WBB: NESCAC

[remsleep]

Well.....congrats to Amherst.  Let's be honest, that was not a great game to promote women's basketball....excruciating to watch

[amh63]

Someone wrote somewhere about the battle between Tufts and Amherst...paraphrasing a bit here..."first team to reach 40 points, wins".  Well Amherst did that by the end of the 3rd quarter!
Not much more to say here at this time .
Have to make a correction.....Amherst reached 40 mid way in the last period.  OK since it was a double digit lead over Tufts at the time.

[Maine 1]

Have to agree--I understand that both teams play great defense, but other than Ali Doswell, I didn't see anyone that could consistently shoot the ball. Most of the Tufts team seemed like they didn't want to shoot. 
None the less-a great season for Amherst-33-0 and rarely challenged. The disturbing thing is that this Amherst team isn't even close to the 2009-2010-2011 teams, that had 6-8 players that could shoot, score, and those teams had much tougher games.  It would seem the overall level of D3 has come down a bit

[oldknight]

Have to agree--I understand that both teams play great defense, but other than Ali Doswell, I didn't see anyone that could consistently shoot the ball. Most of the Tufts team seemed like they didn't want to shoot. 
None the less-a great season for Amherst-33-0 and rarely challenged. The disturbing thing is that this Amherst team isn't even close to the 2009-2010-2011 teams, that had 6-8 players that could shoot, score, and those teams had much tougher games.  It would seem the overall level of D3 has come down a bit

Since I had a free evening I went to VNA to watch tonight's final. While it was an extraordinarily low scoring affair, both teams played terrific defense. In the end, Amherst's length and athleticism--particularly on the perimeter--really bothered their opponent and proved too much for Tufts. When you play a defensive team as good as Amherst you better make the few open looks you get and the Jumbos couldn't do that. I do agree these teams do not appear to be as good on the offensive side as the George Fox/Thomas More teams I saw play in the recent past, though Ali Doswell is a terrific point guard who really knows how to run the show.

[JEFFFAN]

Not sure that some of these comments are fair to the extraordinary athleticism of the Amherst team. They have played nasty defense all season, including tonight in the first half. They might not have the offensive firepower of prior winners but they play serious team defense.

Kudos to 33-0!!

[saratoga]

Congrats to both Amherst & Tufts for truly being the class of DIII.

With no horse in this race (Scranton eliminated earlier by Tufts...again), I was just interested in viewing a great game.

However, although I have never criticized officials before, I have to say this was the absolute worst officiated game I've seen all year & the fact that this was the National Championship game makes it even worse.

How the NCAA came up with these three is truly hard to fathom. Phantom calls, incorrect calls, constantly checking replays...horrible.

Beyond that...remarkable run by Tufts & what coach Gromacki has done is beyond belief.

Congrats to both teams, their coaches, the moms & dads & all their fans.

[ECSUalum]

Great Job and Congratulations to the Lady Jeffs for a dominating final and 2017 season!!  Take some time to rest 

[Maine 1]

Final comments on the NESCAC season and the finals.
What a great accomplishment for Tufts--four final fours in four seasons. What an accomplishment for that senior class. I know they are disappointed with last nights loss, but they will look back on their careers with pride, knowing that got as far as they could go each year.  Coach Berutti has built a great program, and when you lose three times to the same team, you have to tip your hat to the better team.  I am sure Tufts will be back again battling Amherst.
As far as Amherst goes--33-0 in any league is a great accomplishment.  What a terrific season.  Gromacki continues to churn out power house after power house, and gets the most out of his players.  He is one of the best coaches in the college game right now.
The rest of the NESCAC has to up their game and start to challenge Tufts and Amherst.

[ECSUalum]

Final comments on the NESCAC season and the finals.
What a great accomplishment for Tufts--four final fours in four seasons. What an accomplishment for that senior class. I know they are disappointed with last nights loss, but they will look back on their careers with pride, knowing that got as far as they could go each year.  Coach Berutti has built a great program, and when you lose three times to the same team, you have to tip your hat to the better team.  I am sure Tufts will be back again battling Amherst.
As far as Amherst goes--33-0 in any league is a great accomplishment.  What a terrific season.  Gromacki continues to churn out power house after power house, and gets the most out of his players.  He is one of the best coaches in the college game right now.
The rest of the NESCAC has to up their game and start to challenge Tufts and Amherst.

The UCONN of Div-III women's basketball!!!

[ECSUalum]

Not sure that some of these comments are fair to the extraordinary athleticism of the Amherst team. They have played nasty defense all season, including tonight in the first half. They might not have the offensive firepower of prior winners but they play serious team defense.

Kudos to 33-0!!

I like to call it stifling defense!!  You could see Tufts getting more and more frustrated as the game progressed!  This is what outstanding defense does to a team!  We saw it first hand at ECSU!!! When you cannot score, it is demoralizing!!  They may not have the best O but if the other team cannot score, they have THE #1 D!! After all it got them 33-0 and another National Championship!  The UCONN of D-111!!!

[amh63]

For anyone who may have missed the game, the Amherst web site on the WBB corner, there is a NCAA video replay of the game.
Apparently the game set a record.....lowest total points in a national title game.
For those that like style and more offense....or last second winning shots, etc....it is a defensive game that gets remember,imo.  Defense takes hard work and dedication as well as stamina and for winners, a will to win. 
How many NFL title games are low scoring games in harsh conditions with key defensive stops being highlighted. 
Heck, have a classmate...retired prof. in the Chicago area....that remembers the GREAT Packer games in freezing conditions in the snow while growing up....fond memories for him.  Cannot remember the scores now .
Just a little opinionated perspective here. 
Expect both Tufts and Amherst to be in the conference title run next season!

[amh63]

Thanks ECSUalum!  plus K. 
The UConn reference is interesting.  The HBC of UConn WBB sent a note to the Amherst team when they broke UConn's home winning  record.  Tufts was the team that stopped the run....an one pt. win for the Jumbos. 
Most posters are aware that the Jumbos HBC played at UConn.  She was gracious in her remarks after the game....but she was getting frustrated as seen by her actions with her players...questioning their play on the floor and avoiding some as they came off the floor, imo.  She even got a technical.

[ECSUalum]

Thanks ECSUalum!  plus K. 
The UConn reference is interesting.  The HBC of UConn WBB sent a note to the Amherst team when they broke UConn's home winning  record.  Tufts was the team that stopped the run....an one pt. win for the Jumbos. 
Most posters are aware that the Jumbos HBC played at UConn.  She was gracious in her remarks after the game....but she was getting fustrated as seen by her actions with her players...questioning their play on the floor and avoiding some as they came off the floor, imo.  She even got a techmical! 
However, do expect both Tufts and Amherst to be battling gor the conference title next season.

Thanks, amh63
To me, there is nothing like good pure defense!  I have always been a fan of Princeton basketball because of their historic emphasis on the defensive aspect to the game!  Coach Geitner at Eastern emphasizes it as well.  If Keene St could develop a consistently good D they would win the Conference every year with this years team! They only seem to play good D vs Eastern and during the post season
WRT UCONN women's basketball, Auriemma pretty much can sit back and watch the best women HS players in the country show up on his doorstep!  All he does is filter based on the women who can play, or who are able to be coached to play his style of basketball, the position players he needs and at the same time can be excellent students! (I really think Coach A really wants good students because in most cases they make excellent UCONN players).  BTW, UConn and Amherst have similar 30 pt PF/PA differentials!   If the Lady Jeffs coach can start rebooting every year with players of the caliber of this years team, he can really have a D-III "UCONN" dynasty if you will.  However, I dare say Amherst academics may "get in the way" of doing this, but I may be wrong!! What say you? 

[OldCardinal]

Congrats to Amherst on an amazing season and well deserved NCAA title.  Ali Doswell was the real difference maker this year IMO - certainly in all three games against Tufts.  Gromacki is a great coach - no doubt about that,  But, so is Berube.  Don't forget, Tufts won the last three (before this year) NESCAC regular season titles and went to the final four four times in a row.  Both teams will be back next year for sure, and Bowdoin will be nipping at their heels.  They are a terrific program as well.

[Maine 1]

I said final--but just thought I would add that I agree the defenses were great--and Amherst and Tufts have been outstanding defensive teams for a number of years now--But even the most ardent fans of both schools have to admit that both offenses were not good--missed open looks, not able to get shots, etc.  Yes, the defense has a lot to do with that-but 6 points in one half-that is also a lot of bad offense.
I think Berube's technical was pure frustration, and some questionable officiating--the foul on the box out was just terrible