WBB: GNAC Women's Hoops

[deiscanton]

Well, I was right in that the Saints will be facing a tough first round opponent.  Fortunately for Emmanuel, they will not be at Coles Center in New York going up against Jessica McEntee and the NYU Violets.   (The honor of being NYU's first victim... I mean opponent... went to Salve Regina.)

Emmanuel does go to LeFrak Gym in Amherst to face Stacey Kent and the Southern Maine Huskies-- sorry, Emmanuel, I will have to pick S. Maine in my bracket this time around.  Maybe these young Saints will prove me wrong and pull off an upset, but I don't see it happening from the GNAC Title game box score and based on Emmanuel's performance against regionally ranked opponents from earlier this season.  The Saints will be able to play enough defense to make the game interesting, but S. Maine should be able to advance.

The winner of the S. Maine/Emmanuel game will probably play Amherst, who should not have too much of a problem getting by Babson.  Amherst probably wins this weekend's particular pod to advance to the Sweet 16.

All of the same, I was wrong in 2001 about Emmanuel losing to NYU in the Elite Eight.....

[deiscanton]

... and I was wrong about last night's game as well.

Congrats to Emmanuel on advancing to the second round vs. Amherst.  Another outstanding defensive performance from the Saints,  holding S. Maine's Stacey Kent to 3 of 13 shooting.

My Judges took care of business against W. Conn, and Messiah crushed E. Conn, so it's bye, bye, Little East for the season....

Emmanuel playing Amherst today-- if the Saints pull off the upset, they most likely will get a rematch of the 2001 Elite Eight game vs. NYU on Friday.

[deiscanton]

First things first--- it has been a while since I posted.

I've been following Emmanuel's schedule, and I am glad that they upset Messiah over the weekend out in California.  Unfortunately, it seems that the victory may have been a costly one, as pre-season All-American Iman Davis left the game with an injury 11 minutes into the first half.  Kristin Lebel took over and helped lead the Saints to the 60-56 upset, but I hope that Iman Davis is not out for the season as a result of the injury.  If she is, the Saints will be in for a rougher ride.

I don't know how many Emmanuel games I will be able to attend for the rest of the season (due to my financial situation) but I will continue to check up on them.  Emmanuel will be playing Tufts and Bowdoin this week, so this should be an indicator of where the Saints are in the region.

[Laserty]

My guess is they will win one of those... Hopefully not Bowdoin. Amherst will be their first loss of the season

First things first--- it has been a while since I posted.

I've been following Emmanuel's schedule, and I am glad that they upset Messiah over the weekend out in California.  Unfortunately, it seems that the victory may have been a costly one, as pre-season All-American Iman Davis left the game with an injury 11 minutes into the first half.  Kristin Lebel took over and helped lead the Saints to the 60-56 upset, but I hope that Iman Davis is not out for the season as a result of the injury.  If she is, the Saints will be in for a rougher ride.

I don't know how many Emmanuel games I will be able to attend for the rest of the season (due to my financial situation) but I will continue to check up on them.  Emmanuel will be playing Tufts and Bowdoin this week, so this should be an indicator of where the Saints are in the region.

[deiscanton]

It looks like Tufts defeated Emmanuel-- so Bowdoin should be favored on Saturday as well.    Emmanuel plays their GNAC conference opener against St. Joe's Maine on Thursday.

PS-- It looks like Iman Davis's injury wasn't too serious, as she was listed in the Tufts box score as having scored 12 pts in 33 minutes of action last night.

I already know about the Amherst show    Emmanuel is probably in the second group in order of best teams in the Northeast after the "Big Three" of NESCAC.  (Amherst, Bowdoin, Tufts-- the NESCAC teams that played in the NCAA tourney last year.)  (However, as long as Amherst is clearly the best team in the Northeast right now-- it may not matter as to Emmanuel's status in postseason-- but Emmanuel should be able to win the GNAC title again.)

[deiscanton]

What a time for the Saints to have a really bad game-- the first game of conference play!  I don't know what to think of them now-- give credit to the Monks for taking advantage.

Congrats to the Monks-- first win ever over Emmanuel-- first regular home game GNAC season loss for Emmanuel since the Jean Yawkey Center was opened.  (Emmanuel did lose at home in the GNAC tournament before, and Emmanuel has lost GNAC games on the road over the years in the past-- at Suffolk and at Emerson, respectively.)  However, since 2000-2001, GNAC conference game losses for Emmanuel have been few and far between.

Only good points for the Saints this game:

Iman Davis had 15 pts on a good shooting night for her.
Kristin Lebel had 14 pts-- on a 6 of 18 shooting night.
Pam Mobley had 11 rebounds.

All St. Joe's Maine has to do now is have their best GNAC season ever (i.e. no more than a loss), and Emmanuel will have to go on the road for the GNAC title game for the first time since the GNAC tournament went off the pre-determined sites determined years in advance-- and awarded home court for those games to the higher seeds in the tournament.  (It used to be that when the GNAC got to semis and finals, the home court was not determined by seed, but the games were guaranteed to be at Johnson & Wales (2000-2001 GNAC semis and championship), or at WNEC (I believe that was in 2001-2002 season and 2002-2003 season respectively.)), due to the fact that those schools bid on hosting rights and won them.   

[deiscanton]

Just to clarify..

It's No. 5 Bowdoin hosting No. 23 Emmanuel today....

Interesting mix-up on the front page, BTW.  (I wish Brandeis was ranked at No. 5!!!)

[sumfun]

And what a win for Emmanuel.  Always tough to win in Brunswick as the local support is so strong.  I dare say that Bowdoin won't have that kind of let down when Amherst darkens their doorway, and Amherst has to be careful not to be complacent after beating Emmanuel by 30 or more.

[deiscanton]

Regional rankings have been released by the NCAA for February 3

GNAC leader Emmanuel is ranked #4 in the Northeast this week.

The top three teams regionally ranked in the Northeast this week are Amherst, Tufts, and Williams

Emmanuel has a record of 3-2 against currently regionally ranked teams in the primary criteria, with wins over Mt St Mary (NY) (#6 in Atlantic-- within 200 miles of Emmanuel), Eastern Conn St (#8 in Northeast), and Bowdoin (#5 in Northeast).  Emmanuel has lost to Amherst and Tufts, which are the top two teams regionally ranked in the Northeast this week.

[deiscanton]

Huge win for the Simmons Sharks today in the first round as they have just knocked off the only team in the GNAC tournament to have defeated Emmanuel this season.

Simmons won at Emerson, 85-68, behind what the Emerson sports webcast described as a 34 point effort from Simmons's #33 Juliana Eagles.  The game was very close until the final 4 minutes, and then the Sharks pulled away down the stretch.

The Simmons win over Emerson was the first time that the Sharks have defeated the Emerson Lions since January of 2006.  Simmons was also the only New England Division III women's basketball team to win a conference road tournament game last night (Feb. 23, 2010)

Simmons advances to play in the GNAC semifinals on Thursday night against the winner of the Emmanuel/Rivier contest going on right now-- Emmanuel is the favorite to win that one as to my knowledge, Emmanuel has never lost a #1/#8 matchup in the GNAC tournament-- at least since the days of the 2000-2001 Final Four Emmanuel team.

With the win, the only 2 teams to have ever won GNAC regular season contests at Emmanuel since the days that the Jean Yawkey Center opened up (both wins happening this season) have now been eliminated from the title hunt.  St. Joe's Maine did not qualify for the GNAC tournament.

It should be an entertaining game on Thursday if Simmons plays Emmanuel, but Emmanuel has had Simmons's number over the years if that game happens.   Emerson was the more scary team for a potential Thursday semifinal opponent.

[deiscanton]

Halftime from Jean Yawkey Center--

Emmanuel 40, Rivier 31

Rivier led for the first 10 minutes, but the Saints were able to figure out Rivier's game after that and take control to open up the 9 point lead.

I expect Emmanuel to expand on that lead in the second half and advance to Thursday's semifinal against Simmons.

I will keep on watching the videocast, but it looked like I didn't need to waste my money on a Tuesday personal appearance at this moment.     I may go to Boston to see Thursday's game in person since I will be occupied with the NYU at Brandeis doubleheader in Waltham, MA on Saturday.

[deiscanton]

Emmanuel holds on in the second half to fight off a scrappy Rivier team and advance to Thursday's GNAC semfinal game vs Simmons.

Emmanuel won over Rivier today, 68-60

In a change from previous years, the GNAC women's semifinals will be held on Thursday night.  

Emmanuel plays Simmons at the Jean Yawkey Center on Thursday at 7 PM in 1 semifinal.

Albertus Magnus defeated Suffolk tonight and will head to Norwich for the other semifinal on Thursday.

(Note:  Updated to reflect all GNAC tournament results on Tuesday).

In previous years, the final four teams left in the GNAC women's tournament would have been playing both semifinal games at Emmanuel (traditionally the highest remaining seed) on Friday, with Emmanuel playing in the first game.   However, due to the economic situation, the timing of the GNAC semifinals has been changed to have the two highest remaining seeds host semifinals on Thursday evening in order to avoid having travelling teams stay overnight on Friday in a hotel.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

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

[deiscanton]

 2010-2011 GNAC Women's Tournament

Tournament news on the pairings at http://www.thegnac.com/news/10-11/wbbtournament2011

First round-- Tuesday, February 22, 2011

#8 Johnson & Wales (5-7, 8-17)   @  #1 Emmanuel  (12-0, 17-7)

#7 Mt. Ida (5-7, 9-16) @ #2 Suffolk (10-2, 16-9)

#6 Emerson (7-5, 9-16)  @ #3 St. Joe's Maine (9-3, 17-8)

#5 St. Joe CT (8-4, 18-6)  @ #4 Norwich (8-4, 16-9)

Semifinals are Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011 at the sites of the highest remaining seeds.

Championship game is Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011 at the site of the highest remaining seed.

I expect the home teams to win the Tuesday games, with the St Joe at Norwich match being the most interesting match today-- how will the rookie St Joe CT class fare in their first GNAC tournament game?  St Joe CT is also making their first appearance in the GNAC tournament since the 2005-2006 season and carry a school record 18 win season into the tournament.

Regardless of the outcome today,  I have to say that the top two rookies in GNAC are Devon Diliberto and Diamond Doe of  St Joe, CT-- with my informal vote for GNAC rookie of the year going to Devon Diliberto of St Joe CT.

My vote for GNAC player of the year is definitely Meghan Kirwan of Emmanuel-- who played her first two seasons at DII UMass-Lowell before joining the Saints this season.   Kirwan wrapped up the honor with a 10-10 from the field shooting effort vs Mt. Ida earlier this season-- Kirwan had big games non-conference vs Brandeis and Amherst, and she is lighting up the GNAC stats.

I have to make Emmanuel the heavy favorite to win out this week-- Emmanuel won their last two GNAC games before the tournament by blowout, and Meghan Kirwan did not even play most of the week due to a minor injury that she sustained in the final minutes vs Albertus Magnus.   Kirwan is expected to play in the GNAC tournament this week.

Assuming that Emmanuel wins today, I will make every effort to follow Thursday's Emmanuel GNAC semifinal game.   The tournament will get interesting then.

The GNAC is a 1 bid league this season, so Emmanuel needs to win out the week to make the NCAAs.

PS-- I miss the old posters on this board-- they made the GNAC forum exciting, but I guess that it is very hard to sustain interest when Emmanuel wins most of the time...  

PPS-- GNAC Commissioner Joe Walsh does a very good job in promoting the GNAC men's and women's basketball on the conference web site, so I get a lot of news from there, even when I don't have the time to post in this forum like I used to....

[7express]

Home teams should sweep tonight, with the only possible road victory comming from St. Joes (CT) over Norwich, but with a freshmen heavy class I think they'll come up short.  Suffolk and Emmanuel should be big favorites to meet in the championship game Saturday.