Empire Eight

[Bombers798891]

After a slight down year (for them) last year, the IC women continue to roll this season, at 8-1, and a victory at (then) #9 Rochester. Looks like they'll be bringing home their 7th 20-win season of the past 8.

[Bombers798891]

Strange year in the E8.

Bombers are 15-3 overall, but have lost two the top two teams in the conference, including a staggering 31-point loss at Stevens. They've yet to get either at home. Stevens is 8-1 in conference, but, due to a really tough OOC schedule, just 9-8 overall. There's a lot riding on the Pool A for Stevens, I think.

[Bombers798891]

Ithaca takes out Stevens by 21. Wow.

The top 4 in the E8 are clear. It remains to be seen how the top 3 sort themselves.

Given that IC/Wick play each other, Stevens will likely pass one of them. But how would an Ithaca/Stevens tiebreaker play out if they split and each had a loss to the Wick?

[Bombers798891]

Ithaca takes the E8 title with a 77-74 win at Stevens in a game that wasn't really that close.

The Bombers, with a 77-70 lead and 1:04 to go, miss a mind-boggling 10 straight free throws and Stevens almost climbs back.

Ithaca is now 24-3, and have won at least 23 games six of the last 7 years.

[Bombers798891]

Survive and advance. On to round 2

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

As the regular season draws ever closer to the end, the intensity of conference races increases. There are very few teams in both the men's and women's side of Division III basketball that seem comfortable at the top. With conference tournaments starting, being at the top is important, but it also comes with a big target.

This Thursday's Hoopsville is a special podcast edition - not live.

On the show, Dave talks to several coaches who teams seem like they have wrapped up their conferences races and one who may not be able to take the top spot, but is in great position to win it all their first time in the league.

We also talk to a coach who has more time than it seems anyone else. How she is using that time to help her school's SAAC in many ways and how that help is allowing the student-athletes at Southern Maine to give back to the school, the community, and many more.

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can listen to this week's podcast here: http://bit.ly/2EtvKH0

If you have questions, be sure to email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com or interact with the show via the social media avenues.

A reminder, Hoopsville will return to live shows on Sunday, February 18, starting at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- Pete Moran, No. 18 John Carroll men's coach
- Allison Coleman, Sage women's coach
- Samantha Allen, Southern Maine women's coach (WBCA Center Court)
- Trevor Woodruff, No. 13 Scranton women's coach

To get access to all the podcasts during the season, there are three ways (click on the images when necessary):
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville



Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The NCAA released the third set of women's basketball regional rankings with few changes from last week's version. This is the final set that we'll see before the Tournament bracket is released on Monday. Full list here: http://d3hoops.com/notables/2018/02/women-regional-rankings-third