WBB: Middle Atlantic Conference board archive

ronk · March 12, 2006, 11:38:15 PM

Jessica Graham of Rochester was the real deal as a 3-pt shooter(30 in her last 5 games); kudos to Erin for the great effort in limiting her to only 12 shots.
Also to the reserves for their big role in winning yesterday's game. May have had its genesis in the Catholic game(the Royals' only loss). Watching that game I got the sense that Coach Strong was playing the reserves for development for later in the season and that he wasn't going to cut short their time to pull out a victory(no slight to Catholic,who did what was needed to win) ;same thing next day against Johns Hopkins and the 5-at-a-time subbing was on.
Be that as it may, count me in the group that worries when Allison has to come out of the game.

from talking with an MAC coach on the future of the conference:
didn't know if there would be consolidation of the freedom and commonwealth or inclusion of new teams but the decision won't be made by the coaches or the ADs; it will be made by the presidents.

Josh Bowerman · March 13, 2006, 11:17:31 AM

Greetings, Scranton fans! Congratulations on your women's team advancing to the Final Four this weekend in Springfield. I hope that your ladies play well and wish them good luck.

I'll be photographing the game for d3hoops.com, and would encourage you to check out the photo galleries each night after the games. And, please stop by and say "hi" during the timeouts--it would be nice to make your acquaintance.

RoyalGator · March 15, 2006, 07:17:22 PM

Just letting everybody know, there is a poll on who is going to win the National Championship. This can be found in Multi-Regional Topics - Final Four. Please support your team of interest.

RoyalGator · March 15, 2006, 07:40:58 PM

Congratulations to Taryn Mellody and Allison Matt on being named as finalist to the Kodak/WBCA All-American Team. The teams will be announced at a latter date.

Region 4
Name Institution Year Pos. Height
Kelly Applegate Moravian College Jr. C 6-0
Eli Cook Messiah College Sr. G 6-1
Elizabeth Jordan King's College Sr. F 5-11
Allison Matt University of Scranton Jr. G 5-7
Taryn Mellody University of Scranton Jr. G 6-0

roy_a · March 15, 2006, 08:11:34 PM

Royalgator..I'll make my predictions here....

Scranton--66 So Maine -- 59
Hope --62 H-Simm -- 52

Championship

Scranton -- 68
S.Maine -- 66

The main reason for my predictions...It is what I want to see happen....Quite frankly at this point all 4 teams are capable of winning the title and it is very difficult to subjectively look at the other teams and see how the matchups can possibly play out. All I can definitively say is that there is a difference in the mental makeup of this years Scranton team. Last year they seemed to be happy to make the Final 4, this year they appear to be more focused on winning. Hopefully that will translate well on the floor?

Congrats to Taryn Mellody on being named All Region as well as Player of the year. Also, one final prediction. both Ali Matt and Taryn will be All American.....And wouldn't it be great..2005-2006 National Champions---The University of Scranton

kate · March 15, 2006, 08:17:27 PM

Yes, Roy, the University of Scranton Lady Royals out of the MAC Freedom Conference, National Champions

- GO Lady Royals from this rabid Del Val fan!

kate · March 16, 2006, 10:41:35 AM

In the middle of all this March madness, it was really great to see DelVal alum, Bridget Golden as the assistant coach at St. Basil's last night on Service Electric as her team lost in OT to Allentown Central Catholic. D3 basketball is VERY much alive & well. When this weekend's over (and U of S brings it home) we should talk about Fencor, the organization i stumbled on one day when i was tracking former DVC players. Lady Royal, Katie Doc, was or is on their board i believe, along with Philly's Geno Auriemma (sp?). It's a hot bed for D3 b'ball.

kate · March 17, 2006, 07:58:05 PM

Watched the entire game - you gave it all you had, Scranton - Hope was just three points too much. Please beat HSU tomorrow!

bballislife · March 17, 2006, 08:26:38 PM

Scranton dropped a nail-bitter to Hope 59-56.....Ironically enough Hope resembled one of Coach Strong's typical teams, smaller, very quick, three-point shooting team and his new style team, half court style, bigger team unfortunately couldn't handle it. Scranton never got into a groove, scoring in spurts. In the first half it was the second team who carried Scranton keeping them down by one at the half. In the second half it was Taryn Mellody who came alive to carry Scranton offensively. However, there was one point in the second half when Hope could not miss from beyond the arc. They were even up 13 with 12 minutes left in the game. Scranton came back, but could never overcome that "hump" to put themselves ahead. Hats off to Scranton seniors Erin Healy and Kelly Lewandowski who literally sweat blood out on the court. An amazing four years for these two players. And lets not forget what an amazing season the Lady Royals have had this year. And will no doubt have next year. Congratulations ladies!!! Good luck tomorrow!!!

ronk · March 17, 2006, 08:46:40 PM

Hope was a good defensive team like Baldwin-Wallace but better 3-pt. shooters. Every play(dribbling,rebounding,shooting) is contested well when you reach the final 4. Below normal free-throw shooting contributed,also.
Kudos to the seniors for their defensive efforts over their careers and especially Kelly tonite with her steals and tie-ups and Erin last week against Jessica Graham of Rochester. They will be missed.

Josh Bowerman · March 17, 2006, 08:50:54 PM

The fan support at the Hope-Scranton game was the best I've seen in over 10 years of watching women's hoops, due in no small part to the great Scranton fans. Congrats on a great season.

kate · March 18, 2006, 01:12:54 PM

Half time at the Scranton/Cowgirls game with Scranton up 33 - 17. It should be safe to go up & watch the NCAA first round games. Way to go Lady Royals!

kate · March 20, 2006, 08:38:15 AM

Not such a great weekend, besides Scranton, Temple & the Sixers went down; also Rutgers nearly lost to Dartmouth. Please say something Scranton fans. You must be a little relieved that Hope took it all. They had very favorable things to say about the Lady Royals on the Great Lakes site. The entire weekend was exciting (even tho i was glued to the computer & TV:)). Saw Coach Richter at a PIAA women's game - Scranton Prep lost to Allentown Central Catholic - he was looking to "stock the pantry", i suppose. Miss my Aggies!

roy_a · March 20, 2006, 03:36:21 PM

Kate,

I was trying to find the right wording...First, thanks for sharing your DelVal loyalty with the Lady Royals during the NCAA playoffs.

About the Final 4. Boy it sure was exciting. I know that Scranton has not fared very well during the finals over the years but let's take a look at that. First, to make it that far is an acccomplishment. It is even a greater accomplishmnet to make it so many times that you are criticized for not winning the National Tittle..That is kinda ironic. The last 4 Final 4 they have been to. The first 2 of the most recent 4 we lost to WashU, some have speculated that those WashU teams were perhaps the best D3 teams ever??? Don't know about that but just reviewing the scores, WashU was clearly the best team in the country for about 6-8yrs. Last year, clearly we did not play to well. This last weeked...what can you say, we lost to the eventual Nat Chmp and had a shot at the buzzer to send it to OT. We follow that up with an impressive 10pt win over Hardin Simmons. So, one can easily argue that Scranton has been one of the best D3 teams over the last decade and this year we were the 3rd best and just an inch away from playing in the title game ourselves.

As for the season as a whole...what a tremendous ride....It will hurt to loose 2 great seniors in Erin Healey and Kelly Lewandowski. It is hard to imagine loosing 2 players who scored so few points will make a difference but in this case it sure will. Erin, had an uncanny knack in drawing more charges than any player I have ever seen, she also had a tremendous court presence/awareness and rarely made any mistakes. As for Kelly, tenacious now has a new meaning..She was a proverbial blanket on D..

That said, I still think we will be in great shape next year as some of the younger players will be that much better and experienced. Tiffany Williams is just coming into her own as the premier big girl in the conference. Casey Thran was a breath of fresh air. Her hustle and athleticism and smile are contagious.
Steph Remington and Julie B are fantastic and tell me has anyone seen a big girl like Tammy W pass so well??Michelle Fabio and Kathleen Daly are going to be dominant post players and both are showing nice touch on their shots. Molly K is looking good and we may very ell see Marisa Healey playing next season? By the way, we return Allison Matt and 2 time All American Taryn Mellody....

This team was fun to watch, clearly they had talent and were a great team, however, they played like friends and that made it enjoyable to watch..I know that sounds corny but........

kate · March 20, 2006, 04:52:14 PM

Roy, it's good to hear from you about the final four weekend. i still say that next season we all have to give you guys some VERY stiff competition, besides, it's more fun that way

. Even tho it stings, from now til Nov. i will proudly brag that we're in the league with the second best D3 team in the country & you ALL know how good Hope was so you guys are GOOD & that's that. On another note, how about Steven's Institute of Technology leaving the "cerebral eight" already before it even gets underway? It will be very interesting to see how that whole thing plays out, & affects all of us.