WBB: Little East

[7express]

Eastern leads Keene 23-19 at the half with Dartmouth up at the 10:30 mark.  Very fast first half in Willi with only 10 combined fouls and 10 combined turnovers.  Steph D'Annolfo leads all scorers with 11 of Keene's 19 total points and she's probably assisted on 2 or 3 other Keene baskets.  Neither team shooting very well.  I've seen each team live for 30 minutes this year and let me tell you I am a lot more impressed with Keene than Eastern this year.  Could be the defensive style ground you up styles of Western & Keene but Eastern sure as hell don't look like a team that's tied for the conference lead.  D'Annolfo and Kelsey Cognetta back next year for the Owls will I think catapult them back into the upper half next year there's a lot of youg, raw talent sitting there in Keene.

[7express]

Eastern finishes with an embarrassing 12 second half points and only 35 overall.  Well at least I now know how they lost twice to RIC.  To paraphrase AllStar here Eastern looked beyond confused against the Owls zone and like the Owls the Anchorwomen also employ a zone look on defense.
Dartmouth leads by 1 37 seconds left this would be a huge break for USM if the Beacons pull it off.

[7express]

Apparently Boston hit a game-winning 3 pointer to knock off Dartmouth 63-61.  Bad day for the first place teams, USM wins by not a playing as they jump to 1 back and assuming they win @ RIC they'll finish Saturday tied for second with the Eastern/Dartmouth loser with a game remaining next weekend vs the Warriors in Connecticut.

[7express]

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-women/d3/regional-rankings-0

Dartmouth 5, Eastern 10.  Both of these losses tonight will ding them next week, but whoever sits at the #5 in New England in the final unpublished rankings is golden.  You have to think Tufts, Amherst & Bowdoin will be snatched up pretty quickly maybe within the first 5 rounds and then you have Williams the only team left and I'm sure they'd get picked by round 14 or 15, so you've still got 6 rounds to go for Northeast.  Williams actually winning the NESCAC tournament probably expedites the #5 team to the board a good 6 or 7 rounds earlier too.

[7express]

So, watching the Boston/Dartmouth game on video it turns out it was worse for the Corsairs than I thought.  They actually lead by 15 with under 5 minutes to play in the second half, and were still up 14 with a minute left in the 1st half.  Beacons outscored the Corsairs 39-23 the last 21 minutes.  Bad loss, but luckily for them Eastern lost too.

Saturday's schedule:
USM @ RIC
Western @ Keene
Plymouth @ Boston
Eastern @ Dartmouth.  All games have some importance.
Due to Keene's win over Southern Maine, they currently hold the tiebreaker over Boston for the 4th spot and last home spot in the quarterfinals.  They also lost the first game to Western, and would therefore lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with another loss.  Boston, meanwhile would jump Keene if the Owls lost, still remain a game up on Western, who they play at home next weekend.  USM, assuming they can beat a short-handed RIC team will finish the day tied for second with the Eastern/Dartmouth loser and they have Eastern left next weekend.  Neither the Warriors or Corsairs will officially win the conference with a win, but the winner definitely gets a huge leg up on the rest of the competition.

[7express]

Sat predictions:

USM @ RIC
Before the Huskies bat Plymouth on Tuesday night, the Anchorwomen were the only LEC team the Huskies have defeated in Gorham this year, while the Huskies are currently unbeaten on the road in conference play, the last game knocking off first place Dartmouth.  RIC is playing short-handed without Alex Moore, so USM should continue the winning ways on the road.  USM 76-62

Western @ Keene
A HUGE game in terms of seeding for the upcoming LEC tournament.  The Owls haven't hosted a home quarterfinal game since 2012 when they finished 3rd, meanwhile the Colonials haven't opened on the road since 2007 when they won as the 6 seed @ Boston (coincidently the only time the Beacons have played a home game in the LEC tourney).  The Owls currently sit tied for 4th with Boston, but own the tiebreaker over the Beacons so would get that final home quarterfinal spot.  The Colonials currently reside in 6th and would all but be eliminated from a home game in the quarters.  Western won the first meeting in Danbury last month and would win the head-to-head tiebreak with the season series sweep.  Keene could still jump up into the top 4 with a loss since Boston & Western have tough closing schedules, but the loser is almost certainly done in regards to playing at home in the LEC tournament.  This is how much 1 week can change in the end of February.  Last Friday, this seemed like a regular ordinary game between the 5th & 6th place teams in the conference, but due to Keene scoring the upset victory @ Eastern during the week, it becomes 100 thousand times more important than it seemed 168 hours ago.  This year Keene swept RIC for the first time since 2009, last week they beat Eastern for the first time since 2012, the last time they beat Western was 2012.  Coincidence??  I say yes!  Watching this Owls team for the last 2 games they have a swagger to them and they really get at it at the defensive end.  I'm probably gonna shoot myself when Western ends up winning by 20, but I really like the way the Owls are playing, they are playing inspired basketball, and there's magic in the air in Keene with this team; Keene 53-48

Plymouth @ Boston.
Boston's final 2 games: @ USM vs. Western.  Luckily for the Beacons they already beat the Colonials in Danbury and now get them at home in the regular season finale.  They also have a win over Dartmouth which Western doesn't have and Keene doesn't have (yet anyways, though Keene plays @ Dartmouth next Saturday) which will almost certainly come in handy for the tiebreaker scenario's.  The bad news for the Beacons however is that Eastern can still finish in first, and in that case, they have 0 wins vs. the Warriors this year, and even though the Colonials also have 0 wins they've only played once and still get them at home Tuesday night, while the Owls just defeated them on Wednesday, so that's a big tiebreak the Owls have in their back pocket.  The Owls also have a win over USM, which is how the Owls currently hold the tiebreaker over the Beacons.  More bad news for the Beacons??  Tuesday they play @ Southern Maine a team they have never beaten, and they close the season vs. Western.  Even though they have won 2 of the last 3 against the Colonials including January's meeting in Danbury where the Beacons completely blew them out, in the history, the Beacons haven't had much success against Western.  This is a MUST win for the Beacons.  The only Panthers win the last 3 years in LEC play was @ the Clark, last January.  Not happening this time!  Though if Grace Geary is still out (she didn't play vs. Dartmouth) Plymouth may make it interesting: Boston 65-43.

Eastern @ Dartmouth.
Lost a little bit of it's luster with Dartmouth losing twice to USM & Boston the past week, and Eastern becoming an upset victim to Keene and had Keene/Western pass it in the "importance" race, but this is still a big game none-the-less.  Teams come in tied for first, and even though neither team would officially clinch the #1 seed, the winner gets a leg up.  Since Eastern won the first meeting in Willimantic, they would theoretically go 2 up with 2 to play with the sweep of the Corsairs.  From what I've seen of the 2 teams this year, Dartmouth looks so much better than Eastern, and I think they get the win at home where they are a better team.  Dartmouth 75-71

[7express]

Keene's up 27-24.  They were up 21-12 at 1 point, so not a good close out for the Owls
Dartmouth leads by 1 27-26
Boston leads 29-16.  Plymouth went the first 9:50 with 3 points and 0 field goals, but have managed to hang around.  Think 13 points is too much for them, but Boston trailed by 11 at half vs. Dartmouth and won by 2.
USM leads RIC 20-16.  Great to see Alex Moore back in uniform and in action vs. USM, but she is only 1-8 from the field (1-5 from 3) for 5 points.

[ECSUalum]

Is anyone else having problems with UMD's stream freezing every 5 sec ?

[7express]

Is anyone else having problems with UMD's stream freezing every 5 sec ?

Yup.  That stream, Western/keene stream and Boston/Plymouth have all given me trouble.  Only game that hasn't frozen is USM/RIC.

[7express]

USM holds of RIC 55-51.
Eastern falls to Dartmouth 48-56
Looks like Western beats Keene by 1
Boston beats Plymouth by double digits.

What this all means: Boston jumps Keene for the 4th spot: Keene & Western are tied for 5th but Western has the tiebreaker with the season series sweep, both are still 1 back of Beacons.  Boston currently holds the tiebreaker over BOTH Keene & Western (due to them beating Dartmouth), while Western holds the tiebreaker over Keene (head-to-head sweep).  USM & Eastern are now tied for 2nd and still are both alive for the #1 seed.  RIC can still get caught by Western for the 7 seed, but they need 2 Colonials losses (vs. Eastern @ Boston) AND 2 RIC wins (vs. Dartmouth @ Plymouth) which is not likely to happen.

Tuesday's schedule:
Eastern @ Western
Boston @ USM
Dartmouth @ RIC
Keene @ Plymouth.  The top 2 are the 2 most important games of the day.

[7express]

Women's side is a mess in regards to the tournament.  There still in lies the possibility for a 4 way tie for first at 9-5 between Dartmouth, Eastern, Boston & USM.  There lies the possibility for a 4 way tie for 3rd at 8-6 between USM/Eastern (since they play each other its impossible for both to finish 8-6), Keene, Boston & Western.  A 3 way tie for 5th at 6-8 can occur between RIC, Western & Keene.

Only thing I know: Plymouth has locked down the 8 seed; Dartmouth can lock down the 1 seed with a win, Eastern loss AND USM loss.  I believe Eastern has the tiebreaker over Dartmouth regardless of how their game vs. Southern Maine ends and if Eastern beats Western I believe they'd own the tiebreaker over USM too even if they lose.  Also tonight, Boston clinches the 4 seed with a win OR Western loss.  Boston owns the tiebreaker vs. Western regardless of whether they win or lose on Saturday, so as long as the Beacons are still a game up on Western heading into that game, they'll get no worse than the 4th seed.  RIC clinches the 7 seed with a loss OR Western win.  Since Keene swept RIC, Westerns the only team that can grab the 7 seed from RIC.

[7express]

Tues schedule:

Eastern @ Western.
The Warriors haven't beaten the Colonials in Danbury since February 10, 2009 when the Warriors ended the regular season 25-4 and 13-1 in LEC play.  Last year the Warriors were a better team overall and couldn't even put up 40 points in a 23 point loss.   Western has won 5 straight games, but aside from opening that streak against Regis, none of the other teams were really that good.  From what I've seen of Eastern this year hasn't been really good struggling for 30 minutes before pulling away in the first game vs. Western and putting up a dismal 12 second half points last week against Keene looking utterly lost and confused on the offensive end of the floor.  If Eastern is a serious threat to be a contender this year this is a game the Warriors MUST win, no excuses for them.  Boston won in Danbury for like the first time ever, Dartmouth won there for the first time in 11 meetings, no excuse why Eastern shouldn't win there.  But I'm not sold on them, so I'll take the Colonials.  Western 57-43

Boston @ USM.
A) I don't think Boston will win the 4 way 9-5 tiebreaker anyways and B) I can't see Dartmouth losing at home to Keene anyways (sorry AllStar) but it's remarkable that the Beacons are even still in contention for a share of the regular season title.  The Huskies meanwhile have gotten second life due to the struggles Dartmouth & Eastern have had the last 10 days, but they really must be kicking themselves.  if not for home losses to Dartmouth, Keene, & blowout home losses to Western & Eastern they'd have the title and #1 seed sewn up and would be almost unbeatable in Maine.  USM won the first matchup by 4 in Boston.  Even though they play better on the road, I'll take the Huskies here, 74-58.

Dartmouth @ RIC.
Unless USM AND Eastern both lose tonight, the biggest game in Dartmouth's women's basketball history will come on Saturday when they host Keene, so not much for the Corsairs to play for here besides pool C chances which I don't think they have a chance for anymore.  RIC has lost 6 straight and that streak started with a 20 point loss @ Dartmouth.  It'll be closer, but I still like Dartmouth to pull it out 67-59

Keene @ Plymouth.
Keene is still alive for the 4 seed and final home spot, but they need to win twice (which includes beating Dartmouth), have Boston lose twice and have Western split; beating Boston and losing to Eastern.  I can see Boston losing twice and Western splitting but Keene getting 2-0 could be tough....unless Dartmouth gets the title tonight.  However with that said, they get halfway there with the win over the Panthers 54-37

[7express]

Eastern leads 34-27 at half, Eastern has 18 of their 34 points off of turnovers
Dartmouth up 30-22 with about 2:30 left.  Somebody should call the Providence fire department to the Murray Center; Bri Hochwater is on fire shooting 5-5 from the field (4-4 from 3) for a game high 14 points.
Boston leads 29-18.  USM's play in Maine is sooooooooooooooooo bad this year.  I can understand being good at home and bad on the road, but how can one team be soooooooooooooo bad at home and so good on the road??
Keene leads 35-20 with about 1 minute to play

[7express]

At least Stretch Internet is working today.  I've got the Western/Eastern and USM/Boston games on and both games are functioning today without continuous buffering like on Saturday

[7express]

Eastern beats Western 66-50.  Jill Ritrosky finished with a game high 28 points.
Unless Western beats Boston AND Keene wins @ Dartmouth, Western will be on the road.  Eastern's still alive for the conference.  if they beat USM AND Dartmouth loses to Keene (or RIC for that matter, they are only up 4 with 3 minutes to play) Eastern gets the 1 seed on tiebreaker vs. Dartmouth
Keene up 30 with 3 minutes to play, they'll move ahead of Western but still need help to get the 4 seed.
USM's up by 1 49-48.  If they beat Eastern AND Dartmouth loses 1 of the 2 I believe they also win the tiebreaker over Dartmouth.
Dartmouth up 47-43 with about 3 minutes left.
Boston up 4 55-51 with 3:27 left.  Boston win gives them the 4th seed.
Dartmouth still up 4 under 1 minute to play.
Dartmouth holds off RIC 49-45
Boston still leads by 4 with under 1:50 to play.
USM ties up Boston 58-58 and Boston had 2 straight possessions with a missed layup up 2 and a turnover with the game tied.
Boston beats USM 62-60.  The video froze with 19 seconds left with Boston up 1 shooting free throws; so they probably went 1-2 USM tied it at 60, and then Boston won it at the buzzer.  Either way, that was the programs first ever victory vs. USM, they have officially knocked USM out of the title chase (probably better for them anyways vs. how they play on the road vs. playing at home) and have officially eliminated the Colonials from hosting a home game.  IF Boston beats Western, they'll host a game, finishing no worse than 4th.  Keene is also still alive as if they beat Dartmouth and Boston loses to Western, the Owls will win on tiebreaker.  USM can also get knocked out of a home game entirely if they lose and Keene wins; Keene would win a tiebreaker over USM.