WBB: Little East

[AllStar]

11-3 on the predictions so far.

Interestingly Keene State never trailed at all in Maine, jumping out to leads of 9-0 and 26-6.  If they could make a few free throws the game would have never gone to overtime and Southern Maine would not have come back.  Same thing with the men's team too...they'd have wins if they even made some free throws.

Also, 3 overtime games in the conference today.  Interesting.

[7express]

Tuesday predictions:

RIC 53 @ Bridgewater 64.
Last year in Providence Bridgewater won by 9.  This is the second of 2 straight games Bridgewater plays against LEC competition as they play Dartmouth Sunday, and also play Boston & keene later on in the season.  Bridgewater has 4/5 starters back from last year.  Megan Boutilette averaged 11.4 ppg in 5 games against LEC opponents last season. 
Western 67 @ Conn College 59.
Western has lost 2 of the last 3 times they have visted New London, but Western has a 3 game winning streak in the series, outscoring the Camels 191-148.  Conn College is 2-2 on the season, losing to Swathmore & Roger Williams while defeating St. Joseph's & cabrini.  Last year Western won 54-39, but only return 25 points from last year's game.
Castleton 86 @ Plymouth 49.
Last year Plymouth rolled them 82-48, and I'd expect this year to be about the same.  Castleton coming off their first loss to a team not named Colby-Sawyer since March 2 of 2012 with a 7 point loss to Williams last time out, and I expect them to get right back on the winning track.
Bates 56 @ USM 69.
USM won 68-54 last year.  Each team played @ Farmington; USM won by 29, Bates won by 24.  USM has played the better schedule playing UNE & Salve, so they should pull away in the second half at home.
Keene 65 @ Trinity 63.
This is Trinity's 3rd and final game against the LEC this year, and they are 0-3 suffering close losses to eastern & Western.  Keene is playing well on this road trip playing Amherst well in a 15 point loss & winning at USM.  I say they get the win on the road again.
Eastern 49 @ Williams 68.
A tough task ahead for the Warriors.  Williams made it all the way to the final 4 last season, losing to national champ and undefeated DePauw by 3 before defeating rival Amherst in the useless consolation game to conclude their season, and so far this season have already beaten 2 NCAA teams from last year (Babson & Bridgewater) a third that was probably one of the first few teams out (Castleton) and a good team out of the SUYNAC (Plattsburgh).  All 4 should be in the running for tourney bids this year.  So should Eastern, but it's gonna be too much for those freshmen & sophmores to go into Williamstown and expect to win.
Boston 68 @ Fitchburg 60.
Last year they played twice with Boston winning twice, once in Fitchburg 70-67 and then the other in Florida 76-39.  Now that the volleyball season is over, Kirsten Morrison should be back with the basketball team, but with little practice who knows how effective she'll be the rest of the first semester.  Fitchburg is 2-1 beating Colby-Sawyer and Middlebury and losing in overtime to Nichols.
Salve 67 @ Dartmouth 72.
Last year Dartmouth won by 13 in Rhode island.  In last year's meeting Erika Bornermann grabbed 13 rebounds and poured in 11 points while Kelsey Garrity had 11 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.  After opening up with a loss to USM, Salve has won 2 straight against Fisher & Westfield. 

[AllStar]

Tuesday:
Bridgewater State 66, Rhode Island College 55
RIC is 1-2 and has scored less than 60 points in both their losses.  In their win vs. Westfield State they scored 73.  I don't think they will score enough to beat Bridgewater, particularly on the road.

Western Connecticut 64, Connecticut College 58
This has the makings of a close game.  The Camels have a 2-2 record and have been in every game.  Their two losses (at Swarthmore and at Roger Williams) were by a combined 5 points.  Western has had close games with NESCAC foe Trinity and Richard Stockton and blew out Farmingdale State and Mount St. Mary.  I think Western wins a close game on the road.

Castleton State 78, Plymouth State 45
Even at Plymouth, I would be very surprised if this game was close.

Southern Maine 68, Bates 54
Bates is 3-2.  They beat 3 bad teams (Simmons, Husson, Maine-Farmington) and lost to 2 good/better ones (Mount Holyoke and Bowdoin).  I think Southern Maine will break it open in the second half and win by double digits.

Keene State 68, Trinity 65
The Owls would have had an easier time beating Southern Maine by making free throws last Saturday.  They were able to hold on, and I'll say they win another close game here on the road.  Trinity has given up 68 or more points in every game they've played.

Williams 64, Eastern Connecticut 51
Warriors, besides a blowout loss to Hartwick, have otherwise gotten off to a good start.  I don't think they beat Williams on the road, though, but it may be close for a while.

UMass-Boston 65, Fitchburg State 57
Hard to get much of a read on this game.  The Falcons are 2-1, beating Colby-Sawyer by 13 and Middlebury by 5.  Their most recent game was a high-scoring 86-84 loss at Nichols.  UMass-Boston beat Albertus Magnus 84-80 in their own high-scoring game, although it was in overtime.  The Beacons had their way with Fitchburg last season.

UMass-Dartmouth 68, Salve Regina 59
Salve was blown out by Southern Maine, and otherwise has wins over NAIA Fisher and Westfield by 4.  I think UMass-Dartmouth is better than either of those teams and beats Salve at home.

[7express]

Tuesday results:

RIC gets a road win @ Bridgewater 74-61.  All 5 RIC starters scored in double figures lead by Cara Paladino's 16.  Megan Boutilette had a game high 17 for Bridgewater.  Btw, nice move by Kara Williamson to move Paladino from the bench to the starting lineup.  I know you want a scorer off the bench to lead the 2nd team, but she wasn't cutting it in a bench role as she only averaged 4.7 points and 3.7 turnovers in a reserve role.  She still had 4 turnovers, but she had 16 points.  Much more comfortable in a starting role.  Leave her there!
Conn College over Western 66-50.  Tara Gabelman had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead 1 of 4 Camel players in double figures.  Western had 0 players in double figures and finished with more turnovers (20) than made field goals (15).  After a back and forth first half which saw neither team lead by more than 4 the first 13 minutes of the game, Conn College finished the first half on a 17-0 run to take a 13 point lead at halftime and lead by as much as 26 (64-38) in the second half.
Castleton over Plymouth 64-32.  Liz Douglass had 12 points and Heather Murdough 10 points and 11 rebounds for Castleton.  Rosalie Edmonds continues to be one of the lone bright spots for the Panthers, who shot 22.9% from the field and 0% from 3, however Edmonds did have 5 of their 11 made field goals.  Castleton converted 23 Plymouth turnovers into 23 points.
USM gets back on track with a win over Bates 74-54.  Meredith Kelley had a game high 20 for Bates, and Erin McNamera had 15 points and 5 assists for the Huskies.  Nice to see Rebecca Knight make an appearance this year: 15 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists after being mostly invisible through the teams first 4 games.
Trinity completes the LEC trifecta losing to Keene 60-55.  I bet Trinity is happy they won't have to face another LEC opponent this year, or at least not scheduled to face another one anyways as they went 0-3 against Eastern, Western and Trinity.  All 3 were relatively close, but unfortunately being close only counts in grenades and horseshoes.  Moriah Sweeney lead the Bantams with 15 points, while Christan Wojtas lead Keene with 17.  Stephanie D'Annolfo just missed a triple double!!  with 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 8 points.
Williams over Eastern 68-47.  Ellen Cook had 16 points for the Ephs, while Katie Litman had 12 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for Williams.  Kristina Forsman had 16 points and 8 rebounds for Eastern, but unfortunately missed 19 shots from the field, and Jill Ritosky registered a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards.  Williams outshot the Warriors from the field 49% to 23.2% for eastern, and also blocked 14 East shot attempts.
Boston beats Fitchburg for the 3rd time in the last 48 weeks 59-47.  None of those 3 wins were in Boston as last year's meetings were in Fitchburg as well and once down in Florida, and this was @ Fitchburg this year also.  Megan Wodzinski and Brittany Payne each finished with 12 for Fitchburg.  The reining rookie of the year Olivia Murphy took a ridiculous 26 shots from the field, but made 10 of those, registering 26 points in the process, and grabbing 16 rebounds for good measure.  As predicted and expected in this space, Kirsten Morrison made her Beacons debut with a quiet 2 points, 2 steals and 8 rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.  They have 1 game remaining against Mt. Ida before they open up LEC play against Keene on December 7, but I'd expect to see Morrison in the starting lineup by then.
Dartmouth over Salve 81-75.  Meaghen Harden lead Salve with 21 points, while Erika Bornemann and Meghan Ronagan each had almost identical lines for the Corsairs.  Each player finished with 9 field goals made, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, 0 steals, and 23 points.  The ONLY difference in each's linescore (besides turnovers), was Ronaghan attempted 13 shots while Bornemann attempted 19 and Ronaghan ahd 5 assists while Bornemann only had 1.  Congrats to Erika Bornemann who went over the 1,000 point plateau in this game as well.  Kelsey Garrity had 12 points, and 5 assits as well.

20-15 LEC, 27-9 me.

Next games Sunday:

RIC @ Roger Williams 4 PM
USM @ St. Joseph's (ME) 5:30 PM
Dartmouth @ Bridgewater 6 PM.

Hope everyone has a good, happy, and safe Thanksgiving holiday!

[7express]

Sunday schedule:

RIC 58 @ Roger Williams 67.
RWU is 4-1 with some good wins on the year: Brandeis, Colby, and Smith.  None of those teams have great records, but all 3 will probably be in play for NCAA bids at the end of the season.  Smith might be the favorite in the NEWMAC even though they just lost to Babson.  Brandeis could compete In the UAA since Rochester seems to be a bit down.  Colby's in the tough NESCAC, but always play tough in Maine.  RWU's lone loss is to 4-1 Suffolk.  RIC won by 31 last year, I have a feeling it's a tad closer this year.
USM 73 @ St. Joseph's (ME) 65.
SJME is 4-1 with wins against St. John Fisher, Elms, Maine-Maritime, and Maine-Farmington.  They are actually 4-0 in road/neutral games and 0-1 in home contests.  USM won by 15 last year.  Think it's probably a little closer, but think USM pulls it off.
Dartmouth 73 @ Bridgewater 69.
In 2 wins Bridgewater is outscoring teams 167-88.  In 2 losses the Bears are getting outscored 152-125.  The Corsairs offense is more in line with RIC and Williams offense, 2 teams Bridgewater lost too, then Hunter or Johnson State's offense, Bridgewater's 2 blowout victories.

[7express]

Saturday results:

Roger Williams over Bridgewater 80-71.  Vandell Andrade lead RIC with 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Danielle Leblanc also chipped in 17 points while Cara Paladino had 14 points and 8 rebounds.  Kaitlyn Bovee had a game high 26 for RWU and Angelica Ariola also had 16.  Shannon Cullen had 16 points, and 7 rebounds on 7-7 shooting in 22 minutes off the bench for RWU.
USM over SJME 60-49.  Lindsey Moore was 1 of 3 SJME players in double figures with 13.  Mariah Callender and Megan Pellitier each had 14 to lead the way for USM.  Eric McNamera and Rebecca Knight finished with a combined 15 points on 5-24 shooting.
Bridgewater over Dartmouth 99-86.  Kelsey Garrity was 1 of 5 Corsairs in double figures with a team high 20 points, and also added 8 assists and 5 rebounds.  Megan Ronaghan (18 points), Ashley Brown (10), Brianna Hochwarter (12) and Marisa McCabe (16) also placed in double figures.  Megan Boutilette lead Bridgewater with 26 points and 16 rebounds.  Last year it was Michaela Crosby that owned the LEC, this year it looks she's passed that torch onto Boutilette.  In 2 games vs. LEC opposistion (RIC & Dartmouth), she is averaging 21.5 ppg and 12.5 rebounds per game.  Bridgewater still has 2 games left this year against LEC teams: January 1 vs. Keene and January 16 vs. Boston so we'll see if Boutilette can keep up those numbers.  Erica Bornemann didn't play for Dartmouth.  I have to think Dartmouth probably wins if she plays.

21-17 LEC; 29-10 me

Tuesday schedule:
Westfield @ Eastern 5:30
Plymouth @ Colby-Sawyer 5:30
Bowdoin @ USM 5:30
Mount Ida @ Boston 5:30
RPI @ Keene 6:00
Western @ New Paltz 7:00
Dartmouth @ Brandeis 7:30

[7express]

Tuesday schedule:

Westfield 66 @ Eastern 68.
Eastern has lost to the 2 teams they were expected to lose to: Hartwick & Williams.  Westfield has lost to the only 2 good team they've faced; 5 points to RIC and 4 to Salve.  Eastern gets the edge at home.  Eastern won 72-66 at Westfield last season.
Plymouth 54 @ Colby-Sawyer 68.
Both teams are 0-4 so someone has to win right??  Colby-Sawyer is averging 46.3 ppg and giving up an average of 68.3 ppg.  The Panthers are averaging 40.3 ppg and giving up an average of 62.5 ppg.  The Panthers opponents have a combined record of 12-5, while the Chargers opponents have a combined record of 13-5.  They last played November 29 of 2011 with Colby-Sawyer coming away with a 77-65 win.
Bowdoin 67 @ USM 62.
Bowdoin is 5-0 on the year and are in the middle of their Maine gauntlet.  They defeated UNE 64-59 last week, and play their NESCAC rivals Colby on Saturday.  USM won by 14 @ Bowdoin last season.
Mt. Ida 33 @ Boston 67.
Mt. Ida has 2 wins: 1 over 0-5 Newbury and the other over 1-4 Wheelock.  Boston won 72-55 last year and shouldn't have much of a problem.
RPI 65 @ Keene 70.
This is Keene's first home game since a loss to Endicott on November 16.  RPI is 2-4 and have a few common opponents.  Each team played Trinity: RPI lost by 13 on a neutral court, Keene won by 5 @ Trinity.  Each team also played @ Amherst; Keene lost by 15, RPI lost by 23.  RPI won by 15 in Troy last year.  Keene at home gets the win.
Western 65 @ New Paltz 54.
This year hasn't been kind to New Paltz.  After winning their first 15 games of last season en route to a 24-4 season, New Paltz has struggled out of the gate so far in 2013 with a 1-4 record.  They lost their first 4 before salvaging a win over their Hudson river rivals Mount St. Mary last time out.  Western handed New Paltz one of their 4 losses, a 49-44 defeat in Danbury last season.
Dartmouth 76 @ Brandeis 82.
Brandeis is 2-3, but all of their losses are to teams at or above .500, and have played a pretty tough schedule with losses to Colby, Roger Williams and Emmanuel.  Dartmouth has had some injury trouble; first Kelsey Garrity had a knee injury, now I think Bornemann is out with an illness.  I'm not sure if they can keep up without her.  Dartmouth won 50-49 last year when Colleen Moriarty hit a jumper with 5 seconds left, then blocked Brandeis potential winner at the other end.

[AllStar]

Tuesday predictions:
Eastern Connecticut 69, Westfield State 59
I think Eastern wins by pulling away late at home.  Westfield is 2-2, but their two wins are against Mount Ida and Daniel Webster.

Colby-Sawyer 61, Plymouth State 49
Neither team has a win.  Neither team has even come within double digits against anybody, but Colby-Sawyer has played better competition.  Colby-Sawyer at home I'll say wins...maybe even by double digits.

Bowdoin 63, Southern Maine 62
Interesting game here.  Bowdoin is 5-0, USM is 4-2.  Bowdoin beat UNE at home by 5, USM lost at UNE by 4.  I'm tempted to pick USM at home, but have decided to take Bowdoin in a very close game that I think could go either way.

UMass-Boston 73, Mount Ida 39
This game should not be close.

Keene State 74, RPI 65
Owls have seemingly picked up some momentum with back-to-back road wins at Southern Maine and Trinity.  RPI is 2-4, and besides the game against dreadful Lesley has given up at least 75 points in every game.  Their most recent game was an 83-76 defeat at Sage.  RPI lost to Trinity for the Bantams' only win of the season so far.

Western Connecticut 60, New Paltz 47
New Paltz has one win, against a team in Mount St. Mary that has 0 wins and has struggled mightily.  Western wins even on the road.

Brandeis 73, UMass-Dartmouth 66
With apparent injury issues, I think that hurts UMass-Dartmouth.  They gave up 99 points in their last game.  I don't think they give up that many points this time, but I don't think they win this game either if the injury issues remain.

[AllStar]

In looking at the box score of what seemed to be a very, very ugly game, Western loses at New Paltz 46-43.  Teams combined to make 1 of 35 threes.  Western made 0 and had 33 turnovers.

Keene State drubs RPI 81-53.  Game was never really close, Keene was far better and shot 46% overall.  Keene outrebounded RPI 55-28.  Owls had 24 assists on 37 baskets.  Keene has won three games in a row to get to 4-2.

Eastern Connecticut beat Westfield 53-46.  Danyelle Rodriguez saved Eastern by hitting two threes late to help the Warriors rally back from a 46-40 deficit with a 13-0 game ending run.  Westfield's last points were scored with 2:52 left.

Olivia Murphy's 33 points helped UMass-Boston beat Mount Ida 79-41.  Mount Ida shot 29% and was 0-7 from three.  No surprise in this result.

UMass-Dartmouth beat Brandeis on the road 71-60 despite injury problems.  The Corsairs raced out to a 25-9 advantage and never trailed in the game after that.  In fact, Brandeis never got closer than 6 points.

Plymouth nearly ended their 27 game losing streak, but their rally fell short in a 53-48 loss to Colby-Sawyer.  The Panthers had their shot but could do nothing after getting within 51-48 with a couple minutes left.

Southern Maine lost another close home game, 62-56 to Bowdoin.  They never could get over the hump and take the lead in the second half as Bowdoin answered every Southern Maine threat.

[7express]

Tuesday results:

Eastern over Westfield 53-46.  Keri Doldoorian lead the Owls with 14 points.  Kristina Forsman was the only double digit scorer for Eastern with 12.  Jill Ritrosky had 12 rebounds and 9 points, and Danyelle Rodriguez also had 9 points, all on 3 pointers.  In fact, every single field goal she attempted (10) was a 3 as she went 3-10 from the floor and 3-10 from 3.
Colby-Sawyer survives Plymouth 53-48.  Kelsey Bragdon lead the Chargers with 11 points and Mari Meserve had 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.  Krystin Corliss finally showed up this year for Plymouth: 10 points and 10 rebounds, both team highs.  Plymouth had a valiant second half effort, but for them 32-17 down at halftime is too much to overcome.
Bowdoin over their state rivals USM 62-56.  Kirsten Prue had a game high 16 points for the Polar Bears.  Erin McNamera and Rebecca Knight each had 12 for USM who drop their second game of the season at Hill Gymnasium and it's only December 3.
Boston crushed Mount Ida 79-41.  Angelique Martinez and Abbey Ferdigan each had 10 for Mt. ida.  Olivia Murphy had 33 points and 12 rebounds, but she shot the ball 22 times (next highest shot total on the team was Andrea Suffredeni who shot only 6 times).  Kirsten Morrison had 8 points and 6 rebounds off the bench once again. 
Keene over RPI  81-53.  Ashley Clough had a game high 20 for RPI.  Christian Wojtas "only" had 13 to lead Keene, but nobody played more than 24 minutes for the Owls.  Nice conference matchup between them & Boston in Keene Saturday.  Who would've figured at the beginning of the season, that would be the best game of the day when you had Eastern/RIC and Western/USM that day as well.  Keene & Boston are playing the best in the conference as of now, should be a fun one to watch Saturday afternoon.
New Paltz over Western 46-43.  Yuck! is all I'll say.  A combined 1-35 from 3; 26-44 from the free throw line, and 54 combined turnovers (33 of them belonging to Western).  Goldie Harrison had a game high 17 for New Paltz.  Nobody scored in double figures for Western as Kerri Stolle and Caroline Brasa each had 9.  Sciarra Brandt pulled down 13 rebounds.  Need to get back on track in Maine Saturday as both teams are hurting, and Maine already has a conference loss at home to boot.
Dartmouth with a road win over Brandeis 71-60.  Janelle Rodriguez had a team high 13 for Brandeis, and Nicolina Vitale had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Judges.  Kelsey Garrity had 21 points to lead the Corsairs while Ashley Brown chipped in 14 and Megan Ronaghan 15 to pace the Corsairs.  I think Erika Bornemann came down with mono, so she could be sidelined for an indefinite period of time.  If she indeed does have mono I don't think we'll see her in action again the first semester.

25-20 LEC; 34-12 me 

Wednesday schedule:
RIC @ Conn College 7 PM

RIC 58 @ Conn College 63.
1 common opponent so far.  Both played @ Roger Williams.  Camels lost by 2; RIC lost by 9.   In between their victory over Western and this game, the Camels pasted their New London rivals Mitchell 81-36.  The Camels are 1 of the better underrated defensive teams out of the NESCAC (everything thinks Amherst or Tufts), but in actuality the Camels are only averaging 54.3 ppg this game.  That number will likely skyrocket once they get into full NESCAC play however.  RIC won by 13 in Providence last year and held the Camels to 46 points.  Think the number for RIC is 58; hold Conn College below that, RIC wins.  if the Camels break 58 they'll win.  I guess we'll find out.

[7express]

Wednesday result:

RIC over Conn College 59-53.  Tara Gabelman lead the Camels with 15 points.  Cara Paladino had 21 points and 14 rebounds for RIC. I said the number for RIC was 58: hold the Camels below that they'll win.  Well, the held the Camels below that....and they won.  Too bad I didn't on the pick.

26-20 LEC; 34-13 me

Thursday schedule:
Amherst @ Eastern 7:00

Amherst 65 @ Eastern 48.
Eastern has scored over 60 points only twice all season, and they're going to have to put up some points in order to beat the Lord Jeffs.  Eastern lost by only 10 @ Amherst last year and the Amherst team might've been slightly better.

[7express]

Thursday result:
Amherst over Eastern 58-44.  Danyelle Rodriguez had 14 points off the bench for Eastern.  Jaime Renner had 18 points, and Megan Robertson had 19 points and 16 rebounds both team highs for Amherst.

26-21 LEC; 35-13 me.

Saturday schedule sees the opening of conference play for most teams.  Remember USM & Keene have already gotten a leg up on the competition, so they each will be playing their second game while everyone else plays conference game #1.  These games count!
Western @ USM 1 PM
Keene @ Boston 1 PM
Dartmouth @ Plymouth 1 PM
RIC @ Eastern 2 PM.
My supurlatives: Best game: Keene @ Boston
Worst game: Dartmouth @ Plymouth
Most important game: Western @ USM.  As usual, I'll have predictions sometime Friday.

[amh63]

7Express...thanks for covering my back wrt to the ESCU game last night.  The Warriors has talent but lack size...size with experience, IMO.  Good road win for a very young Amherst team with a key front court player yet to play a game this season.  Hope S. Holiness returns to the court before the Las Vegas trip.

[7express]

Saturday predictions:

Western 55 @ USM 62.
A very important game.  Western, after starting the season, 4-0 have lost 2 straight not breaking 50 points in the process.  USM has already lost 2 games at home in Hill Gymnasium including the conference opener to Keene last month and really cannot afford to drop to 0-2 in the conference with those first 2 coming at home.  The teams split the season series last year with the home team winning both meetings: USM won in Maine 60-55 and the Colonials knocked off the previously unbeaten Huskies in Danbury 68-55.  Western has lost 3 straight to the Huskies in Gorham, and when you include tournament action as well they have 4 straight losses in that building.  They also have 5 straight losses in the state of Maine, dating back to a 2010 second round NCAA tournament loss @ Bowdoin to the Polar Bears, including that semifinal loss to Dartmouth last season @ USM.
Keene 62 @ Boston 60.
Game I'm most looking forward to watching, and the game I'm probably going to kick myself the most for at the end of the day Saturday when Boston wins by 40.  Really been impressed by what Keene has done so far this year with a pretty challenging schedule having their record at 4-2 at this point including 1-0 in the conference winning @ USM.  Boston is good as well and you know I drive the Beacons bandwagon, but they haven't really been tested this year as the only good team they've played to this point (Wesleyan) they lost.  However, home court brings this back to a coin flip, which came back Keene.  Boston swept them last year winning by 10 in Keene and 21in Boston.
Dartmouth 76 @ Plymouth 38.
Looks like Dartmouth will have their full compliment of players back as Erika Bornemann got cleared to play.  Whether she will or not who knows, but they could sit her, Kelsey Garrity, Megan Ronaghan, and Ashley Brown and they'd probably still win by a pretty comfortable margin.  Dartmouth swept them last year winning by at least 20 both times.
RIC 58 @ Eastern 59.
Another coin flip game, this one coming back the home teams way.  Tough to get a read on these 2 as each have played good schedules with each losing to teams you'd expect them to, and beating teams you'd expect them too.  RIC went 2-1 last season: splitting the regular season meetings (each team won at home: RIC by 15, Eastern by 2) and RIC won the rubber match in the quarterfinals in Willimantic by a 66-54 score.

[7express]

Sat results:
Boston leads Keene 22-19 5:42.  Keene had an early 11-4 lead via a 9-0 run, but that's been the largest lead for any team so far in this back and forth affair.  Christan Wojtas has 8 points to lead Keene, Olivia Murphy with 9 to lead Boston.
Keene leads Boston at halftime 31-30.  Wojtas has 11 for the Owls, Murphy has a game high 13 for the Beacons on 5-10 shooting.
Boston up 52-46 4:07 left.  Wojtas is stuck on 11 points.  Murphy now has 22 (and 17 shots to boot) and Kirsten Morrison in double figures with 10.
Boston looks to be on their way, up 65-54 with only about 13 seconds remaining.
Final: Boston 66-56.  Eastern/RIC lone game remaining. 
Western getting run over, losing 20-5 to USM 5:57.  Western shooting a dismal 2-14 and already with 9 turnovers.  Caroline Brasa and Alyssa Eannoti each have 2 points, Rebecca Knight with 8 points on 3-5 shooting.
USM 27-10 51.2 left.
USM leads 27-12 at halftime.  A brief 5-0 spurt by the Colonials to turn a 20 point deficit into a 15 point deficit at halftime, but still have plenty of digging left to do.
USM absolutely demolishing Western 61-26.  Western shooting 9-51 for 18% and have 19 turnovers.  Thank God I had didn't go up there for this monstrosity.  Rebecca Knight & Erin McNamera have more combined points (30) then Western does as a team (27).
Final: USM 67-31.
Plymouth Dartmouth tied at 27 2:32, for the most suprizing result of the afternoon: The Panthers already have 10 field goals, and they only average around 14 made per game.  Krystin Corliss has 8 for Plymouth; Kelsey Garrity & Erika Bornemann each have 6 for the Corsairs.
Plymouth leads Dartmouth 32-27 at halftime.  Plymouth with 5 more made field goals then Dartmouth.  Plymouth already with 12 shots from the field, and they only average 14.4 made field goals per game.
Dartmouth up 51-48.  15-3 run for the Corsairs over the last 7:17 to turn a 9 point deficit into a 3 point lead.  31 seconds left in that tilt.
Final: Dartmouth 52-48.
RIC and Eastern tip at 2.  No idea why they start an hour later then the rest. 
RIC at halftime 32-27.  Jill Ristrosky has a game high 11 for the Warriors, Steph Prusko with 9 for the Anchorwomen.  RIC had a big of a lead as 12 in the first, but a 7-0 Warriors run to end the first trimmed it to only 5 and made it a game again.
RIC Eastern just started the second half.
RIC up 44-43 8:10 remaining.  Jill Ritrosky with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors; Steph Prusko with 11 for RIC. 
RIC 56-55 1:10 left.
RIC 59-57 18 seconds left, but Eastern has the ball with the shot clock off, so they can play for overtime or the win with a Kristina Forsman, or Danyelle Rodriguez 3, their 2 sharp=shooters.
59-59 6 seconds left.  Jordyn Nappi jumper ties the game.  RIC has 6 seconds to go coast to coast to win, otherwise, we head to overtime.
59-59 regulation.  And on we go to overtime.  RIC couldn't get anything going as Prusko takes too much time in the back court and air balls a 3 from the left wing.
Final in overtime 69-67 Eastern.