University Athletic Association

[atn alum]

the broadcast link for both games

http://d3hoops.com/audio

[pradam]

Any word on ticket prices at the Brandeis pod?

$3 for students, $6 for adults.

[quaj]

For WU fans and those interested in that pod, there will be live streaming video at

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/2009NCAASTL

Live audio at:

http://www.kwur.com/

Live stats at:

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/mensbball/LiveStats/xlive.htm

If you're into Twitter, there will be updates every few minutse:

http://twitter.com/studlifesports

[deiscanton]

Well, it certainly has been a busy weekend.    The UAA got 4 teams in last week, all 4 hosted games this weekend, and all 4 UAA schools in the NCAAs made the Sweet 16, with Brandeis getting the honor of making it to the Sweet 16 first due to the start times of the games!  Congrats to the Judges on a job well done this weekend and Brandeis will prepare for a very tough Muhlenberg Mules squad which went up to Bowdoin's famed Morrell Gym and took care of business over the weekend.  The other Friday game in that sectional will pit Jessica McEntee and the NYU Violets against the G.P. Gromacki coached Amherst Lord Jeffs in "The Battle of the Purple and Violet."  Site and times TBD.

Also next Friday, the Rochester Yellowjackets will take on The College of New Jersey Lions in a sectional that also includes the Scranton Lady Royals and York College (PA.)'s    The Wash U Bears will take on the St. Benedict Blazers on Friday in a "sectional group of death" that also includes the Illinois Wesleyan Titans and the UW-Stevens Point Pointers.  Sites and times also TBD.

Now that I have time to post, I will do my personal recap of my weekend at Auerbach Arena.   I got to see Mt. St. Mary take on Brockport first.  Mt. St. Mary won that game, as I expected, but Brockport hung on in the second half to make it interesting, although Brockport could not complete a comeback.

While that game was going on, the second half of the Emmanuel/S.Maine match was being played just a few hours to the west in Amherst.  That game ended around halftime of our first game, so I checked for a final and found out that Emmanuel had upset S. Maine.  The W. Conn team was sitting around, so I informed their players of the S. Maine loss.  That may have been a mistake, :)because W. Conn knew that if they lost to Brandeis next, the Little East would probably be eliminated in the first round.  That allowed W. Conn to throw everything at Brandeis that they possibly could. 

Looking back on the weekend, the Friday game against W. Conn was the tougher of the two for me.  Brandeis jumped out to an early lead, but went cold in the middle of the first half and allowed W. Conn to get back into the game and take a 1 point lead at the half.  Brandeis's record when trailing at the half going into the NCAAs was a measly 1-5 this season before Friday's comeback, so I was a little concerned and a little peeved.

At Friday's halftime, one of the Brandeis fans actually said to me that I was not cheering hard enough.  Of course, that got me a little mad but also got me very fired up as well.  The second half of that game was probably the toughest half of the season that I ever worked because of the elimination factor now present.  I faced too much this season to go down in the first round to a scrappy mid-level DIII team not of the same caliber as the UAA.  Brandeis was down by 10 (W.Conn 40, 'Deis 30) with 13:09 left and then the rally happened to put Brandeis back in the lead to stay.  Brandeis went on an 11-1 run to tie the game at 41 with 9:05 left, then W. Conn hit a trey to take a 44-41 lead.  A jumper by Orlando cut the deficit to 1, and then an Orlando to Cincotta play for another jumper gave Brandeis the lead for good with 7:21 left.  Brandeis pulled away by sinking free throws at the charity stripe for the win.  In the first half, Jessica Chapin's efforts kept Brandeis in the game-- in the second half, Lauren Orlando and Diana Cincotta arguably had their best second halves of the season to lead Brandeis's comeback.

Lauren Orlando scored all of her 15 pts. and Diana Cincotta scored 12 of her career high 14 pts in the second half, with the winning bucket coming on that Orlando to Cincotta play. 

Brandeis did set up designated fan sections, but the crowd size was small enough that most fans sat wherever they wanted to sit.  In the second game on Friday-- and also during Saturday's game, you had some of the Mt. St. Mary fans sitting in the middle of what should have been the Brandeis fan section because they did not want to go to the other side of the court to sit in their designated fan section.  Of course, that did open them up to some "fan action" by me throughout the weekend.  Of course, the Mt. St. Mary fans actually thought that Brandeis would go down on Saturday to their Blue Knights!  That just fired me up even more--not only on Friday when Brandeis won and I said to them that they were next to be eliminated, but also during Saturday's game when Brandeis jumped out to the big early lead.  Once Brandeis got the early lead on Saturday, I yelled out "Take that!" at the Mt. St. Mary fans-- a la what the old scoreboard at the former Shapiro Gym would have stated then.

I had so much fun on Saturday's second round that I may have rattled the Blue Knight fans and offended them a little bit.  I apologize to the Mt. St. Mary fans if I offended you or the team in any way on Saturday, but I felt that I was reacting in the spirit of the tournament competition.

I'm looking forward to playing the Mules and their star rookie Alex Chili on Friday-- (yes, her last name is pronounced "chilly" like the food and not "Cheye-lie" like the name of the Rochester, NY suburb.)  Chili may be the first DIII women's player to have 100 treys and 100 assists in her first season-- I will have to check the Muhlenberg season stats to see what happened this weekend.

[deiscanton]

Sectional hosts were announced just a little while ago...

Brandeis and NYU will go to LeFrak Gym in Amherst, MA, where Brandeis will play Muhlenberg in the first game on Friday and NYU will play the host school, Amherst in the nightcap.  Winners advances to Saturday's Elite Eight match in Amherst, MA.

Rochester gets to host a sectional this weekend, as Scranton will play York (PA) in the first game at the Palestra on Friday, and then TCNJ will play Rochester.

Wash U has to go to the Shirk Center a few hours up the road from St. Louis, as the Illinois Wesleyan victory over Wash U in the tip-off tourney helped the Titans land a sectional.  Wash U will play St. Benedict in the opening game on Friday, followed by UW-Stevens Point at Illinois Wesleyan.

I'm a little relieved that my sectional is not in New York City, as it will be easier for Brandeis to send fan buses for the short 2 to 2 1/2 hour ride to western Mass and the Pioneer Valley.  I was a little afraid when Muhlenberg won yesterday that NYU would land the sectional on geographic concerns-- travel expenses notwithstanding. 

[Hoosier Titan]

Wash U has to go to the Shirk Center a few hours up the road from St. Louis, as the Illinois Wesleyan victory over Wash U in the tip-off tourney helped the Titans land a sectional. 

The other 28 IWU victories up to this point also "helped" IWU (29-0) land that sectional, deis!

[scorekeeper]

Hey UAA folks, I'm a St. Ben's fan here checking out the chatter on this board in preperation for the Sweet Sixteen matchup with Wash U.  CSB only faced Wash U one other time and that was 10 years ago in the National Championship game.  What do you suppose St. Ben's will be up against when they take on the Bears Friday? 

As for the Blazers they have had an outstanding season, especially after losing their leading scorer more than half way through the season to an ACL.  St. Ben's success is all about defense, defense, defense.  With a quick "4" in Ariel Tauer, a 6'4 post who can block shots and rebound and point guard who takes great care of the basketball it's a well balanced team with a lot of heart and determination. 

Human interest note: The two seniors (Tauer and point guard Nikki Carter) have played together since grade school. 

[deiscanton]

Hoosier Titan--

Illinois Wesleyan is having a great season, and going undefeated up to this point is big enough in and of itself.  I did forget to mention the victory at Chicago and the other wins, but no slight on those wins-- I was just more impressed with the early victory at Wash U. 

Illinois Wesleyan probably is a slight favorite to win out the sectional pod at the Shirk Center and get to Holland, Michigan, but that sectional at the Shirk Center is going to be a very tough one, with the Titans having to defeat Shirley Egner's UW-Stevens Point Pointers on Friday, and then probably having to defeat Wash U in a rematch on Saturday assuming that Ill. Wesleyan wins on Friday.

The sectional pod at LeFrak Gym in Amherst is going to be a very interesting one as well.  I took a quick peek at Muhlenberg's season stats and after seeing those stats, I was not too surprised that the Mules were able to defeat Bowdoin up in Maine.  The leading scorer for the Mules is a rookie named Alex Chili who already has over 100 assists on the season and is nearing the 100 trey mark for her career-- and she still has 3 more years to go after this!  The Centennial Conference has gotten a lot better recently on the women's side-- there was a 5 way tie for 2nd in that league (I bet that our former UAA member Johns Hopkins was one of the teams in that 5 way tie) and Muhlenberg was able to get a perfect 18-0 record in conference play in the Centennial, which is the first time ever for that league.  Muhlenberg is a very tough opponent and I would not be surprised to see Muhlenberg winning this sectional-- as a matter of fact, Brandeis could win the sectional, and so could Amherst and NYU under the right circumstances.

(PS-- Please listen to Ron Rohn of Muhlenberg talk about his team in the Hoopsville archives from Feb. 26.  He had some very interesting things to say about the Mules.)

NYU plays Amherst in the second game on Friday at LeFrak Gym.  Amherst is coached by G.P. Gromacki, who came within 6 inches of a national championship in 2002-- anyone remember Cara Barbieri and her shot that almost went in-- Barbieri almost had a miracle finish that would have given St. Lawrence the national championship against the UW-Stevens Point Pointers.

Amherst has a young but very talented team who is peaking at just the right time, as seen by those 2 blowout victories over Babson and Emmanuel.  Since NYU has never won a road NCAA tournament game-- to my knowledge-- it would not be surprising for Amherst to win out the sectional and advance.

Brandeis's chances of winning the sectional improve if 'Deis is able to beat Muhlenberg on Friday and have Amherst win the game against NYU.  However, Muhlenberg is going to give Brandeis everything that the Judges can handle, and even if 'Deis wins on Friday, the Elite Eight game will be very difficult against either Amherst or NYU, but I'm not sure that Brandeis can beat NYU if both teams advance on Friday.

If NYU can beat Amherst on Friday, then NYU would be favored to win out the sectional and advance to Holland, Michigan, against either Muhlenberg or Brandeis.

As for Rochester, I like Rochester's chances of making it to Holland, Michigan.  As a matter of fact, I give Rochester the best shot of any of the 4 UAA women's teams of winning out next weekend and making it to Hope College.  Rochester should be able to defeat TCNJ on Friday, and then if Scranton is the opponent on Saturday, then Rochester should be able to win that game as well.  York (PA) will be a more difficult matchup on Saturday if both Rochester and York (PA) meet, but I think that Rochester will pull it out.

[FANObserver]

We recently arrived home to DC from our trip to Polar Bear (Bowdoin) country.  The Mules of Muhlenberg performed extremely well as Bowdoin utilized the "Sixth man" strategy as the local town's people (about 1600 in attendance) cheered on the home team favorite. 

[phil]

deiscanton,
No doubt that Rochester should be favored against TCNJ, but the fact that TCNJ beat Kean two out of three – and the last two by double digits – should give one pause to consider that this could be a contest. The Lions were up by 21 late in the NJAC championship contest before Kean sank three 3-pointers in the last minute to cut the final margin to 12.

[quaj]

Hey UAA folks, I'm a St. Ben's fan here checking out the chatter on this board in preperation for the Sweet Sixteen matchup with Wash U.  CSB only faced Wash U one other time and that was 10 years ago in the National Championship game.  What do you suppose St. Ben's will be up against when they take on the Bears Friday? 

As for the Blazers they have had an outstanding season, especially after losing their leading scorer more than half way through the season to an ACL.  St. Ben's success is all about defense, defense, defense.  With a quick "4" in Ariel Tauer, a 6'4 post who can block shots and rebound and point guard who takes great care of the basketball it's a well balanced team with a lot of heart and determination. 

Human interest note: The two seniors (Tauer and point guard Nikki Carter) have played together since grade school. 

Hey Scorekeeper, I'm a Wash. U. fan. Wash. U. came off a week with no games and had some jitters in the first round against Capital. They seemed to have lost that by the Regional Final, nailing every other shot.

We'll be seeing some great basketball. I can't tell you anyone in particular because there is no lone superweapon. All I can say is that anyone can step up. That's Wash. U. basketball. Weapons wherever you go on offense and defense. I'm excited. Last year, we lost our leading scorer to an ACL so we know how that feels.

[deiscanton]

I just read the NESCAC board, and I really find it amusing that some of the NESCAC fans think that this year's current NYU team is just a one-person team.  Let the Amherst fans think that all NYU is is just Jessica McEntee-- they will be shocked to find out what Grace Carmen, Emily Foshag, and Megan Fox can do, among other NYU players.  These 3 players and other NYU players who have stepped up this year are the big reason why NYU is in the Sweet 16 and not having another 14-11, 3-11 UAA season.  Jessica McEntee is a big part of the NYU team, and she is providing more leadership this year to the NYU team, but she is not the only big NYU player out there.

Amherst is a really good, talented, young team led by a coach who has been to a national championship game and came within inches of a national title.  I was asked in the Hoopsville chatroom on Sunday who I believe will get the defensive assignment on McEntee, and based on the stats, I believe that Amherst's #10 Jaci Daigneault will draw the honors on trying to guard McEntee man-to-man.  Daigneault has the height to match up with McEntee, and she can steal the ball on defense.  Amherst's #34, Lem Atanga-McCormick, who also has the height to match up with McEntee,  may also be counted on for defensive honors off the bench.  Although Amherst's Shannon Finucane may also be providing help if needed on the defensive end, asking a player 8 inches shorter than McEntee to guard her is like asking NYU alum Adrienne Rochetti (who is 10 inches shorter than McEntee) to provide the primary role of defending McEntee.  The difference is, Rochetti is experienced enough on defense and has the speed to do a good job pressuring McEntee initially on the ball-- and perhaps Finucane has enough speed to do the same, but both Rochetti and Finucane would not be able to go up against McEntee in the post if McEntee beat them to the basket due to their short height. 

As for the Brandeis v Muhlenberg match in the first game, I believe that the quality of the Muhlenberg starting five scoring wise is enough to make the Mules a UAA quality team.  Muhlenberg deserves their national ranking based on their accomplishments so far-- it is not easy to run the table in any DIII conference, and the Centennial is a better conference than the Skyline (although the Centennial is not as deep as the UAA)-- our former UAA team Johns Hopkins finished in a 5 way tie for second in the Centennial-- 7 games back of Muhlenberg in conference play this season.  I have seen a lot of Muhlenberg's season highlights on Youtube (thanks to the Muhlenberg SID for posting the clips), and I am very impressed by their quality of play.

I give Muhlenberg props and my deepest respect for being the first NCAA tournament team to defeat Bowdoin at Bowdoin's Morrell Gym-- that is quite an accomplishment.  I would not be surprised if Muhlenberg won the sectional, under the right circumstances.

As I stated before, Muhlenberg has a very talented starting five-- their point guard is Kelly McKeon, who averages 11.9 ppg and 8.4 rpg and has 144 assists and 60 turnovers on the season-- the best A/TO ratio of any Muhlenberg player on the team.  Their best senior starter is Lauren Boyle, who averages 14.1 ppg and 3.6 rpg, and has 84 assists on the season.  Another Muhlenberg starter, Erin McSherry is the "Karen Bachman" of the team, with 52 blocked shots on the season.  (Yes, I refer to an NYU alum who can block shots when I talk about McSherry.)  Another big starter, Sheila Cook, averages 9.8 ppg.

The "X-factor" of Muhlenberg is their top rookie, Alex Chili, who is their leading scorer with 16 ppg and 3.3 rpg.  Chili's first basket against Brandeis on Friday will give her the single-season record for most points scored in a season by any Muhlenberg player.   Chili also has 115 assists,114 turnovers, and 42 steals.  Chili is a 5-11 shooting guard (yes, she is 5 inches taller than Jessica Chapin), and her biggest offensive weapon is the 3 point shot.  Muhlenberg puts a lot of pressure on her to provide Muhlenberg's 3 point offense, as not too many Muhlenberg players other than Chili take a lot of 3 point FGAs.  Usually, Chili delivers.  Chili has 94 made 3 pointers on the season-- Muhlenberg as a whole has made 144 3's on the season.

As for the bench, Muhlenberg has a talented bench, but does not really depend on the bench to provide a lot of scoring-- the Mules leave the scoring to the starting five for the most part.  By contrast, Brandeis can get more scoring off the bench.

Here are a few tid-bits previously pointed out:

(1)  Alex Chili of Muhlenberg went to the same high school as Alex Porter of Rochester (Walter Johnson HS in Rockville, MD), and Chili was a freshman in high school when Porter was a senior.

(2)  Muhlenberg's former All-American Meghan Courtney (Muhlenberg '07) is the older sister of Brandeis's Brighid Courtney (Brandeis '12).

[sumfun]

The NESCAC fans can think what they want.  I don't think the coaching staff will take anyone on the NYU team for granted.  Any team that makes the Sweet 16 has more than one dimension.  The game will depend on who has the hot hand under pressure as both teams can play defense and will be in the face of the other team.

[ichouse]

I had so much fun on Saturday's second round that I may have rattled the Blue Knight fans and offended them a little bit.  I apologize to the Mt. St. Mary fans if I offended you or the team in any way on Saturday,

Alan ,

yes you were tough on us, but your team was even tougher. Hey if they shoot as well as they did that night they can beat a lot of teams. I did think we could play with you guys, but that opening explosion took our girls right out of their game. good luck the rest way the way.

[deiscanton]

I just wanted to post here to say that my friend Mr. Robert C. Paul of Sharon, MA (Harvard '44-- college classmate of former Brandeis athletic director Nick Rodis) passed away as of Monday, March 9, 2009 at approx. 12:45 AM Eastern.  That corresponds to Adar 13, 5769 on the Hebrew calendar.   To me, Mr. Paul was most involved in my life as the one who drove me to Brandeis basketball games for the past few years and as the one who would give me Fig Newtons as my snack to fuel me up before the big games.  Mr. Paul was also known by many as the #1 women's soccer fan of Brandeis University, just as I am known by many as Brandeis's #1 basketball fan.   His obituary is printed in the Boston Globe for March 11, 2009.   I will deeply miss him and his companionship.