Rough way to go out for the Yellow Jackets. You know they have to be disappointed that their last game played out so poorly. They really didn't give themselves the chance to take it further. When you get out-rebounded by 20 and expect to win. You can't have Molly taking 19 shots while Amanda and Lindsay only took 5. Where is the balance that helped them succeed the second half of the regular season and through the ODAC tourney???  Rebounding and offensive/defensive balance are key to any successful squad and it seems like the Yellow Jackets let those things slip.

Regardless, they capped off an overall successful season with an ODAC Tournament Championship trophy and a trip to the Big Dance and that's never something to take for granted. Congratulations to Amanda, Lindsay, and Rachel for a great career and best wishes for their futures.

As far as the future of RMC is concerned, I'd like to point out that freshman Maggie Roy clocked in 37 minutes in that contest with 10 points and 4 assists to go with it. Another freshman Molly Brown notched 6 points in 12 minutes, and of course Molly Arail is back for her final curtain call next year. Should still be a very interesting season for RMC.

I truly hope that everything works out for York to match up with Rochester. How great would it be for a CAC team to take on a Rochester team that has a CAC alumna as an graduate assistant coach? 2008 Mary Washington's Liz Hickey is helping out up in Rochester while attaining her masters. It's a small, small world.

First things first - CONGRATULATIONS TO RANDOLPH-MACON FOR TAKING THE TITLE. Very talented team, and I truly think that having them advancing to the NCAA tournament was the best thing to happen for the ODAC. I know that the jackets were shaking in their boots, watching a 13 point lead fade to 4 in just 45 seconds! I believe my "hyperbole" came just about true... well... as true as I predicted it right before the tournament:

Quote from: eaglejacket1421 on February 23, 2009, 10:29:48 PM
Prediction Time!!!

#1 Roanoke vs. #8 Lynchburg – 1:00 p.m.
Roanoke will be looking to make an early statement. After dropping the unexpected game to W&L Coach Dunnigan realizes what her opponents' mentality could quite possibly be.

#4 Bridgewater vs. #5 Washington and Lee – 3:00 p.m.
I think I've said enough about both of these teams to publish a short story.

#2 Randolph-Macon vs. #7 Eastern Mennonite – 6:00 p.m.
It's Amanda Hiltunen and Lindsey Riesbeck's senior season. I doubt they'll let it slip away against the Royals. (With that said, they can NOT look over this team. If EMU somehow find a way to play the way they were at the beginning of the year - this could be trouble.)

#3 Virginia Wesleyan vs. #6 Guilford – 8:00 p.m.
I generally HATE picking all of the top seeds, but I don't see Guilford pulling off the miracle twice.

Second Round Matchups with these winners:

Roanoke vs. Bridgewater
Roanoke has won this battle twice already this season. Beating a team three times is one of the most difficult tasks in basketball.

Randolph-Macon vs. Virginia Wesleyan
What very well could have been the title game last year. This'll be a fun one to watch.

Finals:

Randolph-Macon vs. Bridgewater
RMC out for revenge from last year and they will have it. This team deserves the NCAA bid. The ODAC needs this team to grab it b/c they have the best chance to do something with it. So much talent and the last real shot for RMC to do something at the national scale for a couple of years.

Now the only thing to look forward to is RMC representing the ODAC in the Big Dance, and I couldn't want another team to get the nod to represent this conference. Best of luck Jackets.

First round in ODACs really not surprising at all - and almost boring. Three blow out games and the BC W&L game could have easily been a blow out as well, according to the broadcast I listened to. The parity we spoke of was nowhere to be found - this round. Maybe Saturday we can get some surprises ;-).

ODACs are in full swing!

Roanoke pummels Lynchburg in the first match up - 75-48. Very balanced attack for the Maroons with four players reaching double digits. I pitty the team that has to take them on - Coach Dunagan is taking the Coach of the Year award in stride 

First half of BC and W&L sounds like it's VERY sloppy. Listening on an ESPN Radio affiliate and the word is W&L's turnovers are absolutely killing them. Sounds like youth, except that Ridenhour is traveling an awful lot. With all the turnovers, BC hasn't been capitalizing on the Generals sloppy play. With the lead up to 11 at some points - BC let it slide at the end of the half of a game that could have been much uglier. 38-32 at the half, the Gennies are scraping away at the deficit. I look for Coach Willi to round up her troops at the half b/c word is she's flaming mad and ready to get her girls playing cleaner basketball. Coach King's half time speech will likely focus on taking care of the basketball. They are literally giving BC the ball every three or four possessions.

Good to see R-MC racking up the awards! Molly Ariail Player of the Year - no big surprise there! Glad that she has one more year in yellow and black! Amanda Hiltunen also repeating as the Scholar Athlete which is well deserving. She works just as hard off of the court as she does on it and she deserves every accolade to come her way. Three of the First Team honorees also wearing yellow and black. All in all, a great showing for the Jackets. Hope to round the season out with a Josten's award and an ODAC Tourney title!

The only concerning factor is that the only players to grab awards were the top three. I think some of the younger players deserved some recognition, but there's always ODAC Tournament MVP to shoot for!

Big congratulations to Coach Dunagan. She deserved every bit of that award. To do what she did is truly remarkable. Everyone saw how Roanoke struggled last season w/o Erin Hansen and Dunagan used that as a learning tool for this year. Always thinking ahead, that one! That's a big picture coach.

I was also very glad to see Tamara Phillips get some recognition from Hollins. She is definitely deserving. She keeps her head up and pushes on despite the score. She's a very talented player and I love that she got the nod.

Anybody else as excited for the ODACs as I am? I can't wait to see how everything plays out. There are tons of story  lines to be hashed out and I have a feeling this year won't disappoint.

Any way to listen live online?

Huge congratulations to Amanda for that. Her stat sheet along with her genius-status GPA means she's not just a candidate, but a serious candidate with a pretty decent shot at being the second Yellow Jacket in less than 5 years. That always helps with recruiting and the image of the college overall. Randolph-Macon doesn't just recruit spectacular athletes, they also focus a lot on academic integrity and character. I have my fingers crossed that she can bring that trophy to Crenshaw.

"I did not mean to raise any disrespect toward Coach Willi.  My point was that BC had an OK season, not great for them. The respect for BC on this board by many posters is quite high.  The opinion about a very similar W&L team does not seem to be any where as high.  Why?  This team did spank Roanoke (excuse was a meaningless game for Roanoke), beat RMU (excuse team was tired from travel and overlooked the game), beat VWC (not many VWC posters unknown excuse).  You said it eaglejacket that beating a team 3 times in a season was one of the hardest things.  Does this not apply to BC and W&L.  The Generals are a talented, well coached team that is young and getting better.  I guess that they will need a great ODAC toruney to get some people on their side.

BC had an OK season, yes. Just like in years past when Coach Willi coached her way to tournament title runs. whitecaylxx has it right: "Posters aren't necessarily choosing the General players performance over the Eagle players'.  Perhaps they are going with Coach Willi's savvy and basketball acumen." That is exactly what I have been saying.

People who do not have a personal tie to W&L has no real reason to "be on their side". They have not proven themselves... yet. No one is saying they can't or won't. No one is playing favorites. Put your objective hat on for a minute and think about this situation in pure basketball terms. That's what I, and posters like myself, try to do when making picks and determining sleeper teams, ect.

As far as the "excuses" go - no one is making excuses. I raised a HUGE question mark when W&L took down RMC earlier this year, and Bammer's reply was - "Eaglejacket - I am new to ODAC bball but could RMC problem be that they were tired from traveling."... That was the answer to the question raised. We try to speculate on why one team beats another, but beyond stats everything else we say is speculation. No one can pin point a reason, but we do the best we can to keep Division III women's basketball a sport people care about. If no one's blogging, speculating, and trying to pinpoint reasons, people question the legitimacy of the sport. If no one posts it gives the women basketball haters ammunition that "no one cares." Also, if you only post positive things about one team, no one can take the posts as seriously as someone who looks at things objectively.

duke- I understood what your post was entailing. I spelled it out just in case there was confusion amongst other posters. Honestly, my "hyperbole" is well warranted and in good company considering the glorification of all things W&L. Figured I'd balance out the scales with some other well-deserving teams.

Prediction Time!!!

#1 Roanoke vs. #8 Lynchburg – 1:00 p.m.
Roanoke will be looking to make an early statement. After dropping the unexpected game to W&L Coach Dunnigan realizes what her opponents' mentality could quite possibly be.

#4 Bridgewater vs. #5 Washington and Lee – 3:00 p.m.
I think I've said enough about both of these teams to publish a short story.

#2 Randolph-Macon vs. #7 Eastern Mennonite – 6:00 p.m.
It's Amanda Hiltunen and Lindsey Riesbeck's senior season. I doubt they'll let it slip away against the Royals. (With that said, they can NOT look over this team. If EMU somehow find a way to play the way they were at the beginning of the year - this could be trouble.)

#3 Virginia Wesleyan vs. #6 Guilford – 8:00 p.m.
I generally HATE picking all of the top seeds, but I don't see Guilford pulling off the miracle twice.

Second Round Matchups with these winners:

Roanoke vs. Bridgewater
Roanoke has won this battle twice already this season. Beating a team three times is one of the most difficult tasks in basketball.

Randolph-Macon vs. Virginia Wesleyan
What very well could have been the title game last year. This'll be a fun one to watch.

Finals:

Randolph-Macon vs. Bridgewater
RMC out for revenge from last year and they will have it. This team deserves the NCAA bid. The ODAC needs this team to grab it b/c they have the best chance to do something with it. So much talent and the last real shot for RMC to do something at the national scale for a couple of years.

Very witty Mr. Argyle. I somehow believe that you are wise enough to realize that the meaning of those words were nowhere near what was just depicted. I will spell it out, just in case there is confusion. Coach Willi does not let regular season woes bring her down in the post season. Who wouldn't want to sit atop the seeding at the end of the season? Sweeping a regular season title along side an ODAC tourny one would be the ideal situation. If you had to pick just one to have, what would it be?... Pretty easy question...

Her goal is not to perform poorly during the regular season and spectacularly WOW her critics in the post season. That isn't any coaches goal. She just somehow finds a way to motivate her girls down the stretch, when it matters most - the post season. She understands that the regular season determines seeding - and however her team chooses to perform is the hand she is dealt and she somehow knows all the magic tricks to make sure her Eagles end up with the top card when it's all said and done. Should I send you the game tape from last year's tournament?

"I'm sure that Coach Willi is a fine coach, but is this BC really a better pick in the ODAC tourney than W&L? "

Heeeeeck yes, for lots of reasons. First of all, Jean Willi is what I would call a post season coach. She understands that you can stink up the court all regular season long, but as long as you make it to the ODAC tournament, anything is fair game. Coaches that regularly see post season success understand the way it works, and she most definitely does. Secondly, her post season record the past few years has been phenomenal. Why pick against a team that has shown they can be the Cinderella Story time after time? Something clearly clicks in the post season for the Eagles, so picking them over a team that hasn't proven itself in the post season is just common sense.

I'm not saying that it's in the ODAC's best interest for a team like W&L or BC to represent the ODAC in the NCAA tournament and lose in the first round - BUT if I had to pick a sleeper team to put my money on, it would be Bridgewater. Jean Willi just knows what she's doing in tournament play. Yes, Timberlake has graduated. Yes, she was the player that hit the game/tournament winner last season against VWC. Yes, Burkholder may be hurting (if she doesn't play, W&L can have my vote). Yes, W&L has a ton of young talent with a pretty decent coach themselves. But overall, go with the team that has the coach who's been there, the coach that's KNOWN for upsetting in tournament play and the team that constantly gets looked over during the regular season every single year. That equation just adds up. (Anybody remember their Sweet 16 run in the Katy Herr era? ... No one, no one, NO ONE saw that one coming... Impressive...)

Now that I've said it, I realize that W&L players, coaches, and fans could be reading and using it as fuel to add to the fire- and so be it. I'll happily accept Thank You cards if/when W&L defeats BC in the ODAC tourny, haha.

Now that I have your blessing, dukeofargyle, I will continue to pick against the Generals when I see fit. I understand the intangibles, I also understand when a team is literally BETTER than another one - sometimes there are upsets (that's why we play the game) and this is the perfect case of a lesser talented team beating one that may have been a victim of 1-being distracted by all the Senior Day festivities and 2-having a case of the look aheads, with the looking ahead being to the ODAC tournament. Come on, if you're Roanoke and you're sitting atop the ODAC and look on your schedule at your remaining games, you can't tell me that you don't assume two victories with W&L and EMU slated? We all know what the saying is about assuming - and this is a prime example why teams never should assume anything.

Picking W&L in that game is equivalent to the person who picks all of the underdog seeds for the first two rounds of March Madness - when they lose you say "oh, well no one expected them to win anyway- nice effort, ect." and when they win the rub it in the face mode goes into full effect. I'm no accountant, and I'm no robot predictor, but everything pointed in the 'Nokes direction for that one: because they ALSO possess team chemistry and the intangibles PLUS all of the statistical favorites.

It has surely been entertaining to watch W&L climb the ODAC ladder and taking a W over the Top 3 seeds (who can be described as having a see-saw season at best) is excellent momentum going to Salem. Taking that W over Roanoke was quickly muted by the loss in Lexington to Bridgewater - who is the logical choice for sleeper team in the ODAC tourny. Coach Willi seems to be the ODAC coach who understands college basketball the best : The Post Season is the ONLY thing that really matters. Regular season just determines seeding. This is perhaps the best explanation in determining why her teams perform so well down the stretch. I think the Generals have just as good a shot at taking home the bid as any other team, the seeding will determine their logical chances. Only time will tell just how good this team is - the post season is the one people remember, after all.

"Eaglejacket, I just have a hard time getting on the VWC bandwagon.  They seem to play some tight games that should not be tight.  Guilford has the same problem but being at home and closing out the season, they should give a good effort. "

I'm with you on the VWC topic, but could you honestly see a team that just lost to Randolph taking down RMC who is steam rolling at this point?  Playing at Guilford is never easy, but I can't see them pulling off the double upset - one or the other - not both... Then again, I didn't see that happening for Roanoke when they had an identical weekend.

If I had to vote a team as "Most Disappointing" I'd place my ballot in VWC's hat. They should have been MUCH better than they have been. I picked them to win the ODAC regular season, that's certainly not going to happen. A lot of question marks being raised in Va Beach.

Bammer, that's a ton of confidence in a team that just lost to Randolph...