WBB: Little East

[7express]

Regis @ USM tonight.
Don't know why USM took the ECAC bid to be honest.  Sure, its nice to keep playing, but when you have a rich history like the Huskies do (19 LEC titles, haven't missed the NCAA's since 1995) I would think it would be NCAA or bust for them.  Somehow, I don't see Duke taking an NIT bid should they miss the NCAA's one of these years, and USM seems to have the same consistancy.  Don't know anything about Regis, all I know is that they lost in the CCC finals to champion Salve Regina a team thats won 20 straight going into its first round game on Friday night @ Bowdoin.
I'll take USM 65-61 but wouldn't surprize me if it went the other way.

[7express]

USM with a 3 point win over Regis last night.  They play Endicott college, a 73-66 winner at MCLA in the semifinals at UNE.  Winner of that plays UNE/WPI winner Sunday afternoon.

[7express]

2 LEC teams starting NCAA tournament play tonight:

Eastern Connecticut travels up to Amherst to play Baruch college, the 4 time reining CUNY champions.  Baruch plays a tough non conference schedule, but the CUNY is terrible.  Eastern losing to Western 3 times gets them better prepared for games like this then Baruch beating a 5-19 Staten Island by 24.  Eastern 65-58
Western Connecticut travels down to Kean to play Messiah college.  Messiah is a mainstay in the tournament, 13th straight appaerance including NCAA runner's up 4 seasons ago.  Messiah struggled out of the gate starting 4-5 looking like they might miss the NCAA's but they turned that around in a big way winning 15 of their last 17 to advance to their 13th straight NCAA tournament.  Messiah has some size, though not as good as the size Kean has so Mel should have another good game, but we need to get Heather Lee going.  If were going to beat Kean we've gotta get Lee going from the outside because Tiffany Patrick of Kean isn't going to let us dominate down low like we have been recently.  Western wins 76-69

[7express]

Good night as the LEC goes 2-0 to open the tournament with 2 tough games on tap for Saturday.

eastern beats Baruch 75-65.  Taneisha Carter had a Melissa Teel like performance with 20 points and 19 rebounds for the Warriors.   They'll need to shoot the ball better Saturday to defeat Amherst however.
Western with a 65-44 win over Messiah.  We held the Falcons to 33.3% shooting for the game a great defensive effort.  Mel only went for 18 points 11 rebounds and 7 blocks a terrible game for her with what she's been doing lately, but we had other people step up which we'll need for tomorrow.  Heather Lee had only 8 points on 3-10 shooting, but a couple of her shots were halfway down before rimming out, hopefully she keeps shooting.  Karli Spera knifed through the defense in the second half for 18 points and Sciarra Brandt did well in her first NCAA tournament game, and its funny because she looked nervous during the LEC tournament.  A perfect 5-5 from the field with some nice baseline and elbow jumpers to keep Messiah at bay.  All around a good effort.

[7express]

LEC teams today:

USM vs. Endicott at UNE.  Endicott was a decent team in the CCC this year.  Its not the NCAA's, but would be nice for Kaylie Demillo to go out with an ECAC championship, she's been good for them over the last 4 years.  USM 65-62
Eastern @ Amherst.  Have to be consistant on the offense end, limit your mistakes to almost none and play great defense.  Will they do all of that??  Probably not, but thats why they play the game.  Pray for the best, expect the worst, but I'll be pulling for them from Union, NJ.  Amherst 73-56
Western @ Kean.  Almost as tough as the Eastern game.  Kean is a female version of the Western men with one exception they play in your face defense.  They press, and they run, sometimes too fast for your own good.  Opposite of the West Conn Mid men, we keep this to a halfcourt game I'll take my chances if Kean runs us they may very well run us out of Harwood Arena.   Would be nice if Heather Lee knocks down those shots tonight we'll need all the outside shooting we can get.  Vassar did a good job of slowing it down in the first as they only went into halftime down 7, however in the second half the Kean press caused a lot of turnovers, which went for easy baskets and Kean ran all over them in the second to win by 31.  We have better players then Vassar does, so we should be able to handle the press better, but if we don't it'll be a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG night and an earlier exit then I want.  Kean 73-62

[atn alum]

Audio link for Eastern CT-Amherst in 2nd round: Tips at 6 ET

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/amherst-regional

[7express]

Southern Maine defeats Endicott to 59-54 to advance to the final of the ECAC where they'll play UNE who was a 64-58 winner over WPI.  Tomorrow will be the final game the LEC plays this season as both Eastern and Western lost Saturday.
Amherst knocks out Eastern 76-54.  No boxscore from the game, but sounds like Eastern did better in the second meeting then the first.  You have to play almost flawless against a team with only 2 losses in the last 2 years.
Kean scores 30 of the first 41 points, runs away from Western 82-64.  The first 14 minutes was dissapointing, down 30-11 before we knew what hit us.  After that we slowly chipped away, cut it to 47-44 on a Heather Lee three eatly in the second, but then Kean went on an 8-0 run.  Western cut it back to 6 (67-61) on a Stephanie Slonski 3 point play with 6:14 to go, but from there Western only made 1 field goal, and scored 3 points the final 6:14 and that was that.  Its too bad we got paired up with Kean because if we had gone to Geneseo state or Bowdoin we would've won those pods fairly easily.  This team should still be playing but because of crappy matchups were not.  It was a good year and have to applaud Heather Lee, Karli Spera, and Melissa Teel on a great 4 year career.  All 3 were cogs of the team and they'll be missed next year.  if coach Rybcyzsk can coach this team next year to an ECAC bid that'll be a good year but I'll post my thoughts on next year later when I'm in a better mood.

[7express]

UNE defeated Southern Maine 79-67, so therein lyes the end of the LEC season.  I'll post my predictions for 2011/12 sometime this week.

[7express]

Here's my 2011-12 preview.  when these picks fail I can laugh at myself next January or even better you can laugh at me earlier.

Is this the year USM returns to dominance??  USM has completely dominated the league, for the most part since the LEC was formed 25 years ago.  However, they haven't won the conference regular season in 4 years (Eastern won in 08/09, Western won the last 2) and has only won the LEC tournament once in the last 5 years after winning 18 of the previous 21 championships.  The 2 heavyweights of the last couple years each graduates significant pieces that helped their schools upend the Huskies at the top.  Eastern graduates 4 seniors, 3 of whom were starters in Jess Moriarty, Amanda Pierlioni & Britt Whitely.  Western graduates 3 senior starters, their 3 best players and over 42 percent of their scoring.  Eastern will have to implement an entire new backcourt for next season, while Western might have to run anew system since we won't have Melissa Teel anymore.  USM only graduates 3 players (1 of whom didn't even play that much) and even though Kaylie DeMillo will be big she deferred to her teammates this year so they shouldn't miss a beat.  They should compete for the top spot with RIC (returns 4 of 5 starters) and Keene state (returns all 5 starters, loses no one).  Western & Eastern should both make the LEC tournament because both schools have good coaches but it could be an early exit for each school next year.

School most likely to miss the playoffs next year after making it last year??
I say Dartmouth unless Western really struggles to find consistancy.  RIC & Keene will be better, Eastern & Western will be worse but I don't see them falling to 7th or 8th worse, and USM will be steady, maybe slightly better.  So that leaves Dartmouth by default.

School most likely to make the playoffs next year after missing it last year??
UMass-Boston.  Plymouth state is still a few years away.  The Beacons finished with only their 4th winning season in the last 27 years, and have a good, young nucleous comming back.  Since I don't see a dominate team next year like Western was, I think Boston will get enough conference victories to get in.

My player of the year candidate
Stephanie Coro of RIC.  Quick, who averaged the most ppg in the LEC last year??  Courtney Cirillo??  Nope, she was 3rd.  Melissa Teel??  Nope, she was second.  It was Stephanie Coro, who poured in 18.4 a game to lead the Anchorwomen and the conference.

My projected standings
1) Southern Maine.  Conference dominance will return to Gorham, but it should be more balanced.  Could have the best inside outside game with Haley Jordan and Courtney Cochrane down low and Erin McNamera, Rene Nichols and Nicole Girard working the perimter.  If McNamera hits a sophmore slump, it could go to these other 2.
2) RIC.  Had trouble beating the top of the conference this year.  Went 1-6 against the top 3 in the conference with the only win at home against USM and that handicapped them.  As long as their able to at least split with Keene & USM they should be in good shape.
3) Keene.  Should have a nice bounceback season.  Had a dissapointing season this year after winning the ECAC New England tournament in 2010.  With the whole team returning, anything less then a top 3 or 4 finish would be a dissapointment.
4) Eastern Connecticut.  Have to rework the whole back court, but at least the front court is set with Piper Chapman and Taniesha Carter.
5) Western Connecticut.  Kind of scary because the bench didn't show a lot this year (not that they had to though).  Nicole Eanniello was a great 3 point shooter off the bench, she will probably take Heather Lee's pot in the lineup as the sharp shooter.  Not sure if Steph Slonski would be the best idea at PG, would like if coach Rybzcyk went out and got one to replace Karli Spera.  It was fine when she was spelling karli for bits, but I think she's too tall.  She's better in a 3 role.  Melissa Teel will be the biggest loss and biggest problem for us.  We'll miss the 4.3 blocks per game, 12.6 rebounds per game and 18.2 points per game.  Hopefully we get Molly Puryanda back next year.  She started her first 4 games, then got hurt, then go kicked off the team after the first semester.  Along with her we've got freshmen Tequilla Llyod, Chelsea Monet, Ally McDonald and Kristin Mooney.  All have decent height, except Ally & Kristin only came in at the end of blowouts, and Chelsea and Tequilla were injured.  Sciarra Brandt wasn;t an inside presence this year, but she may have to be next year.  Hopefully next year we play a pretty weak OOC schedule (Hunter, Lasell, CCNY, Mount Ida, Bay Path, Albertus, etc) because this team could use the confidence going into LEC play in January.  So even though it would be nice to get revenge on Babson & Mount St. Mary at home, next year isn't a good idea for that.
6) Mass-Boston.  Really don't know how this team lost twice to Dartmouth because they played Western tough.  Depending on how much Eastern and Western struggle wouldn't be surprized if they were 4th or 5th.
7) Mass-Dartmouth.  2 wins vs. Boston last year got them into the playoffs.  Much like Boston they have a young team that could reap the benefits of struggling Colonials or Warriors.
8) Plymouth state.  Don't think they have what it takes next year to get into the tournament.  Alicia Doucet will be the main scoring option for this team as Plymouth returns no one else who finished in the top 20 in scoring (Amanda kania who finished 12th for the panthers is a senior).  1 person teams normally don't fare well.

I predict Keene upsets USM in the tourney championship and the Huskies and Anchorwomen join the Owls in the 2012 NCAA tournament.

[7express]

Was able to find 4 of the 8 schedule's:

Boston, Keene & Eastern's schedule are official as they're posted on their respective websites.  Keene has a bunch of teams listed playing on the road twice so they have to fix things there.  Plymouth state's schedule isn't out yet, but changed the year on the 201--11 schedule to look at their schedule.  Only teams I can't find schedules for are RIC, Dartmouth, Southern Maine and West Conn.

Found 3 OOC opponents for Western: November 22 @ Emerson, December 6 at home against Mount St. Mary and Jan 5 at CCNY.  When they post their schedule, I will post it here and point out important games

[7express]

Western women's schedule just released: http://wcsu.edu/sports/WBasketball/schedule.htm

Luckily we got a decent OOC schedule.  The 2 other teams in the Salem state tournament are the host Salem state and CCNY; both teams combined for 8 wins last season.  The 2 other teams in the Springfield tournament are Roger Williams and Springfield.  As I said in March I wanted a OOC schedule with a bunch of weak schools, and thats exactly what happened.  Of the OOC teams only 5 teams were at or over .500 (Mount St. Mary, Trinity, Skidmore, Oneonta and Roger Williams) and of those 5 only Oneonta and Mount St. Mary were any good, and Oneonta graduated 3 of their top 5 scorers.  If you include Molly Poryanda (who only played 4 games before she left) and Tequilla Lloyd (who transfered to SUNY-Delhi) we lost 5 of our top 8 scorers, 4 of our top 7 in FG percentage, our top 3 in FG's attempted and made, our top 2 in 3 point FG's attempted and made, 3 of our top 4 in rebounds, and 4 of our top 5 in rebound average, a national leader in blockedf shots and 3/5 of our starting 5.  Finishing with games against RIC, Keene and Eastern, the first 2 probably fighting for the league title will be a tough closing stretch.  Hopefully, we can pick up some wins OOC and gain confidence.  Winning the Springfield tournament which kick starts 2012 could be a momentum boost into LEC play which starts the next weekend.
Game not to miss: If we just had 1 of the 4 players we lost (Heather Lee, Karli Spera, Tequilla Lloyd, or Melissa Teel) I'd say Mount St. Mary on December 6 considering MSM won 63-60, and those 4 combined for 43 of the 60 points, and 25 of the 33 rebounds.  However, since we don't have any of those 4, I'll say Western @ Eastern, Tuesday January 17.  Both teams lose a lot, as each graduates 3/5 of their starting 5.  This game could go a long way to deciding who will have to battle with Mass-Dartmouth for the final playoff spot; the rematch between these 2 is Tuesday, February 7 in Danbury.

[7express]

Other LEC team's schedules:
Boston: http://www.beaconsathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/sched/masb-w-baskbl-sched.html
Eastern: http://www.easternct.edu/athletics/women_basketball/wbb-schedule.htm
Plymouth: http://athletics.plymouth.edu/sports/wbkb/2011-12/schedule
Keene state: http://keeneowls.com/sports/wbkb/2011-12/schedule

[7express]

My LEC predictions.  Conference record in parenthesis:

1) Rhode Island College (12-2). RIC finished 4th in the conference last year, but shot themselves in the foot by only going 1-5 against the top 3 teams in the conference. However, 2 of those teams in the top 3 last year got decimated by graduation. RIC returns the leading scorer in the conference, Stephanie Coro, who averaged over 18 ppg last year, along with 4/5 of their starting 5.
2) Southern Maine (13-3). A perennial favorite in the conference, they have won 18 conference championships, but haven't won since 07/08. They also return 4/5 of their starting 5, and have a great inside outside duo of center Courtney Cochrane and guards Renee Nichols and Erin McNamera.
3) Keene state (10-4). 2 years ago they won the ECAC New England championship (like the NIT except they brake it off into regions with 6 or 8 teams), last year with pretty much the same team that won the ECAC championship they finished tied for 5th in the conference and were lucky to make it to the LEC tournament where they lost in overtime to Eastern Connecticut. They bring back everyone from last year's dissapointing roster as they had no seniors. Last year they finished 4-10, 0-8 against the top 4. This year with no really good teams, they should be right there at the top.
4) Eastern Connecticut (7-7). They have advanced to the last 3 LEC tournament championship games (1-2 in those finals), but will need some help to get back there this year. They lose 3/5 of their starting 5 from last season, but the cupboard isn't totally bare: they return their two best frontcourt players, but have to revamp their backcourt as their PG and SG from last year are gone. If they can find a decent replacement by January, might not be that bad for the Warriors.
4) Massachusetts-Boston (7-7). Last year this young team (only 2 people on the roster were upper classmen [1 junior, 1 senior], along with 7 freshmen) posted only the team's 4th winning season in 28 years. As long as they finish strong this year (they started 11-2 last year before they limped to finish losing 9 of their last 11) they should be in contention for a playoff spot.
6) Western Connecticut (6-8). This will be a challenging year. Gone from this team: Over 40% of scoring, our PG who finished 17th in APG, 50th in assist to turnover ratio, our center who finished 2nd in blocked shots, 14th in double-doubles, 3rd in FG percentage, 40th in PPG, 17th in RPG, and finished with 1 triple double. On top of that, we lose 4 of our top 5 scorers, 3 of our top 4 in FG percentage, our top 3 in FG's attempted and made, our top 2 in 3 point FG's attempted and made, 3 of our top 4 in free throws attempted, 3 of the top 5 in free throws made. The thing that worries me is that since these seniors did so much they were in for the vast majority of the games, and most of the freshmen last year (we had 7 total. 1 was injured the whole season and didn't play, 1 got kicked off the team in December, and 1 transfered this summer) didn't play, aside from the final 60 to 90 seconds of games. We'll need big games from them. Only person that played meaningfull minutes that's still here, Sciarra Brandt, started the majority of games. She doesn't have to fill Melissa Teal's shoes, but if she does half of what Teal does it could be better.
7) Mass-Dartmouth (5-9). Just like Boston another young team consisting of mostly sophmores and juniors. Much like their in-state rivals they should be better next year, but if Western struggles to find consistant offense they could sneak in.
8) Plymouth state (3-13). They have 1 good player, Alicia Ducet. They started last season 7-1 and 1-0 in the LEC. They finished the season 8-17 overall and 1-13 in the LEC, meaning they lost 16 of their final 17 games and their final 13 conference contests. No matter how bad the top of the conference looks, this team still has some work to do.

My projected player of the year:
Stephanie Coro- RIC

All conference team:
Stephanie Coro-RIC
Alica Ducet- Plymouth state
Piper Chapman- Eastern Connecticut
Courtney Cochrane-Southern Maine
Courtney Cirillo- Keene state

my conference tournament projection:
Keene state upsets Southern Maine in the semifinals, then beats RIC in the finals, RIC & Southern Maine join Keene state in the NCAA tournament. None of the other teams get ECAC bids, so those 3 are the only 3 playoff teams.
       

[7express]

Division III women's news tabs RIC as team to beat in the LEC this year and a team to watch, sitting just outside their preseason top 25.  Rachel Riley (crap I forgot about her when I did the preview) was tapped as LEC player of the year an an honorable mention to their all-american team.  RIC also gets a boost by adding Franklin Pierce point guard Cynthia Gaudet, Gaudet was the starter for the Franklin Pierce teams that went to back to back division 2 women's final four's in 2009 & 2010.  Full article:
http://www.goanchormen.com/index.html

[7express]

Western gets started with a game against Post University on Saturday.