WBB: NESCAC

[deiscanton]

Considering that Tufts would be ranked at #5 in the NESCAC without their leading scorer and rebounder in #30 Khalilah Ummah-- who is a key reserve off the bench--, I would think that once Khalilah Ummah recovers fully from an injury that she sustained in the winter break (the injury probably occurred in a Tufts practice over the past few weeks), the Jumbos will once again be a tougher team to be reckoned with.

I saw Tufts on Saturday at the WPI Invitational when they played Plattsburgh State and immediately noticed something was up when Ummah did not come off the bench in the first half.  Ummah did not play against Plattsburgh and tried to play against WPI on Sunday, but was only on the court for about a minute, so it is safe to assume that she has not yet fully recovered to full strength.  The missing 13 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game provided by Ummah off the bench were clearly felt by the Jumbos over the weekend.  Tufts had 43 rebounds against Plattsburgh on Saturday, and got outrebounded by WPI, 36 to 32, on Sunday.  Tufts came into the WPI Invitational averaging 46 rebounds a game.

[feces monkey]

I was hoping that Norwich would give the Polar Bears a test, but all the Lady Cadets managed to do was set the game back to 1979. Frightening to believe that team beat Bates twice. Norwich only lost by the same amount as USM, so they have that feather in their cap, as Bowdoin continues its search for a team that can stay within 14 points.

Emmanuel should provide a stiffer test, especially in their gym. Polar Bears embarking on 5-game/8-day journey, as well as a 4-game/5-day run. My guess is they'll pick up a loss in that stretch.

Tufts hung around with Brandeis for a half, but sent the Judgettes to the line 21 times in the second, sealing the loss.

Williams beats Bates, setting up the big game in Brunswick on the 12th. The Bobcats may struggle to get a home seed in the conference tourney at this point.

[feces monkey]

1. Packing in a zone and praying for an off shooting night does not consitute a "defensive powerhouse." It constitutes an overmatched team hoping to stay close enough so it looks respectable in the paper the next morning (which it didn't). Just be thankful the game was on a neutral court, because if the two teams meet again it's going to be in Brunswick. Norwich might not crack double-digits.

2.

And I'm not one to blame the refs for games, but once the 2nd half came around it appeared to almost all in attendance that Pemper was paying the refs in her favor, Norwich was getting absolutely HAMMERED underneath and the refs would not blow the whistle against the Polar Bears, but were more than willing to blow it against the Cadets. With more than two minutes remaining Norwich was down by 7 and at that point whether they meant to or not, the refs helped them in 'resorting' to fouling and the Bears capitalized on their free throws pushing their lead to 14.

Due to the comical nature of this post, it deserves a redux. Thank goodness you're "not one to blame the refs." As a Polar Bear fan, I've already come to grips with the fact that over the past five years, the 145 Bowdoin wins are due to unfair officiating. And the 12 losses were when the refs finally decided to leave their bias at home. Ballin, you should hop on the CAC board and bond with the Mary Washington fans, who also suffer from the same form of dementia.

3. Hey, best of luck to Norwich. Now that they have been scalped, every win for them is now a win for Bowdoin

[nescac hoops]

                                                       

                                                       
that's priceless, feces! nice work.

dballin (i.e. caitlyn bailey #14, norwich women's basketball) your team is good and in my opinion is one of the better teams in NE. that being said, bowdoin would beat you 99 times out of 100. if you two were to play again, the outcome would be the same. bowdoin has had a lot of close games over the years and find a way to win pretty much all of them (except 12 over the past 5 years). the norwhich game was no different - bowdoin is at the top every year and walk into every game with a HUGE target on their back with every opponent being up to play one of the best. think of last night and how pumped/excited/giddy/etc. you and your team was to face the #1 ranked team in the nation and to get a chance to knock them off. imagine having to play those opponents EVERY time you stepped on the floor and your team might have more than one loss and perhaps, a few closer games too.
lastly, while you "don't like to blame refs", do you think that your opinion is somehow "tainted" given you played in the game and ended up on the losing end? did you read the boxscore to see that the fouls were 16-16? and that was after you intentionally fouled at the end of the game, thus bowdoin was called for more than norwich.

moving along. what a big week for my alma mader's women's basketball team. williams faces amherst as part of one of the best rivalries in college sports. throw out the records, they don't mean a lot in this game....though, williams has won the last 13 meetings i believe. i know the ephs will not be looking ahead to bowdoin with this game in front of them but i think the game in brunswick next weekend will pose the biggest threat to bowdoin's untainted record, #1 ranking, and 83475683745687 home win streak b/c not only do i believe the ephs to be the 2nd best team in the nescac but i think they are catching bowdoin at a good time with them having played 5 games in 8 days before meeting the ephs. i am not necessarily predicting a williams win, but i think they have a good shot, especially given the circumstances. we'll see.

[speedy]

No P-Bear loss to Emmanuel:

Bowdoin 67 Emmanuel 58

[Balder Eagle]

Good going P-Bears!!

[feces monkey]

The Emmanual game will likely be viewed as just another win over an unranked opponent, but I think it's the most impressive win of the season for the Polar Bears. EC is always strong at home (two years ago a 10-0 Bowdoin team went to the Fens and lost by five, and the Polar Bears finished with a 26-3 record and trip to quarters) and always has a ton of talent. The frenetic pace instituted by their goofball/brilliant/entertaining coach is tough for any team.

The USM win was obviously a highlight, but that was at home. This one was better.

EC is by far my favorite non-conference team because they want to play all the good teams. When Bowdoin started making a name for itself, there was EC ready to play them. The fact that Brandeis does not play Emmanual -- it's about a 15 minute ride down the Pike -- tells me the BU coach is chicken, because I'm confident the EC coach made the call.

Least surprising result: Williams rolls. Friday is going to be exciting. Most surprising/saddening: Fitchburg over Tufts. Huh? Missing one player does not lose you a game to Fitchburg St., pal. Most predictable: Wesleyan beating Lasell. Isn't there a better team in Metro-Boston for the Cardinals to play than the Lazers...?

[remsleep]

Good call feces on two points...the willingness of EC to play the tough ones and the unwillingness of a vastly overrated Brandeis team to take them on.  Brandeis will be fortunate to be in the top 25 by season's end.

Bowdoin will defeat Williams, but not without a struggle...  the basic differences are that Williams is full of kids who are excellent athletes who happen to play basketball and Bowdoin is full of kids who are basketball players.  Secondly, Bowdoin is light years beyond William in terms of coaching...if the game hinges on game management and adjustments forget it..Williams may as well just forfeit.

Finally...I would be willing to bet that there is no women's team in DIII (other than Bowdoin) that has a positive assist to turnover ratio...not Hope, not Rochester, not Scranton, not USM, not Chatham College, not Linfield, not whomever you want to list....No big secret why Bowdoin almost always wins.

[feces monkey]

...Williams is full of kids who are excellent athletes who happen to play basketball...

To be fair, the same thing could be said of Emmanual. In addition, according to the conference stats, Williams has a positive assist/turnover ratio.

[nescac hoops]

remsleep,
i completely DISAGREE with your statement regarding williams being a bunch of athletes and not basketball players. actually, i think it is the complete opposite - i wish they were physically a little bigger/stronger than they are but i think they have some REALLY good basketball players. however, i do completely AGREE with your statement in regards to coaching. pemper is the best in the conference (and one of the best in the nation) while manning is one of the worst in the conference based on the few games i have seen over the years and word of mouth. if it comes down to the wire and "strategy" is needed i'd go with bowdon everytime. i'd like to think my alma mater has a shot but realistically i'll take bowdoin by 8.

[feces monkey]

I've read a lot of different stories on the Bowdoin streak, but the 'Around the Nation' take on the near-misses may have been the most interesting. The angle was well conceived and well researched. There was no byline on the piece, but a thumbs up to the author.

Unfortunately, with only nine of 24 regular season games at home this season, there won't be much movement on the 'streak.' Williams has had some tough luck against Bowdoin. If memory serves, the year before the Ephs coughed up the one in Morrell, they were leading the Polar Bears by 20+/- in the second half at home, only to lose by one on a running three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime. The Wesleyan game was absurd.

Friday:
Middlebury at Colby -- The Panthers aren't good, but the White Mules are not in the same hemisphere. Midd by 13.
Bates at Trinity -- The Bates bandwagon has been wiped out quicker than 'Big Grab' bag of Cheetos in the hands of an SID. The Hens have best record in years. Still, Bates by 18.
Tufts at Amherst -- Tufts is about on par with the Ham Tech squad that beat the Lady Jeffs by a sawbuck. Jumbos by 10.
Williams at Bowdoin -- This game is likely to determine the home seed in the conference semis. It's also the first home game for Polar Bears in 34 days. Bowdoin by 6.

Saturday
Williams at Colby -- Ephs by 25.
Middlebury at Bowdoin -- Polar Bears by 15.
Wesleyan at Conn. College -- Cardinals are quietly hanging around for an at-large bid, like they do every year. Wes by 14.
Bates at Amherst -- Bobbies by 24.
Tufts at Trinity -- Jumbos by 9.

[Ralph Turner]

The Emmanual game will likely be viewed as just another win over an unranked opponent, but I think it's the most impressive win of the season for the Polar Bears. EC is always strong at home (two years ago a 10-0 Bowdoin team went to the Fens and lost by five, and the Polar Bears finished with a 26-3 record and trip to quarters) and always has a ton of talent. The frenetic pace instituted by their goofball/brilliant/entertaining coach is tough for any team.

The USM win was obviously a highlight, but that was at home. This one was better.

EC is by far my favorite non-conference team because they want to play all the good teams. When Bowdoin started making a name for itself, there was EC ready to play them. The fact that Brandeis does not play Emmanual -- it's about a 15 minute ride down the Pike -- tells me the BU coach is chicken, because I'm confident the EC coach made the call.

Least surprising result: Williams rolls. Friday is going to be exciting. Most surprising/saddening: Fitchburg over Tufts. Huh? Missing one player does not lose you a game to Fitchburg St., pal. Most predictable: Wesleyan beating Lasell. Isn't there a better team in Metro-Boston for the Cardinals to play than the Lazers...?

Monkey, thanks for the update.  I appreciate your opinion on Emmanuel. 

[atn alum]

Feces

Thank you. Give props to Jim Caton, the Bowdoin SID too, who supplied a good # of the tidbits peppered throughout the piece.

I've read a lot of different stories on the Bowdoin streak, but the 'Around the Nation' take on the near-misses may have been the most interesting. The angle was well conceived and well researched. There was no byline on the piece, but a thumbs up to the author.

Unfortunately, with only nine of 24 regular season games at home this season, there won't be much movement on the 'streak.' Williams has had some tough luck against Bowdoin. If memory serves, the year before the Ephs coughed up the one in Morrell, they were leading the Polar Bears by 20+/- in the second half at home, only to lose by one on a running three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime. The Wesleyan game was absurd.

[speedy]

Bowdoin's home win streak reaches 75 as it easily downs Williams 68 to 58. Bowdoin established a 9 or 10 lead early in the second half and never looked back . .

[remsleep]

RE: Williams v Bowdoin.  Poorly played by both teams, but outcome really never seriously in doubt.
Williams just does not have basketball players other than Miller.  The little guard #15 isn't bad but her lack of physical strength finally had her folding up ( consistent with NESCAC Hoops' observation the other day wishing the Ephs were bigger and stronger...overall, however let's be real..Williams has  very good size....they just aren't an elite team).

Each  team coughed it up 26 times....what is this?... Smith v.Connecticut College?

Without question, Manning leaves a lot to be desired as a game manager.  Terrible.   She sucks up a lot of air around the bench by constantly whining at the officials...just a cover for the fact that she has no idea how to adjust in the course of a game.   

To emphasize the gap between Bowdoin and everyone else...Polar Bears were not good tonight...still way better than Williams and anyone else in the conference.  I hope we get to see Bowdoin v. Hope at the end of the year in Springfield....but still a long way to go I guess