WBB: Little East

[7express]

Courtney Cochran named an honorable all-american: http://d3hoops.com/awards/all-americans/women/2012

[7express]

Just did an off season preview for the guys, so figured I'd do one for the girls too.  These predictions don't take into account which players are coming in for these respective teams, just what teams lose, and how I'd rank them.  I'll have official predictions closer to when the season starts after I take a look over some rosters.

Plymouth I think is still a year away.  However they've gone 2-26 in LEC play the last 2 years, so they should improve on the 1-13 record they've had in conf action the last 2 seasons.  RIC and Keene got obliterated with graduation which should help their chances.
Eastern.  The wildcard in this whole thing, and we'll know more about them once November rolls around.  Jess Blodgett, Rachael Armstrong and Lauren Kellaher, who all got kicked off the team mid season last season all have eligibility left.  Not sure they'll be playing basketball again, but the door's at least somewhat still open.  They didn't win many games after Christmas, but it was valuable expierence for them, and they should benefit with a whole team for the whole season.  There were a few games last year after the mass suspensions where they only suited up 6 or 7 players.
Keene graduates 4 of 5 starters.  Siobhan Carnell, the lone returning starter, and Rachel Brucks a freshmen guard out of suburban Atlanta (really, how did coach Boucher get her to go to school up there) should keep the Owls above water.  How will life with out Cirillo be??  My guess?  Not fun to begin the year.
Boston.  Last year dissapointed me, but I really believe this is the year they can snag a home game in round 1.  As of now only real dominate team should be Western, Dartmouth & USM will be pretty good.  No reason Boston shouldn't win all the other games at home against the other teams.
Dartmouth.  Graduate just one player in Stephanie Houtman.  I believe if Colleen Moriarty doesn't get injured they beat West Conn in the opening round.  Erika Bordeman improved greatly from her freshmen to sophmore year if she works on her free throw shooting over the summer they'll be a team to be reconked with.  If they can beat USM at home, I think this could end up being your second place finisher.
RIC.  This is the exact same situation as Western had coming into last season.  RIC had a 1 year window to work with and like Western, they made it count running away with the LEC title.  Unlike Western, the RIC bench played more then the Western bench in 10-11 but I don't think it's quite as good as the Western bench was.  Ashley O'Dell, the first sub off the bench last year probably starts for any other team in the conference....and she was a starter in 10-11.  Courtney Burns is about the only other player worth mentioning.  I think their in severe danger of missing the tournament next year.
USM.  Graduates Cochran, as well as starting guards Nicole Garland and Renee Nichols as well as a defensive stopper off the bench Kim Rivett.  Last year without Cochran or if you shut her down USM was awful.  Erin McNamera after having a pretty good freshmen year had a terrible sophmore year, and they'll need her to step up because Haley Jordan's the only other player they have coming back.  They'll take a big step back next year and probably need to win all 7 home conference games in Gorham because they may not win 1 outside of Maine.
Western.  Stephanie Slonski is the only starter that graduates.  Nicole Eanniello had a dissapointing season last year, but Stephanie Slonski finished on the first team.  Carly Murphy had a great season, and I'd look for her to continue it, if not for Kirsten Morrison at Boston Carolina Brasa would've been ROY after coming back from ACL surgery in 10-11, Taylor Nkonoki can step in for Steph at PG and plays great defense.  The 2 impact freshman Amber Litwinko played well in the first before she quited down in the first, Lissa DiNino was pretty much invisible in the first half, but turned it on in the 2nd when her roomate Litwinko started to struggle.    I didn't even mention Sciarra Brandt and Chelsea Mone yet.  Will be close between us and Dartmouth, but those 2 are at the head of the field.

conf predictions:

1) Western
2) Dartmouth
3) Boston
4) USM
5) Eastern
6) Keene
7) RIC
8) Plymouth

The losses suffered by RIC, Keene & USM as well as the uncertainty surrounding Eastern really opened the door for Boston.  I don't think their neccessarly the 3rd best team and may not even pick them 3rd in my predictions, but when you combine those 5 teams, Boston is in the best shape of the 5 if the 12-13 season started today which is why they go 3rd right now.

NCAA tournament prediction: The conference takes a big step backwards next season.  Any more then 2 or 3 conference losses is going to hurt Western and Dartmouth.  Right now I'll say only the tourney winner gets in, but if Dartmouth and Western can both finish at least 12-2 and split with each other and make the finals, then both get in.

[lechoopsfan]

I am sure that the LEC will be very competitive. Do not sell USM short. 1 very good incoming frosh and a transfer from UMaine. The transfer will help immediately. She is a very good get for the Huskies. Would be interested to hear if any others are getting some impact players?

[bsc73]

who's the transfer from Maine? I'm surprised that they only have one. I would expect that they would have many more.

[lechoopsfan]

Rebecca Knight. She saw alot of time and started as well. Lefty and overall good player. She helps ALOT and quickly.  USM will need more but she is a very good start.

[7express]

Here's what I was able to dig around for Western's 12-13 schedule.  When schools post the full schedule, I will post them on here.

Oneonta state at home Nov 15
@ Mount St. Mary Nov 20
@ Trinity Nov 29
home vs. Bridgewater state Dec 5
@ USM Dec 8
home vs. Plymouth Jan 12
home vs. USM Jan 26
@ Plymouth Feb 16

[ECSUalum]

From ECSU athletics web page:
CONGRATULATIONS ALLISON!!!!!!!!
What an unbelievable playershe was!!!
NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. - Eastern Connecticut State University alumnus Allison Coleman (Jewett City) has been selected as one of only two women's basketball players tabbed as inaugural inductees into the Little East Conference Hall of Fame.
The most decorated women's basketball player in NCAA Division III history when she graduated, Allison Coleman became the first four-time Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III All-America. The 2004 State Farm/WBCA National Player of the Year led Eastern Connecticut State University to a 101-17 record (.856 winning percentage) and four postseason appearances. Coleman was the catalyst for the Warrior squad that reached the 2003 NCAA Division III National Championship Game. The only four-time Little East Player of the Year in the conference history guided Eastern Connecticut to a share of two regular-season conference championships. Coleman is the only student-athlete in program history to record 1,000 career points (1,991) and rebounds (1,134). She is also the program leader in assists (579), and steals (369). Named to the LEC women's basketball 25th Anniversary Team last year, Coleman, was previously  inducted into the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in April of 2010 as the fifth Eastern individual to gain that honor in the first 23 years of that hall of fame's existence.

[7express]

Rachel Riley, the RIC grad this summer, has gotten a job with the WPI basketball team.  I'll see if can get an article on the WPI site, but I heard the news from her twitter update.
Also, talking about RIC, it looks like they'll be having a new leader this year as it looks like Marcus Reily has signed on for an assistant gig at URI in Kingston down the highway. 
Here's the article on URI's hire of Reilly: http://www.gorhody.com/sports/w-baskbl/2012-13/releases/20120625ryc1rw

Still no article on Rachel's hire yet (but it is official), I'll update if I find an article.  Congrats to the both of them, and wish them the best of luck this year

[7express]

Western's official schedule:

http://wcsu.edu/sports/WBasketball/schedule.htm

[7express]

RIC's schedule:
http://www.goanchormen.com/index.html

For as young a team as their gonna have, that 3 game closing stretch is brutal: home vs. USM @ Western @ Keene

[7express]

Women's preseason top 25 poll out:  USM comes in at #39 (30 votes), RIC somehow comes in at #43 (6 votes) even though they have pretty much no one returning from last year.  Dartmouth & Western my 2 favorites this year have 0.

[7express]

My LEC predictions.  Conference record in parenthesis:

1) Western (12-2).  The class of the league this year by far losing only 1 player to graduation.  The roster still isn't out yet, but I expect everyone that played last year is back with the team this year because I haven't heard about any transfers during the summer.  Melissa DiNino & Carolina Brasa (should've won rookie of the year last year) played excellent in the second half, if they can put together a full season of that along with Amber Litwinko (had a good first half, sluggish second half) and get Sciarra Brandt & Nicole Eaniello back on track this year (both were awful last season) this will be a very good year.  Can't see us getting threatened much this year which could be a problem in March.  Gary Fifield probably brought in some talent but they have to fill a lot of holes & RIC graduated just about everyone significant and lost their coach.  Its entirely possible our 2 toughest games of the season occur the first 3 weeks of the season: we play USM in Gorham on December 8 and play @ Mount St. Mary on November 20.
2) Dartmouth (10-4).  As long as they can split with USM this year I think they can finish in the top 2.  They have a very young team (1 senior) last season, and Erika Bordeman & Colleen Moriarty are the real deal.
2) USM (10-4).  They looked awful without Courtney Cochran in the game last year and guess what?  She already used up all her eligibility, along with the only 2 guards that weren't afraid to shoot in Renee Nicholas and Nicole Garland.  I know Erin McNamera is a point guard, but she really has to get some shots this year and Haley Jordan did a good job playing alongside Cochran last year but is she ready to take a leadership role?  If McNamera gets shots this year and Jordan can get half of what Cochran did (18 ppg, 7 rpg) they'll be successful.  Luckily for them the conference really drops off after this.
4) Boston (8-6).  Have to take advantage of a down year.  Kirsten Morrison (LEC Rookie of the year) and Lauren Perra are their 2 returning leading scorers, but they need to get a 3rd option.
5) Plymouth (7-7).  Colleen O'Hara and Kellie Walsh are their 2 best players and both have 1 more year of eligibility remaining.  They've only won 2 LEC games the last 2 years, that should change this year
6) Eastern Connecticut (5-9).  Sam Riccio is their only returning letter winner.  After the mass suspension they played well with what little talent they had left.  I still think they'll sneak into the tournament.
7) RIC (4-10).  Nicole Girard?  Gone.  Cynthia Gaudet?  Gone.  Rachel Riley?  Assistant coach up at WPI.  Marcus Reilly?  Now an assistant at URI.  Not much going for them this year.  Ashley O'Dell their leading returning scorer started in 10-11, but came off the bench last year that's how deep their team was.
8) Keene state (3-11).  Another team with a mass graduation culminated by Courtney Cirillio.  They struggled the last 2 years with a upper classmen driven team, now they have to get by with division 2 transfer Siobhan Carnell leading the way. Both RIC & Keene are extremely young, so both have to take advantage of home games against the bottom of the conference (Plymouth/Boston/eastern) to get into the playoffs.

Player of the year:
Erika Bordeman- Dartmouth

1st team all LEC:
Erika Bordeman- Dartmouth
Colleen Moriarty- Dartmouth
Caroline Brasa- Western
Kirsten Morrison- Boston
Siobhan Carnell- Keene
Haley Jordan- USM

Playoff:
Western over USM in the LEC final; both Dartmouth & USM join Western in the tournament.

Later today I'll have a game to watch for each team this year.

[7express]

Games to watch for each team based on projected order of finish:

Western: November 20 @ Mount St. Mary.  I still wish this was a conference game so we'd get them twice a season instead of only once.  MSM always wins the Skyline, Western should be the favorite in the LEC and the last 2 years this game has been decided by a total of 5 points: 3 points in January 2011 in Newburgh, and 2 points in Danbury last December on a Jen Macanou game winner.  Luckily for Western Macanou's gone and so is Amanda Horvers their 2 best players, so early might be a good chance to get them.  This game, @ USM @ Dartmouth and home vs. USM are likely the only games Western struggles with this season.
Dartmouth: February 16 @ USM.  The final day of the regular season, this will probably decide which team gets the final bye and joins Western straight in the semifinals and which team has to open the tournament on Tuesday.
USM: january 26 @ Western.  Likely their last tough road game of the season.  Win this along with beating the Colonials in December, and USM could be in the drivers seat for the LEC regular season championship.
Boston: December 11 vs. Westfield state.  Aside from their opening tournament on November 17-18, this is their only home game until January 10.  Granted, its not a conference game, but you have to win games at home, and maybe all the road games pre-Christmas give the team some confidence going into the conference slate.
Plymouth: December 1 @ RIC.  Coming off back to back 1-13 LEC season's a great chance to pick up win #1 in their first conference game against a depleted RIC squad.
Eastern: November 17 vs. Simmons.  The opening day of the season, and still don't know hoe Eastern's roster will look.  This game will tell us how they look, and whether or not they can be a force this year.
RIC: February 16 @ Keene state.  Final game of the season.  With the mediocrity at the bottom of the conference, this could end up deciding the final playoff spot.
Keene: January 12 @ Rhode Island College.  Keene's first 4 conference games are: @ Dartmouth, home vs. Boston, home vs. USM and @ Western.  I can't see Keene winning any more then 1 of those games, and losing this game will probably be too big of a hole to come out from.

[7express]

Looking at the Eastern roster: http://www.easternct.edu/athletics/women_basketball/wbb-roster.htm not a whole lot of talent; Kristina Forsman, Taylor McBride, Sam Riccio and Jaymie Sommers played well last year.  Watch out for Victoria Pfohl.  She's from my hometown and went to my home high school, she'll be great by her senior season even though she may not make a dent this year.  Also, having her in Willamantic gives Denise Bierly and the staff an even better chance to get her younger sister who's about 100 times better.  She made varsity as a freshmen and was the best player on the team.

[7express]

Western Connecticut with their first scrimmage tonight at William Paterson.  This would actually be a pretty good regular season matchup however.  Think WPU might be a little overrated because they graduate their 2 All American's but their still in the top 25 in both the D-3 poll and the coaches poll.  Roster not set yet, but sounds like Western has a ton of turnover.  Taylor Nkonoki isn't playing this year (or at least not in the scrimmage tonight).  Brittany Brandt joins her twin sister Sciarra on the roster along with about 5 or 6 freshmen which is funny because we only lost 1 senior (Stephanie Slonski) and I don't think anyone else left/transfered.  Looks like were gonna have a whole lot of depth this season.