WBB: Landmark Conference

[ronk]

 Gordon,
Fair enough - didn't realize that there were different voting groups for all-region and national awards.

[gordonmann]

I took a fun trip down memory lane this week in preparation for the rare 1-versus-2 matchup with have in the title game. Two former Lady Royals helped me with the piece...

http://www.d3hoops.com/playoffs/women/2023-cnu-transy-seventh-heaven

[Riley Zayas]

Scranton scores big on the recruiting front. Former Dunmore standout Victoria Toomey commits to Scranton as a grad transfer. Played 20+ games all 4 years at D1 Rider. Averaged 9.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG this past year. Those are solid numbers at a low-major D1. 6'2 center who will give Scranton an inside presence.

[saratoga]

Thanks Riley.
This was the buzz going around 6 weeks ago then it died down.
Glad to see it listed in the latest portal updates.
She will compliment Scranton's outside game tremendously.
If Maddy Ryan comes back near full strength after her injury at the end of this year, the Lady Royals will have the inside presence they missed so much in the tournament.
Just 185 days till practice begins! 

[NEPAFAN]

Article in the Times today about Ms. Toomey and her decision to come to home to the Electric City.

[Riley Zayas]

Thanks Riley.
This was the buzz going around 6 weeks ago then it died down.
Glad to see it listed in the latest portal updates.
She will compliment Scranton's outside game tremendously.
If Maddy Ryan comes back near full strength after her injury at the end of this year, the Lady Royals will have the inside presence they missed so much in the tournament.
Just 185 days till practice begins! 

Yeah I'd heard something about it too, but then went and looked and didn't see anything confirmed. Looks like she posted something on Twitter yesterday that kind of confirmed the suspicion that many had that she would end up at Scranton. Played for O'Brien in HS obviously, so that had to have helped massively in her decision.

[gordonmann]

Looks good on Twitter, er paper.

Hopefully it's a Katie Titus (Rochester) situation where she's an instant All-American in her lone year.

[saratoga]

I like that possibility. 

[Riley Zayas]

Looks good on Twitter, er paper.

Hopefully it's a Katie Titus (Rochester) situation where she's an instant All-American in her lone year.

I'm usually pretty skeptical when it's like a walk-on from D1 who barely played (lots of those situations in football every year). But the fact that she started for Rider and played 20+ games in all 4 years there makes me more confident. She averaged 9.0 PPG which could translate to quite a few points for Scranton this year. And that one-two punch with Kranson is going to make Scranton a candidate for No. 1. All my opinions of course!

[ronk]

Looks good on Twitter, er paper.

Hopefully it's a Katie Titus (Rochester) situation where she's an instant All-American in her lone year.

A more appropriate comparison would be with our own Abby Anderson. While Toomey has much better D1 stats than Abby coming in, having seen Abby in AAU multiple times and strongly lobbying Trevor for her before she chose D1, I was convinced that she was going to have the All-American year for Scranton that transpired.

[saratoga]

Riley & Scott:

Great podcast wrap-up of the year & Gordon, thanks for getting the views of two very prominent Lady Royals for your article.

As for determining Amherst as the # 1 overrated team, I fully understand your point.
You aren't saying they should have essentially done far better but just fell apart.
Actually, many of the voters just expected more because we've all become accustomed to seeing GP weave gold from straw.
As you note, they have everyone coming back & they will be ready.
Last year I saw Alix Stuart and she couldn't walk and catch a pass, let alone do anything with the ball.
By the end of this season, she was running the floor & was catching passes behind the defense and scoring.
All things considered, a pretty remarkable improvement in one year.

At any rate, thanks for the hard work & great articles.

[Tim the Enchanter]

Bridget Monaghan is discussed in this interview with Cindy Griffin at St.Joe's:

https://www.cityofbasketballlove.com/news_article/show/1268300

[saratoga]

Former Bowdoin coach Schiebles out at Dartmouth after only 2 years.
That escalated rather quickly.

[saratoga]

Also looks like the Goucher women's coach that came from Lackawanna has left the Gophers after 1 season.
Thought she did a nice job considering their overall talent level upon her arrival....or, lack thereof.

[Riley Zayas]

Riley & Scott:

Great podcast wrap-up of the year & Gordon, thanks for getting the views of two very prominent Lady Royals for your article.

As for determining Amherst as the # 1 overrated team, I fully understand your point.
You aren't saying they should have essentially done far better but just fell apart.
Actually, many of the voters just expected more because we've all become accustomed to seeing GP weave gold from straw.
As you note, they have everyone coming back & they will be ready.
Last year I saw Alix Stuart and she couldn't walk and catch a pass, let alone do anything with the ball.
By the end of this season, she was running the floor & was catching passes behind the defense and scoring.
All things considered, a pretty remarkable improvement in one year.

At any rate, thanks for the hard work & great articles.

Sorry for seeing this late. Thanks for the kind words! Comes from a passion and appreciation for this great level of WBB. Amherst came out as the most overrated team according to Scott's numbers, so that's what we were going off of. To be honest, there are a couple teams I might put ahead of Amherst in that "overrated" category, based on my eye test assessment. Young teams tend to be wild cards. Amherst had a decent season considering that, but also played in one of the toughest leagues in the country. They'll be back at the top of the NESCAC again next year.