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| Username | Post: Women -- IL Play |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
01-11-20 09:51 AM - Post#296498
Based on non-conference play, Tigers need to go at least 11-3 in IL play to make the NCAAW Tournament regardless of IvyMadness and today's game on the road plus the game at New Haven will be very challenging although games at Ithaca and NYC are not slam dunks. It is only game 1 of the IL season so it is not a life and death situation to put it mildly based on Tiger's non-conference performance but it is a rivalry game and it is at the Palestra -- anything can happen in BB as witnessed over the past week at the Palestra and Jadwin. Several of the women were watching the 1st half last night and the walkaway is that they are tall, strong and well-conditioned. Penn and Princeton have very comparative stats especially on the defensive end although the SOS is markedly different, #330 vs. #97. Of all IL teams, Penn's SOS is significantly lower than all other IL teams so prior stats may not mean as much although Penn has blown out most teams. A victory for the Tigers would move them up several spots on the AP and Coaches Poll based on losses of several teams currently ahead of them this week so it is a very important game for NCAAW seeding purposes plus it helps to keep the Tigers in the spotlight. If the Tigers can get a #6 or even possibly a #5 seed, they improve their odds to get to a Final 16 although it is a long way to go plus injuries can occur. Rivalry games are a challenge and Penn has a lot of talent with a big C to guard Bella, a good PG and a very good frosh scorer plus a great coach -- today's game is probably not going to be easy. Although the IL Championship is always important, this team has the opportunity to achieve something that few IL teams have achieved in the past in Tournament play. It is rare indeed to have a top talent at Center in the IL plus a very good PG with a good supporting cast. This is Bella's senior season so this year is the opportunity year with obviously no guarantees. Blake Dietrick's undefeated team was very good but not up to the level of this year for Tournament play against Power 5 programs. Cannot go to the Palestra today but will look forward to watching a replay, win or lose. |
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whitakk Masters Student Posts 523 |
01-11-20 12:22 PM - Post#296504
Blake Dietrick's undefeated team was very good but not up to the level of this year for Tournament play against Power 5 programs. The 2015 team finished #8 in the Massey ratings and won at #38 Pitt, #41 Michigan, #62 Duquesne, and of course #30 Green Bay in the tourney -- all by double digits -- plus five other top-100 wins. They would've been favored to make the Sweet 16 if not for getting horribly screwed by the committee. |
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whitakk Masters Student Posts 523 |
01-11-20 02:39 PM - Post#296515
Connolly playing really well with Littlefield out. First time really watching Penn this year, Padilla sure is something... |
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Tiger84 Senior Posts 384 |
01-11-20 02:56 PM - Post#296520
Hoping that Littlefield can stop Padilla in the second half if she can stay out of further foul trouble. Padilla is going to be a handful for the next 4 years. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
01-11-20 03:52 PM - Post#296528
Very impressive 2nd half from the Tigers leads to a 75-55 win. Alarie leads the way with a typical 23/11 with 2 blocks and 2 steals, Baur also had perhaps the best game of her career with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Cunningham and Littlefield struggled a little offensively, but Connolly and Meyers stepped in off the bench. This team's depth is really special. Penn's Padilla is a really good player, she'll be fun to watch going forward |
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whitakk Masters Student Posts 523 |
01-11-20 03:52 PM - Post#296529
This team is so good on defense and the glass -- eighth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency entering the game per HerHoopStats and will probably stay in that range after holding Penn to .87 PPP. 14-1 from here on out (no gimme in a tough league, but they just won the toughest game on paper by 20) should get them a top-8 seed I'd think, but always hard to know what to expect... |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
01-11-20 05:01 PM - Post#296534
Courtney, either by design and/or by luck to some degree, did an incredible job of recruiting a perfectly balanced team with a lot of talent. Unlike Blake Dietrick's team and Weisz/Cook team, this group is just at a higher level as to the potential to compete with top Power 5 teams largely due to construction of the team in addition to talent level. If this team was in a Power 5 conference, they have the skill sets to compete against the best. What should help them from a seeding standpoint assuming that they play well in the IL, is that the IL women's conference is 8th ranked and although the Tigers RPI will go down based on league play, they should receive a #6 or #5 seed let's say if they finish 13-1 in league play and win IvyMadness -- big ifs based on the talent of the league. There is one player on the roster that is a wild card as to the heights that they can achieve -- Meyers. She is either the 2nd or 3rd most talented player on the team but she is challenging for Coach Berube to corral. Her ability to play disciplined basketball may decide the Tiger's ultimate fate. Penn is a very good team and in all likelihood, the 4th best team that the Tigers have faced so far in a very challenging non-conference schedule. It was good that the Tigers escaped the Palestra today. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
01-11-20 06:01 PM - Post#296542
After watching replay, Princeton did not play well in the 1st half and Padilla was unconscious in 3 pt shooting and Penn hit some tough shots. Tigers should have been up by 10 at HT but they started to put it together in the 2nd half. Tigers took Penn's best shot in the 1st half but started to put it together in the second half. Defense really tightened up in the 2nd half. Penn gave them a good battle which the Tiger's need. Zone defense was a very good move by Penn Coach as it confused the Tigers. Penn announcers were a joke -- "Our Team"?? Tigers may get to #22 in AP poll and #21 in Coaches Poll. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
01-14-20 01:22 PM - Post#296667
The Tigers dropped out of the AP Top 25 this week despite the 20 point win at Penn, but were the highest in the "others receiving votes" category. Unfortunately, previously unranked Iowa and Arizona State both had 2 upset wins over ranked opponents this week, which led to both teams leapfrogging the Tigers and knocking them out of the top 25 |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
01-14-20 01:47 PM - Post#296668
Tigers also dropped to #26 in the Coaches Poll. Both the AP poll and the Coaches Poll now have them as #26. As you pointed out, several teams jumped the Tigers due to major upset wins on Sunday including Iowa that upset #4 ranked Indiana in double OT. It is unfortunate indeed that the Tigers blew a 6pt lead to Iowa in OT on the road as a win against Iowa would have securely kept them in the top #25 but there is time for them to get back up in the top 25. Unfortunately, with the Tiger's break and upcoming games on the road against Dartmouth and Harvard, they are probably not going to get back to the top 25 for several weeks. If they beat Yale and Penn at home that will give them 2 quadrant one wins and should get them back in the top 25 dependent on what other teams do. ESPN had moved them up to a #6 seed prior to the win against Penn but just dropped back to #7 based on what happened this past weekend. A long way to go but in a perfect world they wind up as a #5 seed or no worse than #6 to improve their odds to reach the final 16. Over the past 6 games including Penn, Penn State, Missouri and St. Louis, the average margin of victory is 28 points in dominant wins. They have played only two single digit games, 2 pt win against Seton Hall on the road and 3 pt loss in OT to Iowa on the road. To get to a #5 seed, they may have to win every IL regular season game as well as IvyMadness which will be a very tall order even with their skill level as IL is clearly the #8 conference in the country. Hopefully, Penn will beat both Villanova and Temple in upcoming games as it will be good that Penn is a quadrant 1 game as well as Yale. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
01-19-20 10:17 PM - Post#297109
Top 25 teams had a very good week this past week. Unlikely, the Tigers will not move up one spot to get back into the top 25 due to their inactivity and the performance of others. Tiger's RPI is currently #21. Warren Nolan has them going 14-0 in the IL and a final RPI ranking of #10. Realtime has the Tigers finishing up 14-0 as well with a final RPI ranking of #13. Both RPI rankings seem unlikely based on the assumption that the Tigers go undefeated and a number of top 25 Teams falter. At the end of the day, the hope is to get a #6 seed if at all possible. Even with Penn's loss to Villanova, IL conference held its' #8 conference ranking. Strength of schedule for the IL women is only #18 but the win ratio is the fifth highest in the country, 67% 68-33. Both IL women and men need to toughen up their non-conference schedules next year, especially the women. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
01-21-20 05:32 PM - Post#297171
Tigers drop to #28 - AP poll and remain #26 - Coaches Poll. ESPN still has them as #7 seed in NCAAW Tournament. Unless several 25 teams falter, the Tigers will probably not have the opportunity to move up to the top 25 until after February 14th when they play Yale on the road and/or the rematch with Penn on 2/25 --- only if they win both games which will be not easy especially the road game at New Haven. Both Yale and Penn hopefully will be quad 1 games. To hold the #8 ranked conference, it would certainly help if Penn wins on the road against a good Temple team this week. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
01-28-20 06:48 PM - Post#297716
This week's ESPN bracketology has the Tigers as a 6 seed, and interestingly has them in as an at-large now that Yale with 2 wins is in 1st place in the league and gets the autobid in bracketology. Yale comes in at a 12 seed. In an article about this week's prediction mentions that Princeton is a solid at-large candidate should they lose in the Ivy League tournament https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basket ball/sto... |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
01-28-20 09:27 PM - Post#297724
Interesting article and says it all as to how the IL women are getting recognition, nationally. Yale is a good team as they have a very good big plus a tough PG and very good 3 pt shooters. The Tigers game at New Haven may be their biggest challenge. Even though the Tigers have not played in a while, they are #26 in AP and #27 Coaches Poll and very close to getting into the top 25 now that they are back in action this weekend on the road at Dartmouth and Harvard. The game against Harvard should be somewhat challenging.They will have a significant size and talent advantage against Dartmouth but you never know. Reality is that the Tigers need to win every game in the Il regular season if they are going to get a #6 seed or possibly a #5 seed. They probably also need to win games in convincing fashion -- double digit wins to capture the attention of voters. If they have a 13-1 or 14-0 IL regular season, IvyMadness may not cause a major disruption in seeding if they do not win the wacky tournament. Hopefully, the rust from the layoff does not cause a disruption this weekend -- I suspect not but time will tell. |
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Albert08 Masters Student Posts 578 |
01-30-20 02:20 PM - Post#297836
An interesting article (Jan. 29, 2020) about Olivia Miles, the #2 ranked 2021 player, who's a junior at Blair Academy: https://www.espn.in/womens-college-basketb all/stor... For Tiger fans, the shocking quotes are the following: "For now, Miles has narrowed her list to six schools: North Carolina, Stanford, Notre Dame, Oregon, Princeton and Connecticut. "Miles' recruitment likely would be over if coach Courtney Banghart hadn't gone from Princeton to North Carolina. "I would have gone there if she didn't leave," Miles said. "I wouldn't have committed there, but it would've had a very high chance because all my family wants to see me play." We know Courtney was a great recruiter (and she still may land Miles at UNC). But if Carla could pull this off, it would be a pretty amazing feat, and further raise the profile of the IL for future recruits. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
01-31-20 10:01 PM - Post#298135
Very similar to the men's game, the women's game was much tighter in the first half than the second half, as the Tigers stretched a 10 point half time lead into a 32 point win over the Big Green. Both men's and women's teams put up 66 points today! |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
01-31-20 10:31 PM - Post#298143
Thanks for update. Defense wins games and Tigers women and now men play D. Tomorrow night much tougher game against Crimson women. I hope that Berube used height advantage tonite. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-01-20 11:15 AM - Post#298178
Watched replay - Tigers allow 20 points over final 30 minutes with many players off bench. Bella dominates when Littlefield has off night and win by 32. Margin of victory off past 10 games is insane. Tonight - Harvard has a legit big to fend off Bella -good PG and 3 pt shooters. Win let alone double digit win is the challenge. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-01-20 06:46 PM - Post#298235
WBB up 32-22 at the half at Harvard. Lead had ballooned to 14 before 7-0 run by Harvard cut it in half, then an Alarie 3 at the buzzer sent the Tigers to the locker room up double digits. Relatively quiet half for Alarie with 7 points on only 4 FG attempts, as Harvard mostly has done a good job swarming her and forcing others to score. Cunningham with 8 and Stone has 5. Tigers shot just 2/9 from 3, but scored 22 points in the paint |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-01-20 07:41 PM - Post#298255
WBB cruises to a 60-46 win. 16 for Cunningham, 13/6/2 for Alarie, Littlefield with 10 points and 5 assists |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-01-20 09:15 PM - Post#298309
Weekend - mission complete - double digit wins on the road. Would have been nice to win by 20 pts plus. With some good fortune, will Tigers sneak back to top 25. Tigers are winning comfortably due to D but offense needs to improve when they get to Tournament |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-04-20 07:36 PM - Post#298566
Rankings: AP - 26 Coaches -- 27 Mid Major -- 3 ** RPI - 19 *** Projected RPI - 13 **** ESPN Bracketology -- 6 seed Bella just named semi-finalist for Mid Major POY Yale women are #36 RPI -- Yale men #56. Ivy women have three teams including Penn being top 60 teams with 6 teams under #160. Ivy women RPIs are significantly stronger than Ivy men. Tiger women fortunately face two good teams at home this weekend and then face Yale on the road the following weekend. They must win all 3 games to get into the top 25. A few current top 25 teams have 4, 5 and one team with six losses but it is tough for the IL team to crack and remain in top 25. |
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SecS3 Junior Posts 246 |
02-04-20 11:11 PM - Post#298574
Women are also #1 in scoring defense this week giving up just 49.3 ppg. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-05-20 07:42 PM - Post#298662
Good point. The Tiger defense has been just crazy good allowing teams less than 50 points per game and it is not a function of running a slow offense as Princeton has the 10th highest scoring margin differential at 20.1 points per game while having a competitive strength of schedule, 105th in the country. Other than giving up 76 points on the road to Seton Hall without Bella and 77 points in an OT loss at Iowa, no team has scored more than 55 points against the Tigers even with subs play a fair number of minutes in blow out games. During the most recent interview with Carla, Price asked her what tricks/magic does she have up her sleeve. One item is that she has every player position themselves with their hands up in order to defend a quick shot or reduce a passing lane. Obviously, Geno had a major effect on her philosophy based on her playing days at UConn. At the end of the day, she states that so much is mental and desire. Ivies have 3 of the top 25 defensive teams in the country including Penn and Harvard. Last night, it was interesting to hear Mitch talk about defense before offense and utilizing the inside out game. The one major concern regarding the Tiger women is that they do not have great 3 pt shooters. It may come back to bite them against strong competition. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-07-20 09:38 AM - Post#298769
Cornell currently has a 139 rpi ranking with a year-end projection of 125. Their best two players are 6' and 5'11 inches - seniors. The line seems very high at 25.5 although it is a home game for the Tigers. They have played well on the road against ranked teams, West Virginia and TCU and they had Yale down last week at home. They are a competitive team with a 9-7 record with a SOS of 130. Tomorrow's game against Columbia should be reasonably competitive as well although Cornell may match up better against the Tigers. Hopefully, the Tigers take nothing for granted at home this week. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-07-20 07:56 PM - Post#298890
20-8 1st qtr - 31-11 at halftime. Offense was uneven at best but defense was once again outstanding -- 14 turnovers by Cornell primarily due to Tiger's defense. Cornell did not even contest the opening tap. Bauer 10/5 - Bella 8/6. Worst half of the year by Cunningham - 0 pts and 3 turnovers. No points by Littlefield (I have a feeling that Carlie is dealing with an injury over the past several weeks and they will need her offense in the tournament. Yale gets knocked off by Harvard which gives the Tigers breathing room for what is important -- IL regular season title. Offense does need to get in sync. There are some issues that need to be resolved if the Tigers have a chance to make a run. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-07-20 10:04 PM - Post#298928
60-29 final and somehow they covered the spread with their second poorest offensive performance of the year including 22 turnovers. You could tell that Carla was not a happy camper regarding the offense but the defense was truly outstanding. Cornell had the highest FG percentage in the IL at 45% going into the game and they shot 7 of 45 (15%) including 3 of 27 in the first half. Tigers are playing at a historic level on the defensive end. Literally, every pass and shot was contested this evening. Having a 6'5" and 6'2" frontcourt certainly does not hurt at the women's collegiate level. Shooting percentages against air tight defenses are going to suffer although there can always be an exception. Cornell tried to rough up the Tigers in the 4th qtr and other teams may also try this tactic. Carla does need to strengthen the offense and the Tigers may come out ferocious tomorrow and she probably gave them an earful in the dressing room. If the offense improves, they will be dangerous. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-08-20 10:11 AM - Post#298958
27 1/2 pt spread today and it is a tempting line due to Columbia's OT loss to Penn last night in a heart breaking loss plus Carla's displeasure as to how the Tigers played last night. They did not protect the ball and did not handle the press well. Tigers need quadrant #1 wins -- both Yale and Penn are projected to be top #54 rpi teams so best scenario is that these teams keep winning other than when they play the Tigers. Irony may be that Harvard has beaten them both and may be the second best team in the league. Nolan projects 6 IL teams with rpis' below 160 at season end with 2 remaining teams below 230. League is very strong and yet Tigers have dominated so far. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-08-20 06:56 PM - Post#299070
No great surprise but offense woke up in the 1st half, 39-19. Bella has 16 pts, Carlie and Myers 8 pts each. Even with the spread, this game was appealing. I like the moxie of Columbia after playing a OT game last night. The Lions are an up and coming team but probably over matched. Fast pace game unlike last night's game when Cornell tried to play slow to stay in the game but obviously did not work. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-08-20 11:47 PM - Post#299149
Took the foot off the pedal in the 4th qtr giving up 19 pts and being outscored by 6 but still a 22 pt win, 77-55. Bella had 24 and Carlie 18. Bella is shooting 50% on 3 pt shots for the season and today she was 3 for 6 on 3 pointers with 4 assists and 3 blocks -- multi skilled. The string of double digit wins continue on with games being blow outs with 10 to 20 minutes left in the game. It is rare indeed that you watch game after game as blow outs against reasonably good competition -- go figure. Possibility that the Tigers will be back in the top 25 this week. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-10-20 03:21 PM - Post#299429
Tigers end up just 1 point out of the AP Poll this week, with 46 points to #25 Tennessee's 47 |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-11-20 06:22 PM - Post#299591
Princeton received a #25 ranking in the Coaches Poll and they are close to several teams ranked just ahead of them. ESPN still has them a #6 seed in its latest bracketology rating. The Tigers have a tough road game at Yale, #41 rpi, this weekend. It will be a quadrant 1 game with a significant impact as to the seed that they will receive. Yale has one of the top two point guards (senior) in the league plus a center Bella's height that can compete, twin sister of injured Tiger C. Yale has a high powered offense but not a great defense so it will be interesting to see who controls the tempo. Tiger's point per game defense, #1 in country of 48.5 pts is almost 2 points lower than 2nd place Baylor. Baylor has a SOS rating of #46 vs. Princeton #95 and obviously plays tougher competition. The Tigers have a year-end projected rpi of #15 which is helped by the IL women having the best 8th conference --- Ivy men are 17th. Conference games are not hurting Princeton this year which is somewhat different than prior years. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-13-20 07:27 PM - Post#299837
Even though Bella missed 4 games due to injury, she is eligible for the Women's POY award (30 players). She is the only finalist from a mid-major program. Bella was also named as one of 10 finalists for Katrina McClain Award which is given to top PF in the country with 8 finalists coming from Power 5 conferences. One can only hope that it might give the Tigers some additional credibility when they seed teams for the Tournament that the Tigers have a 6'4" probably 6'5" BIG that has talent although probably not. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-14-20 08:52 PM - Post#299990
Tough start - picked it up with defense in the 2nd qtr - bad shooting in the 3rd qtr with only a 5 pt lead going into the 4th qtr but they still win by 16. Carlie had a big game and Tigers totally dominated the boards with 14 by Mitchell and 10 by Bella. Bella really had an off night shooting but she still contributes with her versatility. HUGE WIN and if somehow, they run the table, they will be a 5 or 6 seed. Still have Yale, Penn, Harvard at home with games on the road with Columbia and Cornell. The Tiger's defense and rebounding defies the concept that randomness in 2 or 3 pt shooting is a factor when you play shutdown defense. If the Tigers are simply this lucky that teams shoot this low of a percentage game in and game out, Carla should go to Atlantic City and cash in. Should be a top 25 team come Monday with a convincing quad 1 win. |
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Tiger69 Postdoc Posts 2825 |
02-14-20 09:39 PM - Post#300014
Still have Brown tomorrow. |
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whitakk Masters Student Posts 523 |
02-14-20 11:18 PM - Post#300044
Absurd to complain about anything with this team, but the offense really limits their ceiling. Great offense generally beats great defense so they can't count on holding anyone under 50 in March -- need to score. As long as they don't get screwed by the selection committee they should be seeded well enough to win a first-round game regardless, but won't get to the second weekend unless more shots fall. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-14-20 11:27 PM - Post#300045
Still have Brown tomorrow. You are absolutely correct. Brown played a very competitive game against Penn and Princeton had to expend a of effort tonight. Looked at the replay and the effort by the Tigers and Yale was tremendous and it resulted in a sloppy game at times. Tigers missed several wide shots and are down 12-0 on the road after 6 1/2 minutes but they allow only 27 pts over the rest of the game against a high scoring offense with a very good point guard and center. Littlefield said that Berube told everyone to take a deep breadth at half time as the Tigers may have been too hyped up. Littlefield was simply brilliant and confirmed that she is a 1st team IL PG. Tigers missed so many open shots. It had the potential for an upset loss if defense and rebounding were not so dominant. There is such a difference between the shutdown defense played CONSISTENLY by the women vs. the Tiger men. Women's game does not have a lot of great one on one play so if you can play great team defense, you can shutdown the other team. With the win, Nolan has Tigers with a #16 rpi and a #11 rpi by season's end. It is always enjoyable to watch a great team. They still need to get better offensively to beat a 4 or 3 seed in NCAAW Tournament in order to get to the Sweet 16 but it is indeed possible. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-15-20 11:29 PM - Post#300305
Domination 18 minutes into the game with a 44-7 lead with only 3 pointer by Brown being banked in. Thank goodness that Brown played better the rest of the way with the Tigers also take their foot off the defensive pressure. Pete Carril had a motto going into a weekend of holding both teams to less than 100 points. Berube's club for back to back weekends have held opposition to a combined 84 and 85 points. Kinda crazy. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-19-20 08:25 PM - Post#300763
Tigers check in at #23 in the coaches' poll and #25 in the AP poll this week |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-20-20 12:05 AM - Post#300782
On Carla's radio show, they asked her what did she think after being down to Yale 0-12 on the road. Her reply was basically "I tried to get the players to clamp down on the defensive end and simply relax when shooting". Her theory was to keep Yale under 40 points and that would require the Tigers to score only 41 points in 3 plus quarters. She certainly stays consistent with her message. At the end of the day, it may turn out to be a good thing that the Tigers faced a tough situation like the Yale game to put in their memory banks for future use. Tigers have 5 games in 8 days at home with 3 of them against the top teams Harvard, Penn and Yale. Point spread against these 3 teams -- 22, 13 and 18 points. The only way to stay in the top 25 is to win every game from this point on. Fortunately, out of the remaining 7 games 4 of the games will be quadrant 1 or 2 games which helps to get a 6 seed if they win them all. Watched a game between UCLA, probable 2 seed and Oregon State probable 4 seed and it was impressive as to their ability to move the ball and get open shots. It will be very challenging to beat a 3 seed in round 2 if the Tigers draw a 6 seed but possible. They will have to play at a very high level and shoot better than what they have done in many recent games. They still have a long way to go. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-21-20 10:10 AM - Post#300912
I always enjoy reading the discussions regarding POY and ROY on other boards. On the women's side, many different women have POW and ROW during the season. The Tigers had Carlie win POW twice during non-conference play with Bella winning the award only once this year after the first Penn game. I believe that Ellie Mitchell won ROW one time as well. I guess that my point is that these awards are nice and all that stuff but team performance not individual performance is obviously most important. If you share the ball and do not care as to who scores, it is great for winning but not individual awards. This team may go down as one of the best if not the best in women's IL history and there is a reason for it. There is very good young talent coming into the IL women's programs and it is set up for a really high level of competition over the next several years even with the departure of Bella and other seniors. |
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JadwinGeorge Senior Posts 357 |
02-21-20 10:24 AM - Post#300919
Tiger women in Top 25 in NINE categories among D1 teams: scoring defense winning% fewest TO's scoring margin blocked shots (Bella sets new Tiger record with each one and has for a while) TO margin 3 point % defense fewest TO's per game That That's quite a resume. Bella should be unanimous POY and Berube deserves COY. Carlie unanimous first teamer IMO |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-21-20 12:20 PM - Post#300941
I agree but defense is not always high up in the fan discussion regarding awards but if you asked the 8 IL coaches, one might get a different response regarding the importance of defense. I am pretty sure that Bella, perhaps followed by Carlie would be 1 then 2 in the voting for POY as Carlie's defensive stats are very impressive plus on this team, she simply does not need to score a lot of points. The Tigers are blessed to have a C and PG, two critical positions. There is a reason why the Tigers have a 16 rpi in Division 1. If Bella wins, she will be a 3 time POY in addition to being ROY. The irony is that she will play a very different position in the pros - probably a 3 position with some time at the 2 position. She is not a natural post up center but out of necessity based on her size, she plays the position. She is fine as an interior defender playing against bigs. Her biggest challenge in the pros will be toughness as she plays like an IL player not a Power 5 player. On the men's side, Mike Smith is an incredible offensive player but the question is who will be POY and there is no slam dunk. At the end of the day, individual awards are nice but team championships are a lot nicer. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-21-20 07:52 PM - Post#301024
Harvard is impressive in the prior game and the 1st half. They could have been blown out after a slow start but they played well in the 2nd qtr. Princeton is up by 12 33-21 after being up by 12, 19-7, after 1st qtr. Other players, i.e., Bauer are stepping up tonight so far. Harvard shooting 31% and 23% on 3s'. Good test! |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-21-20 10:54 PM - Post#301175
Bella and Bauer both had the stomach flu and only played 22 and 20 minutes but Bella had 18 pts with 6 rebounds and Bauer 11/7 -- seniors. For season, the two bigs shoot FTs at 83% and 79%. Littlefield had a very tough offensive game on 1 of 10 shooting. Once again, Tigers hold other team to 27% FG and 18% 3 point shots. Harvard is a good team yet the Tiger subs played competitively with Harvard starters and the Tigers win another 20+ game. Yale. Penn and Columbia won which helps Princeton's rpi. Nolan has Tigers as #14 now with a season ending projection of #9 for an IL team. The reality is that AP is just looking for the Tigers and mid-major teams to lose. Hopefully, the Tournament committee is somewhat reasonable but that may be an unrealistic hope. Dartmouth tomorrow night and they need a healthy Bella and Taylor for Penn on Tuesday night. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-21-20 11:06 PM - Post#301176
Virus is going around campus right now, Schwieger missed the men's game with the same illness. Men's and women's basketball teams are both in the same eating club |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-22-20 12:16 PM - Post#301205
38 1/2 pt favorites tonight -- not sure that I havwe seen that big of a line in the IL. If Bella and Bauer are still under the weather and win Penn coming up Tuesday -- passing on this one. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-22-20 02:54 PM - Post#301236
https://www.masseyratings.com/cbw/ncaa-d1/ratings https://herhoopstats.com/stats/leaderboard/ The Massey computer rankings now have the Tigers at #10 in the country, while by Her Hoop Stats ratings the Tigers are at #7. Massey's score projections don't project a margin of victory under 20 for the rest of the season, which is absurd but certainly possible the way they've been playing. Wouldn't be surprised if Alarie and/or Baur sit out or play sparingly with the toughest game left on the schedule coming up in just 3 days. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-22-20 07:09 PM - Post#301252
Bella goes down on the 2nd possession of the game grabbing her knee and needed assistance to walk off. Hopefully not serious but knee injuries are scary. Cameras caught her saying something to the trainer but I'm not a good lip reader. Jadwin was silent while she was down Dartmouth raining 3s early and lead 11-4, Alarie has not returned to the bench yet |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-22-20 07:11 PM - Post#301253
Brutal start including Bella injuring knee and she is on the bench. Looked really bad but she was able to put weight on both feet but she may be out for the night -- could be serious. Dartmouth up 11-7. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-22-20 07:16 PM - Post#301255
Bella's back on the bench now and heading to the scorer's table now |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-22-20 07:25 PM - Post#301257
Thank goodness Bella is back. Bad 1st qtr 16-16. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-22-20 07:47 PM - Post#301262
34-32 at halftime. They have taken the night off on defense so far. Berube will probably be having a heart to heart talk with them. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-22-20 08:19 PM - Post#301279
Must have been quite a halftime chat by Carla. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-22-20 08:25 PM - Post#301288
Haha, switched over for the start of the men's game, was planning to watch the 4th quarter of the women's game on my laptop if it was close but looks like the Tigers have this one. Alarie with 24/10/2 with 2 steals. So good |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-22-20 08:46 PM - Post#301332
Tigers win the second half by 30 and finish with an 87-55 win. Starters all play less than 30 minutes, and Alarie puts up 28 and 12 in 26 minutes of play. Tough stretch coming up here with Penn on Tuesday and then the back to back weekend right after |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-22-20 08:50 PM - Post#301336
53 points in the 2nd half vs. giving up 23 pts, 87-55 final. Bella had 28/12 and Grace Stone stepped up with 16 pts. 1st half was a good wake up call before playing Penn on Tuesday. Not sure if it was random shooting by Dartmouth in 1st half or poor defense but you know Carla's answer on this week's podcast. Gave up 100 points on defense over weekend -- highest total of the year I believe in IL play. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-23-20 11:24 PM - Post#301601
After two weeks of few upsets in the women's Top 25, there were 7 upsets today which should help the Tigers move up perhaps 2 or 3 spots from #25 (AP) and #23 (Coaches Poll) tomorrow and Tuesday. In most rankings, their current AP is 14-16 with a projected 9-10 if they win all remaining games. I believe that the rankings do not consider the outcome of IvyMadness. As you mentioned on Tuesday, they play Penn, currently #54 with a projected number #42 assuming that they lose to Princeton on Tuesday. If they win on Tuesday and get to the finals of IvyMadness, they may get a bid on their own without winning IvyMadness although they probably need to win out to guarantee a spot or simply win IvyMadness. Penn is playing much better as reflected on what they accomplished this past weekend. Nolan has it as a 11 or 12 point win for the Tigers at home. Their big is playing much better and Padilla is a 3 pt threat -- Tigers will need to smother her. It is a rivalry game so anything can happen. If Tigers lose, it would not be a disaster as it would be a quad 1 game but obviously a win helps their NCAA seed. It is great that two top 50 teams will be representing the IL Tuesday night with one of them having a #14 rpi. Bella mentioned at the end of Saturday night that she and her teammates are excited about the prospects of playing their rival on Tuesday night == big smile on her face. Hopefully, a big crowd will be there. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-25-20 08:01 PM - Post#301739
Mitch was here pre-game. Bella’s dad is here as usual. Carla is taller than Penn’s coach even in heels. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-25-20 08:11 PM - Post#301741
Saw Will Gladson from the men's team walking around on the TV broadcast as well. Penn's zone giving the Tigers a little bit of trouble early, causing some lengthy possessions and tough shots |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-25-20 08:22 PM - Post#301744
Very strong close to the quarter, with the Tigers getting hot from 3 and pushing the lead to 21-8 at the end of the first quarter |
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Tiger69 Postdoc Posts 2825 |
02-25-20 08:31 PM - Post#301745
26-8 four minutes into 2nd quarter🤪ðŸ…. Does Berube cast spells? |
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Tiger69 Postdoc Posts 2825 |
02-25-20 08:38 PM - Post#301746
32-8. Penn scoreless for 9 minutes. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-25-20 08:39 PM - Post#301748
Defense is really locked in right now for the Tigers. Penn's also missed a few shots from in close in the 2nd, but the Tigers are doing a great job forcing turnovers |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-25-20 08:44 PM - Post#301749
Penn scores just 5 points, all from Padilla, in the 2nd quarter and only makes 1 FG. 34-13 Tigers heading into the locker room |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-25-20 08:48 PM - Post#301751
Tigers played very well other than the close of the 1sr half. Padilla is an impressive player. Bella took Parker out of the game so far but it is early. Penn is a good team with talent and a very good coach but Tiger defense challenges everything. Never take anything for granted. I doubt that Carla will allow it but 20 minutes to play. |
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Tiger69 Postdoc Posts 2825 |
02-25-20 08:51 PM - Post#301754
Tigers 34-13 at half. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-25-20 09:01 PM - Post#301756
Men’s team is here - impressive! |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-25-20 09:22 PM - Post#301758
The men's and women's teams are both really supportive of each other, both have been at each other's games during the non-conference season when their schedules aren't conflicted. Even a couple of years ago when the men's team didn't qualify for Ivy Madness, a group of men's players went to the Palestra to support the women's team. I am curious to see if the Ivy League scheduling change next season makes it easier to follow both men's and women's teams. The way it is now, I feel like every weekend I can only really focus on one game because the men and women typically play at the same time or within an hour of each other. And the men's/women's teams never get to watch or support each other because always in opposite locations with the exceptions of the rare men's/women's back to backs. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-25-20 09:52 PM - Post#301763
Wow, 80-44 final, Tigers rolled the whole night. With 4 games left in the regular season, the Tigers have won their first 10 Ivy games by double digits, with the smallest margin of victory being 14 at Harvard. They ranked 8th in the Massey Computer rankings entering tonight and may move up even more by a function of the margin of victory after tonight |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-25-20 11:02 PM - Post#301771
Spent a fair amount of time on the floor to try to better understand why the Tigers are so good as they were playing Top 50 competition tonight. It certainly helps to have talent and the Tigers do have a late 1st round WNBA draft pick at 6'5" plus Littlefield has a real gift for the game at PG even shooting 1-11 tonight. But Penn has a lot of talent especially Padilla but they also have several other good players. Why? Although Penn played hard, the Tiger's intensity level was off the charts. Total domination of the boards, contesting every pass and every shot with few exceptions. Why? My best guess is that it is simply a function of how well Carla and her staff teaches the players how to play defense plus being able to connect with her players. I watched her constructively get into Carlie's face when she made a poor defensive play at the end of the 1st half even being up by 21 pts. Coach has a gift and gives the team confidence and a mission. Great teams are always fun to watch. I was sitting with some Quakerite fans when the score was 7-6 and they were pretty confident but one could tell that the Tigers were mentally and physically at a very high level from the opening tap. Tigers moved up from 14 to 11 on Nolan and Penn moved up from 52 to 46 with the loss. The caliber of IL women's play this season is helping all teams from a rpi perspective. Do the Tigers have an opportunity to make a run at the NCAAW tournament - perhaps but they still have to improve significantly on the offensive end. Time will tell. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-26-20 09:46 AM - Post#301779
Final comment about last night is that the bench play by Tigers vs. Penn was so disproportionate that it was basically 8 players against 6 players. Freshmen Ellie Mitchell had 13 pts/ 8 rebounds/ and 6 steals for instance. Padilla single handily gave Penn temporary life in the 3rd quarter by hitting 3 3s' in a row with a hand in her face. Other than the 1st qtr against Dartmouth when they hit 4 out of 5 3s and towards the end of the Iowa game, no team has shot 3 pointers against the Tigers. It gets back to the debate on other forums regarding randomness and making shots. The rules of randomness probably apply to some degree if the opposing team does not not play great defense. After watching the Tiger women play this year, shutdown defense greatly reduces, almost eliminates, the randomness factor certainly over the course of a game. Teams actually have difficulty even getting 3 pt shots off against the Tigers in addition to 2 pointers. Tiger's offense is not a great high flying offense but if you constantly win by greater than 20 points, by definition you are taking so called randomness out of a game. Granted, it is probably easier in the women's game with less one on one play. It will be far more challenging if and when they play a #3 or #4 seed in the NCAAW Tournament. Hopefully, Mitch learned something last evening after sitting thru the entire game. |
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Tiger84 Senior Posts 384 |
02-26-20 12:38 PM - Post#301791
Maybe the best thing about last night's game is that they went 11/22 from 3pt range. That's been missing all year, since Gabrielle Rush graduated. If they can continue to shoot like that, Sweet 16 is a real possibility. Without it, it's an uphill climb. |
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SecS3 Junior Posts 246 |
02-26-20 01:12 PM - Post#301795
Padilla getting hot in the third quarter was probably a blessing in disguise for the Tigers as they will undoubtedly run into someone that is capable of doing that in the tournament. While the team's offensive struggles at times can indeed be frustrating, I think this game just further proved that if the offense is making some shots and playing at a reasonably competent rate, they are pretty much impossible to beat in the league or by teams on par with Ivy teams. And most of the teams in the league are more than respectable. It's tough when probably the only chance you have is hoping that Princeton's offense is really off because with that defense, you're never out of a game. Puts all the more pressure on your defense to try and get stops and you know that's a tall order when Bella is on the other team. You have to be a really good team to beat the Tigers if they're shooting the ball half way decent. Oh and Ellie Mitchell is the Energizer Bunny on steroids. |
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Tiger69 Postdoc Posts 2825 |
02-26-20 02:03 PM - Post#301816
Looking forward, it will be interesting to see if Berube is as good a recruiter as Banghart. Past success should work in her favor. If she is, good times ahead for Tiger women cagers. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-26-20 02:31 PM - Post#301823
Very good question indeed if Carla will be a very good recruiter. She is more laid back than Courtney personality wise other than how she coaches. She seems to set a very close knit family experience. Was looking at what the Tiger coaches and team were wearing last night. Maybe, a greater concern might be if a Power 5 school identifies her as someone who can take their program to a different level. If she does damage in the NCAAW Tournament, it will give her greater exposure. What was surreal last night was that Penn players, even when they had open shots rushed shots and missed them based on a Tiger prowling over their shoulder from the opening whistle. Reminded one of QB Darnold seeing ghosts against the Patriots. If they ever get to play against the Oregons' of the world, those players will play with a different mindset for sure. |
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Tiger69 Postdoc Posts 2825 |
02-26-20 07:01 PM - Post#301864
I am hopeful that she won’t jump at the first offer, but stick around a few years to build on what Courtney left her. It is always nice to have coaches get bonded before they move up as they may send back dividends by identifying good recruits not suitable to their new position. |
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JDP Masters Student Posts 620 |
02-26-20 08:09 PM - Post#301868
Given how long Carla spent at her prior institution - with tremendous long term success - i suspect her utility function is not driven by compensation ... but by the quality of the program she can lead, the overall institution brand and family considerations Being a coach in the #8 conference with strong institutional support is not a bad gig ... there are likely a limited number of power 5 and Big East jobs that are appealing to Carla and would be a great fit for her ... but those don’t come along that often or at the right time for a move. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-26-20 11:11 PM - Post#301884
If the Tigers go undefeated, it will be ironic that they will be playing on a visiting court similar to the Tiger men 4 years ago as part of the lunacy of IvyMadness --- great reward for going undefeated. Fortunately, if Carla's group goes undefeated, they will still go to the Big Dance unlike the men. For seeding purposes, it would obviously increase the odds to win IvyMadness if they had homecourt but that does not matter in Robin's World. In fairness, IvyMadness is less painful when the league has the opportunity to send two representatives. |
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SecS3 Junior Posts 246 |
02-27-20 12:13 AM - Post#301888
Can we at least let Coach Berube finish her first season before we start speculating as to where she will go next. If she can somehow manage to bring in Olivia Miles I think all questions about her ability to recruit will be answered. That's probably a long shot though. The real test will be after next year because all of this year's and next year's recruits probably already had Princeton on their radar before Berube was hired. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-27-20 03:17 PM - Post#301963
On GoPrincetons.com website, a wonderful video which illustrates the special relationship of Bella and her Dad, Mark, who was a 2 time All American at Duke and 5 years in the NBA. He is literally at every game and provides Bella with so much support and positive reinforcement. Perhaps, someone can cut and paste the video. On Carla's podcast, she shared that Bella, Bauer, and Carlie had to be quarantined prior to the start of 5 games in 8 days due to a stomach virus just before the Harvard game last Friday night. She also talked about the quality of team play against Penn and especially the contribution of Mitchell and the bench. |
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westcoast Senior Posts 303 |
02-27-20 03:51 PM - Post#301968
Here is a link to the Bella/Mark Alarie video: https://youtu.be/Upclr_Ov34I |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-27-20 09:33 PM - Post#301986
ESPN just came out with the leading candidate for POY for each conference with a back up. AS to the IL, they had Bella as #1 with Parker from Penn as #2. Surprised by Parker as I thought Emsbo from Yale or Padilla from Penn would be #2 but these selections are so difficult to make as they are just an opinion. It is the old Earnie Banks debate if he deserved two MVPs for a last place team -- so judgmental Statistically, Bella's offensive stats are less than last year's numbers but so much has to do with the role assigned by the coach to the player and the team. Always strikes me as the best way to evaluate POY is go to the eight IL coaches and ask them who they would take in a pick up game as #1 and #2. You would think that IL coaches would pick Bella. Over the last few games, you can see that Carla is turnin to Bella especgially in key moments. As the competition gets tougher, I suspect that Bella will receive the ball more and more similar to what happened when the Tigers faced their most challenging competition of the year against Iowa on the road. |
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rbg Postdoc Posts 3076 |
02-27-20 09:53 PM - Post#301987
Alarie is the obvious top choice. For me, #2 would be a toss-up between Littlefield and Padilla. Padilla's numbers are huge, but Littlefield has good numbers, runs the offense and is stronger on defense. If I had to make a choice, I would go with Littlefield. Parker has put up some good numbers, but she has been much less effective and consistent this year. Emsbo has improved from last year and had a very good year but Barahman still seems to be the leader of Yale's team. While not in the mix for POY or the backup, there are other very talented players who will be in the mix for all-league honors. Columbia - Hsu and Dunn. Harvard - Mullaney and Boehm Cornell - Widmann and Bagwell-Katalinich Brown - Gaziano Dartmouth - McKenna |
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whitakk Masters Student Posts 523 |
02-28-20 09:24 AM - Post#301993
Her Hoop Stats has Princeton #6 in their power rating, ahead of Mississippi State, Stanford, Louisville. (South Dakota also representing mid-majors at #8.) |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-28-20 10:44 AM - Post#302008
Also #7 on the Massey Ratings, which has them as the #1 defense and #45 offense |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-28-20 11:35 AM - Post#302018
Unfortunately, the Tiger's incredible rpi ranking has not correlated to the AP and to a lesser degree the USA Today Coaches Poll. Additionally, it has not been translated into the NCAA Selection committee ranking of the top 16 teams. I looked up the names of the members of the selection committee and of the 10 or so members only one is from the northeast, A-10. There are some mid-major representatives but they are from the South or West. If the Tigers keep on winning and a few teams just above them lose, the Tigers could crawl into a #5 seed but more likely will be a 6 seed. A mid-major and a very good Missouri State team lost last night which helps. The problem and challenge is that the Tigers cannot lose one additional game including IvyMadness to be a #6 or #5 seed. They may be actually better off being a #6 seed as he keeps them away from # #1 seed for the first 3 games but one never knows. The IL women have never enjoyed such a high conference rating so there may be a lot of legitimate disbelievers. The best way to win over the NCAA selection committee down the road is for the Tigers to make a good run in this tournament. It is certainly an argument as to why the IL should send it's best performing team to the NCAA tournament especially if the league is a one bid league. Need to overcome doubters that are out there regarding IL play. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-28-20 07:24 PM - Post#302069
Got off to a very strong start, 14-0, and offense was in sync but did not sustain the offense over the last several minutes. Defense was solid, 21-7 after 1st qtr. Bella and Myers with 6 pts and Cunningham with 5 -- Littlefield is still off on her shots. |
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Tiger69 Postdoc Posts 2825 |
02-28-20 07:33 PM - Post#302071
Off to the races 31-9 with about 5 minutes left in half |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-28-20 07:50 PM - Post#302072
Defense remains in a shutdown mode, 37-12. Offense turned the ball over too many times in the 1st half. Need to protect the ball against tougher competition in the tournaments. Bella is picking up her game as the season is winding down -- 11pts/5rb/2blocks/2steals . She is now 34 pts from all time scoring record even with 12 missed games over the last two years. She will probably be the first 3 time POY in the IL as well as being ROY. Announcer mentioned that no IL team, men or women, have achieved a higher rpi than Tiger women currently have. |
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Tiger69 Postdoc Posts 2825 |
02-28-20 08:13 PM - Post#302076
HT P 37 B 12 Brown has 16 turnovers. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-28-20 10:42 PM - Post#302225
Mission accomplished with an easy win --- Brown has some talented players. With the 17 pt Yale win over Penn, Tigers have already earned at least a tie for IL regular season crown. Columbia beat Harvard on the road so it looks like they are in IvyMadness and Columbia has dramatically improved recently. Tiger game against Columbia on the road next week may be competitive and tomorrow night's game at home against Yale could be as well. Defense was not as intense in the 2nd half tonight but game was well in hand and subs got a lot of play time. |
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SecS3 Junior Posts 246 |
02-28-20 11:17 PM - Post#302240
With Penn's loss, the Tigers won the title outright. They're four up with three to go. |
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whitakk Masters Student Posts 523 |
02-29-20 01:29 AM - Post#302281
Remember when multiple voters picked them to finish third or worse in the preseason poll? |
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SecS3 Junior Posts 246 |
02-29-20 01:47 PM - Post#302346
Yes, and that was absolutely mind boggling at the time and is even more so now. Apparently they thought Bella left early for the WNBA. Otherwise, SERIOUSLY??!! |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-29-20 05:34 PM - Post#302377
I do think that Princeton having a new coach may have hampered expectations for the Tigers plus Penn was expected to be a more formidable opponent based on having key players back with the addition of Padilla. Predictions are significantly off on the men's side as well although injuries have played a more significant factor on the men's side. Looking back, I had fairly high expectations for Bella and crew although what convinced me very early is that without Bella, they beat 3 very good teams with two of them on the road. Most convincing was their dominating win against FGCU, #30 rpi. It meant that Carlie and the other players could beat top 75 teams by themselves. Throw in Bella on the defensive end, and you have the nation's leading defensive team in the country. Additionally, one could have predicted greater success for the Tigers based on Bella making the Pan Am team and having the 3rd highest minutes even though she was 6 man. Coaches also had on the floor in crunch time at the end of tight games vs. headed Miami Center which said a lot. Pan Am coaches had her playing center also even though it is not her natural position. Based on five games remaining, Tigers probably are going to experience one or two tough games which is a good thing to get them ready for NCAAW Tournament. When they played Penn on Tuesday, it was helpful that they had a bad defensive 1st half against Dartmouth on the prior Friday and a sloppy second half Saturday night against Harvard. It could be a drawback when they play in the big tournament that they have not experienced 4th qtr pressure, ie. Iowa and Seton Hall. Many of these predictions, especially with IL teams, are perhaps off base partially due to real knowledge. They probably make some of their judgements off raw numbers alone versus considering all factors including the human eye and what is in the heart and head of players/teams and finally, Coach Berube's performance has been simply outstanding - coaches matter. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-29-20 06:10 PM - Post#302384
Slow start again against Yale, 8-0 Bulldogs with 5:41 to play, Tigers 0/6 from the field |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-29-20 06:40 PM - Post#302388
Grace Stone's 3 gives the Tigers their first lead of the game with 4 minutes left at 21-19, and the Tigers are back on track behind a typically strong 2nd quarter. Outscoring Yale 13-3 in the 2nd Q with 1:30 to play, Tigers now lead 27-19 |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-29-20 06:44 PM - Post#302389
Tigers hold Yale to 1/15 from the field and just 3 points in the 2nd quarter and 27-19 is out halftime score |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-29-20 06:55 PM - Post#302392
I take everything back regarding the possible benefits of being in a tough contest towards the end of the game after watching the beginning of this game. Be careful what you ask for -- I guess. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
02-29-20 07:44 PM - Post#302407
Looks like the Tigers will hold onto a win with a margin of victory around 15-18. Team rebounds well after poor starts but would definitely be nice to avoid some of those poor starts. Having players as good as Alarie and Littlefield gives a margin for error against Ivy League teams, but better teams in the NCAAs will probably be tougher. Still, this is a really fun team to watch. They're very aggressive on hustle plays, and Alarie is a legitimate WNBA player. Congrats to Bella and Taylor on their final home game at Jadwin, 2 great careers in Tiger uniforms |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
02-29-20 07:55 PM - Post#302410
A bit of a struggle tonight especially after a 1-10 start, defense really raised its intensity level in the 2nd quarter. Tigers were down 12-0 or 16-0 against Yale at Yale so they had some prior experience as to a slow start against Yale. They may be playing them one more time in IvyMadness. Yale is a good team. After game, Bella said that she was pulled by Carla in the 1st qtr because she was too ramped up. Although the margin was less than ideal, it should not hurt them in the rankings as Yale is a top 60 team. Will it be a good lesson down the road -- hopefully so. It gives Carla some ammunition to keep the team focused. Biggest concern remains on the offensive end but the ball will wind up in Bella and Carlie's hands more and more and the other players need to be great role players. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-01-20 10:11 AM - Post#302509
Littlefield's offensive game came to life last evening which is sorely needed for the NCAAW Tournament. Bella's 19/13 with 4 assists shows her increasing role on the offensive side of the ball. Both will be needed if they are going to make a run. Not sure if they will Tigers will be better off as a #6 seed vs. #5 seed as they avoid a #1 team in the Sweet 16 if they can get there. There is a pretty big difference in the quality of the #1 vs. #2 seeds, particularly this year. Based on remaining game projections, they may wind up as a #5 seed especially if they play Penn and Yale in IvyMadness and win. They should move up one or two spots in AP and Coaches Poll this week with 3 comfortable wins, 2 of them against top 65 rpi teams. Still a long way to go. Time will tell. |
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Tiger84 Senior Posts 384 |
03-02-20 05:39 PM - Post#302737
Depends...would you rather maximize a shot at a trip to the Elite Eight or optimize around the Sweet 16? A 6 gives you a better shot at the Elite Eight since you wouldn't have to face a 1 seed in the Round of 16. Not that they have any control over that. Keep playing, keep winning, and let the chips fall where they may. We've gotten to root for some special teams--the '97-98 men, the '14-'15 women. This group might outachieve all of those Tiger teams since the VBK era. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-02-20 07:54 PM - Post#302770
Agree that the best advice is to just keep on trying to win and getting the highest seed possible. There is no guarantee that you get the best draw in round 1 or 2 but the higher the seed, historically the better the results in the aggregate. AP moved the Tigers up from #23 to #21 -- Coaches Poll tomorrow. ESPN bracketologist moved the Tigers up to #5 seed today. Depending on how other teams perform for the remainder of the year and in their competitive Power 5 tournaments, a #5 seed is certainly possible. In order to raise the profile of the IL, the bare minimum is that the Tigers would need at least one win and a very competitive game against a strong team in round 2 but to really gain recognition, they need to get to the Final 16 and play a very competitive game in the 3rd round. This team has some special gifts that could make it a memorable one but you never know and they could get knocked out in round #1. Time will tell. |
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sparman PhD Student Posts 1359 
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03-02-20 08:36 PM - Post#302773
I know it doesn't mean much, but during yesterday's broadcast of Maryland-Minnesota (women) game, the announcers mentioned several programs performing well this year in context of coach of the year consideration, and included Tigers. Such recognition cannot hurt when coaches vote in their polls. |
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SecS3 Junior Posts 246 |
03-03-20 02:52 PM - Post#302854
Tigers 17th in the coaches poll this week. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-03-20 07:03 PM - Post#302892
Tigers 17th in the coaches poll this week. Big jump, 4 spots, for the Tigers this week. Beating Penn and Take, top 60 teams, certainly helped plus several teams above them lost. It probably is going to be difficult to make the final cut, 16 spots, by the NCAAW Tournament Committee. It is but possible but two or three teams must lose above them and somehow the Tigers play and beat both Yale and Penn during IvyMadness. One concern is that Columbia has dramatically improved during the IL season and the Tigers play on the road against them. If only, they did not lose the 6 minute lead with 2 minutes to go in OT on the road. |
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SecS3 Junior Posts 246 |
03-04-20 12:44 PM - Post#302972
"If only, they did not lose the 6 point lead with 2 minutes to go in OT on the road." How true. That loss becomes more and more painful as the season goes on. If the Tigers finish the year with no other losses, it would have made for a second undefeated season. Truly remarkable. The other 'what if' that struck me while watching the Yale game was just imagine if the Emsbo twins hadn't decided to go their separate ways in college and Camilla also came to Princeton. How good would this team have been with her along side Bella in the front court? No regrets, just a thought. |
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rbg Postdoc Posts 3076 |
03-04-20 12:57 PM - Post#302978
Tigers were named the Team of the Week by the NCAA. https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-women /article... |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-04-20 06:57 PM - Post#303022
Says a lot about IL women's conference this year that Princeton could get this type of award by only playing IL competition but Penn and Yale's rpi certainly helped the cause to earn Team of the Week. If, unlikely, Tigers get in the top 16 as per NCAAW Tournament committee, I believe that the first two rounds of the tournament would be at Jadwin, obviously a big advantage. If not for Iowa, Tiger fans would be watching the NCAAW tournaments games at Jadwin. How ironic is it that they go on the road for IvyMadness -- it would be great to have Robin explain. |
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Tiger69 Postdoc Posts 2825 |
03-04-20 10:51 PM - Post#303039
Ivy Madness is well named. I hope that this is not overconfident to say. But, I really don’t see anyone stopping the women in the silly tournament. They are head and shoulders above the rest of the League. It would take a major event to stop them before the NCAAs. GO TIGERS! |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-05-20 07:03 PM - Post#303136
Ivy Madness is well named. I hope that this is not overconfident to say. But, I really don’t see anyone stopping the women in the silly tournament. They are head and shoulders above the rest of the League. It would take a major event to stop them before the NCAAs. GO TIGERS! This weekend, the Columbia game is probably going to be more challenging than Cornell and it may be far more challenging than one might think. Nolan has it only as a 15 pt spread. Columbia has won the prior 6 games with 5 of them pretty handily. Columbia's coach, former Princeton Assistant Coach, is very good and she has a team that is young but maturing. Columbia will be a player over the next 2 to 3 years. Coach Berube on her podcast received a bunch of questions regarding IvyMadness and the NCAAW Tournament. She wanted no part of the discussion as not only did she give the normal coach talk of one game at a time but it is actually convincing based on her comments. She did share that she watched her former team, Tufts, lose in the conference final after being 26-0 but they are going to the NCAA Tournament. Banghart's NC team lost the last 6 in a row after being 16-6 and got knocked out of the ACC Tournament but she will get NC to improve next year. Finally, Bella made the NCAAW first team players of the week. Hopefully, Bella will help the Tigers in the seeding process but probably not. |
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whitakk Masters Student Posts 523 |
03-06-20 01:05 AM - Post#303186
If not for Iowa, Tiger fans would be watching the NCAAW tournaments games at Jadwin. uh we do remember what happened the last time Princeton was undefeated... |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-06-20 09:29 AM - Post#303196
uh we do remember what happened the last time Princeton was undefeated... Very fair point and perhaps they will receive the same disrespect this year -- it is indeed possible. Always thought that the Bella factor might help this year's Tigers as to seeding as they have a talented big that has played big time USA basketball but I may be simply optimistic. In any event, no matter where they are seeded, they should be competitive in game #1 and possibly game #2 but the quality of women's basketball is on the rise. The reality is that they cannot afford to lose a single game of the 4 remaining. |
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rbg Postdoc Posts 3076 |
03-06-20 10:51 AM - Post#303211
Of course anything is possible, but it is hard to see this team losing any of the 4 remaining games. ESPNW has the Tigers listed as a #5 seed, playing in Corvallis and taking on the A-10 champs. The second round would be a potential game with Oregon State. High Post Hoops has the Tigers listed as a #5 seed and facing Tennessee in the 1st round at Chicago. The second round would be a matchup against either DePaul or Bucknell. http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basket ball/brac... https://highposthoops.com/2020/03/03/womens-bas ket... If I had my choices, I think I would take the trip to Corvalis, since I think Oregon State is a beatable team. The potential Sweet 16 matchups would be South Carolina or Oregon, which would be really, really tough. Of course, they could always be a #6 seed and sent to Raleigh for the 3rd year in a row. Then, they could face NC State in round 2 and make it a year where the Wolfpack lose games to Coach Banghart's UNC and the Tigers. |
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Tiger84 Senior Posts 384 |
03-06-20 11:34 PM - Post#303332
Some interesting results in the WBB top 25, along with the win over Columbia. Iowa is down 30 to Ohio State in the 4th. Charlie Creme has them as a 4 seed and one wonders if the Tigers might pass them in his bracket. (Overtime loss or not) Texas A&M lost by one to #25 Arkansas. Creme has A&M as a #5. And Northwestern lost to an unranked Michigan team. Creme has the team from Evanston as a 3 seed...might be a stretch but passing NW might be feasible. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-07-20 12:21 AM - Post#303336
Somewhat concerned about this game going into the contest. Columbia is a good young upcoming team. They play very hard and Columbia did a great job in defending Bella. Bella had a taped up left hand and she has one of her worst offensive games in a long time but she played great defense and rebounded well. She did finally break the career scoring record at Princeton. It was a 9 pt game with 12 minutes left in the game. Tigers played poorly on the offensive end until the end of the 3rd qtr but defense and rebounding were the norm. Columbia played very good defensively. Not sure which team(s) you want the Tigers to play in IvyMadness but everyone should watch out for Columbia down the road. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-07-20 12:24 AM - Post#303337
Wrong -- right hand not left hand taped, shooting hand, and she was in pain for most of the game. It will be interesting to see if she plays tomorrow. |
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rbg Postdoc Posts 3076 |
03-07-20 06:25 PM - Post#303449
Alarie starting. scored 8 in the first quarter. She has something on her right hand, wrapped around her thumb. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-07-20 06:27 PM - Post#303451
Sloppy lazy 1st qtr even with Bella doing well 8pts/4 rebounds; 17-14. Carla needs them to tighten up defense and protect the ball offensively. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-07-20 08:40 PM - Post#303508
That was in the top 5 of poorly played games this year. They will not win against a #11 or #12 seed in round 1 playing like that but today's performance gives Carla some ammunition to get them refocused which should be helpful. They are playing overconfident. They should be fine but.... |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-10-20 04:40 PM - Post#304067
You never know but the cancellation of IvyMadness will probably have little if any effect on Princeton's NCAAW seed unless they lost. A win against Columbia in the semis would have no effect and a win against Yale/Penn would have helped a little bit but a loss would have been a problem for sure. Coaches Poll has the Tigers remaining with a #17 ranking -- AP is a #22. Nolan has them with a #9 rpi. ESPN has the Tigers as a #6 seed which is where they probably will be assigned. ESPN has them currently playing against #11 Tennessee in the 1st round and #3 Northwestern, #11 rpi, in the second round. Naturally, all this assumes that they will play the tournament. |
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Albert08 Masters Student Posts 578 |
03-10-20 07:14 PM - Post#304100
The Charlie Creme Bracketology also has it that if Princeton were to get to the Sweet Sixteen, they would most likely face UConn, and you'd have the cliche storyline of the old coach against his protege - Geno v. Carla. Good for marketing. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-10-20 10:55 PM - Post#304143
The Charlie Creme Bracketology also has it that if Princeton were to get to the Sweet Sixteen, they would most likely face UConn, and you'd have the cliche storyline of the old coach against his protege - Geno v. Carla. Good for marketing. It would be really cool if somehow Carla could face Geno in the Sweet 16. Tigers would probably get blown out but it would be a marketing coup for the Tigers and IL. It would also be cool if they played a storied program like Tennessee in Round #1. It is distinctly possible that Tigers lose a round 1 or 2 game but it is better for the program to get recognition against established programs -- especially if they make a run. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-11-20 06:09 PM - Post#304311
Bella and Carlie were unanimous 1st team selections -- congratulations. Bella was named POY for the 3rd straight year and now is a 4 time 1st team award winner and she was previously ROY. Bella is also one of the 5 finalists for the national mid-major award, Becky Hammon award. Carla was also named as Coach of the Year which is truly impressive. Julia Cunningham received Honorable Mention as a sophomore. If there was any surprise for Carla, it was that a Tiger did not receive Defensive POY which was given to Penn's Parker. On Coach Berube podcast, she commented how disappointed that the team is not playing in Boston this upcoming weekend. She praised her team and coaching staff for their commitment. Carla was going to have a practice today and sounds like she needs to get the team refocused for the NCAAW Tournament. Not sure how everything is going to play out with NCAAW. Who knows if the Tournament will be held. Most important issue is obviously everyone's health. It would be great to see the Tigers finish out Bella's career but far more important is health vs a basketball game(s). |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-11-20 06:23 PM - Post#304312
One would get a feeling that Berube is not all that fond of these type of awards as what counts in her head is wins and losses by the team not the individual. I really do not care as to who gets recognized or not as it is normally offensively number driven vs total contribution value of a player. Obviously, the Tigers would not have the 10th rpi team in the country if it was driven by only 2 IL 1st teamers and a honorable mention player. These awards are nice but sometimes non-sensical and really do not matter. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-12-20 07:02 PM - Post#304495
Tigers will not be able to show the rest of the country how good this team was but it is understandable and smart to cancel the NCAAW Tournament as safety must always come first. Bella also has received notification that she is one of the 5 finalists for the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award. She will be playing in the WNBA next season which should be fun to watch her play at the next level. Tigers will be good next year but not as good as this year plus there will be strong competition from Columbia, Penn and others. IL women are definitely on the upswing but it is unlikely that there will be a team as dominant as this year's Tigers. Final plus for the Tigers is Coach Berube. |
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whitakk Masters Student Posts 523 |
03-12-20 11:48 PM - Post#304510
One shot away from becoming the first Ivy League team ever to finish a season undefeated. |
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SecS3 Junior Posts 246 |
03-13-20 11:12 AM - Post#304541
Ummmmm...You weren't around in 2014-15? |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
03-13-20 11:17 AM - Post#304543
Key word is "finish"…2014-15 team ended the season with a loss in the NCAAs at 31-1. If this year's team had beaten Iowa, with the postseason canceled they would have finished the season undefeated at 27-0 with no more games to play |
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SecS3 Junior Posts 246 |
03-13-20 01:17 PM - Post#304554
Sorry about that. I guess I don't look at it that way. It would have required the dreaded asterisk if that were the case. |
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welcometothejungle Masters Student Posts 789 |
03-13-20 01:40 PM - Post#304557
Really a shame that this team's season ended like this, given how well they performed in the regular season. Would have been fun to watch them in the NCAAs. Similar to other mid major teams on the men's side like Dayton, San Diego State, BYU who had some of their best teams ever, nationally ranked teams that would have been very competitive in the tournament this season, but won't be able to see them do it. Unfortunate all around |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-17-20 09:02 PM - Post#304777
Interesting yet painful to watch simulations of the NCAAW's Tournament. Most of the simulations have Tigers as a #5 seed. On the women's side, it appears that they will show results day by day. One site ran the IvyMadness Tournament results and had the Tigers upset Harvard by 2 pts and then lose by 15 to Yale. Sites have Yale as a #12 or #13 seed although these sites needed to project the results of conference tournaments for one bid leagues on the mens and womens side. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
03-27-20 10:02 PM - Post#305180
Fansided - High Hoops is a website that provided in-depth coverage of the women's college basketball scene. They have been running a slow methodical simulation of the NCAAW Tournament. Their model currently the Tiger women facing South Carolina, #1 seed, in the Sweet 16 after beating #12 seed Dayton by 17 points in round one and Iowa by 13 pts on Iowa's home court. Although the simulation is only a projection, it just raises questions if the Tigers could have truly made a run in the tournament. If Harvard had been injury free on the men's side, it may have been possible to have two IL teams playing in the Sweet 16 with obviously Harvard generating more publicity for the IL based on the men's tournament. It is going to be very tough to create a similar situation during the next several years - the league could use the PR, |
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whitakk Masters Student Posts 523 |
04-04-20 05:55 PM - Post#305781
Not the article I expected to write when I signed up to cover the Ivy League Tournament for PAW, but here we are: https://paw.princeton.edu/article/womens-basket bal... |
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JadwinGeorge Senior Posts 357 |
04-04-20 07:11 PM - Post#305791
Excellent reporting |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
04-05-20 07:16 PM - Post#305852
Very nice articles indeed. It will be interesting to see on April 17th if Bella will be the first IL player drafted in the 1st round since, I believe, Armond Hill in 1976. She did receive recognition on the AP Honorable All American list but her injury this year plus her unselfish play hurt her numbers. She would have had the opportunity to go against big time competition at the NCAAW Tournament if held. She is one of the five finalists for the PF player of the year as well -- truly a missed opportunity for the Tigers and IL. |
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bradley PhD Student Posts 1842 |
04-13-20 08:19 AM - Post#306166
WNBA draft is Friday -- most Mock Draft Boards have Bella going in the 1st round somewhere between 7-11 slots although one Board has her as #5. The summary is that she is the one of the players that may have a greater upside than others based on her multi-dimensional skills. There is some mention that she has faced good competition but not great competition due to IL pedigree. It is probably not as important as to what slot she goes but which team she is drafted by --good fit. Looking at prior drafts, there is certainly no consistent correlation as to performance vs. where you were picked although there is more of a correlation than the NBA. Draft will be obviously remote and covered by ESPN. Hopefully, Olivia Miles -- #2 ranked 2021 5 star recruit decides to come to Princeton although unlikely. She stated that she was coming to Princeton in all likelihood prior to Courtney leaving. Princeton and UNC are on her final 5 schools. |
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