WBB: NESCAC

[frank uible]

Williams squeezes a nickel until the bull bison lactates. You can't believe that it got rich doing otherwise.

[nescac1]

Four future members of the still-alive NESCAC squads mentioned here, one each going to Tufts and Amherst, two to Williams:

http://donerelite.com/players-at-next-level/

Katy Hicks-Tufts University
Hannah Peterson – Amherst College
Katie Leinbach-Williams College
Elise Testa- Williams College

[amh63]

nescac1.....thanks for the data......seems the "recruits" are all Mass based or local.  Two versus one recruits....Williams vs Amherst.....about right ratio if you look at the 6 seniors on the Williams roster and the 3 seniors on the Amherst roster.  Anticipate that Amherst will bring in more than three though.

[NH NESCAC Fan]

If the good Lord's willin', and the creek don't rise, I'm planning on watching the Amherst/Tufts rematch in person tonight.  If Amherst plays D like they did against Williams in the NESCAC finals they should have the upper hand.

[amh63]

NH NESCAC Fan......Agree!   Drive carefully in the snow storm.  Amherst site seems ok.  Should sit behind the team bench and wear some funny hat so that we on.line can spot you.  If you sit with the parents on the normal side....will never see you.....unless you wave during halftime at the cameras.  Could say hello to the senior student announcers for me....especially Spencer Noon.

[NH NESCAC Fan]

I will do that...the saying hi part, not the funny hat part.  I will be on the parents side. 

[Maine 1]

Given that Tufts is challenged offensively, I see this the same way.  Also, if the referrees allow this to be a physical game, Amherst will dominate the inside.

[NH NESCAC Fan]

Well, that game was a little closer than I like them.  While Amherst never trailed, and in my eyes were clearly the better team, there was a 4 or 5 minute stretch (maybe longer) from the middle to the later part of the second half where they just couldn't put Tufts away.  And, to Tufts credit, they never gave less than 100%.  It was a tense game to watch.  As with most of these games I think the refs did a decent job, most of the time.  There were some questionable calls both ways as there always are. 

Amherst had a little bit of foul trouble in the first half, but Savannah Holness and Haley Zwecker came in and did a really nice job while they were out there.  Marcia Voigt and Jasmine Hardy played all 40 minutes.  Four media timeouts make that a lot more do-able than normal.  In looking at the season stats, Jasmine Hardy should go over 1,000 minutes for the season.  That is a lot of basketball.

Williams squeaked it out against Ithaca...in overtime.  So the Elite Eight has two NESCAC teams still alive.  If they each win their next two games, it will be an all NESCAC final.  That would be cool.  But first, Amherst has to get by Widener today, and Williams gets Whitman.  Good luck, ladies.

[Maine 1]

Did a little multli-tasking last evening, and watched both Williams and Amherst. Too very good games.  The difference in Amherst and Tufts is that Amherst has more shooters, and that was the difference in last nights game.  Both teams play great defense, but when Amherst had some open outside looks, they were able to convert.  5 three-pointers to zero for Tufts was definitely the difference,  along with excellent free-throw shooting.  It was definitely an ugly game as neither team could get into any kind of flow offensively, and Tufts in particular struggled to get any type of good open looks. However, Amherst's defense is intent on keeping teams from getting open outside looks, so that is not a surprise.  Williams came up big in the closing moments and beat a good Ithaca team.  It would be great to see both NESCAC teams advance to the final four, particularly when I think everyone would agree that this has not been a strong year all around for the conference. 

[nescac1]

Congrats to the Ephs, hopefully they can pull it out tonight and make it to their first final four.  They will likely need to go a bit deeper into the bench after several starters played more than 40 minutes vs. a very intense and physical Ithaca defense, hopefully they have enough left in the tank.  Ithaca (maybe with a bit of help from the Amherst assistant) had the Ephs scouted very well and did a good job of defending the post, often collapsing the defense inside.  But incredible individual games from Baecher and Harding (who hit numerous clutch high-stakes shots) carried the day.  Some highlights:

http://athletics.williams.edu/video/index

[amh63]

Board posters all....nice write ups of the Amherst game last night.   As they say....defense wins championships.....a little offense helps too.
Was too tense/tired after watching last night's games....both games in LeFrak.  Nice to see Amherst's "reserves" contribute when needed.  Both Tufts and Amherst played the same number of players.....teams do get shorter at this time of the year....unless it is their style to wear opponents down.  I fear that Amherst's opponent today is one of those teams.
Some sidenote comments.......
It seems that there were some starters of Amherst's Nat. Champ. team at both sites......Shannon Finucane , the Ithaca head JV coach in Willy town and Sumfun's daughter, Sarah Layman, at LeFrak.  Of course, the three Amherst seniors have the rings.  Those 5 players could beat most teams now, IMO.

Actually, saw Sumfun at the game...on the videocast.
NHNESCACFan.....should say hi to Sumfun tonight if you are going again.  Ask one of the Amherst announcers to point her daughter out and go from there....unless you have already met.
Nice crowd in LeFrak for the game.  There were free T-shirts of sorts at the game that may have helped the students' attendance....did cost money to get in.

[NH NESCAC Fan]

I did actually talk a little bit with Sarah's mom last night.  It is always nice to see the graduates return.  Unfortunately, I will not be there tonight.  They'll have to muddle through without me.

[sumfun]

Coaches can also play shorter benches because NCAA gets them ready for Final Four broadcast with "media" time outs which normally are not used in D3 contests as there are no ads running during webcasts.  Not sure what organization or network is broadcasting from Holland this year, but media time outs change the flow of the game in such a way that it is vital to get used to them during tourney run.

[BruinFan]

Coaches can also play shorter benches because NCAA gets them ready for Final Four broadcast with "media" time outs which normally are not used in D3 contests as there are no ads running during webcasts.  Not sure what organization or network is broadcasting from Holland this year, but media time outs change the flow of the game in such a way that it is vital to get used to them during tourney run.

So no media time outs during the regular season in the NESCAC? In the Northwest Conference regular season there are always 2 media time outs per half (under 12 and under 8) whether there is media present or not. Going to 4 medias in the tournament is still an adjustment and slows the game down more than I would like.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Coaches can also play shorter benches because NCAA gets them ready for Final Four broadcast with "media" time outs which normally are not used in D3 contests as there are no ads running during webcasts.  Not sure what organization or network is broadcasting from Holland this year, but media time outs change the flow of the game in such a way that it is vital to get used to them during tourney run.

So no media time outs during the regular season in the NESCAC? In the Northwest Conference regular season there are always 2 media time outs per half (under 12 and under 8) whether there is media present or not. Going to 4 medias in the tournament is still an adjustment and slows the game down more than I would like.

NCAA.com will be broadcasting the games once again... and they do run ads, mainly NCAA ones, during media timeouts.

Also, more schools and conferences are going to media timeouts for two reasons: schools are starting to figure out how to advertise during these breaks, even if it is just for their schools, and they are trying to get teams completely used to the breaks should they make the tournament. Also, some games tend to go a bit quicker with the different timeout structure that media timeouts bring with them. Instead of 4 drawn out full timeouts and 2 30 second timeouts... things move  a bit quicker when there are 5 30 second time outs (one has to be used in the first half or you lose it) and just 1 full timeout.

Finally, there are different structures to how you use the media timeouts during the season (NCAA mandates the under 16, under 12, under 8, under 4 plus the first timeout called in the second half is extended to a media timeout in the tournament). So you can go as short as 60 seconds for these and you can even modify down to just two timeouts as pointed out the NWC does.

I have seen more and more schools adding these and if schools can figure it out... they can use these for advertising opportunities.