Hoosier Titan--
Illinois Wesleyan is having a great season, and going undefeated up to this point is big enough in and of itself. I did forget to mention the victory at Chicago and the other wins, but no slight on those wins-- I was just more impressed with the early victory at Wash U.
Illinois Wesleyan probably is a slight favorite to win out the sectional pod at the Shirk Center and get to Holland, Michigan, but that sectional at the Shirk Center is going to be a very tough one, with the Titans having to defeat Shirley Egner's UW-Stevens Point Pointers on Friday, and then probably having to defeat Wash U in a rematch on Saturday assuming that Ill. Wesleyan wins on Friday.
The sectional pod at LeFrak Gym in Amherst is going to be a very interesting one as well. I took a quick peek at Muhlenberg's season stats and after seeing those stats, I was not too surprised that the Mules were able to defeat Bowdoin up in Maine. The leading scorer for the Mules is a rookie named Alex Chili who already has over 100 assists on the season and is nearing the 100 trey mark for her career-- and she still has 3 more years to go after this! The Centennial Conference has gotten a lot better recently on the women's side-- there was a 5 way tie for 2nd in that league (I bet that our former UAA member Johns Hopkins was one of the teams in that 5 way tie) and Muhlenberg was able to get a perfect 18-0 record in conference play in the Centennial, which is the first time ever for that league. Muhlenberg is a very tough opponent and I would not be surprised to see Muhlenberg winning this sectional-- as a matter of fact, Brandeis could win the sectional, and so could Amherst and NYU under the right circumstances.
(PS-- Please listen to Ron Rohn of Muhlenberg talk about his team in the Hoopsville archives from Feb. 26. He had some very interesting things to say about the Mules.)
NYU plays Amherst in the second game on Friday at LeFrak Gym. Amherst is coached by G.P. Gromacki, who came within 6 inches of a national championship in 2002-- anyone remember Cara Barbieri and her shot that almost went in-- Barbieri almost had a miracle finish that would have given St. Lawrence the national championship against the UW-Stevens Point Pointers.
Amherst has a young but very talented team who is peaking at just the right time, as seen by those 2 blowout victories over Babson and Emmanuel. Since NYU has never won a road NCAA tournament game-- to my knowledge-- it would not be surprising for Amherst to win out the sectional and advance.
Brandeis's chances of winning the sectional improve if 'Deis is able to beat Muhlenberg on Friday and have Amherst win the game against NYU. However, Muhlenberg is going to give Brandeis everything that the Judges can handle, and even if 'Deis wins on Friday, the Elite Eight game will be very difficult against either Amherst or NYU, but I'm not sure that Brandeis can beat NYU if both teams advance on Friday.
If NYU can beat Amherst on Friday, then NYU would be favored to win out the sectional and advance to Holland, Michigan, against either Muhlenberg or Brandeis.
As for Rochester, I like Rochester's chances of making it to Holland, Michigan. As a matter of fact, I give Rochester the best shot of any of the 4 UAA women's teams of winning out next weekend and making it to Hope College. Rochester should be able to defeat TCNJ on Friday, and then if Scranton is the opponent on Saturday, then Rochester should be able to win that game as well. York (PA) will be a more difficult matchup on Saturday if both Rochester and York (PA) meet, but I think that Rochester will pull it out.
Illinois Wesleyan is having a great season, and going undefeated up to this point is big enough in and of itself. I did forget to mention the victory at Chicago and the other wins, but no slight on those wins-- I was just more impressed with the early victory at Wash U.
Illinois Wesleyan probably is a slight favorite to win out the sectional pod at the Shirk Center and get to Holland, Michigan, but that sectional at the Shirk Center is going to be a very tough one, with the Titans having to defeat Shirley Egner's UW-Stevens Point Pointers on Friday, and then probably having to defeat Wash U in a rematch on Saturday assuming that Ill. Wesleyan wins on Friday.
The sectional pod at LeFrak Gym in Amherst is going to be a very interesting one as well. I took a quick peek at Muhlenberg's season stats and after seeing those stats, I was not too surprised that the Mules were able to defeat Bowdoin up in Maine. The leading scorer for the Mules is a rookie named Alex Chili who already has over 100 assists on the season and is nearing the 100 trey mark for her career-- and she still has 3 more years to go after this! The Centennial Conference has gotten a lot better recently on the women's side-- there was a 5 way tie for 2nd in that league (I bet that our former UAA member Johns Hopkins was one of the teams in that 5 way tie) and Muhlenberg was able to get a perfect 18-0 record in conference play in the Centennial, which is the first time ever for that league. Muhlenberg is a very tough opponent and I would not be surprised to see Muhlenberg winning this sectional-- as a matter of fact, Brandeis could win the sectional, and so could Amherst and NYU under the right circumstances.
(PS-- Please listen to Ron Rohn of Muhlenberg talk about his team in the Hoopsville archives from Feb. 26. He had some very interesting things to say about the Mules.)
NYU plays Amherst in the second game on Friday at LeFrak Gym. Amherst is coached by G.P. Gromacki, who came within 6 inches of a national championship in 2002-- anyone remember Cara Barbieri and her shot that almost went in-- Barbieri almost had a miracle finish that would have given St. Lawrence the national championship against the UW-Stevens Point Pointers.
Amherst has a young but very talented team who is peaking at just the right time, as seen by those 2 blowout victories over Babson and Emmanuel. Since NYU has never won a road NCAA tournament game-- to my knowledge-- it would not be surprising for Amherst to win out the sectional and advance.
Brandeis's chances of winning the sectional improve if 'Deis is able to beat Muhlenberg on Friday and have Amherst win the game against NYU. However, Muhlenberg is going to give Brandeis everything that the Judges can handle, and even if 'Deis wins on Friday, the Elite Eight game will be very difficult against either Amherst or NYU, but I'm not sure that Brandeis can beat NYU if both teams advance on Friday.
If NYU can beat Amherst on Friday, then NYU would be favored to win out the sectional and advance to Holland, Michigan, against either Muhlenberg or Brandeis.
As for Rochester, I like Rochester's chances of making it to Holland, Michigan. As a matter of fact, I give Rochester the best shot of any of the 4 UAA women's teams of winning out next weekend and making it to Hope College. Rochester should be able to defeat TCNJ on Friday, and then if Scranton is the opponent on Saturday, then Rochester should be able to win that game as well. York (PA) will be a more difficult matchup on Saturday if both Rochester and York (PA) meet, but I think that Rochester will pull it out.