WBB: NESCAC

[Maine 1]

only comment as it relates to Northeast is that I think Williams is ranked too-high, particularly compared to Conn College, who played Williams pretty evenly at Williams on a Sunday afternoon. This weekend's games will have a significant impact on the overall rankings in the Northeast.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Are you basing that opinion on your own eye test or using the NCAA criteria?

[Maine 1]

that opinion is based on what I have seen this season, including some of Williams' losses, their game with Conn College which was essentially an even game. Not on the NCAA criteria

[Maine 1]

The top three held form tonight.  Amherst was obviously not happy with its loss last week, and absolutely trounced a weak Middlebury team.  Tufts shut down Williams.  and Bowdoin doubled Wesleyan. Conn College won a close game over Colby, setting up tomorrow's game with Bowdoin.  A Conn College win will give Conn College the third seed, with Bowdoin getting the fourth seed.  I think Bowdoin is the better team, but the game is being played at Conn College. As I posted earlier in the week, a three-way tie for the fourth seed is highly possible, as Colby should beat Wesleyan, and Williams should be Bates.  Assuming Bowdoin beats Conn College, you have a three-way tie for fourth, and it may come to a coin flip.  However, it would not surprise me at all if Bates were to upset Williams.  Bates seems to be improving, and they are tough to beat at Home.  Williams doesn't play a lot of people, and the Bates game is a sauna.  A two-way tie for the fourth spot goes to Conn College based on tonight's head-to-head win.

[Maine 1]

Bates -Williams tomorrow afternoon will decide the fourth and final home seed in the playoffs. A Williams win and it is left to a coin-toss, which could have teams finishing anywhere from fourth to sixth depending on who wins the toss.  NESCAC should really look at the tie-breaker to come up with something that will actually break a tie, instead of a coin toss. Of the three teams that are tied-Colby, Conn College, and Williams, I think Colby is the best team, although they seem to play to the level of the competition and have a number of bad losses.  Home court is going to be a big factor in the four versus five game.  I also think the top three (Bowdoin/Amherst/Tufts) are markedly better than the rest of the league.

[Maine 1]

This board has been pretty quiet this season (not sure where all the Amherst fans are). I would expect the first round of the playoffs to generally follow form. I don't see Tufts having any trouble with Middlebury, and the same for Amherst with Bates.  Although Bates is a much better team now then they were early in the season, they really don't have enough to give Amherst a game.  If Fernandez is on, Williams could give Bowdoin a fight, but Bowdoin has been playing so well lately that I can't see an upset here.  The 4-5 game between Conn College and Colby will be tight.  Colby may actually be a slightly better team, not withstanding the records.  However, if Conn College runs Colby off the three point line and strongly contests all threes, then they should hold on with the home court.  Colby is best if you let them drive and then dish to the open three shooters. 

[amh63]

Maine1.......you have been doing a super job.  Guess I have given my attention elsewhere....on the men's side recently where the seeding of the CAC Tourny was getting a little complicated, etc.
See you have reached the 200 posting level.  You can now smite and applaud posters.  Someone gave you a smite. Plus K for " keeping the store open" here with fine posts.  I have a policy to let a poster know when I smite....but that is not the norm unfortunately.

Back tO BB.   I made the trip up to Amherst to watch the home team and the seniors last regular season games.  I miss watching the WBB games as they are on at the same time as the men.  Whoever made the changes  should be taken to the woods shed!
Your assessment of the first round of the tournament is right on.  Will try to put my two bits in when I can...it is hard when you do not see the games.  Heading South  and will miss live games.  Hope to catch some live games in the post season.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

There isn't that much time left in the regular season as teams continue to fight to get into conference tournaments and position themselves for hopefully NCAA tournament bids. Second round of Regional Rankings are also out with plenty of answers... and questions. Plus, some teams are putting on some shows recently including a lot of buzzer beaters!

On Thursday night's Hoopsville, Dave McHugh rolls up his sleeves and takes a look at what is happening as we head into the last ten days of the regular season. McHugh will also get some insight on Wednesday's insane men's basketball game between Lynchburg and No. 21 Roanoke. Plus, get a preview of the NESCAC men's and women's tournaments along with talking to ranked teams on both the men's and women's side.

Hoopsville hits the air at 7:00 pm ET and promises to go at least 2 1/2 hours. You can watch the show here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/feb18

Guests scheduled (in order of appearance):
- Alex Graves, Lynchburg senior forward
- Howard Herman, Berkshire Eagle, NESCAC tournaments preview
- Brian Morehouse, No. 3 Hope women's coach
- Bill Broderick, No. 16 Christopher Newport women's coach
- Tom Curle, No. 23 Plattsburgh State men's coach
- Eric Bridgeland, No. 9 Whitman men's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
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And a reminder the Hoopsville Fundraising Project is halfway to the deadline but we are not that close to the goal. Please consider helping us cover Division III basketball the way it deserves to be covered: http://igg.me/at/hoopsville-fundraiser/x/6029509.

Thanks!

[Maine 1]

No surprises for the top three teams.  It appears that Amherst is playing with spectacular defensive intensity, holding Bates to under 20% shooting. Tufts also pulled away with a monster third quarter.  Bowdoin eventually pulled away from Williams.  Colby had a nice win over Conn College-two reasons for that.  First, as I mentioned earlier in the week, you cannot let Colby get set and shoot threes.  And Conn College did just that.  Colby was 11-19 from three, scoring almost half their points from there.  The other factor was Conn College''s leading scorer went out with an injury after just  2 minutes, and that definitely hurt Conn College--but if they had played better defense they may have had a chance.
As for next week, I think the Amherst-Bowdoin game will be very interesting.  I give Amherst the edge, although Bowdoin can definitely play with them.  Tufts should handle Colby.  Tufts defense will smother the three point shooters  and make Colby beat them going to the basket.  Colby can't match up with North inside.
I would think that as far as NCAA bids go--I would expect the top three NESCAC teams to get in.  I would not expect a fourth team,  unless the committee reaches for Conn College.  The only way Colby gets in, with their 10 losses, would be to win the tournament and the automatic bid.

Should be a good weekend at Tufts next week, particularly if we end up with another Amherst-Tufts battle.

[amh63]

Got to watch the Amherst double header in LeFrak yesterday.  Like the Good old days!
After the first quarter, I was a little surprised at the Bates team.  9 points in the quarter....in the first half, one of the Doswell sisters may have out scored the entire Bates team.  Bates was playing solid ball recently leading up to the game.  Started to watch the Bates HC reactions to the buzz saw  play of Amherst on her young players.  Did like the Bates players support of their of their teammates on the floor after the half....standing up and cheering.  Coach G put in his FY guards and played often with two PGs on the floor.  At the end of the game, a FY was at PG and Amherst was slowing the game down...no more points needed.

[magicman]

The Bowdoin women make it back into the Top 25 edging out St. John Fisher by 2 points for the last spot in the  poll...#25. Bowdoin had 35 points Fisher had 33. It marks the 3rd time the team has been back in the Top 25. They dropped out after the preseason poll, re-entered in week 2 and  and dropped out again in week 5.   

[Maine 1]

dominating defensive performance by Tufts in its win over Colby, particularly in the first half when Tufts held Colby to 13 points. The game was over at half-time.  Tufts did as expected, and did not let Colby shoot the uncontested 3.  Colby was 3-17 from the arc. Baptista has to be the NESCAC defensive player of the year.  She absolutely shot down Wolfington, contesting every open look, playing close outside, and then staying with her and blocking shots on the drive.  She is long, quick , and athletic.   The second half of this game was essentially a scrimmage, as Tufts substituted freely. Tufts is still challenged on offense, and although I expect that if Tufts wins tomorrow, North will be the NESCAC player of the year, she is definitely not the best player in the league.  If she had above average offensive skills and inside moves, she would score much more. I thought Colby should have tried to get the ball to Driscoll inside more, as she was the only effective player on offense in the first half.

A good season for Colby, but they have to develop an offense that is not so dependent on threes.  They lose three top seniors, and they did not play a lot of people, so next year will be an interesting year for them

[amh63]

Missed the games...was on the road.  It will be a Tufts Amherst final....as expected.  Hope Amherst wins over the host team...as Tufts did in LeFrak.  Looked at the stats for both games.  Seems the key starters for Tufts played no more than 26 minutes.  Amherst had two starters in for 40 minutes. Needed both for their RBs and points.
Hope the fatigue factor does not impact game...fingers crossed here.
Should be a good game.  winner should get to choose where to play next in the post season!
Nice write-up Maine.

[just a fan 22]

Caught the Amherst/Bowdoin game on the webcast, which was actually very well done.

The game was a very good one, and was as close as 5pts inside the last three and a half minutes. Amherst got a good bounce, the officials missed a clear walk, and someone hit a 3 and they did not look back. Bowdoin was very tough, but had a hard time handling the length of Amherst's front court. For a team without any post players, Amherst sure gets a lot of blocks from their bigger players.

Tufts can match that length, and also can score inside with North and Baptista. I think Baptista is the X-factor tomorrow. If she plays well, nobody in the NESCAC can guard her. Should be a great game tomorrow. I'd give Tufts a small edge because of the home-court advantage, as well as being completely fresh.

[Maine 1]

I saw the first half of the Bowdoin-Amherst game. The first half was pretty even.  Based on looking at the play-by-play, it appears that Bowdoin really had a hard time scoring in the second half, and when Amherst did score, it was on threes.
You clearly have the two best teams in the conference playing tomorrow.  I believe that Amherst first six are better across the board then Tufts.  But both teams play such great defense, that both teams will struggle to score.  However, overall I think Amherst has more offensive power in Dowsell, Hackley, Jenner and even Zwecker.  Nagle has the size to neutralize North. North is not a strong offensive player when she is matched against someone here size.  It will definitely be a close contest.  Two terrific Coaches that stress defense at all costs.  It won't be pretty, but it should be a tight competitive game.  Both teams will likely end up hosting first round NCAA games.