University Athletic Association

[martin]

Chicago won its final non-conference game this evening, winning at the Milwaukee School of Engineering 75-64.  The Maroons are now 12-0.

[Pat Coleman]

Rochester 82  NYU 69

The UAA is brutal.  After next weekend, either Brandeis or NYU will be 1-2.  Rochester is feeling pretty good, 3-0 in the conference.  But on Friday, they go into St. Louis to play a Washington team which does not want to go to 0-2.  Unfortunately for Rochester, they have the weakest travel partner in the UAA, CMU, which is winless in its last 50 UAA games.  So they will fast a well rested Chicago team on Sunday.  The Yellowjackets may head home 3-2 in the conference.

At what point is anyone here going to give Rochester even just a little respect? They just beat 2 straight top 25 teams in one weekend. And they didn't just beat them, they dominated. They were up by as much as 18 on top 10 Brandeis before they started coasting to the W. NYU was even worse, going up 28 before Rochester was able to clear their bench and get everyone some action. And there isn't one contributor, the shooters carried them on Friday and the post took control on Sunday. They go 11 deep without hesitation against every opponent they play.  They've been to the Sweet Sixteen 3 of the last 4 years and the final four in 2 of those years. What more do they need to put on their resume for you people to give them something more than "decent team" compliments? As far as I know, they're #3 in the country and completely controlling everyone they play. I think it's fair to say they're the favorite in this league.

We need more Rochester fans on this board ... but hopefully they don't carry a chip on their shoulder.

[deiscanton]

I always hear this from telecasts on tough D-I conferences, but this especially applies to a tough league like the UAA.

The keys to success in this league, which has a lot of parity, are:

Priority 1-- Win out at home.  (Preferably go no worse than 6-1 in UAA play at home, but 5-2 is acceptable if your team is also a team that is strong enough to also go 5-2 on the road -- which means that your team got one of the "bonus" wins in the process.)

Priority 2-- Beat at least the bottom half of your conference on the road.

"Bonus" wins-- Wins over the top half of your league on the road.  (It is always tough to win on the road.)

That being said-- this weekend has Wash U and Chicago playing at Case and Emory.  Wash U and Chicago are the favorites to sweep this weekend, but don't underestimate Emory's ability to pull off an upset over one of the two-- Emory is always tough to beat in Atlanta, and in the past, Emory has pulled off major upsets at home against top-level UAA teams, and I would not be surprised to see Emory beating one of these two UAA teams this weekend.  (More likely it would be Emory beating Wash U if that happens, but Chicago must also be careful.)

The big Saturday game has Brandeis opening the home part of the UAA schedule against NYU-- Brandeis has been very successful at home in UAA play over the past two years-- will this be a third?  Look for this game to be very close-- Brandeis has won this game over the past few years, and will need to win this one to stay in pace.

[mark_reichert]

That being said-- this weekend has Wash U and Chicago playing at Case and Emory.  Wash U and Chicago are the favorites to sweep this weekend, but don't underestimate Emory's ability to pull off an upset over one of the two-- Emory is always tough to beat in Atlanta, and in the past, Emory has pulled off major upsets at home against top-level UAA teams, and I would not be surprised to see Emory beating one of these two UAA teams this weekend.  (More likely it would be Emory beating Wash U if that happens, but Chicago must also be careful.)

Well, as I've been saying for awhile, the Bears are weaker than they've been in awhile and I would be pleasantly surprised if they won half their road games and three fourths of their home games, particularly given the apparant strength of the other UAA teams.  The one thing that gives me hope is that Chicago only beat them 54-51 at home.

BTW, I found a e-mail contact for the UAA web site at Rochester and the record books have been updated online.

P.S.  The person who wrote the press release here needs better research skills:

http://www.d3hoops.com/pressreleases.php?release=928

Nancy Fahey (Wisconsin, 1981) is in her 21st season in charge of the Washington University program. Heading into a Friday contest at Case Western Reserve, Fahey has a school and career record of 480-83. She has a pair of national championships to her credit (1998 & 1999) and has recorded 17 seasons of 20 or more wins.

Kudos on including the up-to-date record of 480-83, but I don't think I need to point out the error.

[Pat Coleman]

Feel free to contact them.

Press Release posted by Emory

[deiscanton]

JP Morgan Chase Scholarship Tournament update

1.)  Recap of scores from Tuesday's quarterfinals

(#1 seed) Rochester def. (#8 seed) Nazareth, 70-56
(#2 seed) SUNY-Brockport def. (#7 seed) Roberts Wesleyan, 58-37
(#3 seed) St. John Fisher def. (#6 seed) Keuka, 52-51
(#5 seed) SUNY-Geneseo def. (#4 seed) Rochester Tech, 75-67

2.)  Semifinals at Roberts Wesleyan tonight (January 11)

All semifinal and championship game action will be webcast at http://www.wysl1040.com

J.C. DeLass with the call

6:15 PM Eastern-- Rochester v. SUNY-Geneseo
8:15 PM Eastern (approx.)-- SUNY-Brockport v. St. John Fisher

Championship game-- Saturday 5:30 PM at Roberts Wesleyan
Third place game-- Saturday 1 PM at Roberts Wesleyan

Consolation bracket action this afternoon at Roberts Wesleyan (no webcast of consolation games)

1.)  Rochester Tech v. Nazareth
2.)  Keuka v. Roberts Wesleyan

Teams in consolation bracket play at SUNY-Brockport on Saturday in the 5th and 7th place games respectively.

[sandman]

Sorry I haven't been here that much this season.  So, Case lost to Emory for the first time in seven years, which leaves them at 8-4 (incidentally the same record as Wash U).  However, even though Wash U is having a down year (and not a "22-5, lose in the 2nd round" kind of down year) I'm still not optimistic about Case's chances.  We'll just have to see how it plays out.

*And yes, this is the time of year where I mention that Case has never beaten Wash U in... what is it now, 26 tries?  I've been away from campus for a while, so I may have lost count.  I do plan on being there for Throwback Weekend, though.

[deiscanton]

UAA Women's Basketball Conference Games

Weekend of January 12-14, 2007

Friday, January 12

Tip times 6 PM Eastern

D3Hoops.com ranking given first, followed by ESPN/USA Today/WBCA Coaches ranking

1.) (#13/#7) Chicago at Emory

All Emory internet coverage is on a pay per view or pay per listen basis.

Live videocast at http://www.hrptv.com

Videocast is priced at $20 per game.

Live audiocast on Teamline service-- Team code 1028

To listen on the telephone-- Teamline is at 1-800-846-4700-- Cost is $25 per game.

Teamline is on the internet at http://www.teamline.cc

Emory internet audio coverage is also on a pay per listen basis.

2.)   Wash U at Case

Coverage of this game is at http://www.case.edu/athletics/varsity/broadcast/index.htm

Saturday, January 13

Tip time-- 1 PM Eastern

(#21/#18) NYU at (#10/#10) Brandeis

Coverage can be heard at http://www.wbrs.org

Sunday, January 14

Tip times 2 PM Eastern

1.)  Wash U at Emory
2.)  (#13/#7) Chicago at Case

Instructions for Sunday's coverage can be seen on Friday's coverage-- Check the internet cast relative to the home site of the game you are interested in following.

[deiscanton]

JP Morgan Chase Tournament Women's Basketball update

Recap of Thursday's semifinals

1.)  (#1 seed) Rochester def. (#5 seed) SUNY-Geneseo, 62-51.
2.)  (#2 seed) SUNY-Brockport def. (#3 seed) St. John Fisher, 68-50.

Championship game

Saturday-- 5:30 PM Eastern at Roberts Wesleyan

Rochester v. SUNY-Brockport

The #3 ranked team in DIII, Rochester, will attempt to defend the Chase title against a SUNY-Brockport team making its first appearance in the Chase Tournament championship game.  Brockport has never finished higher than 4th in this event previously.  Brockport will come into this game with a record of 9-2.

Live coverage of the championship game can be heard at http://www.wysl1040.com

J.C. DeLass with the call.

[martin]

Friday Jan 12

Chicago 81  at Emory 50
Washington 65 at Case 62

Wash/Case was much closer than expected.  Chicago did a number on Emory.

[Hoop Dreams]

Very impressive game by Chicago, according to the stats:

http://athletics.uchicago.edu/womensbasketball/UC-EUW.HTM

The 37 field goals jumps out at me..in a 40-minute game, that's impressive.

Four of the five Maroon starters scored in double figures; the lone exception was Alex Leach, who was too busy dishing it out (7 assists).

Defensively, the Maroons forced 21 turnovers, held Emory to under 30 percent shooting, committed 14 steals and blocked 7 shots...all while committing only 9 personal fouls?

And how about this -- 10 UC players scored, and 10 players had a steal.

Great all-around effort tonight in Atlanta for UC.

[sandman]

Friday Jan 12

Chicago 81  at Emory 50
Washington 65 at Case 62

Wash/Case was much closer than expected.  Chicago did a number on Emory.

Yeah, it was the first time that Case so much as lost by single digits to Wash U-- seriously.  This one literally came down to the last shot (a missed 3 at the buzzer).

That being said, I will be very pleasantly surprised if Case can beat undefeated Chicago on Sunday-- though it has happened before (see Rochester, 2004).

[sandman]

Now that I've read the boxscore, the loss looks even more painful.  Case fell behind by 19, then rallied for most of the second half to cut the Wash U lead to 1-- then missed five shots in a row that would have given them the lead.

Someday, somewhere, with some group of players, the Case women's basketball team will defeat Wash U.  And this was the closest they've ever come.

[deiscanton]

Some quick thoughts from the weekend....

1.)  Rochester deserves to be ranked #1 in DIII in both the D3Hoops.com and ESPN/USA Today polls this week.  Bowdoin is #2; I would think that Hope is #3 despite the loss to Calvin (although you could now rank Calvin above Hope in the national rankings and I would not argue.)

Rochester deserves to be ranked above Bowdoin this week because Rochester has faced and defeated more nationally ranked teams this season than Bowdoin.  Plus, anytime Rochester can get a 20 pt. lead over a team in the Chase final, only to then lose it and have to play 2 overtimes against a Brockport team that proved that it belonged in the final, abd then finally win the game.-- that effort is deserving of the #1 ranking.

I have seen both Rochester and Bowdoin in person this year (thanks to scheduling a flight out of Rochester at 6:50 AM in the morning so that I could make it back to Boston in time for the Bowdoin/Emmanuel game.)  Both teams deserve to be in the NCAA national tournament this season, and if Rochester and Bowdoin should meet in the postseason, the game will be very close.  However, Gordon Mann is exactly right on how Rochester and Bowdoin should be ranked-- Bowdoin is the best team in the Northeast Region, but not yet the best team in the entirety of DIII this season.

2.)  With two tough games this week, Rochester may not be #1 for too long.  Rochester has to play Wash U and Chicago on the road.  Although Wash U has had a down year so far, Rochester's wins over Wash U in the all-time series have all come at the Palestra.-- the Yellowjackets have yet to get a victory at the Wash U Field House.  I would also expect Chicago to be in the top 10 in at least one of the two national women's DIII polls when the polls are released tomorrow. 

3.)  Sunday's Rochester at Chicago match will be very exciting regardless of the outcome of Friday's Rochester at Wash U match.

4.)  On the other side of the UAA, Brandeis and NYU will be hosting Case and Emory this upcoming weekend.  Both Brandeis and NYU will be favored to sweep this weekend, although if I had to pick which team out of the two would be more likely to sweep Case and Emory this weekend, I would pick NYU.

[Pat Coleman]

Plus, anytime Rochester can get a 20 pt. lead over a team in the Chase final, only to then lose it and have to play 2 overtimes against a Brockport team that proved that it belonged in the final, abd then finally win the game.-- that effort is deserving of the #1 ranking.

I wouldn't use this as a positive. Effort is fine and all but blowing a 20-point lead to Brockport isn't one of the classic signs of a No. 1 team.