WBB: NESCAC

[d3wbbfan]

In a stunner, Castleton just beat Bowdoin, 64-62 - in the NCAA first round - in Brunswick! Derosches 32, Leonard 9, O'Sullivan 7. Brady 20, Phelps 16, Binkhorst 15 for the Polar Bears. Saw none of it - didn't see that coming at all. Maybe there is some substance to the whispers that the NESCAC is down a tad this year. All 4 NCAA teams have sky high SOS #s. But the NCAA is on record as not using one selection criteria I always do. The eye test. Don't see how they could, though. As they say, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder....

Tufts leads the Monks of St. Joseph's (ME), 38-21 at the half, at Cousens. It's now left to just the Jumbos and Lord Jeffs to represent the NESCAC. Not surprised at all with the Ephs' loss. Shocked by Bowdoin goin' down, though......

[7express]

I saw Williams going down from a mile away.  I know somebody that plays @ Skidmore, so I keep tabs on the Liberty League and Vassar was for real.  I figured as long as Cyndi Matsouka could get to 25+ points, Vassar would be in pretty good shape.  Bowdoin loss was definitely a surprise.  Castleton isn't a bad team by any means and I think they were ranked in the NE regional rankings at the end of the season, but that's a game you have to win at home.

[amh63]

I watched a little of the Bowdoin game and it seemed to be one that the Polar Bears could control.  Left to go follow the Amherst game.  It was nip and tuck for Amherst and I was not happy when it was 19-18, Amherst with the 18....especially when Amherst had an early lead.  Slowly, Amherst got adjusted to the gym and went inside mostly to get points.  It was around 11 at the half.  I thought that if Amherst lost, it will be due to the missed foul shots....both teams  ended up under 60% from the foul line.  Seems everyone for Amherst got to play....except for soph Captain, C. Pritchard. 
Saw her leaving the dining halls on Monday.....since my computer did not get the video feed......could not see if she made the trip.  Strange to see Amherst's captains not on the floor.  Hope it is an academic thing....a course or lab that prevented her to make the trip with the team.  If so, she will join the team for the game today.  It happened with the Baseball team last year.  Several players had to return to class....3 plus hour trip one way...to take exams and then brought back.....driven by an assistant AD.
With regards to the lineup changes....there was a time during the game when the only FY player was Jamie Renner on the floor.  Coach G. put on the floor all the upperclass players he had available.  Those with some experience playing in post season big games.  Renner was taken out for earlier, after starting.  The FY players sat to watch as their outside shots were not going in and their defense was lacking a step.  Feel that young players often get overwhelmed by big games and need to get their "nerves" and focus  back.  Good to see that Boyette got into the game as it seemed for awhile that Amherst was losing the battle of the boards.
Boyette may well be needed again tonight.  Hartwick won in OT yesterday....led by their "Big" sophmore star, Dumas, who had 34 points and 15 rebounds.  The fine player is from Easton CT......my wife's little home town and from the same HS.  My wife was not amused when I pointed it out....since she was in the first graduating class from the h.s.

[nescacbbrules]

Like all of you, I was more than surprised that Bowdoin lost at home. The Polar Bears set the New England all divisions record for consecutive home wins at 76 from 2001 to 2007, so losing at Morrell Gymnasium in a big tournament game to a small small college team is baffling. Congratulations to Castleton State for their first NCAA win in any sport.
I have been following Vassar for the past several years, so I was not surprised to see them knock of Williams. The Ephs have dropped a notch or two since their Little Three win over Amherst and The Brewers have a legit all-American in Cydni Matsouka. Her stat line is eye-popping: 36 min, 19 pts, 49% FG, 47% 3-pt, 94% from the line, and an assist to turnover ratio of nearly 3-1. Similarly against Williams: 38 min, 11 for 17 fg, 4 for 7 3's, 5 for 5 FTs, and 6 steals. And Manning was stacking her D against Matsouka. I've been to Scranton, however; a very tough place to win. Good luck to Vassar.
Great crowd at Cousens Gym last night. Coach Mike McDevitt summed up the Monks/Tufts game this way.  "We are just not used to this level of play in our league, but we made some adjustments and were actually playing better in the second half. But no doubt the better team won tonight, and I think Tufts could be a Final Four team this year." The Jumbos didn't have the kind of inside game they used against Amherst, but Morehead was on fire, making 5 of 6 attempts from behind the arc. On her only missed 3-pt, she pulled up in transition in the 2nd half and took the quick, completely uncharacteristic shot. Reacting to the self-realization that she usually only shoots 3's in the last 8 seconds of a possession, she smiled broadly. Then nailed another a couple of trips later. Tufts' inside/outside offense made the Monks' defense look average. Rocchi had an outstanding game on offense and playing tenacious D on the two talented bigs for St Joes. Didn't arrive in time to see the UNE-NYU game, but was told it could have gone either way. I expect Tufts' defense to be the story again today, but Coleman, Gribbin, and Brown are talented enough to make it close.
Berube scheduled Hartwick away early in the season, knowing they would be a challenge. Amherst, who really got the shaft from the NCAA not hosting this year with their men's team,  will face a real challenge beating Hartwick on their home floor. I think this may be the best game from the lower left quadrant today.

[7express]

Tufts has their hands full with UNE only up 2 under 7 minutes left to play.

[7express]

Tufts survives UNE 57-54 in overtime.  After the Nor'Easters were hit with a shot clock violation in a tie game, Liz Moynahan won it for the Jumbos with a 3 from the top of the key at the buzzer.  Also, Hannah Foley walked off the court in crutches, that's something to keep an eye on for next weekend.

[d3wbbfan]

UNE played unbelievably well. I never saw a team run so many plays, isolating their guards against a Tufts guard, one v one, liking their chances there, and scoring so many points doing so. Gotta be a real eye-opener for Coach.

Moynihan's game-winning 3 at the OT buzzer was her *only* FG of the game. The most line-drive shot I've ever seen go in. Almost every NCAA top contender needs "lady luck" to smile on them, at some point. Well, the Jumbos surely used their allocation up today. Even just getting to OT. With :37 to go, down 2, and the shot clock at only 1 or 2, Tufts O was in very deep doo-doo. A long heave was coming. But an away-from-the-ball foul was called on UNE. Didn't see it at all. But it gave the Jumbos the ball back, with a fresh :30. Kanner got fouled, and made 2 huge FTs, to tie it up. And then a solid, final defensive Tufts stand. The announcer kept reminding us that would be hosting again next weekend. I kept saying to myself "not if we don't beat the Nor-easters, we don't!" UNE HC Anthony Ewing REALLY knows what he's doing. His team played just about a flawless game. They play stellar defense, rarely foul, and never hack. Keep on eye on them next year, because UNE is the real deal!

The NESCAC 13-14 standard bearer still has a pulse! It took some mouth-to-mouth, though. So true about Foley. They really need her. Her first-half ankle injury clearly stiffened up during halftime.

It was an EXTREMELY well officiated game.

Amherst leads at Hartwick 62-39, midway thru the 2nd half.

[nescacbbrules]

Moynihan's shot was incredible. Her break from the backcourt undefended was a special situation win for Berube. But her offensive rebound of Kanner's missed 2nd free throw and the pass to Morehead for the 3 that tied the game in OT was essential. Lady Luck indeed, but a great hustle play and clutch poise from Kelsey.
That lob pass from the right wing with the seal, release and lay-in by Hayden was killing the Jumbos. I second your opinion about Ewing. He did a masterful job of isolating, even Gribbin inside. Her fadeaway jumper over Liz M in OT was something. If he had gotten that time out before the jump ball call, who knows.
More Medford time next weekend. Survive and move on. 

[d3wbbfan]

Nescacbbrules, you are a zillion % correct about that KEY Moynihan O rebound of Kanner's missed 2nd FT, which Morehead then turned into a absolutely vital, top-of-the-key 3, to tie it again up late in the OT. Without that one hustle play by Liz, I don't know if the Jumbos would still be alive. It was just that close. Tufts came within a whisker of absolute disaster today. Like you say, though, survive and advance. I'm right behind you on that score.

Thanks for a wisdom-filled paragraph!

[JustAFan]

Depending on your viewpoint, Tufts survives or gets lucky.  But what is not in dispute is that they beat a REALLY good UNE team, a program that is certainly on the rise. I thought the UNE coach outcoached himself twice with his final possession in regulation and in OT, in both cases letting the clock run down too much before he had his team start its play. It left him with too little time for a second chance on the play but maybe he was comfortable with one shot because his worst case was going into another session if his team missed.

UNE did a great job not giving Kelsey Morehead a lot of freedom at the point, especially in the second half, putting a big guard on top who consistently pushed her to one side and didn't allow her to reverse the ball with her dribble. Expect to see more of this defense against the Jumbos next weekend.

I sure hope Hannah Foley can play next weekend. Tufts is not the same team without her, especially on offense, where she calms everyone down and makes sure that plays get run all the way thru.  The Jumbos got quiet but very effective contributions from Emma Roberson and Ali Rocchi today.  Liz Moynihan often is out of control on offense, but her all out hustle on D and fearlessness in the second half today certainly rescued the Jumbos.  She made her own luck with her hustle.

I don't think Tufts will face a tougher front line or an all around more physical team than UNE.  They were big AND strong, and they were not afraid to bang underneath.  Had the referees not swallowed their whistles (which they did both ways, consistently so, all game long), this might have been a different game as Tufts would have found itself on the foul line a good deal more. 

I hope Tufts can take advantage of its good fortune/luck next weekend.  It sounded like a great atmosphere in Cousens. Too bad the students will be on break beginning next weekend.

[d3wbbfan]

Because I wanted to see how their 6'3" FY post (Alisha Brown) was coming along late, I saw a decent chunk of two of UNE's CCC tourney games. She showed a really nice, fairly consistent 8-10 footer then. Luckily for Tufts, she was missing them all on Sat. To me, she was the only UNE player who looked noticeably nervous out on the floor Sat. That said, I applaud her overall defensive effort, and her willingness to compete. She's not passive out there. And a lot of big girls can be. Can't wait to see her play over the next 3 years.

UNE is a *very* young team. 5"10" JR Kelly Coleman and 5"11" FY Michaela Flanagan complete their starting frontcourt, while Hayden and Gribbin are both only sophs. In the tourney games, I saw Gribbin making a pretty decent # of iffy decisions with the ball. Great skills on O, though. However, she did a far better job with her ball distribution, etc. vs Tufts. And while I agree Ewing was playing for OT/more OT at worst, late in the OT, the game clock still had :34 seconds left, not under :30. Despite this, Ewing went with the same, last-shot tactic in OT. As a coach, he thought a UNE miss would leave Tufts only a second or two for a shot. I agree. But his young charges were clearly caught unaware of that subtle time difference, vs the end of regulation. That's why the shot clock violation happened. UNE had to shoot it by around :06, not :02. The players' heads were just not around this subtle fact. And a very heavy price was paid for it. That turnover then gave Tufts the ball at halfcourt. With time to set up a play. From which Moynihan drained the game winner.   

Heading to the Sweet 16, however, and with all due respect, I just can't agree at ALL that Tufts will be hard-pressed to find a front line that will surpass what the Jumbos went up defensively against in UNE today. And while I am as grateful as all heck that the Jumbos will live to play another day, I just watched a team from a league regarded for years as not being even close to at our level of competition (4 NESCAC bids; just UNE for the CCC) just push us to within an inch of our lives. At Cousens, no less! Not to mention a team from the also-very-lightly-regarded NAC (Castleton) ousting Bowdoin Fri. - at Morrell, no less! (And the Spartans won again tonight - Sweet 16.) If anything, the various NCAA events of the last 48 hours have made me 48 times more nervous about Tufts finally reaching their FF goal this month - not more so. The NESCAC appears more vulnerable than expected. And the competition? More formidable than expected. Hey, I'm not gonna have to take a Xanax or anything. I know that Tufts still has a lot of good basketball left in them.

Ending on a light note, I said earlier I thought the officiating was great (although another poster correctly stated that them letting both teams play so much likely denied the Jumbos many a chance to score at the stripe, to gain some breathing room.) But it was mid-to-late 1st half. A Tufts player missed a FT. A UNE player grabbed the rebound. The female ref then blew her whistle, and did the "palms up to palms down" hand signal, pointing to the end line. She told the UNE player that she had inbounded the ball incorrectly. Then as calmly as she could, the UNE player stated to the ref that no inbounds play had happened there - she'd simply grabbed a defensive rebound, and was starting upcourt. The ref's body language then tensed up, realizing that the player was 100% correct. Luckily for her, her wrong whistle caused a media timeout, making her possession reversal far less obvious to all. Happens to the best of us....     

[amh63]

Nice posts with respect to the Tufts win in OT.  It is surprising how many people were aware of the WBB game on the men's board.  If Tufts had lost.....then Amherst WBB team may have the right to host.....thereby the MBB sweet 16 site would go elsewhere.  Think I got that right.
In any case, thought I needed to mention several things about the Amherst win at Hartwick.  I came back from dinner to follow the game on Live Stats again.  Seems the Lady Jeffs were hitting from outside and won the battle of the boards.
Surprised that it was an easier than thought win.  The Hartwick team has a respected young coach, good size and a fine record, etc.   Late in the game, Hartwick's star, Dumas was taken out with 20 points and ten rebounds....while some other starters were left in......hope it was not an injury.   
Amherst's soph Captain did not show up on the roster.     However, there was a big "tease" in the boxscore.  The Amherst roster showed that #10, Megan Robertson, was in and took and missed a 3-point shot.   Only today was the notation removed from the Hartwick supplied box....in the recap of the game on the Amherst website.  For a brief moment...Oh well.

[nescacbbrules]

It is clear that Coach Raymond has established Ithaca as one of the top Eastern D3 programs, although his team's W-L record is not quite as gaudy as some prior years. Because their conference is not as tough, it seems that Dan chose to prepare his team for tournament play by scheduling DePauw, Rochester, Amherst, and John Carroll in their pre-conference schedule, thus achieving a top-10 SOS. In the 2013 NCAA's, the Bombers lost a Sweet 16 match-up in OT by 4 at Williams, a game they had every chance to win, but their losses this season to Amherst and DePauw were not close. I wonder if any of our local experts would care to opine on their chances this weekend, noting that Amherst is now without Ms. Robertson, who had 14 and 10 in that game, and what the pivotal issues may be.

[amh63]

My daughter works in Ithaca and pointed out Ithaca had played the Lady Jeffs earlier.  The game was very early in the season and yes Megan Robertson played her part in that win.  The game was in LeFrak...a place which the WBB team has not lost a game for quite some time..in years.

To answer a poster's question,  the two teams that played in November are not the same as presently. With respect to Amherst,  Amherst has two front court players available now that can contribute and balance the Bombers size up front...S. Holness who was out with an injury in the first game and is just now playing near her talent level....and FY Boyette who now has a full season playing the college game.  More important, since Amherst normally starts three FY players ...they too have had a full season getting experience playing in a tough conference.  On the down side, one of Amherst seasoned players...a sophomore Captain has not played in the last two games.  Now the Tufts gym is not one of the Lady Jeff's favorite places to play...having lost to Tufts twice there....still it is not entirely a strange gym.  The Ithaca players maybe impacted more.
I watched the interview of the Ithaca HBC and two of the players on the Ithaca website after their last win.  I got the impression that all felt that they are a better team now than earlier in the season.  That is how it should be...IMO .  The Bombers are on a roll...having won their conference.  Both teams have beaten Hartwick...a good team and a common opponent.  I expect a competative game.  If  Amherst's outside game is on, than it maybe like the first game...however.

Last year, in the Williams game in Willy Town...the Ithaca team had an assistant coach, a native of Cortland, NY who was a starter on the Amherst  Title team of '11.  One other factor to consider is the Amherst Coach...a very fine coach.

[Bombers798891]

It is clear that Coach Raymond has established Ithaca as one of the top Eastern D3 programs, although his team's W-L record is not quite as gaudy as some prior years. Because their conference is not as tough, it seems that Dan chose to prepare his team for tournament play by scheduling DePauw, Rochester, Amherst, and John Carroll in their pre-conference schedule, thus achieving a top-10 SOS. In the 2013 NCAA's, the Bombers lost a Sweet 16 match-up in OT by 4 at Williams, a game they had every chance to win, but their losses this season to Amherst and DePauw were not close. I wonder if any of our local experts would care to opine on their chances this weekend, noting that Amherst is now without Ms. Robertson, who had 14 and 10 in that game, and what the pivotal issues may be.

I would probably disagree on the 25-4 record not being gaudy by IC standards, considering it's the second-highest win total in school history, but the rest of this is accurate. The Bombers have always played a tough OOC schedule, as their 84-8 conference record over the last six seasons shows you what they're dealing with in-conference. But this is the first time where the national performance has been more consistent, with back-to-back Sweet 16 trips.

But this is a tough, tough matchup for IC. While the 44-point effort in the first game was in part a function of a 6-for-15 performance from the line that would be a strange repeat, this team's offensive struggles in the first half of its two NCAA games, coupled with Amherst's great defense makes me think Ithaca struggles to get past 50-55.

68-53 Amherst, maybe?