WBB: Little East

[ramfan]

Wouldn't consider Keene St a "lock" for the ECAC. If Westfield doesn't receive an At-large to the NCAA they will go to the ECAC and Keene may not even be selected. With a 17-10 record they will be in the pool with Curry and Western New England, who both have 17 wins. Even if they are selected they will be probably be a road team as Westfield ( if selected) Norwich, New England College, Roger Williams, Emmanuel and Elms have more wins.....

[ramfan]

Also add Southern Vermont to the mix with their 17 wins..........

[7express]

#3 Boston @ #1 Eastern 2 PM.

This is Bostons first ever time playing for an LEC championship in women's basketball while Eastern is 3 seasons removed from the team mutiny which resulted in the dismissal of 4 upper classman, but Taylor McBride and Kristina Forsman, and Shannon McCourt who joined afterwards all took their lumps the rest of that season, but it made them a better team today.  Oddsmakers have made the Warriors a 4 point favorite with an over/under of 119.5 points.  I'll take the Warriors to put on their dancing shoes for the first time since 2011 with a 63-52 win.

[7express]

Boston loses a heartbreaker to Eastern 62-64 in overtime.  Grace Geary tied it at 50 and forced OT (remember only a freshmen!) with the biggest 3 in Beacons history with 15 seconds left to force OT and the 2 teams went back and forth in the OT with Eastern making 1 or 2 more plays then the Beacons did.  One of the better games I've seen this year in men's OR women's basketball, such a shame someone had to lose that game . With that said here are 2 thoughts as we head into selection Monday:

1) for the life of me I can't figure out why Boston didn't take an ECAC bid.  It would've been tough to bounce back from a loss like that, but even the extra 2 days of practice would have been worth it for them, a team that is even younger then Keene is!  Now me and ramfan might disagree on Keene being an ECAC lock (I still say yes they get in) but I think we can BOTH agree that a Boston team that is 19-9 would be a stone cold lock for the ECAC's.

2) looking at the final standings there were 5 LEC teams that finished at least 6 games over .500.  When I get home I'll have to run the numbers but I have a hard time seeing any other conference this year where at least 60% of the conference finished at least 6+ games over .500.  With that statistic, Dartmouth should very much be in the NCAA tournament! They tied for the conference, would be a travesty if they missed out.

[ECSUalum]

Congratulations to the women Warriors and Coach Bierly  on their LEC regular season and LEC tournament championship.  A huge turnaround over the last 4 years after the disastrous loss of top players for team and school misconduct and the desertion of others .  A tribute to all the 2014/5 Warrior players and coaches but specifically to seniors Shannon MacCourt, Taylor McBride, and Christina Foresman for their loyalty, hard work and leadership in bringing the ECSU women's basketball team back to prominence.  Enjoy all your 2015 accomplishments, (Shannon your 1000 point mark as well ), and best of luck in the NCAA tournament!!!

[7express]

Going back to something I posted earlier:

Of all the entire women's conferences this year the LEC was matched by the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in placing 5/8 teams (62.5% of the conference) at 6 games over .500 or better.  However, the IIAC placed 6 teams over .500 (one finished at 15-11 a measly 4 games over .500) while the next highest in the LEC was Southern Maine who finished a disappointing 12-14.  The ODAC placed 50% of the conference at 6 games over .500 or more (6/12), the NESCAC had 54.5% of the conference finish 6 games over .500 (6/11) and the MASCAC finished with 57.1% of the conference over .500.  Those were the only 5 conferences in division 3 that had at least half of the conference finish at 6 games above .500 or better.  Tell me why the LEC should be a 1 bid league this year??

[CasualFan2]

Easy, strength of schedule.  Wins over ranked teams.  None of that is present for Boston or anyone else.  It is too bad, as i would love to see Boston in, but it won't happen.

[ramfan]

Yes, definitely agree....with 19 wins and a runner-up in the LEC, Boston would have been a "lock" for the ECAC....

[7express]

Awards handed out:  http://littleeast.com/sports/wbkb/2014-15/releases/0303-WBKB-AllConf

POY I would've gone with Ritrosky of Eastern and I would've given COY to Courtney Mattingly of Boston, but the rest of it is pretty good.

[7express]

Sorry I had wrist surgery this morning, so a little late making the picks:

Eastern @ Scranton.
Scranton was a top 25 team most of the year and handed Tufts their only loss of the year back in December.  Scranton got upset by Catholic in the Landmark finals but that is still a very good team.  Winner plays Stevens/Baruch.  Scranton is a big 17.5 point favorite with an over/under of 141.5.  I'll take Scranton 75-61

[ECSUalum]

Congrats to the lady Warriors on their NCAA upset win over #15 Scranton University!!!! Taylor McBride was outstanding together with a rugged D by ECSU

[amh63]

Congrats to your Lady Warriors!...ECSU . Everyone was talking about how Scranton had won over Tufts in the regular season.  As they often say...do not look too far ahead and defense will allow you the opportunity to win.....or something like that.

[ECSUalum]

Congrats to your Lady Warriors!...ECSU . Everyone was talking about how Scranton had won over Tufts in the regular season.  As they often say...do not look too far ahead and defense will allow you the opportunity to win.....or something like that.

Thanks amh63, best of luck to both the men and women Jeffs in the NCAA Tournaments!!

[7express]

Sat picks.

#1 Westfield vs #5 Keene (@ Brandeis).
Westfield is the #1 seed after just missing out on the NCAAs.  They went through the MASCAC undefeated before losing to Bridgewater in the finals and are lead by MASCAC player of the year Jen Ashton and have a really good front court with Gabby Felix.  Owls are favored by 8 with an over/under of 114.5.  Don't think Keene can keep up, and Westfield wins late 69-55.

Eastern vs. Baruch (@ Scranton).
Baruch went 16-0 in the CUNYAC and hasn't lost since December 28, but the CUNYAC is a bad league, and Eastern should be riding higher after winning @ nationally ranked Scranton.  If you rank the teams in the pod these are probably the 3rd and 4th ranked teams.  On neutral courts, the better team usually wins, and Eastern looks like the better team.  They are a 3 point favorite with an  over/under of 130.5; they get the W and a regional semifinal trip 64-60

[ronk]

Sat picks.

#1 Westfield vs #5 Keene (@ Brandeis).
Westfield is the #1 seed after just missing out on the NCAAs.  They went through the MASCAC undefeated before losing to Bridgewater in the finals and are lead by MASCAC player of the year Jen Ashton and have a really good front court with Gabby Felix.  Owls are favored by 8 with an over/under of 114.5.  Don't think Keene can keep up, and Westfield wins late 69-55.

Eastern vs. Baruch (@ Scranton).
Baruch went 16-0 in the CUNYAC and hasn't lost since December 28, but the CUNYAC is a bad league, and Eastern should be riding higher after winning @ nationally ranked Scranton.  If you rank the teams in the pod these are probably the 3rd and 4th ranked teams.  On neutral courts, the better team usually wins, and Eastern looks like the better team.  They are a 3 point favorite with an  over/under of 130.5; they get the W and a regional semifinal trip 64-60

  Baruch had an effective full-court zone press that built up a big lead vs Stevens; Eastern has a good PG but she's short and will need some help against the zone press. Eastern executed their game plan well against Scranton; also gave lesson in defensive blocking out.