WBB: Little East

[7express]

Tuesday results:

USM loses to UNE 66-62.  Erin McNamera had 20 points, but took her 20 shot attempts to get there (why is your PG shooting 20 times??)  Rebecca Knight had 10 on 3-13 shooting. 
Rivier over Plymouth 65-52.  Deanna Purcell had a game high 21 for Rivier, Kait Deering & Taylor Perry each had 12 to lead Plymouth.  The first tine since January 31 of last season they managed to crack 42 points on the scoreboard.  This 52 point outburst is an offensive explosion for them!
Worcester over Dartmouth 75-70.  I already talked about this earlier.  Erika Bornemann had 24 points & 16 boards.  No Kelsey Garrity really hurt them, but a bad loss. I watched this game for about 10 minutes in spurts during class this evening, and in all the time I was watching, I don't remember Worcester scoring a single point, so they must've been extremely efficient in the other 30 minutes I wasn't watching.
Boston clobbers Simmons 71-37.  Olivia Murphy had 20 points & 10 boards to lead the Beacons.  Luckily for Simmons, Kirtsen Morrison wasn't with the team as the Beacons volleyball team is still participating in the NCAAs, so she'll be out up until at least the end of the weekend if not longer, otherwise it would've been a lot worse.  The fact I actually gave Simmons 53 points makes me feel like a total idiot.
Eastern over Emmanuel 55-52.  A great win for the Warriors over a perennial NCAA tournament team!  Jill Ritrosky & Brianna Leonard had a combined 30 rebounds with Jordyn Nappi pouring in 15 points to lead the way on the scoring sheet for Eastern.
Amherst over Keene 67-52.  Christan Wojtas had a game high 18 on 7-10 shooting for the Owls.  Marley Giddons paced the way for Amherst with 14 who placed 3 in double figures, but the Owls held star Meghan Robertson to only 6 points on 1-8 shooting from the floor.

10-10 LEC; 15-5 me

Wednesday schedule:
Mount St. Mary @ Western 7

Mount St. Mary 44 @ Western 67.
Western won the Richard Stockton tournament beating Farmingdale & host Stockton; MSM went 0-2 in the Eastern tournament getting run over by Hartwick and losing to Johnson & Wales.  In 2 games, MSM has averaged 48 ppg, 25.5 turnovers per game, the opponent has 55 more shots from the field then MSM does (mainly because they turn the ball over so much), and the opponent has shot 36 three pointers against this MSM zone.  The only reason the game against J&W was close (MSM lost by 12) was because J&W only hit 1 of their 19 3 pointers they attempted.  As I said the other day, this 3 point shooting team of Western is the absolute worst team you can possibly play a zone against as they'll eat you alive from the behind the arc.  if they are hot from downtown like Hartwick was, and pressure MSM in the backcourt to create easy turnovers like Hartwick did, this will get very ugly, much like the Hartwick game did.

[AllStar]

4-2 on the predictions so far.  Missed ECSU vs. Emmanuel and UMass-Dartmouth vs. Worcester State.

Wednesday prediction:
Western Connecticut 74, Mount St. Mary 45
Really rough start to the season for Mount St. Mary.  They were dismantled by Hartwick 94-50 and lost to Johnson & Wales 58-46, both at the Eastern Connecticut Tip-Off Tournament.  That would be the same Johnson & Wales team that managed to lose to Albany Pharmacy...yes, Albany Pharmacy...51-37 tonight.  I think Western Connecticut wins easily.

[AllStar]

Western blows out Mount St. Mary 63-39.  Lowest scoring output of the season so far for Mount St. Mary as their rough start continues.

[7express]

Western blows out Mount St. Mary 63-39.  Lowest scoring output of the season so far for Mount St. Mary as their rough start continues.

How many 3 pointers and turnovers forced did Western have??

[AllStar]

Western blows out Mount St. Mary 63-39.  Lowest scoring output of the season so far for Mount St. Mary as their rough start continues.

How many 3 pointers and turnovers forced did Western have??

Correction on that score - it was 60-39.  I could not find any Live Stats or Video to follow, but the Box Score is up.  Mount St. Mary had 22 turnovers.  Western was just 8-33 shooting threes and shot 35% overall.  They had 18 turnovers.  Looking at the box score it appears the game was never in doubt.

[7express]

Wednesday result:

Western over MSM 60-39.  MSM had 22 turnovers, but the Colonials only had 14 points off those turnovers.  Western attempted 33 three pointers, so that leaves a ridiculous 69 three's the opponents have attempted against MSM this year, but Western only connected on 8 of those.  Western only had 13 more field goals then MSM did, but they also turned the ball over 18 times themselves.  Natlie Canderelli lead MSM with 10 points while Rachel Parrone pulled down 9 rebounds and scored 9 points.  Colleen Kasker lead Western with 12 points.  Caroline Brasa had only 3 points on 1-11 shooting (1-9 from 3), but did pull down 8 rebounds.

11-10 LEC, 16-5 me

Thursday schedule:
Eastern @ Trinity 7:00
RIC @ Emmanuel 7:00

Eastern 65 @ Trinity 57.  I don't know why they don't play more often, as this is the first meeting in more than 12 years as I can't find any archives dating back to pre 2000 and they haven't played in that time frame, while Trinity plays Western almost every year.  Eastern is 2-1 beating Johnson & Wales & Emmanuel while losing to Hartwick.  Trinity is 1-1beating RPI and losing to Wheaton.  This is the first of 3 straight games Trinity plays against LEC teams as they play Western on Saturday and than Keene on Tuesday.
RIC 57 @ Emmanuel 67.  Emmanuel has won 3 straight in this series, and blew them out last season in Providence 60-35.  Even though the team has more experience from last year's game, I don't know how they can pick up 25 extra points on the road when this team has trouble scoring consistently.

[AllStar]

5-2 on predictions.

Thursday:
Eastern Connecticut 59, Trinity 54
This will probably be a low scoring game.  Trinity beat RPI but was handled easily by Wheaton 75-59.  Eastern is 2-1, most recently beating Emmanuel 55-52 in Willimantic.  I think Eastern pulls out a close road game.

Emmanuel 64, Rhode Island College 53
In a very small sample Emmanuel has been far better at home this season, beating both Stevenson and Ohio Wesleyan in Boston.  RIC beat Westfield but then lost to UNE at the UNE Tip-Off Tournament.  I think Emmanuel wins by pulling away late.

[AllStar]

Eastern beats Trinity on the road 79-71
RIC led Emmanuel 27-26 at the half but the Saints have blown them out in the second half, now leading 62-47 with 4:16 left.  Emmanuel on a 14-1 run to break open what was a close game.
Emmanuel wins 70-58.  Saints led by as many as 19 before RIC made the score closer during garbage time.

[7express]

Thursday results Eastern beats Trinity 79-71.  Jill Ristrosky had 20 for Eastern.  Even though Trinity shot 55.1% they turned it over 17 times compared to just 7 for Eastern.
Emmanuel over RIC 70-58.  Vandell Andrade and Stephanie Prusko had 33 of RICs 58 points.

12-11 LEC, 18-5 me

Friday schedule Boston @ Wesleyan 7

Boston 57 @ Wesleyan 63.
Wesleyan is 3-0 beating a bad WNEC team, a decent Plattsburgh team, and a perennial NCAA power that got hit by the graduation bug this past summer in Babson.  A very good win yes, but with the pieces Babson lost, is it still going to be as such when the season ends??  Since Babson just opened their conference season with a loss to Coast Guard, I'm going to guess that win isn't going to help Wesleyan much at years end.  Since I believe the Beacons will still be without Kirsten Morrison (and in think Saturday vs Albertus as well), Wesleyan gets the edge at home.

[AllStar]

7-2 on predictions

Friday:
Wesleyan 57, UMass-Boston 52
Wesleyan hasn't shot above 32% yet this season.  They have relied on their defense to get three wins, most recently a 9 point win over WNEU.  The Beacons beat a cupcake in Simmons to open their season.  I'll take Wesleyan in a defensive game.

[AllStar]

Wesleyan leads UMass-Boston 30-12 with 4 minutes left in the 1st half.
Wesleyan ends up thwarting UMass-Boston 58-47.  Beacons made it interesting in the second half, getting it to a 5-point game before falling.

[7express]

Friday results:

Wesleyan 58-47.  Andrea Suffardini lead Boston with 11 points while Amber Wassells had a game high 13 for Wesleyan.  Boston had 25 turnovers and shot 14-25 from the free throw line.

12-12 LEC record, 19-5 me

Saturday schedule:
Keene @ USM 1:00
Salem state @ Dartmouth 1:00
Boston vs. Albertus (@ Wesleyan) 2:00
Trinity @ Western 2:00

Keene 54 @ USM 60.  Keene has played USM tough and last year in Gorham lost by 2.  However, the offensive won't be able to score enough to get them the win.
Salem 65 @ Dartmouth 76.  Salem is 2-2 getting a close win over New Jersey City and a blowout win over Anna Maria and suffering a close loss to Endicott and getting blown out by Bowdoin.  Dartmouth has suffered 2 close losses and I say they get back on track here at home.
Boston 59 vs. Albertus 65.  Albertus is 1-0 beating Becker and this is the first game in the Wesleyan tournament as they will conclude the tournament playing the host Cardinals Sunday afternoon, while this is Boston's second and final game of the tournament.  AMC finished last season 20-8 and lost to Castleton in the first round of the ECAC tournament.
Trinity 52 @ Western 65.  The only team in the conference both men and women that are left unbeaten after both Boston teams lost last night.  Western has won 6 of the last 7 meetings between these 2 schools, but the lone loss was in Danbury during the 2008-09 season.  This is the second of 3 straight games Trinity has against LEC opponents.  They lost to Eastern Thursday and play Keene on Tuesday.

[AllStar]

8-2 with the predictions.

Saturday:
Southern Maine 63, Keene State 54
I think this game will be closer some people might think, but the Huskies will take advantage of their home court.  The Owls nearly beat USM last year in Gorham before falling 58-56.

UMass-Dartmouth 70, Salem State 58
I think the Corsairs win fairly easily at home despite losing their last 2 games.

UMass-Boston 63, Albertus Magnus 59
The Falcons beat winless Becker in their only previous game.  The Beacons fell behind 30-12 vs. Wesleyan before rallying to make the game interesting in the second half.  I'll take the Beacons in a close game here.

Western Connecticut 73, Trinity 64
Defense doesn't seem to be Trinity's strong point.  They've given up 68 or more points in every game, including 79 in a 79-71 home loss to Eastern Connecticut in their last game.  I think Western wins.

[AllStar]

Keene wins at Southern Maine 68-64 in OT.

[7express]

Sat results:

Keene in overtime over USM 68-64.  An offensively challenged team beating them in Maine??  Could end up being the biggest surprise of the season.  Amanda Petrow, Stephanie D'Annolfo and Christan Wojtas each had 13 for Keene, Mariah Callender was 1 of 4 Huskies in double figures.  After leading by as much as 19 in the second half, Keene had to hang on as USM outscored them 16-4 the last 7:30 of regulation to force OT, which included 2 free throws by Callender to force the OT period.  Keene never trailed in the overtime period.
Dartmouth survives Salem 71-68.  Nice to see Kelsey Garrity back.  Ginny Fleming lead Salem with a game high 23 and Ashley White also had 22.  Fort Dartmouth Garrity had a nice all around game: 15 points, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 6 rebounds.  Erika Bornemann had 10 points but 11 rebounds.  Dartmouth outscored Salem 17-8 the last 6 minutes of the game to sneak outta there with the win.
Boston in overtime over Albertus 84-80.  Lauren Perra had 18 to lead the way for the Beacons, while Lianne Carrero had a game high 33 to AMC.  Lindsay Karle hit a jumper with 32 seconds to go to tie the game at 69 after Boston had lead 65-52 at the 6:49 mark.  Andrea Suffardini missed 2 free throws with 10 seconds left that would've given the Beacons the win in regulation.  Boston never trailed in overtime and lead by as  many as 6.
Western 68-60 in overtime over Trinity.  Christina Raiti had 14 for Trinity while Colleen Cosker had 16 to lead Western.  Western won this game at the free throw line, outscoring Trinity 25-5 there and outshooting them 31-6 from the line overall.  Caroline Brasa hit 4 free throws the final 61 seconds of the game to force overtime.

15-12 LEC record, 21-7 me

Next games Tuesday:
RIC @ Bridgewater 5:30
Western @ Conn College 5:30
Castleton @ Plymouth 5:30
Bates @ USM 5:30
Keene @ Trinity 5:30
Eastern @ Williams 5:30
Boston @ Fitchburg state 7:00
Salve @ Dartmouth.
Eastern/Williams, RIC/Bridgewater look to be the best of the day.