WBB: Little East

[7express]

Even with Rebecca Knight, Southern Maine loses at home to a very mediocre Husson team 79-77 in overtime.  Huskies allowed 46 points to the Eagles in the second half and now are an unimpressive 6-6 with three straight losses to WPI, RPI, and Husson.

Chandler Guerrette had 21 points off the bench for the Eagles (5-4) while Megan Pelletier lead all scorers with 33 points.  Too bad no other Husky was in double figures, and the other 4 starters contributed just 32 points total (all 4 had 8 each).  Eagles are back in action Saturday vs. Maine-Maritime, while the Huskies (6-6) host Dartmouth on Saturday in LEC play.

41-24-1 LEC; 54-24-1 me.

Thursday schedule:
Fisher @ Plymouth 2 PM
Western @ Dartmouth 5:30 PM (LEC game)
Eastern @ St. Joseph's (CT) 6 PM

[7express]

Thurs predictions:

Fisher 54-48
Eastern 74-53
Dartmouth 65-63.  Last year the Colonials went 3-0 vs. the Corsairs.  The Colonials, a team that really struggled to score the ball consistently last year trailed by 7 in the regular season meeting @ Dartmouth but outscored the Corsairs by 11 in the second half to win by 4.  The 2 teams would finish tied for 4th at seasons end, but because Western got the season series sweep they got the all important last home spot and beat the Corsairs again in the quarterfinals to end Erika Bornemann's career.  Dartmouth should still finish in the upper half, but they need to win games like this.  I think they pull it off.

[7express]

Plymouth in a total laugher 90-41 over Fisher.
Haven't had much of these for the Plymouth in the last half-decade.  And what an incredibly stupid pick my me, smh.  Easily my worst pick selection in the 3 years I've been posting on here.  Avi Morrison had 16 off the bench to lead Plymouth (6-5), while Alexis Akridge had a game high 18 to lead Fisher (1-11).  Plymouth resumes LEC play Saturday afternoon @ Western.

Eastern beat SJCT 76-55.
Heather Framski had 16 to lead the Blue Jays (5-7) while Jill Ritrosky and Shannon McCourt each had 16 to lead Eastern (7-5) and Ritrosky also pulled down 18 rebounds.  Blue Jays who have lost 6 of 7 are back in action Saturday @ Mt. Holyoke while the Warriors travel to Boston Saturday afternoon.

Dartmouth over Western 61-46.
Megan Ronaghan recorded game-high honers with 24 points to lead the Corsairs (8-3, 2-0) while Western returned to their scoring drought as Colleen Cosker was the leading scorer.....with 9 points.  Tough to win games that way!  Corsairs have a showdown @ USM Saturday in a matchup of the conferences last 2 unbeaten's, while the Colonials (8-3, 0-2) host a vastly improved Panthers squad on Saturday afternoon.

43-24-1 LEC; 56-25-1 men.

Standings:
1) Dartmouth 2-0 (8-3)
1) USM 2-0 (6-6)
3) Keene 1-1 (7-4)
3) Boston 1-1 (7-4)
3) RIC 1-1 (2-9)
3) Eastern 7-5 (7-5)
7) Western 0-2 (8-3)
7) Plymouth 0-2 (6-5)
Raise your hand if you had RIC & USM with the conference's 2 worst records on January 9!

Schedule:

Saturday, January 10:
Plymouth @ Western 1 PM
Eastern @ Boston 1 PM
Dartmouth @ USM 1 PM
Keene @ RIC 1 PM.  Eastern/Boston looks to be the best game since USM has injury & scoring issues. 

Tuesday, January 13:
Boston @ Plymouth 5:30 PM
Keene @ Western 5:30 PM
Dartmouth @ Eastern 5:30 PM
RIC @ USM 5:30 PM

[AllStar]

It's nice to see the Panthers getting some wins, but they are coming against teams that are more or less completely inept.  Fisher came in 1-10 and featured embarrassing losses such as 107-39 against Maine-Fort Kent and 94-61 against Albany Pharmacy.

Regarding Saturday's slate of games, here's UMass-Dartmouth's golden opportunity to go to Gorham and beat a Huskies team that is struggling mightily and far from what they used to be.  It will be interesting to see what the Beacons can do at home against Eastern.  The league may feature some parity this year, but the quality of basketball is going the wrong direction.

[7express]

Western 63-41 over Plymouth.
Each team comes in 0-2 with the Panthers losers to Dartmouth & Eastern, while the Colonials losses are to USM & Dartmouth.  Pretty important game as 0-3 would likely take you out of the running for top spot.  Plymouth has won 2 straight and 3 of 4 but they've lost both LEC games by a combined 33 points, scoring an average of only 39 points in those 2 losses.  Against the Colonials & Kim Rybczyk's defense will be hard pressed to score a lot of points.  Panthers have also only averaged 41.9 points in their 7 trips down to Danbury.  The Colonials also have a 15 game winning streak in the series.  Their last loss to the Panthers was January 21 of 2006.

Eastern over Boston 65-52.
Each team comes in 1-1 with the Warriors beating Plymouth and losing to RIC, while the Beacons losing to Keene but beating RIC.  The Warriors swept them last year and have won 2 straight games in Boston.  I like what the Beacons are doing, but like Western they struggle to score and since Eastern can put up points, I think it's going to be tough for Beacons to match them.  If this gets into the 60's, Boston is in trouble.

Dartmouth 65-58 over USM.
Teams split the season series 1-1 last year with Dartmouth ending like a 20 year USM winning streak with a 5 point win at home.  These are the conferences last 2 remaining unbeaten, but USM has taken a hit since their last conference game December 13 @ Keene.  They are without Rebecca Knight and are 0-3 without her in the lineup, scoring an average of 57.7 points per game.

Keene 54 @ RIC 47.
Each is 1-1 with RIC beating Eastern and losing to Boston while the Owls beat Boston and lost to USM.  Owls have lost 9 straight to the Anchorwomen dating back to January 9, 2010, but this looks to be the first time since then that the Owls actually have a better team then the Anchorwomen do.  However, road games in conference are extremely tough, and the Anchorwomen already knocked off preseason favorite Eastern at home in the Murray Center, but I think the Owls pull away late and snap the skid.

[7express]

Sat results:

Dartmouth wins in Maine 77-68.
Bri Hochwater had 24 off the bench to lead the Corsairs (9-3, 3-0) who also got 22 from Megan Ronaghan.  Huskies (6-7, 2-1) were lead by Megan Pelletier who had game highs of 32 points and 11 rebounds.  Rebecca Knight made her return to the lineup, and even though she grabbed 9 rebounds, she only scored 2 points on 1-8 shooting.  An absolute huge road win for Dartmouth, maybe the best in program history??  If they can follow that up with a win in Willimantic on Tuesday, no doubt they'd jump to the front of the line in terms of conference favorite.  Dartmouth is @ Eastern, USM hosts RIC

Keene over RIC 59-50.
Devil Hill lead the Anchorwomen (2-10, 1-2) with a game high 19 points while Sandi Purcell and Kelsey Cognetta paced the Owls attack with 16 & 15 points respectably and Sarah Kober pulled down a game high 16 rebounds.  Anchorwomen travel up to USM to face the struggling Huskies, while the Owls (8-4, 2-1) go back on the road to Western both on Tuesday.

Western over Plymouth 60-39.
There was only 1 double digit scorer in this game....that was the Colonials (9-3, 1-2) Caroline Brasa who finished with game highs of 26 points and 10 rebounds.  Tiffany Lewis had a team high 9 points for the Panthers (6-6, 0-3).  Panthers are home vs. the Beacons, while the Colonials host Keene both on Tuesday.

Eastern edges Boston 63-59.
Katie Mathieu, Kirsten Morrison, and Olivia Murphy each had 14 for the Beacons (7-5, 1-2) and Murphy added a game high 15 rebounds.  Julia DePoi had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Jill Ritrosky had a team high 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Warriors (8-5, 2-1).  Beacons are @ Plymouth Tuesday, Eastern hosts Dartmouth in a very important game, winner goes out in the front of the pack.

43-24-1 LEC; 60-25-1 me

Standings:
1) Dartmouth 3-0 (9-3)
2) USM 2-1 (6-7)
2) Keene 2-1 (8-4)
2) Eastern 2-1 (8-5)
5) Boston 1-2 (7-5)
5) RIC 1-2 (2-10)
5) Western 1-2 (9-3)
8) Plymouth 0-3 (6-6)

Schedule:

Tuesday, January 13:
Keene @ Western 5:30 PM
Boston @ Plymouth 5:30 PM
RIC @ USM 5:30 PM
Dartmouth @ Eastern 5:30 PM.  Dartmouth/Eastern the best of the day.

Thursday, January 15:
Bridgewater @ Boston 5:30 PM
Worcester @ Keene 6 PM

Saturday, January 17:
Boston @ Western 1 PM
Plymouth @ RIC 1 PM
Keene @ Dartmouth 1 PM
Eastern @ USM 1 PM

[7express]

Western 56-50.
Both teams struggle to score, play good defense, beat up bad teams, and struggle vs. good team (USM was actually good when both teams lost to them even though they aren't good now).  Not sure how quite good either team is, as both played a bunch of cupcakes OOC, but Western is at home and have completely owned the Owls lately in Danbury, so I'll take the Colonials.

Plymouth 54-48.
Last year in Boston, the Beacons fell victim to the Panthers first LEC win in almost 2 years.  This years Panthers are improving but have struggled mightly on the offensive side of the ball in conference games.  Luckily the Beacons have too.  First team to 50 wins this low scoring-grind-it-out game but I'll take the Panthers in a mild upset.

USM 74-57.
Just what the doctor ordered for a struggling Huskies team: a bad team making a loooong 1 day trip.  If RIC wins this game, there are serious problems in Gorham.

Eastern 65-64.
Eastern has won 2 straight LEC game after falling at RIC in the opener.  Dartmouth is the conference's lone remaining unbeaten.  Dartmouth has struggled on the road in recent years, but the win Saturday @ USM was only the program's 3rd ever vs. the Huskies and the first ever win against them in Maine so they are definitely feeling it.  A win here would definitely cement their status at conference favorite.  Even though the records say otherwise, these are the 2 best teams the conference has, and no matter who wins, I think both will show it in the end.  I'll take Eastern late at home.

[7express]

Tuesday results:

USM over RIC 56-49.
Jess Korzec had 13 to lead the Anchorwomen (2-11, 1-3); Megan Pelletier had a game high 22 for the Huskies (7-7, 3-1) and Ella Ramonas had 13 points and a game high 10 rebounds.  Rebecca Knight had 7 points on just 3-10 shooting; she's combined for 9 points on 4-18 shooting her last 2 games since returning to the lineup, but did have 9 rebounds for the second straight game.  Both teams are off until Saturday: USM plays Eastern, RIC plays Plymouth.

Western over Keene 50-43.
Kelsey Cognetta had 11 for the Owls (8-5, 2-2), Caroline Brasa had a game high 12 for the Colonials (10-3, 2-2).  Those were your only 2 double digit scorers.   Western plays Boston on Saturday, while the Owls have a midweek game vs. Worcester State on Thursday

Boston clobbers Plymouth 74-49.
Grace geary had 27 to lead the Beacons (8-5, 2-2); DeAsia Lawrence had 12 to lead the Panthers (6-7, 0-4).   Panthers are @ RIC Saturday, Beacons have a midweek game Thursday vs. Bridgewater.

Eastern pulls away from Dartmouth 64-41.
Megan Ronaghan lead the Corsairs (9-4, 3-1) with 15 points.  Kristina Forsman had a game high 22 and Jill Ritrosky had 16 rebounds and 14 points.  Dartmouth is @ Keene, while the Warriors are @ USM Sunday.

43-24-1 LEC; 63-26-1 me

Standings:
1) Eastern 3-1 (9-5)
1) Dartmouth 3-1 (9-4)
1) USM 3-1 (7-7)
4) Western 2-2 (10-3)
4) Keene 2-2 (8-5)
4) Boston 2-2 (8-5)
7) RIC 1-3 (2-11)
8) Plymouth 0-4 (6-7)

Schedule:

Thursday, January 15:
Bridgewater @ Boston 5:30 PM
Worcester @ Keene 6 PM

Saturday, January 17:
Boston @ Western 1 PM
Plymouth @ RIC 1 PM
Dartmouth @ Keene 1 PM
Eastern @ USM 1 PM

Tuesday, January 20:
Western @ RIC 5:30 PM
USM @ Plymouth 5:30 PM
Eastern @ Keene 5:30 PM
Boston @ Dartmouth 5:30 PM

[7express]

Bridgewater 67-65
Keene 74-64

[7express]

Boston over Bridgewater 64-37.
Grace geary lead the Beacons (9-5) with 13 points and Olivia Murphy had 10 points and 10 rebounds.  Chanelle Melton had 13 to lead the way for the Bears (8-7).  Bears play Worcester state, Boston is @ Western, both on Saturday afternoon.

Keene over Worcester 60-53.
Bianca Langford had game highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Lancers (11-4) while the Owls (9-5) were lead by Kelsey Cognetta with 15.  Owls converted 23 Lancer turnovers into 20 points.  Owls host Dartmouth Saturday, while Worcester travels to Bridgewater on Saturday.

45-24-1 LEC; 64-27-1 me

Next games Saturday:
Dartmouth @ Keene 1 PM
Eastern @ USM 1 PM
Plymouth @ RIC 1 PM
Boston @ Western 1 PM

[7express]

Sat predictions:

Keene 54-50
Eastern 73-69
RIC 64-61
Western 54-43

[7express]

Sat results:
Eastern continues USM's tailspin, crushes USM 62-44.
Eastern was lead by Kristina Forsman with 14 points while the Huskies (7-8, 3-2) were lead by Ella Ramonas who had 12.  The Warriors (10-5, 4-1) who shot 52.2% for the game went into halftime up 14 and were never seriously threatened in the second half.  USM who have played 4 straight home games overall posting a dismal 1-3 record in those 4 games goes on the road to Plymouth Tuesday, while the Warriors hit the road again to face Keene.

Beacons run over the Colonials 57-42.
Beacons (10-5, 3-2) were lead by Grace Geary who had 16 while Olivia Murphy pulled down a game high 14 rebounds and added 15 points.  Caroline Brasa added team highs of 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Colonials (10-4, 2-3).  Beacons held the Colonials to 24.1% shooting while shooting 44.4% themselves, went into halftime up 15 and like Eastern was never seriously threatened in the second half leading by as many as 25.  Western is @ RIC, while Boston is @ Dartmouth, both on Tuesday.

RIC over Plymouth 70-28.
No boxscore available yet, but doesn't look too pretty.  Anchorwomen (3-11, 2-3) host Western Tuesday, while Plymouth (6-8, 0-5) hosts USM Tuesday.

Dartmouth edges Keene 74-72.
Beth Castantini had a game high 24 points for the Corsairs (10-4, 4-1) and Kelsey Garrity added 19 points and was a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line; Kelsey Gognetta had a team high 23 for the Owls (9-6, 2-3).  Dartmouth finished 80% from the free throw line overall, and was 9-10 from the charity stripe inside the final 50 seconds to extinguish any hope of an Owls comeback.  Finally, a team that wins the game via free throws!

45-24-1 LEC; 66-29-1 me.

Standings:
1) Eastern 4-1 (10-5)
1) Dartmouth 4-1 (10-4)
3) USM 3-2 (7-8)
3) Boston 3-2 (10-5)
5) Western 2-3 (10-4)
5) Keene 2-3 (9-6)
5) RIC 2-3 (3-11)
8) Plymouth 0-5 (6-8)
tiebreakers: Eastern beat Dartmouth head to head so they will get the top spot for now until they meet again next month.  USM's win over Keene gives them the edge over Boston for now, both teams still play twice.  RIC gets eliminated first in the USM/Western/RIC tiebreaker since they lost to Keene and haven't played Western yet, and since Western beat Keene, they'll have the advantage over the Owls until they play again in February.

Schedule:
Tuesday, January 20:
Western @ RIC 5:30 PM
USM @ Plymouth 5:30 PM
Eastern @ Keene 5:30 PM
Boston @ Dartmouth 5:30 PM

Thursday, January 22:
Keene @ Middlebury 6 PM
Framingham @ Dartmouth 7 PM
Conn College @ RIC 7 PM

Saturday, January 24:
Keene @ Boston 1 PM
Western @ USM 1 PM
Plymouth @ Dartmouth 1 PM
RIC @ Eastern 1 PM

[7express]

RIC runs over Western 70-53.
Caroline Brasa and Colleen Cosker each had 13 to lead Western (10-5, 2-4) while Alex Moore had a game high 25 for RIC (4-11, 3-3).  Well, that's 2 straight embarrassing defeats for the Colonials who now go on the road up to USM & eastern before coming home to host the Corsairs.  Doesn't look good over the next 2 weeks, hopefully they can steal a game or 2 here or there in those next 4.  Boston & RIC were supposed to be the soft spot in this part of the schedule  .  Anchorwomen have a Thursday night game vs. Conn College while the Colonials travel to USM Saturday.

USM edges Plymouth 67-61 in overtime.
Ace Lawrence had a game high 24 to lead the Panthers (6-9, 0-6) while Ella Ramonas had 18 to lead the Huskies (8-8, 4-2) and Stephanie Gallagher chipped in 17.  Weird boxscore for this game as Gallagher is credited with playing 55 minutes in a 45 minute game and Ace Lawrence has 52 minutes listed.  Both are off until the weekend; Huskies host the Colonials, Panthers travel down to Dartmouth.

Eastern over Keene 62-55.
Jill Ritrosky and Shannon McCourt both added double-doubles for the Warriors (11-5, 5-1) with Ritrosky putting up 14 points and 11 rebounds and McCourt adding 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Kristina Forsman lead them in scoring with 17.  Courtney Roberts had a game high 19 for the Owls (9-7, 2-4) who also got 12 points off the bench from Sandi Purcell.  Owls are at Middlebury on Thursday while the Warriors have the rest of the week off before hosting RIC on Saturday.

Dartmouth over Boston 85-75.
Megan Ronaghan lead the Corsairs (11-4, 5-1) with 26 points and had 10 rebounds; Grace Geary had a game high 28 for the Beacons (10-6, 3-3).  Corsairs play Framingham State Thursday evening while the Beacons are off until Saturday when they play Plymouth.

45-24-1 LEC;  66-29-1.  Forgot to make picks for Tuesday though I know I would've gone 3-1 as I would've taken USM (won), Eastern (won), Dartmouth (won) and Western (lost).

Standings:
1) eastern 5-1 (11-5)
1) Dartmouth 5-1 (11-4)
3) USM 4-2 (8-8)
4) Boston 3-3 (10-6)
4) RIC 3-3 (4-11)
6) Western 2-4 (10-5)
6) Keene 2-4 (9-7)
8) Plymouth 0-6 (6-9)

Schedule:

Thursday, January 22:
Keene @ Middlebury 6 PM
Framingham @ Dartmouth 7 PM
Conn College @ RIC 7 PM

Saturday, January 24:
Keene @ Boston 1 PM
RIC @ Eastern 1 PM
Western @ USM 1 PM
Plymouth @ Dartmouth 1 PM

Tuesday, January 27:
Plymouth @ Keene 5:30 PM
USM @ Boston 5:30 PM
RIC @ Dartmouth 5:30 PM
Western @ Eastern 5:30 PM

[7express]

Middlebury 68-62
Dartmouth 71-63
RIC 64-60

[7express]

Keene defeats Middlebury 60-56.
Sarah Kaufman lead all scorers with 23 to lead the Panthers (10-8), while Kelsey Cognetta had a game high 18 to lead the Owls (10-7) and Courtney Roberts had 11 points & 11 rebounds.  This was the final OOC game for both teams: Keene finished the non LEC portion of their schedule a respectable 8-3 while the Panthers finished the non NESCAC portion 8-6.  Panthers, which have no travel partner in the NESCAC this year have a full week off now and aren't back in action until next Friday the 30th vs. Williams (this is the weekend the NESCAC travel partners play each other so only 1 conference game) while the Owls go to Boston to play the Beacons on Saturday.

Dartmouth crushed Framingham 86-47.
Sarah Palace was the only Ram (11-5) in double figures as she finished with 14; Corsairs (12-4) put 4 in double figures lead by Megan Ronaghan's 21.  Framingham has a bye this weekend and resumes play Tuesday night vs. Worcester while the Corsairs host Plymouth state Saturday.

RIC in overtime over Conn College 87-76.
Alex Moore lead the Anchorwomen (5-11) with 35 points, Jess Korzec added 20, and Devil Hill had 17 points and 12 rebounds.  Mairead Hynes had game highs of 36 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Camels (12-4).  After cracking 70 points only once through the first 13 games, the Anchorwomen have hit 70+ in their last 3 games, coincidently all 3 games they've won while they went 2-11 through the first 13.  RIC plays @ Eastern Saturday, while the Camels travel to NESCAC travel partner Wesleyan for a CT showdown on Saturday afternoon.

48-24-1 LEC; 68-30-1 me