WBB: Landmark Conference

saratoga · January 25, 2009, 08:04:20 PM

Rhino: First off, congratulations to Coach Strong on this monumental achievment. Agreed, Kate is the # 1 D-III fan as witnessed by her recent induction into the DVC Hall of Fame. Also agree that Drew played about as well as they could & when Scranton's perimiter defense was slow to react or simply did not switch on screens, they were quite comfotable firing away & did hit numerous 3's to keep it close...for about 25 minutes. Once the Lady Royals came to terms with the fact Drew was not going to go back to Madison quietly...they picked up the D, then the Ranger shots started falling short, their legs became a little heavier & they pretty much ran out of gas & personal fouls.
One can only hope that the D3 editorial crew will be coming up with a lead on Coach Strong's 700th. victory & some other information on his program very soon. Headlines regarding number 1 teams getting knocked off are a dime a dozen each & every year. Coaches putting together 700 wins all at one school are pretty special & are deserving of some serious attention. After all, only 11 other coaches in ALL divisions have accomplished this feat in the history of college basketball so having one of our own...so to speak, should be worthy of a D3 lead...if only for a day.

ronk · January 25, 2009, 08:16:02 PM

Congrats to Coach Strong; nice Dean Corwin interview with Jen Nish reflecting on playing for Coach Strong. One of Jen's years was Mike's sabbatical year when they won 24 games that could have been on his record.
No change in the RS as the home team won all 8 games this weekend.

Standings RS

Scranton 6 - 1 Scranton 2 - 0
Moravian 6 - 1 Moravian 1 - 0
Susque 4 - 3 Susque 1 - 0
MMA 3 - 4 Juniata 1 - 0
Juniata 3 - 4 Catholic 2 - 1
Catholic 3 - 4 MMA 0 - 1
Drew 2 - 5 Goucher 1 - 3
Goucher 1 - 6 Drew 0 - 3

Although theoretically, the second half results could be the reverse of the 1st half, RS indicates a battle for 4th playoff position between CU and Juniata, each with 5 home games in 2nd half; decider could be the game betwwen them @ CU.

saratoga · January 26, 2009, 02:14:48 PM

Thanks Pat & crew for getting a lead up on Coach Strong's 700th. victory. Looks great.

saratoga · January 26, 2009, 08:23:04 PM

I was hoping to see the Top 25 voting panel give the Lady Royals one or two votes this week in the "others receiving votes" category just to recognize that they are coming on & will present some challenges down the stretch. I'm very pleasantly surprised by actually seeing 3 votes come their way. On behalf of Lady Royal fans everywhere, thank you to those 3 wise men...or women...or combination therof.
I'd also like to wish a very speedy recovery to one of Scranton's most loyal supporters that will be having some surgery this week in California. All the best Jerry...hope to see you & Mark when you fly in for the Drew/MMA series in 2 weeks.

Rhino · January 27, 2009, 02:22:17 PM

I join Saratoga in expressing elation about the Lady Royals' recognition in the "others receving category." If they continue to improve and hold their focus, they could end up back in theirperennial nesting place--the TOP 25--before the end of the regular season.

Ryan and Molly continue to improve; and Kelly Tratthen is a force on the offensive boards. Meanwhile, many members of the talented sophomore class (especially, Courtney, Jen, and Colleen) are maturing at a steady rate--and if the freshmen Sarah Gage and Emily Rainey can continue to contribute solid minutes, the Lady Royals could be pretty dangerous down the stretch.

As for Ms. Megan, she is very, very gifted; now, she only needs to push herself harder than ever--immerse herself in that traditional Lady Royals' work ethic, all the while reciting to herself the old Beatles' mantra: "Baby, you can drive my car--yes, I'm gonna be a star."

ronk · January 27, 2009, 02:46:39 PM

Amber lights ahead for the Royals/Greyhounds' bandwagons as two consecutive weekends on the road could witness the closest games of the year for the conference.

ronk · January 30, 2009, 03:33:16 PM

For those Royals' fans not traveling over hill and dale to Huntingdon for the games today, Juniata, on the school schedule web site(not D3hoops' schedule) is offering live video. I watched a few mins of their game with Catholic last weekend and while the speed isn't up to the level of other videocasts, it's worth watching.

ronk · January 31, 2009, 10:44:57 PM

Standings RS

Scranton 8 - 1 Scranton 4 - 0
Moravian 7 - 2 Moravian 2 - 0
Catholic 5 - 4 Catholic 2 - 1
MMA 4 - 5 MMA 1 - 1
Juniata 4 - 5 Juniata 1 - 1
Susque 4 - 5 Susque 1 - 2
Drew 3 - 6 Drew 1 - 3
Goucher 1 - 8 Goucher 1 - 5

saratoga · February 01, 2009, 12:33:05 PM

Congratulations to the Lady Royals on picking up two huge road victories this weekend at two very tough places to play. With such a young team there are certainly lapses at times but, they really have continued to get better & better & find a way to get it done. Not always artistic, sometimes organized chaos...but, a win is a win is a win. As most coaches will tell you, they'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day.

ronk · February 07, 2009, 08:30:08 PM

Lady Royals jump off to 22-2 lead, hold at least a 14-pt ad in defeating Drew 69-53 and clinching a berth in conference playoffs.

ronk · February 08, 2009, 05:20:40 PM

Standings RS

Scranton 10 - 1 Scranton 6 - 0
Moravian 8 - 3 Moravian 3 - 0
Juniata 6 - 5 Juniata 3 - 1
Susque 6 - 5 Susque 3 - 2
Catholic 5 - 6 Catholic 2 - 3
MMA 5 - 6 MMA 1 - 2
Drew 3 - 8 Drew 1 - 5
Goucher 1 - 10 Goucher 1 - 7

Royals clinch a home playoff game. Looking bleak for CUA/MMA with only 1 home game left.

ronk · February 09, 2009, 09:43:43 PM

Lady Royals receive 20 voting points in latest D3hoops poll(up from 3, previous week). Also, they have the 2nd toughest schedule according to today's stats. With Kean and Moravian still to be played, they might end up with the toughest schedule.

ronk · February 11, 2009, 02:31:45 PM

Video listed as available for Kean game tonight on D3hoops home page.

saratoga · February 11, 2009, 02:55:38 PM

NCAA brain-drain central has just released the 1st. womens Regional Rankings & they are in typical NCAA fashion...seriously devoid of higher cognitive functioning.
1. Messiah...no problem at all. 2. MORAVIAN...are you serious??? The same Moravian that lost to Catholic 2 weeks ago that Scranton defeated by 30 the next day? The same Moravian that just lost on Sat. to MMA that Scranton defeated...the next day? 3.Muhlenberg...no issue. 4. Desales...about right. 5. Scranton 6. Cabrini.
I realize this order can change in a heartbeat...but, based on the NCAA's own guidelines, isn't the way a team has played in recent games supposed to mean something?

Pat Coleman · February 11, 2009, 02:59:36 PM

No, performance in last 10 games, last 25 percent of the season, etc., is not part of the criteria.

http://www.d3hoops.com/faq.php?question=45