WBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

I realize, that I should talk about the game a bit.  Looking at the writeup and the stats...it is very clear that the game was won by Amherst's defense.....like most of Amherst wins, IMO.  The rebounding was only slightly in favor of Amherst.  When one looks at the turnovers.....supported by the steals and blocks....all in favor of Amherst......then the win becomes clearer.  Trinity's shooting percentage overall was in the 20's and 3-point shooting in the teens.
Amherst players' scoring was well distributed.  Five players had double digit scoring numbers.  I was surprised to see Lem McCormick with a knee brace.  It didn't seem to affect her scoring.
It may be of interest to posters that Trinity's coach is also a product of the UConn WBB program.

[amh63]

Nice article in the Tufts' newspaper about the play of two FY players from CT.  I found it on the D3hoops.com page in the "what we are reading" section.  It is dated Jan. 26, 2011.

[amh63]

For those who are interested in the Colby/Amherst game tonight....you can catch it online starting at 8PM.  You will have to go to the Amherst website and then to the athletic site.  It is free!  D3Hoops site only states that there is a live stats link.

[amh63]

Amherst beat Colby by 20+ points last night.  Good writeup on the Amherst website so I won't go into the details.  Amherst jumped into a lead early  and was never in danger.  However, Colby played Amherst even in the second half.  Colby stayed with Amherst mainly via the foul line.  The game was decided by the turnovers committed by Colby.  During one stretch, Colby must have had 4-5 walks on the offensive side....straight.  Amherst is much quicker than Colby and had double the steals and almost a third less turnovers.  Many of Amherst's turnovers were on passes in transition...to speed up the game.  Shannon Finucane, Amherst's junior point guard became Amherst's leader in steals with 201 early in the game.  She finished with 4 steals, 4 assists and 11 points.  Colby's height/size up front came into play in the second half ....which led to fouls, etc.

[Maine 1]

I was at the Amherst-Colby game. The game was over 10 minutes in, when Amherst went up 30-10. Colby essentially packed in at that point, playing their bench more then the starters.  I was very impressed with Amherst. They played smothering defense, up-tempo offense, and clearly were the far better team. 

[sumfun]

Maine1 - I saw the same exact thing last night.  This afternoon same thing with Bowdoin, but on a night that Amherst wasn't sharp from 3 or the free throw line, they still racked up big points inside.  Can't remember when the three big inside players each scored a double, double.  I'm sure Gromacki knew that Bowdoin's inside game is much diminished from past years so attacked there.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

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

[amh63]

There are 4 conference BB players that have been selected on the Capital One All-District Academic teams.  Details can be found on the Amherst website.

[PostPlay]

Congratulations to all 4 athletes!  Well done.

On a related note, I noticed with dismay Vermont's misfortunes this season:  2-20 record and an RPI ranking of #315 (out of 343 D1 teams).

Has anyone seen them play?  Is the talent that bad?  New coach growing pains?

Could Amherst play them competitively?

[wbbhoopsfan]

While I don't understand how your Vermont inquiry is related to an academic award, I too am surprised by the 2-20 record.  I don't know enough about it to pass judgement, but Gear McBride took over a pretty bad Colby program and led them to the NCAA Tournament - an achievement that seems unlikely this year based on the first regional ranking - so I suspect it is a matter of time and getting her own players into the program.  As for Amherst competing, they probably could hang in for a while but there is a big jump from Division I to Division III, no matter how good Amherst is or how bad UVM may or may not be. 

You see D. III teams beat Division I schools from time to time so it is certainly possible.  They'll never play each other, so kinda pointless debate. 

[wbbhoopsfan]

Back to Division III discussion, today is a big day in the NESCAC.  Good luck ladies!

I think the Colby-  Williams game is a huge one, esp. after last night's results.   Williams VERY surprising loss at Bowdoin salvaged the Polar Bears' reeling season and tightened the pack, save for Amherst.  Tufts-Trinity will also be worth watching as Trinity has been competitive but hasn't been able to come away with the result. 

The unfortunate part, esp. for the kids on those particular teams (Wes, Conn), is that 1-8 seems set, so no last minute playoff scramble.  At this point, looks like it is just seeding with a lot still up in the air.

[wbbhoopsfan]

Things shaking out in the league today as it appears that Amherst-Colby will finish 1-2 for the second straight year, after today's wins.  Impressive showing by Colby in beating Williams handily, setting up perhaps a fun NESCAC semifinal although Williams may also get another shot at Bowdoin as the Ephs were snake-bitten by the "Maine trip" this weekend.

Great effort by Bates again vs. Amherst, but just not enough to compete for 40 minutes.  Barring any upsets next week, things are pretty well in order although some seeding changes (like Bowdoin vaulting over Bates) could happen next weekend.

Although the NESCAC tournament looks again like a for second place, there should be some competitive QF games.

They should rename the 8th seed to "the Middlebury seed"

[deiscanton]

There are 4 conference BB players that have been selected on the Capital One All-District Academic teams.  Details can be found on the Amherst website.

Also, for your information, here is the link to the Capital One All-District Academic teams, on which you will find these 4 NESCAC BB players representing the College Division's District One, as selected by CoSIDA:

  http://www.cosida.com/media/documents/2011/2/2010_11_AAA_WBB_All_District.pdf

Jaci Daigneault of Amherst is eligible to be selected as an Academic All-American (having made first team All District), while the other 3 NESCAC BB players on the list (Jules Kowalski of Colby and Amherst players Sarah Leyman and Caroline Stedman) were selected as third team All District out of District One.

Once again, congratulations to these outstanding scholar-athletes!

[sumfun]

It was very clear from the start of the season that Pat Manning was only going 7 deep.  I can't speak expertly as to what she has after those seven, but it is a long season and a tough league.  Depth is key, and by comparison Amherst has eleven players with double digit minutes, nine with at least 13 minutes/game, yet no player averages over 22 minutes. 

Colby is close to that with 10 in double digit minutes and no players averaging over 26 minutes.

Williams by comparison has only 7 in double digits and one of those averages only 12 minutes.  Most of Williams "six" players are in for 27 to 29 minutes.  Makes for tired legs come February, especially when on long road trips.

Having said all that, I'm sure Williams will be "up" and ready for Amherst in Williamstown this weeend.  It should be a good game.

[Rick Vaughn]

On a related note, I noticed with dismay Vermont's misfortunes this season:  2-20 record and an RPI ranking of #315 (out of 343 D1 teams).

Has anyone seen them play?  Is the talent that bad?  New coach growing pains?

Could Amherst play them competitively?

I have heard that Gear McBride has a monster recruiting class coming in, but she walked into a very difficult situation.  UVM graduated two of the best players in program history (#3 & 5 on the all-time scoring list).  Also, the old coach Sharon Dawley took a couple players, incoming recruits, and coaches with her to UMass.  Really a classless gutting of the program by Dawley.  On top of that, Dawley had scheduled an incredibly tough slate of games for Gear McBride to play including Nebraska, Marist, BC, Michigan St., Kansas St., and Oklahoma St.   UVM women's hoops has a strong history and should be fine, but Dawley really screwed them for a year or two.

As for the Amherst vs. UVM discussion.  This year I believe a stacked Amherst team would beat them, but UVM did beat Franklin Pierce (a perennial DII power) in the preseason, so you never know.  I'm a DIII guy myself, but scholarship athletes are tough to compete against without scholarships.