University Athletic Association

[deiscanton]

Hello.

I just have a gentle correction to make first:  it was Eastern Connecticut State who beat Emmanuel, not Central Connecticut State.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Wash U v. Kenyon game.  I expect Wash U. to be favored to win this one, as I don't believe that the Bears want to be in the consolation game of the McWilliams Classic two years in a row.   If Kenyon upsets Wash U on Saturday, then the Ladies will be favored to win the McWilliams title game on Sunday against either Carleton or Luther.

My early thoughts on Brandeis's next 2 games:

1.)  These two games vs. Tufts and Emmanuel are must-win games for the Judges if they want to have a shot at NCAAs this season-- of course, the Judges will also have to win out on the rest of the non-conference slate after this, but these compared to the rest of the slate, these next 2 games are the focus of attention right now.

2.)  On the Tufts game-- even though Tufts beat WNEC on Tuesday, the Jumbos didn't bring their perfect game to the floor-- not by a long shot.   I was able to notice that when Tufts had the ball, they are indeed using the triangle offense-- I was noticing the sideline triangles forming when the Tufts point guard was making the first pass or cut of the offensive plays.  However, I don't believe that Tufts has fully mastered the entire arsenal of the triangle offense yet-- Tufts has only started using the offense this season, and naturally it is very hard to master this offense in only 3 games.  Instead, they seem to be running the offense looking to feed their post on the first option, but when the Jumbos get up against a tough defense, their passes and cuts are not yet crisp enough to make me believe that the Jumbos are completely running the triangle offense to perfection.  Watch out though-- when the Jumbos can feed their post, they make very easy baskets.  It is not surprising to me that the 2 players that make Tufts's starting post (Tufts's #30 and #52) are leading the team in scoring and rebounding right now.

When Brandeis has the ball, the Judges can still run on Tufts and run their offense normally, in my opinion.

The first key to a Brandeis victory is how Lauren Orlando and Cassidy Dadaos can match up with Tufts's Khalilah Ummah (#30) and Katie Tausanovitch (#52).   The second key is how well the Brandeis guards perform on Sunday.  I give the bench advantage to Brandeis.

As for the fans: the Brandeis men's team will be at Tufts the same afternoon, with the tip-off of the men's game occuring 1 hour after the start of the women's game.   The women's game is at Brandeis.  If the fan has a choice, Tufts is encouraging their fans to be at the men's game.

3.)  As for Emmanuel, the Saints haven't been playing as well as they had last March as of yet.   According to the box score of the Saints at Warriors game from Willimantic, CT, I noticed that the officials seemed to be calling the game very tightly-- 3 Saints players in the starting lineup fouled out of the game.  I also noticed that Emmanuel point guard Jade Paez did not seem to have a great game running the offense.  Emmanuel shooting guard Iman Davis led the Saints with 24 points, but was one of the 3 starters on Emmanuel to foul out of the game.  I don't think that Emmanuel was as effective on Tuesday in converting their turnovers into points as they were last March.   Emmanuel will need to play better on Tuesday to have a shot of beating Brandeis again.  I will probably write more on this match on Monday, but I plan to be at the Brandeis at Emmanuel game on Tuesday.

[David Collinge]

Just noticed that Wash U plays Kenyon on Saturday, that should be interesting and give us an idea on how Wash U and Brandeis match up

Kenyon played at Ohio Northern the other night and got waxed 68-57.  Ohio Northern had previously been embarrassed by Hope 89-61.  I don't put a great deal of stock in the comparative scores game (i.e., I don't really believe that Hope is 28+11+5=44 points better than Brandeis), so I'm not sure what conclusions about Brandeis we'll be able to draw from the Wash U./Kenyon game.  But if the Ladies play in St. Louis at anything like the level they played in Ada, WUSTL is going to wipe up the gym with them.

[deiscanton]

I have to agree with your last sentence, David.

Anyone can have an off night this early in the season, but Kenyon will probably have to play even better than they did last Saturday to have a shot of beating Wash U, and the Ladies clearly did not do that on Tuesday.

I wouldn't be surprised if Wash U point guard Shanna Lei Dacanay has a big game on Saturday against the Kenyon defense....

[martin]

Chicago is at the Wisconsin-Eau Claire tournament this weekend.  The Maroons won their opener 66-45 over Edgewood.  Fourteen players saw action for the Maroons - minutes ranged from 9 to 20.  Tomorrow, they play the winner of UWEC-North Park.  UWEC is the pre-season choice to win the WIAC.  Tomorrow's game will be an early indicator for the season.

[David Collinge]

I watched Carnegie Mellon get annihilated by #20 Capital this evening 77-39 (aside: kind of odd to see both Carnegie and Mellon opposed to Capital, something that never happened in their lives; maybe they should play Labor U. instead.)  Capital did pretty much everything well: outstanding defense, good shot selection and deadeye shooting, and good rebounding technique.  CMU did none of these things particularly well (defense was okay, considering they were overmatched) and had just 14 points at the half.  The Tartans are not deep at all: they dressed out just 10 players, nine of whom played (the lone first-year on the squad did not play.)  They played with great intensity right through to the end of the game, but the result was never in the least doubt.  CMU takes on Frostburg St. in the consolation of the Ohio Wesleyan 'Hoops for Hope' tournament tomorrow afternoon; I expect CMU will win this one. 

The box score is not up yet, but should be posted on OWU's site (link).

[deiscanton]

Courtesy of the Wash U athletics site:  http://bearsports.wustl.edu

Final scores from today's action at the McWilliams Classic:

1.)  Carleton 66, Luther 56
2.)  Wash U 78, Kenyon 75  (2 OT).

I just finished watching the Wash U/Kenyon game on-line, thanks to Wash U's new live stats feature--

DC, the Kenyon Ladies may be in for a special season.  The Ladies battled Wash U hard for the first half, with Wash U up 34-30 at the break.   In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Wash U built the lead to 13 and led, 53-40 with 9:28 left.  However, Kenyon was able to rally back and tie the game at 61 a piece at the end of regulation.   Wash U and Kenyon each scored 4 points a piece in the first overtime period to begin the second OT tied at 65-65.  Finally, Wash U was able to win the game in the 2nd OT period by scoring 13 in the 2nd OT to Kenyon's 10 points to make the final Wash U 78-75 in double OT.

Starting Wash U point guard Shanna-Lei Dacanay did not have a big game statistically, however, she was able to contribute 2 assists in the game.  The big player of the game for Wash U was Jaimie McFarlin-- she had 28 points and 18 rebounds.  Wash U's Jill Brandt and Zoe Unruh also scored in double figures, and their contributions were sorely needed today.  Kenyon was able to place 5 players in double figures, and was able to make 8 3's for the game.  The main difference was Wash U making 12 points from the free throw line to Kenyon's 9.

Wash U would have lost this game last year at this time, but the Bears seem ready this year to battle hard every game. 


Tomorrow's action at the McWilliams Classic:

1.)  Consolation game-- Kenyon vs. Luther
2.)  Title game-- Wash U v. Carleton

[deiscanton]

Some more comments about the Wash U game today:

1.)  According to the game report from Wash U, during the second overtime period, Jaimie McFarlin made a 3 pointer with the shot clock expiring.  By doing so, Jaimie McFarlin has now made her first 3 pointer of her college career.

2.)  The victory today gave Wash U coach Nancy Fahey her 500th victory.  Congratulations, coach Fahey.   What an exciting game for the milestone.

[David Collinge]

Kenyon really seems to step it up against top-flight competition.  That's good news for tomorrow, when they play #12 Luther, but they won't see much (or any) top-flight competition in the woebegone NCAC.  I wish I could figure this team out.

Congratulations to Wash. U. and especially to Coach Fahey on her 500th win.  Wash U. is coming to my neck of the woods next week, playing at Denison and Capital next weekend.  I look forward to seeing the Bears in person.

As expected, CMU was able to defeat Frostburg St. (57-53) in the consolation game of the Hoops for Hope Classic at Ohio Wesleyan this afternoon.

[nobody]

Chicago won at UW-Eau Claire tonight, 56-49...ugly game, but I'm sure Coach Roussell and his team are just happy to get out of Wisconsin with a tourney win.  It's always hard for out-of-state teams to go into  Wisconsin and get wins, so this is a solid resume builder for the Maroons.  This team is deep...after the monster performance by Molly Hackney last week, Jamie Stinson stepped up and won tourney MVP honors this weekend. 

Sounds like it was a good one in STL...game against Carleton tomorrow should be a good one.

[newtonnancy]

I guess reality is setting in at NYU, all those freshman etc who played 2-3-5 minutes etc in a 40 point blow out now know they probably won't be getting off the pine much this season. Interesting that the UAA Player of the year McEntee had her lowest point total in memory histting only 5 free throws, but still dominated the boards.

[pureshooter]

  tufts is tough, with 2 big posts, i have not seen brandeis this year w/out malcolm,but i thought they could be beat last year by an up tempo team. don't know if they are any faster this year. same can be said about tufts, big but not that fast. i think when bates gets coffin back they will be tough on everyone in the nescac

[newtonnancy]

Looks like the balance of power has shifted in the UAA, Brandeis down, Chicago up....

[newtonnancy]

Big jump for NYU and congrats to Chicago on their entry to the top 25...

Anyone have thoughts on Brandeis/Emmanuel game tonight since both dropped out of the top 25?

[deiscanton]

Brandeis v. Emmanuel will still be a good game tonight.  I think that both teams will be ready to play a better game.   It comes down to how the guards of both teams play vs. each other, whether Brandeis can limit their turnovers to 20 or fewer , (The Emmanuel defense will press and attempt to steal the ball every opportunity they get), and whether  Brandeis's #41 Lauren Orlando can play better in the post today or not.    The post matchup should be more in Brandeis's favor today assuming that the Judges can use the matchup to their advantage.  A tightly called game by the referees will also work to Brandeis's advantage, as Brandeis is a better free throw shooting team.  Emmanuel will not be as effective in converting turnovers to points this game as they were last March.

Just my quick thoughts on this-- the Brandeis players have been asking me my thoughts on the Emmanuel matchup ever since mid October, when practice began....

 

[nobody]

Big one for the Maroons Wednesday night, as #10/#15 UW-Whitewater will play at #18 UChicago.