RebKell's Junkie Boards

[letsski]

UC Davis of The Big West

Last year's BW tournament champions; this year currently in 4th with three conference game remaining.

Interesting facts:

Davis runs the Princeton offense exclusively and a trapping zone know as "Buzz". Due to their unusual offense and defense, Davis tends to pull non conference upsets every year. They have defeated Pac 12's Washington State and Washington and the ACC's South Carolina over the last two years.

Head Coach Jen Gross has been asked, and consented, to work with Norte Dame and Stanford coaches to help them install aspects of the Princeton offense and "Buzz" defense. Stanford ran "Buzz" against Tennessee for over a quarter this year, while ND ran parts of the Princeton O this year.

Davis Asian connection: Has three Japanese American starters, plus a Japanese American asst. coach an Asian team manager and Asian Director of BO. (Jeremy Lin has nothing on the Aggies!)

D1: Davis made the final transition from D2 to D1 in 2008 and qualified for their 1st NCAA tournament appearance during the 2010/2011 season.,

[snowstormxu]

I guess I'll address the Xavier situation. It's been a rough year, no doubt. The program is guaranteed to lose 20 games this year for the first time since the early years of Mark Ehlen. The team currently is playing with only 7 players due to graduation, defection (when Kevin McGuff left), and suspension. They only played 6 players in Wednesday's 30 point loss to Dayton (including no point guard and 2 guards total). At this point, it's about Coach Amy Waugh setting up what kind of program she wants in the future, recruiting players to fit the system, and just surviving this season.

Here's what happened since last year:

Amber Harris, Ta'Shia Phillips, Special Jennings, and Megan Askew graduate, leaving only one starter on the team (Tyeasha Moss).

Katie Rutan then suddenly decides to transfer to Maryland, despite saying that she would stick around if Coach Waugh was hired. I don't think anyone saw it coming.

Then incoming Junior College point guard Tykeisha O'Neill tears her ACL in the pre-season. Out for the season.

Of the three freshman that McGuff recruited for this year, all but one decide to go elsewhere, leaving only Liz Stratman as the only incoming player. After 10 games, she decided it was not a good fit, and she transfers out.

Finally, the team's second leading scorer, Lynette Holmes, is suspended indefinitely at mid-season for breaking team rules. She has missed 13 games now and probably won't be back this year.

I think most people knew before the year started that it was going to be rough. You don't lose 2 WNBA players without at least a little decline. Add in all the other factors and you have the makings of a poor season. Coach Waugh gets a free pass from me this season. It'll take a couple of seasons for me to determine if this is going anywhere. I will say that the team doesn't give up and continues to play hard, something we didn't always see from Coach McGuff's teams. I'm in a wait and see mode right now.

[NoDakSt]

[NoDakSt]

Michigan State.

Up and down season for the Spartans. It started with losing Madisson Williams to her second ACL in as many season. Her 6'7" frame was going to help offset the loss of talent that exited E. Lansing last spring witht he graduation of Cetera Washington, Kalisha Keane, and Brittany Thomas.

Add to this that the top returning scorer and defender, LyKendra Johnson was working her way back into game shape after giving birth in late June, and fans could see that Merchant and her staff would have a challenging outing.

Preseason debacles were aplenty, including losses to Villanova, Pittsburgh(?!?!), and Texas. But the ship arighted itself briefly in the B1G when Michigan State swept their first four foes (well three, as Indiana was on the early portion twice) including surviving Penn State on national TV.

Then came four BiG losses in a row. Including Minnesota and illinois.

But since that time, the Spartans have proven to be te second hottest team in the BiG next to Iowa, winning 6 out of 7, sweeping Penn State on the year, and beating Purdue and the Huskers.

Porshe Poole and LyKendra Johnson lead the team but a couple of key frosh have stepped it up. Kiana Johnson is proving the future is now with solid play in the point and Becca Mills is making the most of Williams red shirt year to contribute in the post. I don't expect a second weekend in the NCAAs for Michigan State THIS season butthe Dance Experience should give the talented youngsters enough of a taste for March basketball to whet their appetite for the next 3 years.

[IM in OC]

[taropatch]

That Xavier situation is down right brutal. Didn't realize they were having this many problems. What a way for Waugh to start her head coaching career at Xavier. Time will tell if she is in way over her head. This story has been repeated time and again: Because he/she is an alumnus with an adequate resume, he/she deserves a shot. I don't have a problem with that. Hope it works out for the former Xavier star. Yes, this is the same program that had Stanford on the ropes with seconds remaining on the clock in Madness 2010.

[NoDakSt]

[dinkytown]

Minnesota - 14-15, 6-9 Big Ten (@ PSU remains)

The future: Rachel Banham.

A top 3 candidate for FOY in the B1G Banham has been the most consistent player on offense. Her assist numbers are bad for a PG but she has needed to be the one to score leading the team with 16.3 PPG (18.6 in conference play).

Positives: Banham. A neutral site win to open the season against Arkansas looks great now. Beating a ranked team (then-#9 Ohio State) for the first time since 2009 NCAA Tournament win at Notre Dame. Then beating a second ranked team (then-#15 Nebraska). Micaella Riche seems to be getting better. A new AD starting this summer could turn into a positive...

Negatives: Current sub-.500 record putting WNIT in jeopardy. Neutral site loss to Quinnipiac in Moraga, CA. Kayla Hirt ACL tear before season started. Related to Hirt; post scoring. 1-8 road record. Giving up 42 to Prahalis. Only other offense threat Kiara Buford graduates after this year.

Future: TBD. Hirt returns from injury and Jackie Johnson comes in but they just saw one of the top MN recruits for 2013, Nia Coffey, verbal to Northwestern.

[NoDakSt]

[CompSci87]

[Howee]

Ahh, yes. Do the basketball goddesses even know that the University of Central Arkansas has arrived? In only their second year of eligibility for The Big Dance, the Sugarbears appear poised to make their first entrance this season.

UCA’s conference record (12-2) and overall record (22-5) is the best of any in the Southland Conference, east or west division.

Team leadership is most evident in junior 5’11” Megan Herbert. She entered the league as a scoring and rebounding machine. In their 27 contests this season, she was high scorer in 18 games, and leading rebounder in 21 of them. Double-doubles? Her Southland and UCA career record total is at 62 – 18th in Division I history. For the season Herbert is averaging 17.4 points (while shooting a league-best 53.3 percent) and 11.0 rebounds, with 19 points and 11.9 rebounds in conference play while shooting 54.2 percent – second in the league in all categories. She’s also 50% from 3 pt.-line, & 80% from the free throw line.

As a program, they’re definitely a work in progress; this season, their toughest OOC games were losses to Texas Tech, UMKC and Georgia Tech, while they defeated Indiana and Alabama. Obviously, a boost in SOS and RPI are goals to strive for, but they certainly seem headed in the right direction. Go Sugarbears!

_________________
Oregon: Go Ducks!
"Inévitablement, les canards voleront"

[Orion]

American University Eagles

In the admittedly small time Patriot League, the AU Eagles have been good and getting better for about the past 6 years. Starting when Melissa McFerrin (now HC at Memphis) took over 8 years ago, the team started to make progress. After the first two years, Melissa had her team and they started to win the Patriot League, or, at least tie for the regular season championship. Melissa left after 4 years and her associate coach, Matt Corkery, took over.

The team has been winning 22-23 games a season for the past couple of years and this year went 14-0 in Patriot League play, the first time any team has hit that record. Their downfall has always been the Conference tournament to determine who goes to the NCAA's. They have lost over and over again, and I am concerned that they will have to beat each team they play (no bye for winning the regular season) for the third time this season to make it to the NCAA's (where they will probably face UConn and we all know how that will go).

Still, in the League where no good player is over 6'2" (or they are in a bigger conference), and nobody is too short to play guard, where academics are really important (Army, Navy, Colgate, Holy Cross, Leigh, Lafayette and Bucknell are the other teams in the conference), the Eagles have been pretty special to me. They have three seniors, a lot of sophomores and freshmen and a bright future. Love MD and the Hoyas and can even muster some affection for Duke (as long as they are not playing UMD), but the AU Eagles are my favorite team.

_________________
An original Mystic fan.

[Queenie]

[Orion]

Melissa has been doing better and better the longer she has been at Memphis, just as she did at AU. As for the team's potential in the BEAST, I am not sure. I think they are joining mostly for the Men's side and it will take some time for her to secure the kind of recruits that are Big East caliber (pardon my snobbery, but I think the top of the Big East is much rougher than C-USA). I have a lot of confidence in her capacity though, and it will be great to see her team playing at GU.

I am very fond of Melissa and that may be coloring my judgement; love to see her going against ND, UConn, Rutgers, etc. in a few years.

Thanks for asking.

_________________
An original Mystic fan.

[ladydawgs96]

I guess I'll give a brief primer for Georgia. Most people know about team leader Jasmine James. She's the glue that keeps the team together. Midway through the conference season, James went down with a knee injury. The missed 7-8 games forced the team to adjust and helped light the fire underneath Annemarie Armstrong. Since James' injury, Armstrong has become the leading scorer for the team and has moved into the league leaders in 9 different stats. Overall, Jasmine Hassell is still the leading scorer, just a few ticks above Armstrong. Also scoring in double digits are Khaalidah Miller and the lone senior, Meredith Mitchell. James isn't far behind at around 9.5 ppg. UGA is a short team, with the two tallest players on the bench with knee injuries. Freshman Erika Ford is the lone guard who comes off the bench. She's a decent defender and emergency point. In yesterday's game, she played more effectively than James and she kept James on the bench. In the post, Landers will bring Tamika Willis in to play the 5 and Krista Donald to give Armstrong some rest. Willis is an ok defender, but very inconsistent as a scorer. Donald is an amazing leaper and probably the best rebounder on the team.

As far as a team, UGA struggles against zone defense teams and plays well in uptempo games. If you can play a good 2-3 zone and can rebound with 6-3 posts, you'll probably win. The two teams that UGA struggles with in conference, UT and VU, are on UGA's side of the SEC bracket, so it will be tough for them to advance to the finals.

[mzonefan]

I was going to take the time to do a post about Michigan, but ESPNW did a piece on them yesterday that just about does it all. I'm in Indy waiting to see if the Wolverines can get past spoiler Illinois (unlike last year) and they can finally get over the bubble.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7621906/michigan-wolverines-rise

[Happycappie25]

[BoPeep]

[cattekin]