WBB: Skyline Conference

jumphigh · January 19, 2009, 07:26:34 AM

Farmingdale State 6-1
Old Westbury 6-2
Mount Saint Vincent 6-2

All appear to be contenders this year to MSMC, Mt St Mary (6-0) has a win over all three but will meet each one at least one more time. Most competive Skyline in a long time (ever). Sorry Raptormania, Bard does not look to be the favorite this year.

jumphigh · February 07, 2009, 07:50:33 PM

Quote from: jumphigh on January 19, 2009, 07:26:34 AM

Most competive Skyline in a long time (ever).

OK maybe not. MSMC (16-4, 13-0) just hammered second place Farmingdale (14-5, 12-2) 64-40! MSMC team defense was incredible, holding high scoring Farmingdale (73 ppg) to 40 points.

jumphigh · February 11, 2009, 04:26:13 PM

Early loses during the Marymount Tourny (played without Leading scorer Meredith Paggi ) did not seem to hurt as much as the win over TCNJ helped MSMC 3rd place ranking.

Women's regional rankings
Atlantic Region
1. York (Pa.) 20-1 20-1
2. Kean 16-3 18-4
3. Mt. St. Mary (N.Y.) 16-3 16-4
4. The College of New Jersey 17-4 18-4
5. Marymount (Va.) 16-3 17-4
6. Staten Island 15-3 17-5

ichouse · February 13, 2009, 06:55:31 PM

Why did Farmingdale play D1 Rutgers?

They got crushed of course, but next game out Kimberly Blakney went off for 49 points.

jumphigh · February 27, 2009, 12:15:17 AM

Times Herald-Record
February 26, 2009
NEWBURGH — When your basketball team has won 96.7 percent of its league contests all-time and has never lost a league playoff game, you have to find new ways to challenge your players.

Mount Saint Mary women's basketball coach Randy Ognibene believes he has found one.

The Blue Knights are the stingiest defensive team in the nation, and Ognibene has changed some of his own principles to keep it that way.

Mount Saint Mary is holding opponents to a paltry shooting percentage of .288, 22 points ahead of second-ranked Elms, and 56 points better than its nearest competitor in the Skyline Conference, Polytechnic. The Blue Knights are holding teams to 48.4 points per game, trailing only national leader Saint Elizabeth by fractions of a point, and 12 points better than Polytechnic. The NCAA rewards the top statistical teams in the nation with a plaque.

"This is by far our best defensive team ever,'' Ognibene said.

Ognibene said his team is not great offensively — the Blue Knights rank 80th out of 435 Division III teams at 69.8 points per game — so he has placed a higher emphasis on defense. The Mount has always played a pressure-defense game, but this season Ognibene has drastically altered his approach.

Mindful of a conversation he had with Marist coach Brian Giorgis, the Red Foxes and Blue Knights have both gotten away from jumping out into the passing lanes and denying passes, and are instead working to take away layups and contest more shots with the use of more "help" defenders.

The results started to kick in a month ago. Since then, the Mount has held eight opponents to fewer than 41 points, limiting Bard to 31 and 21 in two meetings, and Yeshiva to 28 and 27 in two games.

Those are two struggling programs, but the concept works against the top foes, too. Mount Saint Vincent and Farmingdale State are the second- and third-ranked offensive teams in the conference, and played a 102-98 game last week. But Mount held Farmingdale to 40 points and Mount Saint Vincent to 55. Mount Saint Mary held the Skyline's top offensive team, SUNY Old Westbury, to 62 points on Saturday, 17 points below its average.

"They started to take pride in not just beating teams but shutting teams down, going after the national field-goal percentage title,'' Ognibene said. "The kids are starting to enjoy that success.''

The Mount hosts Old Westbury in a Skyline tournament semifinal at 7 p.m. Thursday. With a victory, the Mount will host the Skyline final on Saturday. The Blue Knights have won every championship since the inception of the Skyline in 1999-00.

"These kids have changed me as a coach,'' said Ognibene, a veteran of 29 seasons. "They started to produce results. I started emphasizing defense even more. This group has embraced it more, and they have changed me as a coach, maybe permanently.''

Now 45 minutes a day are spent exclusively on defense, to emphasize three principles: push the play to the outside, contest all shots and box out and rebound.

"Going into the tournament right now, I feel confident and comfortable,'' Ognibene said. "We are trying to guard against overconfidence and approaching the game in any other way.''

kmcmillan@th-record.com

By the numbers
Division III leaders

Field-goal defense

Team Avg.

Mount Saint Mary .288

Elms .310

Colby-Sawyer .312

SUNYIT .318

Chicago .319

Scoring defense

Team Avg.

St. Elizabeth 48.384

Mount Saint Mary 48.440

Amherst 48.7

George Fox 48.8

Messiah 49.5

Eastern Connecticut 49.5

ichouse · March 01, 2009, 11:58:37 AM

Two former skyline members make conference finals! Manhattenville & Stevens both made their conference finals congrats to both. This should show that the top tier of the skyline is not as weak as many perceived it to be. Both of these teams although very good could not reach the skyline finals for at lease the last five years.

jumphigh · March 01, 2009, 12:25:07 PM

Stevens won the empire 8 finals.

I think the skyline had the nations two leading scores in Farmingdale's Kimberly Blakney at 23.3 ppg and Old Westbury's Pamela Robinson at 22.3 ppg. The skyline also boasts the nations leading defense as highlighted in the above story. Agreed the bottom half of the conference is weak, but i believe MSMC dominance of the conference also adds to the notion that the whole league is weak.

jumphigh · March 02, 2009, 06:27:31 PM

is this the year to make some noise? First round game looks winnable. Second round would probably be against host Brandeis. I know Brandeis is very good and battle tested, but I think MSMC team defense can keep them in that game until the end. reasonable chance to make the sweetsixteen GO BLUE KNIGHTS!!!!

atn alum · March 05, 2009, 09:32:20 PM

those who want to hear the Mount St. Mary-Brockport game, tune in at

http://d3hoops.com/audio

jumphigh · March 06, 2009, 07:03:31 AM

Women's basketball: Unselfish Knights ready for Div. III tourneyWhile the Mount Saint
Mary women's basketball team prides itself on playing tight defense, the Blue Knights' offense isn't too shabby, either.

The Mount is averaging 70.6 points per game, which puts the team in the top 13 percent of the nation.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090306/SPORTS36/903060355

jumphigh · March 06, 2009, 07:07:57 AM

Basketball: Mount Saint Mary women have high expectations

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090303/SPORTS36/903030336

jumphigh · March 06, 2009, 07:13:05 AM

NEWBURGH — Meredith Paggi got swept up in the moment quite literally and had no choice but to enjoy the ride.

The rowdy student section at the Kaplan Center charged the basketball floor with the final buzzer on Saturday to celebrate Mount Saint Mary's 10th consecutive Skyline Conference championship, and three young men hoisted Paggi to their shoulders.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090301/SPORTS36/903010335/-1/rss02

jumphigh · March 07, 2009, 07:50:29 AM

Mount Saint Mary wins NCAA tournament opener

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090306/SPORTS36/90306046/-1/SPORTS3607

jumphigh · November 13, 2009, 10:00:53 PM

Skyline conference gets two shots at beating NYU within the first week of the season. Both Mount St. Mary and Mount St. vincent, No. 1 & 2 in preseason skyline voting take their shot at NYU. LETS GO Skyline! lets gain some respect and knock off a top 25 team.

ichouse · November 14, 2009, 08:59:34 PM

11/13/2009 5:24:37 PM
NEWBURGH, NY – With a decade of Skyline Conference dominance in the books, the Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team has set their sights on an eleventh consecutive conference championship and their eleventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. And in listening to head coach J. Randall Ognibene (Gasport, N.Y.), there's no talk of complacency around the Blue Knights.

"It's my job to convince the team that we start the season at 0-0", said Ognibene. "We don't get any credit this year for what we accomplished last season. We have to start from scratch."

The Blue Knights won't have to start from scratch with their lineup as they'll return three highly experienced seniors for the 2009-10 season. Seniors Shannon Sangster (Syracuse, N.Y.), Chrissy Zrowka (Brick, N.J.), and Catie Biordi (Beacon, N.Y.) will lead the Mount in their quest for title number eleven.

Sangster, a second team all-Skyline player and a third team all-Atlantic Region honoree, has matured into an excellent post player. Last year, she averaged 11.1 points and 8.1 rebounds while shooting nearly 50-percent from the floor. This year, with the continued development of her mid-range jumper and a commitment to defense and rebounding, Sangster can improve upon those numbers.

Zrowka, who flourished with the move to point guard last season, ranked 12th nationally in assists per game at 5.8 per contest. She also came into her own as a scorer, adding on 8.6 points per game to her gaudy assist totals. A strong, physical player, Zrowka sees the floor incredibly well and will be counted on for a big chunk of minutes in 2009-10.

Biordi, the team leader in three-pointers last season, is an excellent shooter. She averaged 7.4 points a year ago and was second on the team in assists behind Zrowka. An incredibly hard worker at both ends of the floor, Biordi will need to continue her level of effort for the Blue Knights to be successful.

A fourth senior, Jess Tice (Altamont, N.Y.), will jump into the starting lineup in 2009-10. An athletic, inside-outside player, Tice presents matchup problems for her opponents because of her height. She's also an excellent defensive player and is often called upon to defend the opposing team's best player. Tice set a new school record for blocked shots last season with 54 in 29 games.

For some additional scoring punch, the Blue Knights will look to sophomore Amanda Horvers (Kingston, N.Y.). A pure shooter with excellent range, Horvers understands the game well and can also run the point for the Mount.

Mount Saint Mary is deep at the guard position and will use a number of players in the rotation. Sophomore Sarah Joseph (East Hampton, Conn.) and freshman Charneice McCullough (Wyandanch, N.Y.) are excellent ball handlers who can contribute right away. Sophomore Natalie Garbie (Bayville, N.J.), who has battled back from injury, is one of the better shooters on the team. Freshman Becky Metzger (Point Pleasant, N.J.) is a solid fundamental player and an excellent defender.

First off the bench as a forward will be sophomore Rachel Russo (Trumbull, Conn.). Russo saw time in all 29 games last season and can provide a nice scoring punch off the bench. More of a finesse post player, the sophomore possesses a nice mid-range jumper. Freshman Kate Hartnett (Floral Park, N.Y.) has been a nice surprise to the coaching staff in the preseason. Hartnett is a tough, determined rebounder and also has a nice touch around the hoop.

With a win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons, the next step for the Blue Knights is their first-ever trip to the Sweet Sixteen.

"Sure, we're looking at the Sweet Sixteen, and maybe more if things break right," said Ognibene. "First things first though - we need to take of the Skyline Conference."

The Blue Knights will face a tough non-conference schedule before heading into Skyline Conference play. They open up against a perennial national contender in NYU and they'll also take on New Paltz, Baruch, William Paterson, and Lehman. A trip to the Emmanuel College Invitational looms on the first weekend of the season. Mount Saint Mary kicks off the Skyline schedule on December 1 as they host Purchase College.