WBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Amherst returns to action late Dec.....hosting a two game tournament.  Seems HBC G. Is looking forward to it....many of the other HBCs are friends...former players and/or associates.  Looking forward to see if Meg Robertson is dressed and enter any games....as well as the other injured players.

[d3wbbfan]

Just as Williams had recently, Tufts' 14-15 WBB absorbed their first defeat of the season in the opening game of their holiday tourney down in San Juan, P.R. The Jumbos (now 8-1) fell to #6 Scranton (9-1), 52-42. North was the only Jumbo in double figures, with 14. Morehead 8, Foley 7, Baptista 4, with Kanner, Roberson and Lee adding 3 each. Scranton won the boards battle, 41-32, went 17-21 from the FT line, and were 5-11 from 3, while the Jumbos were just 3-16 from deep, and 9-13 from the line. Scranton led 24-18 at the half. The box score doesn't use the standard NCAA structure; did my best to decipher it. Tufts will take on Ohio's Baldwin-Wallace (7-2) Monday.

The only other Sunday game involving a NESCAC team has also gone final. In Daytona Beach, FL, Colby defeated Alma (MI), 80-60. Brooke Chandor hit 6 3-pointers for 18, Caitlyn Nolan and Mia Diplock each had 17, while Carylanne Wolfington added 16 for the Mules, who improve to 8-1.

[d3wbbfan]

A very interesting Monday afternoon in the NESCAC:

SR Megan Robertson sees her first game action for Amherst since her knee injury vs Tufts last mid-season. She played 20 minutes, and led the Jeffs with 14 points. She also added 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in their 67-50 win over Drew at LeFrak. Her conditioning looked surprisingly good, considering her long layoff, which means big trouble for both the rest of the NESCAC and for the other NCAA DIII 2014-15 women's hoops title contenders, for that matter. Giddins added 13; Meredith Doswell 11. Even before her return, Amherst had an incredibly deep and talented bench - even going by Amherst's and the NESCAC's own existing high standard of excellence. And with the last of the injured FY's (5'10" G Jenna Schumacher) making her season debut for the LJ's tonight (although 6'1" FR stud Hannah Hackley was in street clothes tonight on the bench), now it's just completely unfair. If you had to start players #8 through #12 in the Amherst 2014-15 rotation, I believe they would win just about every DIII league's title across the country, short of the NWC's, MIACs and WIACs of the world. And that's truly no slight to any of those other fine DIII conferences. Don't believe me? The LJs 14-15 top 7 are Robertson/Giddins/A Doswell/Renner/Peterson/M Doswell/Pritchard. That means 8-12 you'd start JR Haley Zwecker (who would be both starting and an all-star level performer, for any other NESCAC team, including Tufts), and FR Jackie Nagle, Hackley, Schumacher and Lily Johnson. With 6'2" SO Rachel Boyette and 6'2" FY Rebecca Ford off the bench. Any DIII team would *kill* to have either Boyette or Ford on their team right now. This would be no different for Amherst than what Gromacki did last year - start 4 first-years. He finished 26-4. These four FYs are very, very good; their only fault is that their graduation timing was a year off, so now they're behind all the sophs, that's all. Amherst has assembled an absolutely mind-boggling amount of talent. (And except for Robertson and fan-favorite Taylor Smith, the entire team returns next year.) Sometimes having so few minutes available, with so much talent, can be problematic as to hurt feelings, but that will never happen at Amherst. The only possible issue is the players not fully able to get into a "game flow", with so many subs in and out. But the rotation will surely shorten for the biggest games on the Jeffs' schedule. Most of my WBB background is in DI & DII, so I can say this with complete confidence: At full strength, the Lord Jeffs would be a FF team in Division II right now, and would easily beat 80% of DI teams, as currently constructed. Of course, I want Coach Gromacki coaching them in these "up a level or two" games.....       

The other Monday headline has to do with Tufts. The good news? The Jumbos bounced back, defeating a solid Baldwin Wallace team, 57-44. Only seven players scored for the Jumbos, but six had between 8 and 10 points, led by Foley. Although they only went 2-9 from 3, that's not necessarily a bad thing. This team's bread and butter is Kanner and North teaming up down low. And they'll have to be better than 11-20 at the stripe, which they were today. And while the box score from P.R. had no play-by-play (so I couldn't confirm that she went out early, and did not return), the stunner is that Tufts' 4-year starting PG, Kelsey Morehead, who always leads the NESCAC in total minutes played, played just 6 minutes today, and was scoreless. And while I'm crossing my fingers that it simply was a coaching decision by Carla Berube (although I truly doubt it), any Jumbos fan should be quite concerned, and hoping that Kelsey sat out most of today's game due to nothing more than an abundance of caution, due to a "tweak" of some sort, until the team can get her checked out back in Medford. The Tufts PG-in-waiting, FY Lauren Dillon, was then pressed into service, seeing a career-high 28 minutes. She played well, chipping in 9 points and 3 assists. SO G Josie Lee also saw increased minutes, as did JR G Michelle Wu. I'll keep a watch out for further news on Kelsey Morehead. But the obvious conclusion to be drawn from the addition of Robertson for Amherst today, and the possible loss of Morehead for Tufts is a HUGE advantage to Amherst. Especially with NESCAC play almost upon us.

Finally, in Daytona Beach, FL, in a nip-and-tuck battle the entire way, Torie Sutherland hit a layup with :05 to go, snapping a 65-all tie, and giving Coast Guard (4-4) a 67-65 victory over Bates. The Mules (8-2) were led by Carylanne Wolfington's 25, but her 3-pointer at the buzzer missed the mark. Caitlyn Nolan added 14 for Bates, while the Bears were led by 20 from Meghan Fornaro, 13 from Alexi Howland, and a dozen from Sutherland.

[Roundball999]

Yes, Robertson looked very good for her first game back.  Amherst will be very tough.  But sorry, I just can't give this comment much credence: "If you had to start players #8 through #12 in the Amherst 2014-15 rotation, they would easily win just about every DIII league's title across the country".   Of course we'll never have a way to know.  Maybe if Amherst waltzes to the national title, blowing out everyone by 20+, it might hold some water.  In the meantime, I think the WashU, FDU, Thomas More, Hope/Calvin, St. Thomas, etc. crowd would beg to differ and perhaps take some offense

[d3wbbfan]

Roundball999, I read your mind. I was editing/clarifying my 8-12 post, while standing behind it, as you posted. I do truly understand your point. Wash U is a very veteran team this year (to me, it seems like SRs Melissa Gilkey and Maddy Scheppers have been there forever! Both are great players.) And we all know their history, but the unspoken reality is that the UAA has been down a tad in recent years, come March. I am also familiar with the NYU coach, who's very quickly brought them back to the Top 25, from virtually no roster at all. But have you seen them? I have, and NYU's not *all* the way back, level-wise, just yet. I did mention the WIAC; in my mind, I lumped St. Thomas in that league by mistake - my bad. I am a *huge* fan of the Tommies' Maggie Weiers - so glad she came back to use her 5th year, which DIII players don't usually do. I'd also deleted a mention I did have for both FDU-Florham/Thomas More, as those mega-powers in one-bid leagues are surely gonna be there in March. My conference point was more about the "usual suspect" DIII Top 10 conferences. All I ask of you is an open mind. Feel free to call me out later. I'll be here to take my lumps, if deserved, I promise. I do see an absolute *ton* of DIII women's game every year, from every region. Including every single team you mentioned.

And Ronk, I saw Montclair State play Baruch Sunday. Yes, the Red Hawks still have SRs Melissa Tobie and Janitza Aquino, but they lost key contributor Nicosia Henry from last year. They're just not as good this year. Melissa Tobie had 4 fouls late vs Baruch. If Aquino didn't nail two late 3's, they might've gone down at home. That's my point: Montclair is no better than Sweet 16 this year. And if they either lose or get a substandard effort from either, they can go down at any time. And I know that Scranton just upset Tufts. But the game before, they lost to a decent Cabrini team at home, 37-35. You gotta reliably score the ball more than that with your own rims, no?     

[ronk]

Yes, Robertson looked very good for her first game back.  Amherst will be very tough.  But sorry, I just can't give this comment much credence: "If you had to start players #8 through #12 in the Amherst 2014-15 rotation, they would easily win just about every DIII league's title across the country".   Of course we'll never have a way to know.  Maybe if Amherst waltzes to the national title, blowing out everyone by 20+, it might hold some water.  In the meantime, I think the WashU, FDU, Thomas More, Hope/Calvin, St. Thomas, etc. crowd would beg to differ and perhaps take some offense

And Montclair St, Scranton, and Cabrini.

[amh63]

Amherst had a solid win in their first game back.  Cautiously watched when Megan entered the game..with a brace on.  The Lady Jeffs were a little rusty at first, but seemed to get into a good flow as the game went on.  Agreed that Meg was running and moving well, though her shots were off.  Her time on the floor and her insertion into the game, imho, was also to let her teammates and her get familiar with each other...again.  Loved her first block.  The LeFrak crowd gave her a standing ovation when she left the floor the first time.
The two centers....Boyette and Ford, also were running the floor well and contributing.  Seemed that some emphasis was  given to get the ball inside more.  Ali Doswell, Amherst's leading outside shooter was off, but she contributed.  Amherst had 10 recorded blocks!  Drew was a little undersized compared to Amherst and their "bigs" were slow down the floor.

[ronk]

Roundball999, I read your mind. I was editing/clarifying my 8-12 post, while standing behind it, as you posted. I do truly understand your point. Wash U is a very veteran team this year (to me, it seems like SRs Melissa Gilkey and Maddy Scheppers have been there forever! Both are great players.) And we all know their history, but the unspoken reality is that the UAA has been down a tad in recent years, come March. I am also familiar with the NYU coach, who's very quickly brought them back to the Top 25, from virtually no roster at all. But have you seen them? I have, and NYU's not *all* the way back, level-wise, just yet. I did mention the WIAC; in my mind, I lumped St. Thomas in that league by mistake - my bad. I am a *huge* fan of the Tommies' Maggie Weiers - so glad she came back to use her 5th year, which DIII players don't usually do. I'd also deleted a mention I did have for both FDU-Florham/Thomas More, as those mega-powers in one-bid leagues are surely gonna be there in March. My conference point was more about the "usual suspect" DIII Top 10 conferences. All I ask of you is an open mind. Feel free to call me out later. I'll be here to take my lumps, if deserved, I promise. I do see an absolute *ton* of DIII women's game every year, from every region. Including every single team you mentioned.

And Ronk, I saw Montclair State play Baruch Sunday. Yes, the Red Hawks still have SRs Melissa Tobie and Janitza Aquino, but they lost key contributor Nicosia Henry from last year. They're just not as good this year. Melissa Tobie had 4 fouls late vs Baruch. If Aquino didn't nail two late 3's, they might've gone down at home. That's my point: Montclair is no better than Sweet 16 this year. And if they either lose or get a substandard effort from either, they can go down at any time. And I know that Scranton just upset Tufts. But the game before, they lost to a decent Cabrini team at home, 37-35. You gotta reliably score the ball more than that with your own rims, no?     

  Yes, they should, but Cabrini's good defense and patient offense had a lot to do with that, as Thomas More found out this week.
  Even with the loss of Henry, there aren't 8 better teams in the country than Montclair. Tobie and Aquino are a year better and their frosh starters are playing well enough already.
My push back was against your idea that Amherst's 8-12 could win those conferences easily, if at all.

[BruinFan]

Most of my WBB background is in DI & DII, so I can say this with complete confidence: At full strength, the Lord Jeffs would be a FF team in Division II right now, and would easily beat 80% of DI teams, as currently constructed. Of course, I want Coach Gromacki coaching them in these "up a level or two" games.....       

Wow. Easily beat 80% of D1 teams? I don't think they would beat a single team in the Pac-12. Compete - yes, beat them - no.

[d3wbbfan]

BruinFan, what are you doing over here in the New England region? I'm the only nut case here with "dual region citizenship!"   

Amherst might just give Arizona a run in the Pac-12, but I wasn't referring to the "P5" conferences. And Amherst would lose to almost all of the A-10 and Big East teams. But do you know how many low-level NCAA DI leagues there are? Painfully, I do. I was very associated with one, for well over a decade. Skip the top team or two in each, and Coach Gromacki would make some *serious* hay in these 26 DI leagues/Independents, IMHO:

-America East
-American (AAC) (UConn obviously excepted)
-Atlantic Sun
-Big Sky
-Big South
-Big West
-Colonial
-Conference USA
-Great West
-Horizon
-Ivy
-MAAC
-Mid-American
-MEAC
-Missouri Valley
-Mountain West
-Northeast
-Ohio Valley
-Patriot
-Southern
-Southland
-SWAC
-Summitt
-Sun Belt
-West Coast
-WAC
-Independents

[d3wbbfan]

Tufts beat Regis 57-44 Saturday. Once the advertised UNE at Bates (won by Bates, 76-72) game's alleged video link ended up being a falsehood, I switched over to watch the Jumbos. Sure enough, Kelsey Morehead was in street clothes, with one crutch helping her get around. The game recap on the Tufts' website merely stated the obvious: "Tufts was without starting point guard Kelsey Morehead". I actually see that as a good sign, however, because if it was an ACL/clear season-ending injury, team doctors would know that by now. Her apparently being "day-to-day" is 1000% better news, even if it ends up being 2-4 weeks.

I watched the PG-in-training, FY Lauren Dillon, carefully. She looked surprisingly good. She understands the offense, and knows what Coach Berube wants/expects from her. What Tufts loses most without Morehouse is her being a viable option on offense. There have been times over the years when the team has needed double-figure point production from Kelsey. And she's delivered. Dillon just doesn't seem to have that in her repertoire; at least not yet. In her own words, in a recent Tufts article, Dillon confesses, "I'm a facilitator. I always have been. I get the ball to where it needs to be."

Vs. Regis (who should again win their league easily, despite enduring a bit of a losing streak late in their non-conference sched), Berube kept watching her #1 hardest-working player, Emma Roberson, struggle. Of all the Tufts players, I'm certain Roberson has worked by far *the* hardest to get to her current skill level. This girl absolutely loves basketball, and oozes determination and intensity. She has a rep as a top perimeter defender. And she is. But she is a player who has a certain characteristic that I do see turn up once in a while. She is very fast, but she is not very quick. They are two entirely different things. She's also very "choppy", while both moving laterally, and driving to the goal. I've seen her man blow right past her, and score on at least 3 occasions. Roberson had done her best. Think MLB HOF Brooks Robinson. Very slow runner. But as an Oriole 3B, for 2-3 steps either way, he was *lightning* quick. He had great reflexes, possessed the world-class quickness to be a 15-time All-Star, but couldn't run a lick. He's the exact opposite of Roberson. Emma has worked tirelessly on both her 3-pt shooting and her slashing ability. This kid wants to be good in the *worst* way, and has absolutely put the time in. In other words, she's a coaches' dream. She deserves the payoff. And I want it for her. The only problem is that all of Emma's hard work on offense hasn't really paid off for her at all. I swear I've seen her hit the side of the backboard on at least 8 different corner 3-pt attempts so far. And she hasn't taken all that many. That's a lot. Sadly, she's also launched a troubling number of air balls that have missed the rim by a country mile. And when Roberson sees an opening, and decides to drive to the goal, the ultra-determined JR gives it all she's got, but she never manages to separate herself from her man, and always chucks up a prayer of a shot, that never comes close. And usually without even locking onto the rim with her eyes before releasing the ball. EVERY shot she takes has been a good shot, 100% within the Jumbo offense. All Carla can do is clap her hands, and hope for better from her next time. I only hope my absolute respect for this player has come through here. My only point is that this is a *results* business. And I believe the correct decision is about to be made here, by Coach Berube.

Roberson currently starts. Whenever she's subbed out, it's always for the same player. Josie Lee. The 5'7" SO from ME was nailed to the Tufts bench all of last year. But she's been in the regular rotation all season, and deservedly so. She's played consistently well. To me, she plays perimeter defense just as well as Roberson does. (And I see this is Roberson's best single skill.) Lee has the exact same "drive to the goal" move in her repertoire that Emma attempts once/twice every game, without success. But Josie's effort is smooth and quick. She usually gets the needed separation from her man, and she usually makes the shot. Josie Lee shoots 31% from 3. Emma Roberson shoots 19% from 3. And if Dillon is gonna have to play big minutes, she provides far less points than Morehead would have. Berube is gonna need to make up that difference somewhere. The answer is obvious: Lee in, Roberson out. Even I would still start Emma. Even I don't have the heart to hurt her that way. But Lee's gonna have to be the one in there at the end of games for Tufts. To boot, Josie made two *pinpoint* inbound passes to the post Sat, for two easy layups, both inside of 3:00. And even if Kelsey does return soon, it's not like the Jumbos can't use/don't need another solid points option under 6'2" anymore. They surely will.

My point: three different times in the second half, with Regis staying within single digits, it become patently obvious that when Emma was in, the team was struggling. And when Lee replaced her, the team functioned far better. So much so, that in the final 6-7 minutes vs Regis, Berube correctly went with Lee, and sat Roberson. I think Coach Berube has been allocating her player's minutes in a brilliant manner this season. I did second guess her at times last season. So when I think she's 100% "on it" this season, she also deserves my most sincere praise. Get better soon Kelsey!

[d3wbbfan]

Amherst wins on the road, beating Arcadia (PA) 74-50, in a non-conference Monday matinee. An early 3-pt barrage gave the LJs an early 21-1 lead just 4:00 in, but they struggled to maintain much offensive flow from there, allowing the Knights to narrow the halftime gap to just 11.

SR C Megan Robertson appeared rusty in just her second game of the season back from injury, shooting 4-12 from the field and 0-3 from the line. But 17 more minutes of valuable PT today surely helped her make more progress, in preparation for the important NESCAC games ahead.

Hannah Peterson led Amherst (10-0) with 17; Jaimie Renner had 12, including 3 3's, while Ali Doswell added 11. JR F Addy Crenny led Arcadia (6-6) with 15 points.

The Lord Jeffs' road trip wraps up tomorrow Tuesday at 4PM, as Amherst takes on the Rams of Farmingdale State (4-6) in New York. 

In other Monday games, Williams (11-1) hosted UMass-Dartmouth, and came out on top, 78-59. Ellen Cook was on fire all game, finishing with 33 points on 12-15 from the field, and was 5-6 from 3. The Ephs scored a season-high 41 points in the opening stanza, yet only led the Corsairs by 3 at the break, as UMD held a huge early advantage in points off turnovers. Williams was able to take much better care of the ball in the second half, while still scoring plenty, to pull away for the victory. 3 others reached double figures for Williams (Macdonald and Fernandez 11; Litman 10), while Alicia Kutil and Meghan Ronaghan paced Dartmouth (7-3) with 16 each.

Tufts was able to prevent a repeat of last year's upset home loss to Babson, prevailing tonight in Babson Park by a final of 57-43. The Jumbos led tonight at the break 34-20, but had led the Beavers by as many as 19 a year ago, before they stormed back for the come-from-behind 6-pt road win. Michela North lead Tufts (11-1) with 19, FY PG Lauren Dillon, currently filling in for the injured Kelsey Morehead, posted a career-high 15, including 3 3's, while Hayley Kanner hit for 13. Linnett Graber was the leading scorer for Babson (6-5) with 9.

[nescacfan1]

Cook was truly amazing for Williams and made many tough shots in her 12-15 shooting performance for 33 points--  and she played within the offensive scheme. It was one of the best outings I have seen from her and probably a career high. Litman had 10 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks and Macdonald and Fernandez had 11 points each and 11 assists between them. Caveney was back and scored 9 on 3-10 shooting. Williams had a poor defensive first half and committed 10 turnovers but really locked down UMD in the second half, limiting them to 24% shooting.
It's hard to say how Williams will perform when conference play starts this weekend. They are very talented and deep, but we'll see if they can play consistently enough to really challenge for a NESCAC title. Last year they lost to both Trinity and Amherst, but they are significantly better this year.

[nescacfan1]

In an epiphany, I think the Ephs have taken on the character of their first year point guard, Fernandez. They are the "Guardians of the Galaxy" team -- a little bit good, a little bit bad and a little bit of both-- usually within the same game! Fernandez is immensely talented and if she plays to her potential the Ephs will go far... 

[amh63]

Got a chance to watch most of the Amherst Game and most of the second half of the Williams game at home.
Have to thank d3wbbfan for the nice post of the Amherst win in PA.  Nothing much to add except that all the players dressed...14..played.  The writeup of the game on the Amherst website cited that Meg Robertson with her 4 blocks in the game now holds the Amherst all time record.  Her offense maybe " rusty" but her defense is fine.
nescacfan1...agreed that your FY guard is a bundle of energy.  However your comparison of the team to the movie characters..Guardians of the Universe...is a little confusing. I have the DVD of the movie even...recommended by my grown son.  Guess it is a generation thing.