WBB: NESCAC

[magicman]

I just went to the NCAA statistics website and as expected Bowdoin's Marle Curle has made a reappearance in free throw percentage leaders because she qualifies once again after her big weekend in the NCAA tournament. With 75 made free throws out of 83 attempts she has been sinking them at a 90.4% rate. That's good enough to put her in 3rd place in the country. She probably can't move up any higher because the 2 players ahead of her are done for the year. She would need to make 17 in a row to take over the top spot. That's only a third of her earlier streak of 51 in a row (possibly a NESCAC Women's record?) so we know it's certainly possible. But she'll need to get to the line often and Bowdoin has to continue to win for that to happen.

Sara Binkhorst continues to be ranked as she is listed in the #28 spot with 76x89...good for an 85.4% rate.

Here's the link to the Stats page:

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-women/d3/current/individual/108   

[amh63]

FYI....it is noted on the D3hoops.com site, the info of Friday's games.  Amherst vs Salisbury is noted to start at 5PM with stats and Video.  The surprising item is the game to follow...the Bowdoin vs Monclair State game! Yes, it states stats, video...BUT has the note "tickets".   I take that as it CoST to watch.  Hope it is in error....strange!

[Roundball999]

FYI....it is noted on the D3hoops.com site, the info of Friday's games.  Amherst vs Salisbury is noted to start at 5PM with stats and Video.  The surprising item is the game to follow...the Bowdoin vs Monclair State game! Yes, it states stats, video...BUT has the note "tickets".   I take that as it CoST to watch.  Hope it is in error....strange!

I assume you mean it would be strange to have to buy a ticket to watch streaming video of the game; I agree that would be strange.  But the link appears to be a site to purchase tickets in advance to attend the game in person.  That would not be unusual and would be a convenience especially when seats/tickets are expected to be limited. 

[7express]

At this point, the discussion about whether Bowdoin should be ranked above Amherst is a bit academic.  For what it is worth, after too early losses, Bowdoin is undefeated against everyone but Tufts--and that includes two wins over Amherst, both relatively easy wins. I don't think there is any question that Bowdoin is a better team than Amherst. However, Bowdoin also got a tougher draw in the tournament, having to face MontClaire first.  I would not be surprised to see a Bowdoin/Amherst rematch in the regional final.

It's all about when you lose and who you lose too.  If 2 of your 3 losses are before New Years it's tough to get ranked ahead of the team that was in the top 10 at New Years while you were in the 20-25 range even if you beat that team twice in the season.  In the division 1 poll UNC is ranked #19 with 10 losses while Butler is #22 with only 9 losses....and Butler beat them during the season!  The reason UNC is still higher with the head-to-head loss and more losses is that UNC has been ranked all season while Butler has been in-n-out of the rankings, and even though they have more losses, UNC'S losses are better.  I'm not going to downgrade UNC as far for losing to a NC State at home (19-12) then I would for Butler losing to a 19-12 Xavier on the road because the ACC is a tougher conference then the Big East, and is a bigger grind.

[polbear73]

FYI....it is noted on the D3hoops.com site, the info of Friday's games.  Amherst vs Salisbury is noted to start at 5PM with stats and Video.  The surprising item is the game to follow...the Bowdoin vs Monclair State game! Yes, it states stats, video...BUT has the note "tickets".   I take that as it CoST to watch.  Hope it is in error....strange!

I assume you mean it would be strange to have to buy a ticket to watch streaming video of the game; I agree that would be strange.  But the link appears to be a site to purchase tickets in advance to attend the game in person.  That would not be unusual and would be a convenience especially when seats/tickets are expected to be limited.

A click on the ticket link indicates that they are offering the unused tickets for game admission from the Bowdoin allotment and not as a charge to stream the game.

[magicman]

At this point, the discussion about whether Bowdoin should be ranked above Amherst is a bit academic.  For what it is worth, after too early losses, Bowdoin is undefeated against everyone but Tufts--and that includes two wins over Amherst, both relatively easy wins. I don't think there is any question that Bowdoin is a better team than Amherst. However, Bowdoin also got a tougher draw in the tournament, having to face MontClaire first.  I would not be surprised to see a Bowdoin/Amherst rematch in the regional final.

It's all about when you lose and who you lose too.  If 2 of your 3 losses are before New Years it's tough to get ranked ahead of the team that was in the top 10 at New Years while you were in the 20-25 range even if you beat that team twice in the season.  In the division 1 poll UNC is ranked #19 with 10 losses while Butler is #22 with only 9 losses....and Butler beat them during the season!  The reason UNC is still higher with the head-to-head loss and more losses is that UNC has been ranked all season while Butler has been in-n-out of the rankings, and even though they have more losses, UNC'S losses are better.  I'm not going to downgrade UNC as far for losing to a NC State at home (19-12) then I would for Butler losing to a 19-12 Xavier on the road because the ACC is a tougher conference then the Big East, and is a bigger grind.

I understand where you're coming from 7, and I agree with you about the who and the when. But the UNC-Butler situation is quite different than the Amherst-Bowdoin argument. You're talking about 2 teams from 2 different conferences (one conference regarded to be stronger than the other) with 1 head to head meeting.

Some of the posters on this board have put forth the idea that Bowdoin should be ranked ahead of Amherst because of 2 wins by the Polar Bears in head to head play not just a single meeting. Plus we're talking about 2 teams from the same conference. Someone else mentioned that Amherst has only lost 3 games while Bowdoin has 4 losses but Bowdoin only has those 4 losses because they beat Amherst in that 2nd meeting. That meant Bowdoin had to face Tufts (for the 2nd time) in the championship game of the NESCAC. They should be rewarded for making the championship game and not penalized because they lost to Tufts. If Amherst had played in that game against Tufts they could very well have 4 losses.

I could see not ranking Bowdoin over Amherst after the Polar Bears won the first meeting back on January 31st. Amherst had been ranked as high as #2 in previous weeks and the loss to Bowdoin dropped them from #6 down to #12 at the time. Bowdoin who was ranked #24 prior to that game moved up to the #20 position. In subsequent weeks Bowdoin continued to move up in the standings while Amherst was fairly stationary in the 11-12 spot. After winning the NESCAC semifinal game against Amherst, at Tufts, where the Polar Bears dominated that game, then I believe, it was time to move Bowdoin ahead of the LJ's.

It should be pointed out that Bowdoin also lost a valuable starter for the season shortly after that 1st meeting with Amherst, when senior forward Megan Phelps was injured (11 rebounds and 9 points in that Jan 31st game against Amherst). Then her replacement, freshman forward Emily Campbell, was lost for the season several weeks later. So the Polar Bears were short 2 of their interior players and still easily defeated Amherst in that 2nd matchup.           

[nescacbbrules]

I think all have made some valid points with regard to the rankings of Amherst and Bowdoin. What strikes me is two things. First, Tufts thoroughly trounced Amherst and that should have been a notice to the voters that the LJs were not like their teams of the past in some ways. Amherst's defense was not strong and they struggled in their half-court offense.
Second, it's important to note that both victories by Bowdoin over Amherst were not nearly as close as the final scores indicate. Although the final margins were 9 and 8, Amherst was behind by 10 just 11 minutes into the first game and never threatened. On the neutral court at Tufts, the Polar Bears were again up double digits after 11 minutes and cruising by 21 at the half. Amherst played a better second half, but it was only two threes in the last minute that made it appear respectable.
Personally, I agree with the poster who said that the poll  voters don't pay close enough attention to the games, because the weight of those two victories should have pushed Bowdoin ahead of Amherst in the polls. This laziness, Amherst's early ranking and national status from the recent past more than Bowdoin's early losses accounts for the ranking anomaly. The loss to Roger Williams was poor, but losing to UNE on their court was not. Tufts barely scraped out a win there early in the season.
As I mentioned earlier, I sure hope they get to play once more. They each represent themselves and their conference with distinction.

[polbear73]

I think all have made some valid points with regard to the rankings of Amherst and Bowdoin. What strikes me is two things. First, Tufts thoroughly trounced Amherst and that should have been a notice to the voters that the LJs were not like their teams of the past in some ways. Amherst's defense was not strong and they struggled in their half-court offense.
Second, it's important to note that both victories by Bowdoin over Amherst were not nearly as close as the final scores indicate. Although the final margins were 9 and 8, Amherst was behind by 10 just 11 minutes into the first game and never threatened. On the neutral court at Tufts, the Polar Bears were again up double digits after 11 minutes and cruising by 21 at the half. Amherst played a better second half, but it was only two threes in the last minute that made it appear respectable.
Personally, I agree with the poster who said that the poll  voters don't pay close enough attention to the games, because the weight of those two victories should have pushed Bowdoin ahead of Amherst in the polls. This laziness, Amherst's early ranking and national status from the recent past more than Bowdoin's early losses accounts for the ranking anomaly. The loss to Roger Williams was poor, but losing to UNE on their court was not. Tufts barely scraped out a win there early in the season.
As I mentioned earlier, I sure hope they get to play once more. They each represent themselves and their conference with distinction.

I could not agree more, especially with the last point of both teams representing themselves and the conference with distinction (and Tufts should be included as well).  Obviously, Bowdoin is going to have to be on top of its game to defeat Montclair's press and their talent inside and while the conventional wisdom is that Salisbury may be the easier opponent of the two, all teams reaching this point are talented and Amherst has its work cut out for them as well.  It would be a great accomplishment for Amherst and Bowdoin to meet a third time, and I wish both teams good luck-until that final, of course. 

[amh63]

I guess all this chit chat is keeping folks busy until Friday...in particular the relative ranking of Bowdoin to Amherst, etc, etc....
The teams rankings NOW are what they are.  Amherst rankings during the season was also done by another org.   Those were often higher than D3hoops'.  The teams are positioned to play this weekend and the only thing I see how the rankings may impact the games are the color of the uniforms...home or away uniforms.
For the Bowdoin fans that want to break down past games to support their points, my advice is it is not often good for forecasting, etc.  Amherst played on the road in its two NCAA games to date.  Both games were solid wins over fine teams....one highly ranked, the host.  Both games were basically over at the half, based on the score and the play on the floor.  It was done with Amherst starting PG not in uniform.  I have seen in MBB and other sports, these same discussions.  For example...Amherst beat Wesleyan twice by 20 plus points during the regular season....only to lose to the Cardinals in the CAC final in the title game.  Last season in the Final 4, Amherst was blown out by the Williams squad that Amherst beat 8 straight times, including THREE times last season!
The same discussions happened in men' s soccer.  When Tufts won the National title, the conference fans all gave praise.  I suggest sit back and enjoy the play and cheer the winners and hope a CAC team takes the Title so we can all clap.

[Pat Coleman]

FYI....it is noted on the D3hoops.com site, the info of Friday's games.  Amherst vs Salisbury is noted to start at 5PM with stats and Video.  The surprising item is the game to follow...the Bowdoin vs Monclair State game! Yes, it states stats, video...BUT has the note "tickets".   I take that as it CoST to watch.  Hope it is in error....strange!

I assume you mean it would be strange to have to buy a ticket to watch streaming video of the game; I agree that would be strange.  But the link appears to be a site to purchase tickets in advance to attend the game in person.  That would not be unusual and would be a convenience especially when seats/tickets are expected to be limited.

A click on the ticket link indicates that they are offering the unused tickets for game admission from the Bowdoin allotment and not as a charge to stream the game.

Yes -- schools sell tickets to Division III NCAA Tournament games. If you have a question about a link on the site, click on it to find out!

[amh63]

Pat C......Thanks for the advice.  Other than being lazy.....not too long ago, it was not uncommon for such labels to indicate that it was a charge to view.  We all have grown to free video streaming.  What made it strange to me is the earlier game...the Amherst game did not have the notice.  "normally" alloted" tickets if unsold by a given time are "returned" to the host school for sale.
A more general question to you.....is it a requirement for host schools to provide video and live stats for NCAA games?  If so, then why doesn't all games have such services cited on your site.

[Pat Coleman]

Pat C......Thanks for the advice.  Other than being lazy.....not too long ago, it was not uncommon for such labels to indicate that it was a charge to view.  We all have grown to free video streaming.  What made it strange to me is the earlier game...the Amherst game did not have the notice.  "normally" alloted" tickets if unsold by a given time are "returned" to the host school for sale.
A more general question to you.....is it a requirement for host schools to provide video and live stats for NCAA games?  If so, then why doesn't all games have such services cited on your site.

We've never had labels on our site or anywhere in the Presto network for pay-per-view video labeled as "tickets."

It isn't a requirement. My understanding is there is video for all games this weekend but a couple of the schools are still putting the finishing touches on lining those things up. Some are looking into better services than their usual offerings since there is likely to be higher demand.

All of the games have live stats links.

[nescacbbrules]

I guess all this chit chat is keeping folks busy until Friday...in particular the relative ranking of Bowdoin to Amherst, etc, etc....
The teams rankings NOW are what they are.  Amherst rankings during the season was also done by another org.   Those were often higher than D3hoops'.  The teams are positioned to play this weekend and the only thing I see how the rankings may impact the games are the color of the uniforms...home or away uniforms.
For the Bowdoin fans that want to break down past games to support their points, my advice is it is not often good for forecasting, etc.  Amherst played on the road in its two NCAA games to date.  Both games were solid wins over fine teams....one highly ranked, the host.  Both games were basically over at the half, based on the score and the play on the floor.  It was done with Amherst starting PG not in uniform.  I have seen in MBB and other sports, these same discussions.  For example...Amherst beat Wesleyan twice by 20 plus points during the regular season....only to lose to the Cardinals in the CAC final in the title game.  Last season in the Final 4, Amherst was blown out by the Williams squad that Amherst beat 8 straight times, including THREE times last season!
The same discussions happened in men' s soccer.  When Tufts won the National title, the conference fans all gave praise.  I suggest sit back and enjoy the play and cheer the winners and hope a CAC team takes the Title so we can all clap.

Quite agree, amh63. Although various opinions have been stated,  I'm not sure that I've heard anyone suggest that their position on the ranking merits of the two teams informs their prognostication for a hypothetical rematch.
The pride we all have in our home teams is matched only by the collective pride we share in our connection to such a remarkable group of colleges and scholar athletes.

[Pat Coleman]

And now all the games have video links except the ones at Randolph-Macon, where there will be video but the question is which platform they'll use.

[ronk]

 LJs recover from 19-9 deficit via offensive rebounds & 3s to take halftime lead. Former Scranton coach Mike Strong sitting behind Salisbury bench supporting former player & now HC Kelly Lewandowski.