WBB: NESCAC

[NH NESCAC Fan]

Wow.  I'm watching the Amherst webcast and with about 2 mins left it is a 1 point game.  Amherst is playing very flat...

[Maine 1]

Amherst held on to win--where was McCormick?

[amh63]

Amherst wins by 4 in a squeaker.  It was 29-29 at the half.  Towards the end it was who was going to make the foul shots and the Amherst seniors held their composure and made theirs.  The players played against a game Polar Bear team that was aided by much to many foul calls by the refs who wanted to become too involved, IMO.  Coach G who is normally quiet was getting on the refs in the first half.  Good lesson for the team to play through a game with some "home cooking" along the way.  Example...towards the end of the game, a Bowdoin player is fouled on the floor and her NBA continuous shot was good.  Later, an Amherst player is fouled and her follow thru shot was called no good.  Amherst player makes her two foul shots.
To answer Maine 1.....Lem Atanga was hit in the head and taken out of the game in the first half against Kean on Tuesday.  She was held out for her health, I believe.....concussion?.  Will see if she plays any on Sat.  Normal front line depth was pushed hard.  Meg was called for a number of fouls early and Bridget was playing with 4 fouls when the game ended.
Must give Bowdoin players credit.  By the middle of the 2nd half, Amherst was ahead by 14 and the polar Bears made some 3's and made drives that normally would be challenged.  Stedman was not playing at the end of the game and Finucane had fouled out.  Need to see the box to see how things stats-wise panned out.

[sumfun]

Maine is notorious for home town calls.  Amherst hasn't had foul trouble all year, plus missing Lem, so front court is thinner.

I totally agree w NE Hoops....over the last three years Williams couldn't begin to match Up against Amherst.  I could give position by position example, but no reason to do that to players on either side when all give SO much effort.  Last year's Amherst senior class lost one game at Williams their 1st year.  This senior class is undefeated against them.  Enough said.  Some close games, yes, but wins for The Jeff's.

[7express]

It's not just Bowdoin; Southern Maine out of the LEC is notorius for getting home town calls up there too.  Must be something in the water up there/

[farmboy]

Duh Sumfun.   Good coaches that are successful have the recruiting edge.  But for the time I speak I hold fast.  Plus I know a bit of the inside the first couple of years.  Just saying.....

[Maine 1]

If McCormick is out today versus Colby-I like Colby's chances of pulling the upset--not sure that Amherst has the inside game to deal with Vaughn, Mack and Potvin--

[amh63]

Maine 1.....Interesting thought.  My concern is that the team is focused on the game and not be distracted with the shopping at LL Bean nearby...just kidding...applies to the men's team too.
Though I hope that Lem is ok and gets to play a bit, it is noted here that last year's game at Amherst, Lem played only 13 minutes and had no significant impact stat wise on the Amherst win.  It was a game when Colby's best player had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Amherst won by 20 plus points.  It is the defensive aspect of missing Lem that is unknown.  In the Bowdoin game, Meg Robertson picked up 3 quick fouls and became,IMO, tentative and was off her game....Coach G took her out of the game.  I expect Meg can handle Colby's big players today.  Plus J. Renner is playing very well now on the offensive side and her defense is great. Bridget is playing very well now.  Bridget and Meg and Jackie are all front court players that can match up to Colby's players size wise and I believe have more quickness down low.

[7express]

Some awful shooting numbers in the Tufts/Conn College game:

Conn College is 5-38 from the floor (13.2) and combined the teams from three are 2-26 (7.7%).  Tufts is 1-17 from 3 by themselves.  Conn college made 2 field goals the entire first half.  Tufts leads 42-17 6:57 to play.

[amh63]

Boy or boy....Amherst escapes with a 1....yes one point win at Colby(51-50).  Maine 1 was almost a genius here....I guess I have to give Maine 1 credit.  Amherst goes ahead on a layup by Stedman with 18.5 sec. to go in the game.  Colby cannot get a shot off as time runs out.  Colby guard is surrounded by three Amherst players at the end with arms raised.
Colby's big (Mack) makes 2 or three outside shots.  Colby's smallest player makes outside shots and gets steals and rebounds.  Announcers state that guard Bennett has never played this well. 
Colby goes up by 3 at the half on a last second shot as the half ends.....28-25, Colby.  Amherst ties and goes ahead at the 9 plus minute.  Goes ahead by 5.  Colby fights back and goes ahead by up to 5 with about 4 minutes to go.  Amherst only takes the lead with 1.01 secs to go. Colby and Amherst trade baskets and Amherst goes ahead by one with the time at 18.5 seconds.
Defense won the game for Amherst. Great play by Colby...from the guards and from outside that kept the game close...from unexpected areas.  Amherst got great play from Meg Robinson...blocks, points inside and outside and blocking out Colby's best front court players(18 pts., 9 rbs.)  Bridget had at least 7 rebounds in the first half and played good defense to neutralize another of Colby's big front court players.  Renner took over the third Colby big player.  Stedman and her fellow senior guards counter the fine play of the Colby guards.

[7express]

I've really like Caroline Stedman, really has come up with big plays this year in her final seasons.

[MVP]

Agree w/ amh63 and 7express ... but Colby choked! Colby had the game, had 7 pt lead w/ just over 3 minutes go.
Had 17.5 seconds to get a shot off to win game or draw a foul and didn't. Got to hand it to Amherst.
Colby looked good. At the same time Amherst looks beatable.

[Maine 1]

Colby-Amherst was a fun game to watch--I thought Colby played a great game.  They just did not get a shot off at the end.  I did not think that Amherst was as strong as last year's team (or even the year before)--They definitely missed McCormick's all around play.  Amazingly, they won and really only hit one or two outside shots for the game.  Hope to see a rematch of these two teams down the road.

[farmboy]

One more thing of note Sumfun.  Williams came within a whisker of beating Amherst that first year in the second game "at Amherest", and Williams was made up of a great deal of underclassmen.  If you can get a film of that game see if it is as obvious to you as it was to me how the game was lost by a serious set of coaching errors in the final 2-3 minutes....but it was a great game in which people like you said Williams didn't have a chance.

Okay...I will let this go:)

[Mr. Ypsi]

Boy or boy....Amherst escapes with a 1....yes one point win at Colby(51-50).  Maine 1 was almost a genius here....I guess I have to give Maine 1 credit.  Amherst goes ahead on a layup by Stedman with 18.5 sec. to go in the game.  Colby cannot get a shot off as time runs out.  Colby guard is surrounded by three Amherst players at the end with arms raised.
Colby's big (Mack) makes 2 or three outside shots.  Colby's smallest player makes outside shots and gets steals and rebounds.  Announcers state that guard Bennett has never played this well. 
Colby goes up by 3 at the half on a last second shot as the half ends.....28-25, Colby.  Amherst ties and goes ahead at the 9 plus minute.  Goes ahead by 5.  Colby fights back and goes ahead by up to 5 with about 4 minutes to go.  Amherst only takes the lead with 1.01 secs to go. Colby and Amherst trade baskets and Amherst goes ahead by one with the time at 18.5 seconds.
Defense won the game for Amherst. Great play by Colby...from the guards and from outside that kept the game close...from unexpected areas.  Amherst got great play from Meg Robinson...blocks, points inside and outside and blocking out Colby's best front court players(18 pts., 9 rbs.)  Bridget had at least 7 rebounds in the first half and played good defense to neutralize another of Colby's big front court players.  Renner took over the third Colby big player.  Stedman and her fellow senior guards counter the fine play of the Colby guards.

I didn't watch the game, but this sounds like the Colby player froze and really blew it.  Assuming there were 3-4 seconds remaining when the triple-team first occurred, just throw it towards the basket and A) you may get 2 (or even 3) FTs, or B) there are now 4 teammates and only 2 opponents - someone may get the winning basket.  Do NOT let the clock simply expire!