem. W&L is a tough school and I know when I was there the coaches always worried about the recruiting classes for all sports. I'm thinking Coach King either needs some help, or she's going to have to devote a lot more time to getting a consistent 3 or 4 kids per year so that one or two can drop and there are still enough bodies on the bench.

Right now it looks like one of her past 2 recruiting classes was a disaster, and with only 2 FY players, it's likely that both classes could be a bust. That can't continue.