WBB: Landmark Conference

[Augie2020]

Great year for the Lady Royals.But as the saying goes live by the 3 die by the 3.Congrats to RIC on the win played our game.Definetly they had the better team tonight.Will not say much more.Good luck to the rest of the teams.Thank you to all the seniors.Signing off until next year.

[saratoga]

It certainly was a wonderful year.

To be honest, I think Coach O'Brian & his staff got them as far as they could with some smoke & mirrors along the way.
I mean you don't lose your returning 6'2" post presence (Kyra) at the start of the season & figure out an offense that now won't be including her unless you get the kids to buy in to the fact that things will work out & trust the system.

Then, to add even more obstacles, the loss of Maddy Ryan late in the regular season was an absolute game changer...yet they kept on finding new stars to step up & lead them to an unprecedented 8th. straight Landmark championship.

The problem was that Maddy became such an important player throughout the season with her unbelievable nose for offensive rebounds & put backs along with fantastic defense & rebounding that the bench simply could not replace her with anyone near her skill level.

Gone were the points, the rebounds & the second chance shots.

On the other hand, what can you say about Bridget that hasn't already been stated?
What an absolute joy to watch her game come together over four years and to see her become the star she is.
A valiant effort to try & put the Lady Royals on her back last night and almost single handedly lead them to victory.
Wishing her all the very best as she now moves on to St. Joe's next year for Grad. School & the chance to play one season at D-1.

Congrats as well to Kaci for earning the ROY award & becoming a star in just her freshman year.

To even get to a Final Four or win a National Championship takes talent, leadership from coaches & players, commitment to the program, & a little luck.
The Lady Royals had all the ingredients but the latter.

The future looks exceptionally bright under Coach O'Brians leadership & if we get some talented kids coming in, maybe next year Lady Luck will be on the side of the Lady Royals! 

[ronk]

 Well stated, Saratoga.
We'll have to see what happens with Maddy's and Kyra's(if she returns to school) recoveries wrt to next season and how much help the new recruits provide. There's hope that at least one, Megan Lamanna, can step in as a starter.

[ronk]

Okay I just thought you needed to have a capacity of 1000 seats to host in the NCAA Tournament.

That's a requirement for the 2nd weekend, not the 1st, Augie.

And in addition, that's a requirement for men, not women.

At this point, it isn't known; the men state it openly; the women state: Please review the host operations manual
for a detailed list of facility requirements. An example of gender inequity - no need for it to exist. We may find out the answer today if Smith is or is not hosting for the sectional. 

[Augie2020]

I'm still in shock with this loss!!

[saratoga]

Augie:

The reality is you can't keep losing your inside players & replace starters with subs & expect the same results.

I mean we were killed last night on the boards, killed by zero points from subs & a starter and lost the game in the paint by a ridiculous amount.

If Maddy plays, much of that is taken away.

However, she didn't play & when 3rd. string kids now become your starters...more often than not decent teams will exploit those weaknesses...and RIC most certainly did.

The sad part is this bracket was ripe for the taking by a healthy Lady Royal team.

[NEPAFAN]

Bridget played her heart out. Congrats on a great year!

[Augie2020]

That is the sad part Saratoga it reminds me the years with Serafini and Klingman.You work hard to put yourself in that position and to come out flat is a killer.I  mean 27% from the floor and 16% from 3pt range,Like what a time to collapse.

[Augie2020]

So Hopefully a couple starters come back next year along with Maddy Ryan and Kaci Kranson and some key reserves plus the 4 or 5 newcomers I think 2 can start right away and maybe a d1 transfer or 2!

[saratoga]

And, the reason for those low % numbers is because they overplayed the ball on the perimeter daring
Scranton to try and score inside.

With no one bailing the shooters out from underneath, the only thing left is to fire away.

They also bumped every cutter to mess with timing & just did a lot of the little things it takes to win.

Think of the last play in regulation at E-town.

Bridget goes for the tie with a layup with 5 seconds left...only it doesn't go in.

However, a hustling Maddy after passing her the ball trails the play (as she should) and by doing her job, gets the rebound & put back to tie the game with 1 second.

Lady Royals win in OT.

We simply ran out of those plays & that hustle once she went down.

What might have been... but wasn't.

Can't wait for November! 

[Augie2020]

Agree Saratoga have a great Spring and Summer.Will pass along upcoming players and transfers to Scranton for both Men and Women in our message board.Also will definetly go see some baseball and softball this year.

[saratoga]

Sounds good, have a great one as well.

Since our daughter went to NYU for her Masters, I guess the Violets have a new fan for the next several weeks. 

[NEPAFAN]

Hey! there is no offseason, recruits, schedules, etc mean you guys have to check in on a weekly basis.

[Augie2020]

My mind is still buzzing about that game.How is it possible to have Sam,Hartnett and Angelini all off on the same night.I just don't get it.Like wow 29 games and this team didn't shoot like that all year long and then all of a sudden boom three players can't hit the rim or even score.Basketball will always get the best of me come playoffs.Im not sure if they went in to cocky or what but they left their guard down and im not taking anything away from RIC.But it reminds me of Dipillo(By the way is out of a job I think)first round exit.I just will never get it especially this team and the teams they beat and it wasn't by 2 points they beat teams in the sweet 16 handedly.Just SMH

[Tim the Enchanter]

Since Pitt's head coach was let go, and usually new coaches bring in their own staff, I wouldn't be surprised if Nick is out of a job...