WBB: Little East

Started by Allen M. Karon, March 09, 2004, 03:53:08 PM

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7express

2 of their 3 losses are to Johns Hopkins, forgot who the other one was against (McDaniel maybe??), and they've been hovering in the top 40 of the poll since New Years.

7express

Awards handed out in the LEC.  Unlike last year I really have no complaints with the awards this year:

http://littleeast.com/sports/wbkb/2013-14/releases/20140304k9urxi

Only thing I'd say is I would've taken Jordyn Nappi for ROY over Megan Ronaghan, but you really could go either way with that.  The rest of the picks were pretty much slam dunks.

7express

The LEC's lone conference teams kicks off NCAA play tomorrow night as RIC takes on Haverford in Ithaca Friday at 5 PM

RIC 56 vs. Haverford 62 (@ Ithaca).
Haverford finished 22-3 on the year, but if you take out Johns Hopkins, they were 21-1 against teams not named Johns Hopkins as they only went 1-2 against the Blue Jays but went 21-1 against everyone else.  The Fords are lead by Nina Voith with 14.5 ppg and Elizabeth Lynch with 13.1 ppg.  They average 62.6 ppg on the year and give up 51.3 opponents ppg.  2 reasons why Haverford gets the edge.  Haverford not only averages more points per game (62,6 to 62.0) but gives up less per game (51.3 to 54.1).  Haverford also has a very good 12-1 road/neutral record.  You'd expect a pretty good road/neutral record with only 3 losses, but the fact they have more losses at home (2) than on the road/at neutral sites (1) is a pretty big factor in coin flip games like this.  RIC's road/neutral record is a dismal 7-6.  Haverford also has 9 players that are 5"8 or taller compared to only 4 active players RIC has.  The size for Haverford, the road/neutral record between the 2, and RIC's offensive inability outside of Vandell Andrade gives the edge to the Fords.

AllStar

Haverford eliminates RIC 53-48.

7express

Friday results:

Haverford over RIC 53-48.  Back and forth game as the largest lead for any team was 8 points.  Cara Paladino & Steph Prusko had 13 and 12 points respectively in their final game while Vandell Andrade had 11 points and 18 rebounds.  Nina Voith had a game high 16 to lead Haverford.  As usual, RICs inability to shoot the ball did them in, even though the defense was spectacular, holding Haverford to 30.2% shooting.  15 turnovers for RIC (compared to 11 for Haverford) was likely the difference in the game.

LEC finishes the year 55-33 against non conference opponents, and my predictions finished 114-34.  Hopefully the conference has a bounce back next season.  Keene, Western & Boston have the pieces in place to take step forwards next year, Plymouth should probably win a handful of conference games, Dartmouth should go backwards, USM & RIC are the 2 question marks heading into next season.

7express

Western's schedule for 2014-15:

http://wcsuathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2014-15/schedule

Can't really say much about the OOC portion of the schedule.  NYU starts out hot and usually fades, but is coached by ex-Sacred Heart assistant Lauren Hall-Gregory so I always like to see them do well.  Conn College & Trinity are perennial state punching bags but both are on the rise.  Staten Island had a pretty good year last year (won the CUNYAC regular season title) but who knows whether they can sustain that for another year.  Anna Maria & Green Mountain are jokes, Purchase is a mediocre team in a horrible conference (I think last year we beat them by almost 30 points), and Regis is the "big fish in the small pond" team in the NECC.  Regis is the coin-flip game (because it's at home), Trinity is another coin flip game (because it's on the road.  Last year Western won in like 2 or 3 overtimes at home, iirc), NYU they probably lose too if I had to guess.  Rest of the teams should be a piece of cake.

As for the LEC portion: That 4 game stretch at the end of January consisting of: @ RIC, @ USM, @ Eastern & vs. Dartmouth is probably the toughest challenge of the LEC portion.  End isn't nearly as bad for the women as it is for the men because we got Eastern & RIC at home, and they play both of those teams better at home then they do on the road.

7express

Let's start the LEC preview with a breakdown of the team-by-team schedules: Will give each school a grade and the most important of the non LEC games as well as the most important LEC game for each squad.  Usually I do this in what I think my predicted order would be but since I haven't done that yet, we'll go alphabetically instead:

Eastern Connecticut: http://gowarriorathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2014-15/schedule
Combined 2013/14 win loss record 198-123 (61.7 winning percentage).  The Colonials getting a big bite out of the NESCAC this year as they face off against 5 of the 10 teams in the conference (could be 6 however) including the powerhouses if Amherst (26-4 last season), Tufts (30-3 last year) & Williams (20-6 last year).  Also have their annual game against GNAC power Emmanuel (19-8 last year).  Of their 10 scheduled OOC games only St. Joseph's (12-14), Clark (11-14) and Newbury (5-19) finished under .500 last year.  They could get a 6th NESCAC team as Wesleyan (12-12 in '14) faces off against Framingham State (18-12) in the other game at the Eastern Conference.  Four of 11 oppoents finished with a winning percentage of 70 or above last year so the Warriors will be tested before LEC play.  However, that could work one of 2 ways (and I've seen it happen both ways): 1) the tough schedule, especially if you don't win can take it's toll towards the middle of January, so even though they won't see as good of a team after December 4 when they play Amherst, the losses can pile up.  I think that happened to them last year.  2) Even if you win those games vs. a Tufts, a Williams, Emmanuel, etc you can lose momentum from them.  Their schedule in November-December could be one of the hardest in the Northeast: in a 4 game stretch they play Tufts, Williams, Amherst & the LEC opener @ RIC all in a row.  They won't have a 4 game stretch even as remotely tough as that was, but the 4 game stretch could really take it's toll win OR lose.  I'll give the Warriors an A in the scheduling department
Most important non LEC game: November 30 vs. Williams.  Williams struggled on the road last season, but is still a quality NESCAC team and would be a nice win for the Warriors.  The game preceding that they play Tufts and the next 2 games are @ Amherst and @ RIC.  I doubt they win either of the 2 road games and Tufts will be tough. 
Most important LEC game: January 13 vs. Dartmouth.  Between December 1 and January 23 they have 7 of 10 games (4 of 6 LEC games) away from home.  They finish up with RIC relatively early once again and have the Maine trip to USM after the Dartmouth game so they get those 2 trips out of the way.  Dartmouth has always been a bad road team and Eastern has a challenging opening slate to the year.
Keene state: http://keeneowls.com/sports/wbkb/2014-15/schedule
Combined 2013/14 record: 221-135 (62.1 winning percentage).  Much like the Warriors, the Owls are preparing themselves well.  Unlike the Warriors, however, the Owls are still a relatively young team, so I'm not sure this is quite the schedule you want the kids to jump into.  I doubt they'll be favored in many of these games against the likes of Tufts, Amherst, or Smith (18-12 last year).  The Owls are participating in 2 tournaments this year and each is packed with talented ball clubs.  They open the year in the UNE tournament taking on a Tufts team that finished with 30 wins last season and is ranked in the top 5 preseason this year then either the host squad UNE (27-3 last season; ranked top 20 this year) or Wellesley (who ONLY finished 16-10 last season).  They host their own tournament taking on Anna Maria in the first game (11-14 last season) and then either William Paterson (18-10 last year) or Regis (23-5 last season).  Even the 2 potential gimme's on the Owls schedule RPI (7-18) and Middlebury (7-17) aren't gimme's because both take place on the road.  8 of the Owls potential 13 opponents finished 2013/14 with at least 16 wins.  Tough hill to climb and even though I don't think they should be doing it, they are so the Owls get an A+ in the SOS department.
Most important non LEC game: December 2 @ RPI.  The Owls could very well be winless heading into this matchup, but this game could give them some momentum.  RPI finished 7-18 last year, and their next 2 games are both home LEC dates, and as we all know the only thing that matters is winning the conference and the more conference games you win during the season, the more likely you are to win the conference tournament. 
Most important LEC game: December 6 vs. Boston.  They open up with 2 straight at home and 4 of their first 6 LEC games are at home before ending with 4 of 5 on the road.  Boston's only won twice in the last 8 years in Spaulding, and even though USM is the next weekend, the Owls usually play them well at home and aside from 2 seasons ago when the Huskies ran out to an undefeated record and number 9 in the country, they seem to start the LEC season slow; last year the Owls beat them in Maine in the LEC opener, and the Huskies open up @ Western before traveling to Keene.  1-1 seems more likely, but 2-0 really isn't out of the question for the Owls.
Mass-Boston: http://www.beaconsathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/2014-15/schedule
Combined 2013/14 record: 131-178 (42.4 winning percentage).  Really, THIS is the schedule Keene should be playing and Boston should be playing Keene's schedule.  There's really only one good team on here and that's Bridgewater, but they only finished 16-12 last season.  Luckily for the Beacons all the tough games: Salve Regina (14-13 last year), Brandeis (14-13), Bridgewater, Westfield (15-11) and Suffolk (16-10) are at home, so pretty much that's the only positive but it downgrades the SOS even worse than it was already.  Out of that foursome I'd say Bridgewater is the only legit NCAA tournament team.  Last year's 16-12 was a disappointment.  They had 4 starters back from 2013's 27-4 team but lost 1 with via injury halfway through 2014, never recovered after that, and lost 3 others to graduation in May, so they'll have to implement pretty much an entire new starting 5.  Brandeis is stuck behind Wash U, Rochester & Emory in the UAA and if NYU or Chicago can put together good squads that's 2 others they have to jump.  Add in the fact there's no conference tournament in the UAA for Brandeis to steal a win or 2 puts them even further behind the 8 ball.  Likewise, Suffolk is stuck behind GNAC monster Emmanuel in that conference.  Even though they do have a conference tournament unlike the UAA they only play 1 conference game each, and the GNAC game between the 2 this year is @ Emmanuel.  To add onto this trio Salve is stuck behind perennial CCC power UNE in that conference.  Unless UNE or Emmanuel finish with 0 or 1 losses in their conference regular season, neither of those 2 conferences is getting a pool C slot, and the MASCAC is usually another conference where the tourney winner is the only one advancing to the NCAA tournament.  Powder puff schedule with all the good games at home leaves the Beacons with a D in the SOS department. 
Most important non LEC game: tough to say with all the cupcakes here but I'll go with January 6 vs. Brandeis.  Last year they lost by almost 40!
Most important LEC game: December 13 vs. RIC.  RIC still has Cara Paladino & Vandell Andrade back so they should be one of the favorites even though it will be a tight race between them, Eastern, Western (probably my preseason pick), Boston (volleyball team got eliminated in the LEC semi's over the weekend so Morrison has basketball only now, and her & Olivia Murphy can still form a dynamic duo that will be tough to stop especially since Dartmouth lost all their height.)  Just checked the Beacons roster and found out Colleen Moriarty is now an assistant coach, bodes even better for them.  Actually, Mattingly put together a pretty impressive coaching staff for this year: Moriarty to work with Morrison, Murphy (I'm still going by what I've been saying the last 2 years she'd be unguardable with an outside shot) and the rest of the bigs and recent graduates Shelby Buck & Andrea Suffredini to work with the guards.  The OOC schedule still sucks, but I think they can compete this year.
UMass-Dartmouth: http://www.corsairathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/2014-15/schedule
Combined 2013/14 record: 144-125 (53.5 winning percentage).  Blah is all I'll say.  Obviously better then Boston's is, but not quite as good as Keene's or Eastern's is.  Williams is their marquee game, but even on the road it's still a game the Corsairs can win.  They have another full season of Kelsey Garrity who with McNamera from USM gone is the best PG in the conference if she wasn't already.  Meghan Ronagan was the LEC rookie of the year, and Colleen kane, Beth Constantini & Erin Fahey are good in spurts.  Mentioned Bridgewater above with Boston a team that was better than their 16-12 record showed but is implementing an entire new starting lineup.  Take Coast Guard out of this, who had a career year last year finishing 19-7 and this is about a .500 schedule (123-118), Colby-Sawyer (18-10 last year) is another good team out of a bad conference, but overall I give the Corsairs a C+, right at average.
Most important non LEC game: @ Williams January 5.  Most of the teams are still on holidays, so this will be bright and center.  In the 4 years I've been at Western and started following the conference, the LEC has been looking for that marquee non-conference victory.  Even if the Corsairs do manage the victory it's probably still not enough to lock them into a pool C spot, but would definitely put them on the track and put that losers mentality on the road behind them.  Obviously since it's Christmas break Williams won't get as many students as they would if the game was on December 5 or February 5, but would still be an excellent win!
Most important LEC game: January 8 vs. Western Connecticut.  Dartmouth starts off the LEC season with 4 of 5 on the road with this being the lone home game.  The Corsairs went 0-3 vs. the Colonials last season, and in the home meeting blew an 8 point halftime lead to a Western that finished in the bottom 3 in points scored.  They ultimately ended up tied for 4th, that golden spot between playing the 4/5 game at home and playing the 4/5 game on the road, lost the tiebreaker due to the 0-2 head-to-head season series record and lost the 3rd matchup in the 4/5 game of the first round of the LEC tournament.  This wouldn't be revenge entirely,  but it will probably be pretty big for Dartmouth regardless as the road trip to start the year takes them to Plymouth (tough trip and even though they'll still be terrible may actually get a couple wins), Eastern & USM so could be must win.  Even though they'll finish with 6 of 9 at home they'll still have the road game @ Western and 2 games each against Boston & RIC.  2-3 after those first 5 and going home for 6 of the last 9 is a lot better than 1-4 or 0-5 and going home.  Pretty much you're done if you start 1-4.
Plymouth State: http://athletics.plymouth.edu/sports/wbkb/2014-15/schedule
Combined 2013/14 record: 165-148 (52.7 winning percentage).  5 of 12 opponents have 18 or more wins but they likely only play 4 of those games: Suffolk plays Yeshiva (6-12) in the Wheaton tournament and even with Wheaton being 20-8 I doubt both the Panthers & Suffolk have the same result in the first game, so the panthers should get a pass on playing the Rams.  Other than that, Castleton (27-4), Rivier (20-8) and Colby-Sawyer (18-10) look to be the only guaranteed losses for the Panthers.  The rest of the OOC slate is a bunch of average to bad teams in terrible conferences.  Since this is a team that is only 16-82 the last 5 years I'll be generous and give them a B and say they built their schedule to get some wins early in the season.
Most important non LEC game: January 6 @ Johnson State.  Plymouth started the 2013 season 1-1 before losing the final 23 games to finish 1-24 for the year.  They weren't competitive to end the year they lost 23 of 25 by 10 or more and 18 of 25 by 20 or more points.  However, the 1 game they were competitive in, was a 63-62 double overtime loss to the Badgers of Johnson state.  The Panthers started the 2014 season with 9 straight losses, so dating back to 2013 they had lost 32 straight games AND dating back to the end of 2012 they had lost 36 of their last 37 games.  However, they broke the streak defeating the Badgers 89-72 in a laugher.  They were able to parlay that into a LEC road win @ Boston the next week, only their second road win in conference since the 2010/11 season.
Most important LEC game: December 6 vs. Dartmouth.  The conference opener for both teams.  When you are 3-53 in conference in the last 4 games, getting off to a fast start was good.  Dartmouth is a good team, but the Panthers had them on the ropes last year in the opener, up 8 with 8 minutes to go before falling in the end.  They were competitive in the first half or even first 30 minutes of games last year.  Including the Dartmouth Game they had halftime leads on Southern Maine & Western Connecticut last year before faltering in the second half.  If they can keep these teams close but than finish the deal unlike last year they could be a surprise.

I have to go out to dinner & do work later so I'll edit the rest of this tomorrow at some point with the final 3 teams: USM, RIC & Western.

7express

USM: http://southernmainehuskies.com/sports/wbkb/2014-15/schedule
Combined 2013/14 record: 178-165 (51.9 winning percentage).  B.  As usual, the Huskies barely leave Maine in the OOC portion of the schedule.  They just lucked out in that all the local area teams were good: UNE, Bowdoin (21-6), SJME (23-6), Husson (15-12) and a tournament at Westfield State.  RPI isn't officially on their schedule, but the Engineers are on the opposite side of the Huskies of both tournaments they are at, so it's possible the Huskies could end up facing them twice.
Most important non LEC game: November 30 vs. St. Joseph's (ME).  UNE is the ranked team coming into Hill gymnasium, the Bowdoin/USM games are always great, even better between the women's teams, but the Monks are the true rivalry game of the 3 right up the road.  USM has owned the recent history, but the Monks went into Western Connecticut last January and just dismantled the Colonials which started a stretch where the Monks won 17 of their last 20 regular season games to win the GNAC tournament and make the tournament.  The Monks 3 regular season losses in that stretch (Scranton, Emmanuel, UNE) came against teams that were a combined 72-15.
Most important LEC game: December 6 @ Western Connecticut.  I know it's a long trip for them, but the Huskies really struggle in Danbury.  Western's been the worst team the last 3 seasons, while even though USM has won 2 of the 3 games, the 2 games were close and the Western win was a blowout.  In 2012 the season after Western graduated the big 3 of Karli Spera, Heather Lee & Melissa Teel, USM won by 1 in overtime after Stephanie Slonski missed 2 free throws at the end of regulation which would have won it for the Colonials.  In 2013, USM came into the game unbeaten, ranked #9 in the nation and got run out of the building.  Last year with Western's offensive ineptitude, USM won by 2 on two late free throws inside of 10 seconds.
RIC: http://www.goanchormen.com/index.html
Combined 2013/14 record: 202-102 (66.4 winning percentage).  Record gets weighed down with Babson (14-13) who struggled at times last year but is usually a quality club.  All 11 of their opponents finished with double digit wins last season, and 9 of 11 finished the season with a winning record.  They couldn't get a marquee win last season which would have left them squarely on the fence last year had they lost to USM in the title game or Western in the semifinals.   They'll get ample opportunity to pick up that marquee win or 2 this year, and for that I give them an A
Most important non LEC game: November 15 vs. Williams (@ Babson).  They'll be tested right out of the gate.  Getting the Ephs on a neutral court is better than playing them @ Williams, but a win is a win over a quality NESCAC team.
Most important LEC game: February 10 @ Western Connecticut.  This is road game number 6 of 7 in the conference for the Anchorwomen, who after this game have 2 straight at home vs. USM & vs. Dartmouth and a road game @ Plymouth to end the season.  This could potential decide that coveted 4 spot.
Western Connecticut: http://wcsuathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2014-15/schedule
Combined 2013/14 record: 201-137 (59.5 winning percentage).  I talked about this schedule back in August when I first saw it, but it gets bumped due to a bunch of bad teams in bad conference that had good seasons which are probably unlikely to sustain them the following season: Sage finished last year 17-10, but was only the second season they finished with double digit wins.  Another Skyline team Purchase finished 16-10 but Western beat them by almost 40 points!  Farmingdale, who's not officially on the schedule (they play 9-16 NJCU in the other game of the hat city classic) finished 16-9 but took advantage of a down Mount St. Mary in the Skyline.  Staten Island was 21-8, but still lost to Baruch in the CUNY tournament.  The best team (Regis) comes in February in the middle of LEC play.  NYU starts off well, but falters late, Plattsburgh (23-6) is on the other side of the NYU tournament I hope we play them.  I know they lost in the first round last year but there has to be someone more competitive than 1-21 Green Mountain to play in the first game of your tournament!  C'mon!  There's probably high schools in Connecticut that would give them a better game.  C- on the SOS.  Would be a C if they replaced Green Mountain with Danbury High school.  Would be a C+ if Regis was earlier in the season and or we were guaranteed to play Plattsburgh.
Most important non LEC game: November 15 @ NYU.  Like Boston, not a lot of good options to choose from.  It was basically between this game & Regis.  However, Regis on February 3 when they each should be more concerned about their respective conference play than notching a win against a good New England team, that gets downgraded a notch.
Most important LEC game: January 20 @ RIC.  Western starts with 4 of their first 5 LEC games at home, so they can get out to a nice clubhouse lead in the early going.  However, this is the start of 3 straight road games: @ RIC, @ USM @ Eastern and then a home game vs. Dartmouth ends the 4 game stretch.

AllStar

Excellent previews, 7.  I'm posting here (as opposed to the men's board) since you have schedule previews up.  It's always nice to see the LEC teams (men and women) put together tough schedules and play several NESCAC teams...what would be even nicer would be to see some of these games turn into wins at some point to help the conference as a whole.  Otherwise, they will not be able to help their overall reputation.  It caught my eye while reading...UMass-Boston women really have a joke of a non-conference schedule.  I understand teams like Mount Ida, Simmons, Suffolk, etc. are close by, easy to schedule, and likely save travel money, but those playing all of those teams year after year does nothing for them and inflates their win total.  Mount Ida and Simmons, in particular, are perennial tomato cans and beating them by 30 or 40 points does nothing in my opinion.  I've always been a proponent of making a tough schedule, as that can give your team a good indication of where they really are and where they need to get better.  I'm not saying don't have any gimme games, but UMass-Boston seems to go over the top with this schedule.

7express

2nd part of the preview; the projected standings.  This was difficult as there's s crop of 4 or 5 teams that are pretty good, but each with a different weakness: Eastern can't win big road games, Dartmouth can't win on the road period, Western can't score, Boston REALLY can't score, RIC lost the coach of the year AND the MVP, and what happens to USM this year should Rebecca Knight get hurt again??  The Huskies fell off the cliff last January in the 3 weeks Knight was out and they don't have McNamera this year anymore.  With that said, I'll take my best shot, but I'm not feeling confident at all in these selections:

1) USM (11-3).  Unlike the other teams vs. each other, USM hardly (ever) loses at home to those teams.  They've never lost to Boston, they lost once to Dartmouth, RIC hasn't beaten them in Maine in forever, neither has Western.  They'll struggle on the road, but so will all the other candidates however.  They only averaged 61 points per game as a team last year, and Erin McNamera lead the team in points and assists and was second in steal.  Rebecca Knight, Stephanie Gallagher & Taylor Flood look like their only offense weapons this year: who will they go to if one of those 3 gets hurt and do they have a bench??  What really helps them this year is they have the Connecticut trips on the bookends of the season (@ Western December 6 opening day, @ eastern February 21 final day) and the RIC trip is on a Saturday as well.  All the other weeknight & weekend trips are relatively close
2) Eastern (10-4).  The Warriors had a taste of success last year: they got off to an early lead in the conference as they beat RIC in the LEC opener and stayed ahead of the pack until they lost the rematch in Providence, and faded in February culminating in a semifinal loss to USM.  Eastern has everyone back that played major minutes included hopefully having Krystina Forsman back for the whole year.  I think overall the Warriors are better then the Huskies, I just don't trust their ability to win a big game on the road, so I'm weary.  I know the Huskies can win a game @ RIC or @ Western or @ Eastern.  I'm not sure the Warriors can win @ Western, @ RIC or @ USM.
2) Dartmouth (10-4).  Another very talented team that is probably better then the team predicted in first, but like the eastern counterparts cannot trust them on the road.  Last year they had the 4 seed in the bag, all they had to do was beat 4-9 Keene state on the road.  Couldn't do it.  Kelsey Garrity is the best PG in the conference, Meghan Ronagan is reigning rookie of the year.  Amanda VanVoorhis resigned her post as coach to become the full time AD at Dartmouth.  Much like Eastern, I'm not entirely sold on their ability to win @ RIC, @ USM or @ Western, they got crushed at all 3 places the past year.
4) Boston (8-6).  I said in the schedule preview last night I love the staff Courtney Mattingly put together.  All 3 are familiar with the conference as all 3 played in the conference, 2 of the 3 as recently as last season.  And what I found out last year the Beacons are a lot more than just Kirsten Morrison & Olivia Murphy.  Chantal Jordan, Katrina Edwards and Mallory Nelson were all freshmen last year but still stepped up in January when Morrison was out with a foot injury.  If they can get balanced scoring they can be good.
5) RIC (7-7).  Their 4 leading scorers are all gone including reigning MVP Vandell Andrade.  Another team that can't score but plays good defense.   They only have 1 senior who hasn't played before but should rebound next year.
5) Western (7-7).  Like RIC the Colonials have a very young team as they only have 2 upper classmen currently on the roster: 1 senior and 1 junior so the future is definitely bright, I'm just not sure if it's bright this year.  They didn't have 1 player average double digit points last year and only averaged 56.2 points as a team
7) Keene (5-9).  Owls have some talent there.  Stephanie D'Annolfo came out on fire last year as a freshmen, Christan Wojtas disappointed but has the track record, Ryanne Williams disappeared last year after a strong season, Amanda Petrow had some good games last year so there's promise there.  They'll steal a couple from the top 6 at home, but not enough to make a dent.
8) Plymouth (3-11).  Still a few years away but were competitive last year.  Tiffany Lewis is a senior so obviously she'll be gone next year but Savannah Miller (SO), Rosalie Edmonds (SO), and DeAsia Lawrence (SO) is a good trio for Liz Stitch to build around.  Add in junior Taylor Perry to that mix, the fact they were so close a number of times last year and the conference is lacking a true "dominant" team and I think it's time for the Panthers to pick up more than 1 LEC win for the first time since 2010.

Player of the year:
Rebecca Knight-USM

First team:
Knight
Kelsey Garrity-Dartmouth
Jill Ritrosky-Eastern
Jordyn Nappi- Eastern
Meghan Ronaghan-Dartmouth
Olivia Murphy-Boston

LEC tournament final:
Dartmouth over USM in the final.  I just think in a 1 game win and advance lose or go home, the team with better talent advances.  That's why if these standings do play out the winner of Eastern/Dartmouth wins the tournament.  Both of them have better talent then USM does.

NCAA tournament:
Since the conference doesn't have a very good team, and the top 5 or 6 will beat up on each other I don't see how the conference get more than 1 team in the tournament.  Of all the teams I'd say Eastern has the best shot to land a pool C bid with Emmanuel, Williams, Amherst & Tufts on the schedule as marquee games.  Split those 4 and they are in the discussion (they were in discussion last year and lost all 3 of them [didn't play Tufts, but had a 4th loss to NCAA participant Hartwick instead).  Win 3 of those 4 and I think they get in.  Sweep all 4 and they are definitely in unless they completely fall apart during LEC play which I can't see happening.

7express

Saturday schedule:

Norwich (+14) @ Dartmouth 12:00
Maine-Farmington (+30) @ Southern Maine 1:00
Western (+8.5) @ NYU 1:00
Newbury (+50) @ Eastern 1:00
Boston (pick 'em) @ Colby 2:00
Williams (-2) vs. RIC (@ Babson) 3:00
Plymouth (+21.5) @ Wheaton (MA) 6:00
Tufts (19.5) vs. Keene (@ UNE) 8:00

Plymouth & Keene should lose, Norwich, USM & Eastern look like sure fire winners, RIC, Boston & Western are the 3 toss ups.  Boston probably has the best chance but they are on the road.  I'd probably expect 3-5 to start, but hopefully they can get out to a 4-4 .500 record.

7express

All 8 teams in action on Saturday:

Norwich @ Dartmouth:
The Cadets made a surprising run to the GNAC finals last year as the 8 seed and finished with an overall record of 15-13.  However, the conference as a whole only had 4 winning teams (Norwich, Emmanuel, SJME & Rivier) and of Norwich's 15 wins last year 13 came against teams with losing records.  The only 2 wins they got vs. winning opponents incidentaly came on the road: 3 points @ 18-10 Colby-Sawyer and the GNAC quarterfinals where they knocked off #1 seed Emmanuel (19-8) by 7.  Dartmouth graduated Erika Bornemann and lost Ashley Brown, but still has a quality group lead by Kelsey Garrity.  Oddsmakers have the Corsairs listed as a 14 point favorite.  I think Norwich will keep it close for a while, but Dartmouth wins 69-62.

Maine-Farmington @ Southern Maine.
USm won by 29 on the road last year and now are at home which is why they are 30 point favorites.  Farmington has 4 of 5 starters back and all 5 of their leading scorers off of last year's team, so I think 30 is a little too high of a number.  USM 68-44.

Western Connecticut @ NYU.
NYU started off last year 18-2 and got as high as the mid teen's in the poll, before dropping 4 of their last 6 to finish the year 20-6 but it still propelled them to a second place finish in the UAA and an NCAA tourney bid.  They return all 5 starters from that 2014 team, and got their due to begin the season: they are #15 in the D3 hoops poll and #17 in the WCBA pool, and have 2 first team UAA players: Megan Dawe and Kaitlyn Read.  Even though Western is a good defensive unit they struggle to score the ball and will have a hard time keeping up with the Violets in this one.  NYU is an 8.5 point favorite and I say they get a double digit victory 64-50.

Newbury @ Eastern.
Newbury comes in off a 5-19 finish in 2014 losers of 9 of their last 11 games to extinguish the flame out of any remote NECC tournament hopes they may have had.  Eastern returns all 5 starters and pretty much their entire team that finished in 3rd place last year hence why they got tabbed as the preseason favorite.  The Warriors are favored by a whopping 50 points!  Since Eastern also struggles to score the ball consistently, 50 points is a lot to ask for.  They may only end up scoring 60 or 70 and in that case they'll have to hold Newbury to about 15 points to cover the 50 point margin.  I know Boston has done it in years past, but that is just way to many points.  Eastern wins easily, but by 35 or less.  Lot of bench minutes in this one.  Eastern 66-38.

Boston @ Colby.
Colby had a disappointing season in which they finished tied for last in the NESCAC and only 8 wins overall.  Boston could be a surprise team in the LEC, but not quite sure they are ready to win road games.  They better be if they want to compete this year.  This is a virtual pick em as Boston would be about a 5-7 point favorite at home, the oddsmakers also question their ability to win on the road.  I say the Beacons get it done, 69-65.

RIC vs. Williams (@ Babson).
Intriguing game.  The bad news for Williams??  They lost 4 of 5 to end 2014 after starting 19-2 to finish 20-6.  The good news for Williams??  They have their entire starting lineup back and their entire team back from last season save for 2 minor reserves off the bench.  The bad news for RIC??  They lost their head coach Kara Williamson who was the reining LEC coach of the year as well as the reining MVP & defensive POY Vandell Andrade.  The good news for RIC (which is also bad news)??  This tournament is STACKED with RIC, Williams & Vassar joining the field along with the host Beavers.  3 of the 4 teams made the NCAAs last, and the only team that missed out (Babson) has a great history.  The matchups are already preset which is a shame as RIC will play Babson on Sunday because I would have loved to see Vassar & RIC go out it as Vassar might be a tad down due to the graduation of All American Cyndi Matsuoka.  And Williams gets a bad draw too not playing Babson (they get Vassar on Sunday) as getting Babson on the road would give them a good early season road test.  The oddsmakers have installed the Ephs as a 2 point favorite which I think is a bit too low.  You know what your going to get with Williams, RIC is the question mark and will likely struggle without Andrade out there.  Williams by double digits 74-59.

Plymouth @ Wheaton (MA).
Wheaton returns all 5 starters from the team that finished with 20 wins a season ago.  Plymouth will probably be improved a bit this year, but it's definitely a loss for the Panthers, only question is by how much?? Oddsmakers have the Lyons favored by 21.5, I think Plymouth can get it under 20.  As I said they were competitive and in a lot of games last year.  Wheaton 66-51.

Keene vs. Tufts (@ UNE).
Tufts had a historic season last year: 30 wins a perfect NESCAC record, sweeping the NESCAC regular season and tournament titles, a trip to the semifinals and a 19-1 home record including 7-0 in the NCAAs & NESCAC tournaments.  They had 3 of 5 starters back and their top 4 scorers from last year looking to make it all the way to the championship or the tournament title.  The Jumbos are favored by 19.5.  Keene like most teams in the LEC struggle to score but play good defense, last year the Jumbos were 1 of the better teams not only in the Northeast but the entire country!  Keene will have even more trouble scoring then they normally would, and even with Liz Moynihan & Ali Rocchi lost to graduation, Hayley Kanner & Hannah Foley will make up for the loss.  Tufts 73-48

7express

I'd like to nominate Newbury for "worst women's team in the country."  Maybe not the worst but likely in the top 5 or 10.  Lost 96-20 to Eastern meaning the +50 for Newbury wasn't even close!  If you had bet Newbury at +75 you still would have lost!

AllStar

Quote from: 7express on November 15, 2014, 09:05:46 PM
I'd like to nominate Newbury for "worst women's team in the country."  Maybe not the worst but likely in the top 5 or 10.  Lost 96-20 to Eastern meaning the +50 for Newbury wasn't even close!  If you had bet Newbury at +75 you still would have lost!

The real question is why would you play such an awful team?  Newbury played six players and shot 13.5%.  Newbury went 5-19 last year and lost to teams such as Maine-Presque Isle, Maine-Fort Kent, Bay Path, Mitchell, etc.  Yikes.  Although, believe it or not...you never know how many teams might be worse.

7express

Saturday results:

USM clobbers Farmington 81-42
Nobody for Farmington recorded double figures as they were lead by Bianca Stoutomeyer's 8 points.  USM recorded 4 players in double digits lead by Rebecca Knight's 12.  None of the Husky 5 starters played more 26 minutes as 11 Huskies players saw action.  They will take on Bridgewater state who was a 4 point winner over RPI while Farmington takes on RPI in the losers game.

NYU pounds Western 71-49. 
The Colonials were lead by Caroline Brasa's 11 points & 10 rebounds while also getting 9 points from Emily Dobson.  Megan Dawe had a game high 20 for NYU who also had 15 off the bench from Maya Wazowics.  The Violets held the Colonials to 28.6% shooting and turned the Colonials over 24 times in the contest.  Western takes on Juniata who was a 76-66 loser to Plattsburgh in the consolation game while the Cardinals & Violets play for the championship.

Eastern blows past Newbury 96-20.
Shannon McCourt outscored Newbury by herself with 21 points & 16 rebounds off the bench and Jill Ritrosky just missed a double-double with 15 points & 9 rebounds.  Jovanna Sandifer lead Newbury with 7 points.  Newbury went only 6 deep in this game.  I'm guessing they don't have many bodies if they only play 1 sub in a 76 point game.  Eastern was up 65-9 at the half and doubt they broke much of a sweat in this one.  Eastern plays Framingham who beat Wesleyan 55-37 while Newbury takes on Wesleyan, the first of 2 games they'll play against each other in the next 5 days as they play each other on Friday as well in a regularly scheduled game.

Colby edges past Boston 79-74.
Mia Doplock lead all scorers with 19 points off the bench for the Mules who put 5 players in double figures.  The Beacons put 4 in double figures lead by Olivia Murphy with 18 points & 13 rebounds and Katrina Edwards also recorded a double-double with 13 points & 10 rebounds.  The Beacons were down 16 at halftime but bounced back strongly in the 2nd half as they took their one and only lead with 2:26 to play, but ultimately fell short.  2 things looked to have been the difference in this game: Beacons only hit 5-21 from 3 (Colby wasn't much better at 7-21 but if Boston finished 7-21 as well they win the game.  Likewise if Colby finishes 5-21 like Boston did, Boston wins).  Also, Kirsten Morrison only played for 5 minutes.  Boston is off until Friday when they take on Lasell, while the Mules play Lasell on Sunday.

Williams runs past RIC 59-47.
The game was tied at halftime before the Ephs outscored the Anchorwomen by 12 in the second half.  The Anchorwomen did a good job for the most part as they held down the big 3 of the Ephs of MaryKate O'Brien (5 points), Kellie Macdonald (4 points) and Ellen Cook (8 points) to a combined 17 points but Katie Litman made up for the loss with a team high 11 points & game high 13 rebounds.  Jess Korzec lead RIC off the bench with a game high 12 points.  RIC plays the host Babson beavers who recorded a 66-55 win over Vassar, while the Ephs will look to head back to Williamstown with a 2-0 record vs. the Brewers of Vassar.

Wheaton defeats Plymouth 67-48.
DeAsia Lawrence & Taylor Perry each tied for a game high with 17 points to lead the Panthers who only got 14 combined points from the other 8 players that suited up.  Kiley Shoemaker had a team high 16 points for the Lyons, while Abbie Brickley added in 14 points of her own.  Wheaton plays Suffolk who was a 96-49 winner of Yeshiva, while Plymouth plays Yeshiva looking to even their record at 1-1.

Tufts over Keene 78-49.
The Jumbos put 3 in double figures lead by Hayler Kanner's 17 points & Hannah Foley's 16 points.  Kelsey Santagata was the only Owl in double figures with 16 who shot only 2 of 12 from 3.  Keene will play Wellesley who was a 66-51 loser to the host Nor'Easters while the championship will be between 2 teams that are in the top 20 in Tufts & UNE.

Dartmouth survives Norwich 75-73 in overtime.
Aliah Curry had a game high 32 to lead the Cadets who also got 19 points from Kelsey Lotti.  Megan Ronaghan had 24 points to lead the Corsairs & Beth Castatini chipped in 19 points.  Kelsey Garrity only had 11 points but had 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.  The Cadets were down 16 points with 3:12 left, but outscored the Corsairs 18-2 and forced overtime on 3 Lotti free throws at the end of regulation.  Ronaghan won the game for the Corsairs with 2 free throws with 3 seconds to play and Garrity blocked a potential game-winning 3 point attempt from Curry as the buzzer sounded.  Norwich will play Maine-Presque Isle who was a 93-39 loser to Colby-Sawyer while Dartmouth takes on the chargers

LEC falls to 3-5 on the young season, but I start off 7-1 as the only game I missed was the Colby/Boston game.

Sunday schedule:
Colby-Sawyer (+10) @ Dartmouth.
The Chargers had a cake walk 93-39 win, but this game will likely be much more difficult for them.  Dartmouth was up 16 points with 3:12 to play but got taken to overtime.  I'll take the points with the Chargers, but the Corsairs prevail 73-65.

Keene (+13.5) vs. Wellesley (@ UNE).
The appetizer to the main course of Tufts (-3.5) vs. UNE for the championship.  The Blue finished 16-10 overall and 13-7 in the NEWMAC last year.  At least the Blue aren't as good as the Jumbos are, but I'll still take Wellesley 68-46.

Juniata (-5) vs. Western (@ NYU).
Juniata ONLY finished 14-12 last year out the Landmark conference who had 3 teams finish with 20 wins.  The Eagles are only 3 seasons removed from a year they finished 26-3 and a perfect 14-0 in the Landmark.  Juniata 58-55

Framingham (+6) @ Eastern.
I know I'm going out on a limb here but I'm sure Eastern will have a much more difficult time in this game.  The Rams finished 18-12, and a 3 way tie for first in the MESCAC last year before ultimately falling to Bridgewater in the MASCAC title game last year.  Eastern 79-63

Plymouth (-10) vs. Yeshiva (@ Wheaton).
This could be one of the easiest teams on Plymouth's schedule this year which is why I gave the Panthers such a high number.  Even though the Yeshiva men's team plays in the Skyline, the women's team is an independent outfit and has compiled a 27-128 record the last 7 years.  Plymouth 65-38

Bridgewater (+12.5) @ Southern Maine.
The Bears have made the NCAA tournament the last 4 seasons, but got hit hard by graduation over the winter, but by the time MASCAC action rolls around they should be in contention for a 5th straight MASCAC championship.  USM 78-68

RIC (+7.5) @ Babson.
RIC played Williams well on a neutral court, but a true road game at Babson will be tough for the Anchorwomen to achieve who are still coming together as a team.  Babson 65-52