WBB: Little East

[7express]

West Conn's leading scorer from last year, Caroline Brasa, goes in for her ACL surgery this afternoon.  Good luck Care, and the LEC better watch out, she'll be back better then ever next year.

[remsleep]

Love to hear about coaching change rumors. Let's dig and find out!

[7express]

Rem I doubt there's any in the LEC this year.  Keith Boucher has been at Keebne for about 26 years he's not getting fired.  Lauren Lavigne (Plymouth is in year one of the rebuilding stage) she's not leaving.  Courtney Mattingly (Boston), Kim Rybczyk (Western), Kara Williamson (RIC), and Amanda van Voorhis (Dartmouth) all had good years but nothing that stands out to go up.  Denise Bierly (Eastern-18 years) and Gary Fifield (USM-28?? years) aren't going anywhere.

Fifield MIGHT retire, but a retirement will be the only coaching change IMO thi year and Fifield is likely the only retirement possibility.  Keith Boucher at Keene a potential candidate as well for retirement.  Doubt either happens though.

[remsleep]

7....I thought Lavigne had left and was replaced...I distinctly remember the PSU job being advertised last off-season ( and as a part-time position if you can believe that!)....am I confused?

[7express]

7....I thought Lavigne had left and was replaced...I distinctly remember the PSU job being advertised last off-season ( and as a part-time position if you can believe that!)....am I confused?

Yah Liz Stritch replaced Lavigne last summer.  I was typing that in class, was going a bit too fast, lol.  Either way, that's a major rebuild up there in New Hampshire and even though they only won one game (and finished the season with I believe 23 straight losses) she's still got another couple of years until the seat gets warm.

[7express]

Sciarra Brandt and Chelsea Mone named captains for next season.  Why their deciding that on April 17 (that's when it became official I just didn't see it until now) I have no idea.  Ill update with the article link a little later.
Also according to the article our season opens at the Richard Stockton tournament November 15-16.  Maybe ill get the schedule before October this year since we have the tournament already, probably wishful thinking on my part.  Also, I believe we host a tournament around New Years this season as well, I know coach Rybczyk was talking about it at the end if last season.

http://wcsuathletics.com/sports/wbkb/index

[7express]

It seems like its a good time for the my pre-preseason predictions.  Last year was a pretty good year, but this year could be even better.  Some questions that can play out over the season that could be the key to who wins and who loses because unlike the last 4 years where there was a clear cut front runner (Western in 2010 & 11, RIC in 2012, USM in 2013 (even though I picked them 3rd I think the coaches picked them unanimously 1st), there's none this year.  Everyteam has flaw(s) that can easily be exploited:

1) Can the Mass schools finally make the jump?  If you've been reading this for the last 2 years you know I've been driving the Beacon bandwagon.  They've started off well, only to crumble as the season entered January against stiff conference competition.  Assuming they don't lose anyone to preseason injury/off-season transfer they'll be one of the better teams in the league.  You don't agree with me?  4/5 of their starting lineup returns and I believe 3/5 will finally jump from underclassmen to upper classmen.  They have the last 2 reining rookie of the years.  Mattingly has got to have the best job recruiting.  If your going to be playing D-3 basketball, who wouldn't want to do it in Boston, one of the better cities in the US??  Why would you go Danbury, CT Keene, NH, Plymouth, NH, Willimantic, CT or Gorham, ME if you can play in all of those places by going to school in Boston?  Dartmouth should have made the jump last year, but couldn't win squat on the road even though they had the leagues best player which was unguarable.  Speaking of that...
...2) How does Dartmouth replace Moriarty?  They'll probably be my preseason pick again (why I don't know), if they can match Moriarty's production.  They'll probably be more dimensional on offense this year instead of "give Moriarty the ball and get out of the way."  IF Erika Bordemann tries to be like Moriarty was they'll be a failure.  Their success is going to start and end with Kelsey Garrity.  She gets everyone involved and stay on the court they'll be up there, she doesn't they'll be a middle of the pack team.
3) Can Eastern & RIC score?  As I've said numerous times defense only gets you so far.  Eastern has everyone back, but Courtney Burns (who's going to be playing in Europe next month btw) is going to be a huge loss for RIC, she was the heart and soul.  Do they have any leadership??
4) Which way is Western going to fall?  We started off slow last year as we were working everyone into a rotation, once we got everyone settled we went on an absolute tear (10-0, sub 45 opponents ppg including knocking off back to back unranked and top 25 teams in a 3 day span), then came crashing down with a big Thud! like a redwood falling in the forest when Caroline Brasa tore her ACL.  Outside of USM (Haley Jordan, Jordan Grant, Nicole Garland), Western has probably the biggest loses in the conference with Carly Murphy, Nicole Eaniello, and Jackie Zilnicki.  Murphy was the slasher, Eanniello was the 3 king (queen??), Zilnicki was the tough-hard nosed, in your face defender.  We have plenty of 3 point shooters left, but not many of the in your face defenders or slasher type.  Brasa could be one when she returns, but one wrong move (she already has 2 ACL tears in the last 3 years) could be a career ender.
5) Which part of USM's season was a fluke: the 27-1 regular season and LEC tournament record or the 1 and done double digit loss to NCAA newbie Smith in the first round at home?  I'll be honest, I don't think USM was nearly as good as the 27-1 regular season record indicated.  I've said it on here, and I think D3 agreed with me.  I don't believe USM ever got higher then 9th in any poll.  It could be because they started the season unranked but if you have a team who's only loss on the season is on the road to a team that's won 10 straight holding opponents under 45 points a game if you believed in them you could put them higher then 9th ahead of some teams who had 2 or even 3 losses. They also got the benefit of playing a couple teams early on in Maine when those teams were still figuring it out.  USM won back to back Saturdays against Eastern & Western in Gorham by I believe 9 points.  They beat RIC in January at home by 7.  If they play @ Eastern in December instead of January and @ RIC in January instead of February they probably lose both of those games. As is, they should have lost @ RIC anyways and beat Keene (@ home), and Boston (twice) by single digits.  They were a good team don't get me wrong, but they got a couple of good breaks and bounces that went their way (McNamera's roller at the buzzer in Providence when she was like 1-13 up to that point), that probably won't this year and didn't in the NCAA's, but they clearly weren't a 27-1 team. 
6) Does the conference have a leader a team can rely on in crunch time?  Let's take this a couple years back: 2010 and 11 Karli Spera and Melissa Teel were the 2 headed monster that carried Western to back to back back NCAA tournament's and back to back LEC championships.  When they graduated, Cynthia Gaudet (the biggest steal EVER) and Rachel Riley carried RIC to the 2012 LEC championship.  When those 2 along with Nicole Girard left Providence they passed the baton up to USM where the front court of Jordan, grant, and Nicole Garland's uncanny ability to hit every. single. 3 pointer she took in the final 10 minutes carried the Huskies to the 2013 LEC championship.  Does anyone get the baton this year?  I've already gone through most of the teams, but the result is clear: There's a lot of great players, but is there a pure scorer put the team on my back kind of player??  Boston doesn't shoot consistently enough to have 1 or 2 players.  Bornemann isn't nearly as good or as strong as Moriarty was, USM is likely a 1 trick pony with Rebecca Knight this year since they lost everyone else and Eastern is too young and like Boston doesn't shoot consistently.  The 2 scorers I have are both have questions mark: Vandell Andrade of RIC and Caroline Brasa for Western.  Vandell probably shoots too much and can be a slight headcase so not sure I want her carrying RIC because she can just as easily shoot RIC OUT of a game then back in a game.  Brasa as stated above has the ACL injury, but if she can come back like she was last year she can fill the role Murphy & Eaniello filled on the offensive end.  As evidenced by our thud to close the season with her out, you could have just as easily made a convincing argument for Brasa to win player of the year over Moriarty last year; our offense completely changed with her out.

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

Preseason player of the year:
Carolina Brasa -Western

All LEC team:
Kelsey Garrity-Dartmouth
Erika Bornemann- Dartmouth
Brasa -Western
Rebecca Knight- USM
Vandell Andrade - RIC
Kirsten Morrison - Boston

All subject to change when I make my official predictions in October/November.

[7express]

BTW, an erroneous report by me in my post last week said Courtney Burns was going to be playing in Eurooe next year.  That is false she's playing in Italy 11 days for a tournament then playing in a women's league on a Brockton team the rest of the summer.

[7express]

Western schedule:
http://wcsuathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2013-14/schedule

Farmingdale state is a pretty good team, that's a tough opening test.  Mount St. Mary another tough one.  Regis beat us in Danbury last season.  Probably gonna have a few more games added, but if that's the official schedule, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this team is 1-7 or 2-6 at the end of the first semester when you look at the schedule.  Usually they start well and end poorly but those are a some tough road games (@ Regis, @ New Paltz, @ Conn College, @ USM).
Speaking of the ending schedule that @ Boston, vs. RIC, vs. USM, vs. Eastern, @ Dartmouth, vs. Plymouth @ RIC stretch from mid January to mid February is going to be the toughest conference stretch, which could decide the conference.  Starting 3 of 4 on the road is a bonus for 2 reasons: 1) it means we have a backlong home stretch at some point to make up for those road games, and 2) it knocks out the 3 toughest road trips for us when the season is a little less than 30% old.  USM and Plymouth are the first 2 weekend trips and Keene is that incredibly long Tuesday night where they go up that afternoon and get back to school at like 12:30 in the morning.  After that, the next longest is probably Dartmouth which is always a Saturday anyways.

[7express]

Some news around the LEC:

Amber Litwinko transfers to Nichols college in MA.
Former RIC forward Courtney Burns an assistant coach at Johnson & Wales.

[7express]

Keene state's game vs. Austin college in Key Largo, FL on December 31 is listed as in-region. 

[7express]

Looking through the schedule on d3 hoops I may have found a wrinkle on the schedule:http://d3hoops.com/conf/LEC/women/2013-14/schedule?confonly=1

It used to be every team in the conference would each play LEC games on the same day.  Now I'm not sure if the schedule dictated differently this year because of a chain of events: Thanksgiving is the latest it can possibly be, only 1 Saturday in December when schools are in session, so they had to switch things up, or if they are going to go this route more from now on, but every team in the conference plays an LEC team on a day no other school has a game.  Last year it happened once; Dartmouth played Keene on a Friday night, everyone else started the next day.  This year our solo games are:
Keene @ USM November 23 (seems a little early to be playing meaningful games, doesn't it)??
Boston @ RIC December 14
Eastern @ Plymouth January 4
Dartmouth @ Western January 9.

Now as I said in the previous paragraph this could just be a 1 year thing, since usually we have 2 LEC games the first 2 Saturday's of December, and since there is only 1 available in the first semester this year, the conference had to fit in all those games that would be on that second Saturday in different time slots.  It remains to be seen for next year.  Thought I'd share this nugget which probably no one else noticed, lol

Later today, I'll edit this to tell you how many schools are off on those days.

[7express]

I know people from Western, and Dartmouth read this and probably people from the other 6 schools as well.  I've been getting bombarded on twitter the past couple days (wont mention names, but you know who you are) for I guess a prediction I made earlier this year.  I picked Dartmouth back in May and I'm going to pick them again in November because: A) they have the leagues best point guard, B) the best big and C) the deepest team.  Does that mean they will win?  Of course it doesn't!  I picked them first last year too you may remember and they finished 3rd, and even though USM finished 26-2 last year I picked them to finish 3rd.  Unfortunately, all 8 teams can't all finish tied for first and all make the NCAA tournament, so I try to be as neutral as possible to rank them 1-8.  If you don't like where I picked you, go out and prove me wrong!  RIC and Eastern did that last year.

[7express]

LEC Preview.  As usual LEC record is in parenthesis.

1) Dartmouth (12-2).  They lose the conference player of the year in Moriarty, but the rest of team returns in Kelsey Garrity (who finished percentage points behind Jordan Grant in steals per game) and Erika Bornemann who not as polished as Moriarty was, can space the floor better as she's not afraid to shoot from outside which makes the team more dangerous.  It looks like the backups to Garrity left (Shannon Singletary graduated and Melissa Daigle isn't listed on the roster), so its possible they could be in trouble if she gets in foul trouble.  Definitely want her out on the court late in the game, she'll make plays to get Corsairs wins.  The coaches likely won't pick them high (I'd say 3rd or 4th) but they have the talent to compete for yet another championship.
2) USM (11-3).  With Jordan Grant, Haley Jordan, and Nicole Garland who pretty much hit every.single. 3 pointer she attempted in the semifinals and finals all graduated, I don't think they'll be as good this season; they graduated 38.2 ppg combined between those 3 which is a huge loss.  Their bench was also atrocious last year, and was even worse when Nash Billow got injured.  They didn't need a good bench when you started 4 of the better players in the conference, but their gonna need at least a competent one this year.  They'll be tough to knock off in Maine, and Rebecca Knight will be a player of the year candidates, but there's a lot of good teams this year.  Can the bench give them points/rebounds/minutes and can this team win outside of Maine without Jordan, Grant & Garland??
3) Western (10-4).  This team was a discombobulated mess in February when Caroline Brasa injured her knee, and looks like we might have some roster turnover from the end of last season.  Not sure who we lost/gained, but I think some pretty important pieces from last years team won't be on this years team.  if Caroline Brasa can stay on the court they'll be right up there with Dartmouth & USM.  If not I see them more towards the middle in the RIC/Eastern/Boston pile.
4) Eastern (8-6).  Nice turnaround after the team mutiny in 2011 to get a home quarterfinal game last year and all of those sophmores/freshmen from last season have a year under their belt.  Offense was pretty dissaspointing last year.  Also, teams know this team can compete in the conference, so their not going to surprise anyone this year.
4) Boston (8-6).  This is the 3rd straight year I'm going to be driving the Beacons bandwagon.  They have the last 2 reigning rookies of the year (Kirtsen Morrison & Olivia Murphy) and that great freshmen class Mattingly brought in in 2011 are now upper classmen.  Last years team only had 2 seniors and only lost 6.4 ppg, and this years team only has 2 seniors, so the building blocks should be laid this season for an upper-tier finish in 13/14.  I think they'll be competitive and in the race the whole season.  Last year they beat Dartmouth, and Eastern and stayed competitive against USM (lost by 8), and Western by 9.
6) RIC (7-7).  Only graduated 1 off last years team, but that's a big one in Courtney Burns who was the team leader and heart and sole of that team, and will be tough to replace that.  Vandell Andrade and Danielle LeBlanc both had good years as freshmen, but like Eastern this was another team that just could not score at all last year.  Defense can only get you so far.
7) Keene state (4-10).  Like RIC only graduate 1 player, but that 1 will be a huge loss in Siobhan Carnall who lead the team and was second in the conference in ppg at 16.0 ppg.  Christan Wojtas and Ryenne Williams played well in spurts last year.  They have 7 new players, so this will be a rebuilding year this year.
8) Plymouth (0-14).  Krystin Corliss and Bry Bennett played well last year, but outside of those 2 they don't have much else.  Their conference record the last 3 years is a combined 2-40, and 0-14 last year.  They lost every LEC game by at least 21 points, 10 of their final 12 games had them finish with 42 points or fewer, and in 6 February games they combined to average 34.8 points, held below 40 in 5 of the 6 games and didn't crack 42, and cracked 60 points only 3 times all of last year.  Overall, I don't think the conference is as good this year as it was last year, but Plymouth still has some work to do.  If they can't beat Keene, I'm guessing it's another 0 for LEC season.   

Oops forgot to add in award winners:

Player of the year - Kelsey Garrity Dartmouth

First team:
Garrity
Caroline Brasa- Western
Vandell Andrade- RIC
Erika Bornemann- Dartmouth
Rebecca Knight - USM
Kirtsen Morrison- Boston

[7express]

Western roster out; only 10 players, only 4 people that played meaningful minutes last year, 0 that played more than 20 minutes a game last year, and 6 of our 9 leading scorers from last year are gone.  I don't like the first half schedule. Could have be in for a struggle as we implement a whole new set of pieces.  This weekend down @ Richard Stockton (won't be there) will be fun to keep tabs on.  Farmingdale state should be the favorite in the Skyline this year; they've been second fiddle to MSM all these years before finally getting over that hump last year, and now that MSM fired their coach for some reason, who knows what will happen with them this year.  Richard Stockton is normally a decent team out of the NJAC.  Don't really know much about St. Mary's College of Maryland, but they look to be the worst team in the field.  At least we should be able to get 1 win in that tournament.