NCAA Tournament "at large" candidate University of Richmond Women

[SpiderTrap]

Spiders got a good win vs. Rhode Island yesterday. Was at the game - girls played well. Rhode Island kept in close in the first half by limiting our 3 point shots. They also had some really good big girls who could play inside and on the perimeter. Looked like Rhode Island had some injuries as I only counted 9 suited up, so wonder if they are missing key players. 2nd half and especially 3rd quarter - UR took over and built their lead and never looked back.

Only concern I see out of this game - Katie Hill went down with an ankle injury and never returned. She is more of a glue player, but key on defense as well. She has been scoring well lately having games of 13 in 20 minutes in this one, 13, and 18 previously in last 4. They play LaSalle next - which is not a good team, so wonder if she will be able to sit out and rest up and heal. Will be something to keep an eye on as she was limping pretty good after the game.

But right now - I think if the women win the A10 regular season and keep losses to 2 or 3 at most in the league, they should be fine for NCAA bid without A10 tourney, which I would still expect women make a run to the finals either way.

 

[SFspidur]

The Spiders got a vote in the AP poll for the first time in a while.

Texas moved up a spot to #4, Tennessee dropped a spot to #19, Alabama dropped a spot to #23, and Oklahoma State dropped a spot to #25.

Columbia, who we defeated by 9 points, got two votes after their nice win over Harvard and a beatdown of Dartmouth.

 

[spiderstudent17]

 

[SFspidur]

Official NCAA stats for 3PT shooting require 2.0 makes per game, and Sweeney is at 1.65 so she doesn’t quite make the minimums. Been hoping she could get up there, but it’s tough with the way this team shares the ball. She picks her spots selectively and usually hits them, but typically facilitates instead.

Ullstrom does have enough makes to qualify in 3PT shooting and is 8th at 46.3%.

 

[VegasSpider]

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Thank you for posting these!

Incredibly proud of them all... and Rachel's having an incredible year, but Maggie's the one that deserves to be on the list

 

[Section 204and5]

Vegas - perhaps both deserve to be on the list. I think you could make a legitimate argument for either player to be on the list. There are lots of publications that do mid-season "awards" and if I was writing such an article I'd select Doogan as A-10 POY and Ullstrom First Team. I also think Sweeney on Third Team is perfectly reasonable.

 

[Section 204and5]

Saw a bracket prediction yesterday that was a week or so old. Had us as a 7 seed against Oregon at 10.

What made me scratch my head a bit was this bracket had three Ivy teams making the field and only Richmond from the A-10.

Current NET for A-10: Richmond 30, Mason 41, St Joe's 49.

Current NET for Ivy: Harvard 38, Columbia 43, Princeton 45.

If bids were going out today, it's hard to understand three from the Ivy and only one from the A-10.

 

[VegasSpider]

Vegas - perhaps both deserve to be on the list. I think you could make a legitimate argument for either player to be on the list. There are lots of publications that do mid-season "awards" and if I was writing such an article I'd select Doogan as A-10 POY and Ullstrom First Team. I also think Sweeney on Third Team is perfectly reasonable.

Thanks for the stats in the other thread... and you're absolutely right. They've both been tremendous.

I think your recommendations look spot on. I wasn't trying to under sell Rachel's contribution. Maggie is just so special in terms of her level of skill at her position... I don't like when she gets overlooked .

Fingers crossed that Katie's ankle heals quickly.... and she doesn't miss too much time. If anyone has any news? Thanks in advance.

 

[VegasSpider]

Saw a bracket prediction yesterday that was a week or so old. Had us as a 7 seed against Oregon at 10.

What made me scratch my head a bit was this bracket had three Ivy teams making the field and only Richmond from the A-10.

Current NET for A-10: Richmond 30, Mason 41, St Joe's 49.

Current NET for Ivy: Harvard 38, Columbia 43, Princeton 45.

If bids were going out today, it's hard to understand three from the Ivy and only one from the A-10.

It's funny i included some comments in the comment I just posted above re: St Joes and GMU ... but i deleted them because they were a bit off topic. They very clearly should both be in at this point IMO. I agree with you and all of your observations completely.

 

[VegasSpider]

I also have only seen the ESPN bracket from Charlie Creme and he's never had us higher than a 10... which makes no sense to me either. So, im glad to see that we're getting a bit more attention in the bracket you referenced.

 

[SFspidur]

No movement for us in the coaches poll...4 votes again this week. Mason dropped from 2 votes to 1.

Oklahoma State dropped out of the coaches poll this week following the WVU loss. They're down to 29th with 18 votes. Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama all in the poll of course.

Individual ballots for yesterday's AP poll are now up, and our one vote for 25th came from Alex Simon out of SF Gate in the San Francisco. Bay Area native who did his undergrad at Elon.

 

[SFspidur]

Checking in on the various bracketologies I've seen...

- ESPN: Just moved up to a 9-seed today playing Louisville, Southern Cal/Wofford would be next. St. Joe's has moved into the bracket as last one in...11-seed playing Iowa State in a First Four game. Mason is fourth team out.

- NCAA.com: 1/28 bracket had us as a 10-seed playing Michigan. Texas/Purdue Fort Wayne would be next. No other A-10 teams in the bracket or in first four out.

- College Sports Madness: Outdated 1/16 bracket had us as an 8-seed playing Minnesota. South Carolina would be next unless the winner of First Four game between NC A&T/Longwood pulled an upset for the ages. No other A-10 teams in the bracket or in first four out.

- CBS: 1/31 bracket has the Spiders as a 10-seed, but unclear which 7-seed they'd be playing. St. Joe's is second team out.

- Her Hoop Stats: Believe this is a 1/21 bracket with the Spiders as a 10-seed playing Baylor for the right to face the winner of LSU/Norfolk St. Mason is first one out and St. Joe's is fourth one out.

 

[SFspidur]

Couple of bracketology updates since I posted yesterday:

- NCAA.com: Moved us up to a 9-seed playing Oregon for the right to almost certainly face UCLA. St. Joe's and Mason still not in the picture for the bracket or first four out.

- College Sports Madness: Despite the fact we went 4–0 with an average margin of victory of 27 since their last bracket on 1/16, they moved us down a line to a 9-seed. They have us facing Michigan, with the winner likely to face South Carolina. St. Joe's is now the fourth team out.

- Her Hoop Stats: Held us steady as a 10-seed, but now facing Mississippi State feeding into TCU/Gonzaga. Mason is now the second team out while St. Joe's remains the fourth team out.

Noticed that despite continuing to rack up wins in the MAAC, Fairfield slipped a few spots from 43 to 47 in recent days, moving them from a Q1 road win for us to a Q2.

Fordham, the lone A-10 team to beat us this season, lost to a bad GW team last night, dropping the Rams 11 spots in the NET to 187. It's their third straight loss including a hosing by Rhode Island that saw them only score 35 and an OT loss to a weak SLU squad. We've needed Fordham to climb into the top 130 to make our Q4 road loss a Q3, and while they were in the 150s a few weeks ago, they're clearly heading in the wrong direction now.

 

[SFspidur]

Spiders hold steady at #30 in the NET with the win. I'll take it after a game against #284.

Mason steady at #41 and St. Joe's slipped one spot to #50.

 

[Eight Legger]

Don't think we want anything to do with an 8-9 game. I'd rather we fall back (or jump ahead?) to the 7-10 game or even 6-11.

 

[Section 204and5]

SF - Think you got Mason and St Joe's backward. Mason is 41 and St Joe's dropped to 50.

 

[97spiderfan]

Don't think we want anything to do with an 8-9 game. I'd rather we fall back (or jump ahead?) to the 7-10 game or even 6-11.

Yep, literally the worse seed in all of the bracket. I personally think the 11 seed is the best of all of the lower seeds. You avoid the best teams in the tournament until the sweet 16 and particularly in women's hoops their is such a separation from the very top teams.

Any team that wins the 8-9 game is most likely getting destroyed in the second round in the women's tournament.

 

[SFspidur]

SF - Think you got Mason and St Joe's backward. Mason is 41 and St Joe's dropped to 50.

Indeed, good catch.

 

[SFspidur]

We're not going to move up to a 6 or 7 without first passing through 8 and 9 as these bracketologies update, but I agree the 8/9 game sucks.

Don't know if 6 or 7 is even a possibility based on remaining schedule. St. Joe's is Q2 both home and away at the moment. Mason or Joe's in the A-10 tournament neutral also Q2 games. If we win out all the way to the A-10 tournament trophy and are 29–5 on a 19-game win streak heading into Selection Sunday, maybe we get there, but it's a tall order.

Feels like we're mostly treading water in racking up A-10 wins, so have to think we'll drop a couple along the way and we have a little cushion that we can easily hit a 10 or 11 seed.

 

[GKiller]

beggars cant be choosers. Women have never won a NCAA game (0-4). That is 1st goal. In theory easier from 8/9. Then if u win u can still get some notoriety and attention for program even if u play that next 1 seed game reasonably well. So I won't consider end of world if we're in that game, it means we finished pretty well & in the dance. 7 seed would be great but likely takes only 1 more loss all season. But yeah if u r thinking of s16 run then I agree 10/11 is better path.