Women’s Notebook – Conference tournament recaps, NCAA tournament preview
Two conference champions have been crowned and the NCAA tourney field is set. A look back and then a look ahead...
Congratulations to first-time conference tourney champions Roberts Wesleyan (ECC) and Dominican (CACC) on their success this past weekend. Both were certain NCAA tournament entrants already but just to make sure they annexed their league’s automatic bids with their victories. They got there via title game road upsets against top seeds Daemen (ECC) and Georgian Court (CACC), setting the stage for this weekend’s NCAA tournament regional.
The ECC tournament began with Molloy’s win over Mercy in the play-in game, 62-47. The 4th seeded Lions were led by Safiyyah Lee’s 17-point, 6-rebound outing with Trinity Hudson adding 15 points. Katie Wall topped the Mavericks with 18 points. Molloy had the edge in shooting (46%-32%) and off the glass (37-27) and used 9-0 and 12-4 third period runs to put the game on ice.
Molloy then traveled to top seed Daemen in a rematch of last year’s ECC title game and suffered the same fate as last March, losing a defensive scrap, 52-42. The Wildcats rode a key 11-0 third period spree to take the lead for good (35-26) and held firm from there. Daemen, sparked by ECC Player of the Year Caroline White (13 points) and Katie Titus (10 points, 9 boards), enjoyed a 43-30 bulge on the glass. Gabriella Aspuru (15 points) led the way for the Lions but it wasn’t enough to extend their campaign… The other ECC semifinal was a good one that saw #2 seed Roberts Wesleyan fend off #3 St. Thomas Aquinas, 62-56. The Redhawks held a 45-41 lead after three frames despite STAC scoring the final seven points of the period and stayed ahead for the duration. The Spartans were right on the Redhawks heels down the stretch but a critical triple from Madison McCormick (15 points) widened RWC’s lead to 58-53 at the 4:13 mark and the hosts locked it up from there. Taryn Wilson (15 points) and Dimitra Gkizani (14 points) joined McCormick in double digits for the winners, while Victoria Kurisko’s 19 markers led the scoring for St. Thomas Aquinas.
Roberts Wesleyan hit the road for the title game a few days later and handed local rival Daemen their first loss since a setback to Gannon at the end of January, 59-53, to lift the flag. Kevin Clifford’s team put up an early 12-0 binge to grab the lead and kept the Wildcats mostly at bay thereafter. RWC led 32-24 at the half but only by a 43-42 count entering the last period. Alahna Paige, Daemen’s ECC Rookie of the Year, pulled the home team even at 53 with a bucket with 56 seconds to go but they never scored again. Wilson, the Most Outstanding Player of the tourney, drilled a decisive trey with :45 left for RWC and killed the game off with two foul shots at the :13 mark. Wilson (19 points, 8 boards; 5-10 3FG) was excellent and she had solid support from Paige McCormick (17 points) and the dependable Gkizani (12 points) to spearhead the RWC effort. Titus (19 points, 6 caroms) and White (15 points, 11 boards) were sharp for Daemen but it wasn’t enough to tip the balance and defend their title.
In the CACC, top seed Georgian Court sat out the first round but there was one upset among the three opening stage games. #2 seed Dominican was not the victim though, as they smashed Felician, 80-57. Eight Chargers reached double digits as DC rolled up leads of 20-14, 39-22 and 64-32 at each checkpoint. Briana Lee’s 14-point, 18-rebound effort was a bright spot for the Golden Falcons… #4 seed Concordia used a basket from Shanice Graves with under a second left to repel #5 seed Caldwell, 48-46. The Clippers seemed to have control of the game by scoring the first 16 points of the third period but the Cougars showed their mettle by rallying and tying the game on a Halle Brown (19 points, 6 assists, 5 steals) free throw with 1:14 to go. Graves doused the rally and gave Concordia the victory, a trip to the semis and, in truth, an NCAA berth… The one upset of the round was #6 Nyack dropping #3 Bloomfield, 64-46, ending the Deacons NCAA tourney hopes. Raquel Crooke-Losada (16 points) and Sarah Wilson (15 points, 11 boards, 8 assists) marshalled the troops for the Warriors, who locked up Bloomfield in the first half to the tune of a 28-8 lead. The Deacons only mustered 4-26 shooting in the half and committed 10 turnovers, all but deciding the outcome.
The CACC semifinals saw Georgian Court return from a nearly three-week pause to register a 76-57 win over Concordia and book their spot in the final. Savawn Hughes (17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) led the Lions attack as they ruled the glass (47-33) and never trailed, leading 34-24 at the half. Saundra Cleckley’s 18-point, 9-rebound outing and Marigona Bacaliu’s 16 points kept the Clippers afloat but they never caught GCU… Dominican blasted Nyack in the other semi, 83-60, with Khay’la Latimer (19 points), Taylor Tomlinson (16 points, 11 boards) and Alexis Suarez (16 points) doing the major damage. Nyack did play DC to a virtual standstill at the half (DC led, 33-32), but the Chargers put up 10-2 and 13-1 third period binges to blow the game open. Board work (48-26) and second-chance scoring (23-5) were key factors for the winners as they prevailed and moved on.
GCU handed Dominican their only loss of the season in the first game of the year but the Chargers were able to make amends with a strong performance in the CACC title game, notching an 81-65 victory. After a slow start, the Chargers claimed the lead in the second period and held a 43-35 edge at the intermission. A 10-1 third quarter run pushed the gap to 64-51 after three periods and the Lions were cooked. Taylor Tomlinson (25 points, 10 boards; 10-18 FG) was a deserving tourney Most Outstanding Player in leading the Chargers to their twelfth straight win but she had help in the forms of Suarez (20 points) and Latimer (13 points). CACC Player/Rookie of the Year Anyssa Fields (15 points, 13 rebounds) continued her excellent season for the Lions but they shot just 36% overall and sustained their first loss of the year.
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The six-team NCAA regional field, unveiled on Sunday, saw Dominican claim the top seed. Host institution Daemen is the #2 seed and joins the Chargers in earning an opening round bye. Georgian Court got the #3 seed and faces fellow CACC team Concordia in the first round while an interesting #4-#5 game pits AIC against Roberts Wesleyan. The games start on Friday with the semifinals on Saturday and the championship game slated for Monday.
Georgian Court (#3; 8-1) vs. Concordia (#6; 6-5)
Both teams reached the NCAA field for the first time this season but the story here really is about Concordia. The institution will close its doors at the end of the school year and what better way for the program to depart than on the heels of their first/only NCAA bid? The teams faced each other one in the regular season, with the Lions posting a 92-67 win, and in the CACC playoffs (see above) and thus Jazz Perazic’s Lions enter this game as a clear favorite. GCU’s outstanding rookie Fields (18.9 ppg, 11.2 rpg) has made a major splash and leads an attack that scores 73 points a game. The almost three-week pause they had before the CACC tournament clearly slowed their flow, though, and that may give Concordia hope they can pull this upset off. Christie Tomasino Conforti’s Clippers, enjoying their first winning season since 1986-’87, are led by Marigona Bacaliu (15.2 ppg) yet have actually been outscored this season (by 16 points). They have a puncher’s chance to advance here but, honestly, the fact that they actually made the field is something to celebrate in a dark time.
AIC (#4; 7-1) vs. Roberts Wesleyan (#5; 10-6)
Kristen Hutchison’s Yellow Jackets have had an interesting season, with two wins each over Saint Rose, Franklin Pierce and St. Thomas Aquinas, teams with a combined 5-17 record. They also split with Mercyhurst (11-6), a better indication of where/who they may be. Historically, AIC has it all over the regional field, as this is their 12th NCAA bid, although only their second since 2009. Still, since the rest of the regional accounts for two bids (Dominican in 2008; Daemen last year), the Jackets have the edge there. Destine Perry (16.5 ppg), who erupted for 32 points against FPU last week, is AIC’s top scorer but they average just 58.4 points a game. Roberts Wesleyan, meanwhile, has won seven games in a row and have peaked at the right time. Paige McCormick (13.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg), Gkizani (12.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Wilson (10.9 ppg) comprise RWC’s top trio and they are in good form right now. The last time these program met was in the 2017-’18 season, so recent history between them is not a factor. As with most 4-5 games, this is a toss-up and should be a close game.
Byes - Daemen (#2; 12-2) and Dominican (#1; 12-1)
Daemen was the top team in the region all season but the ECC title game setback and Dominican’s 12-game winning streak means the Chargers jumped the Wildcats in the seeding chase. These two have the advantage of sitting out the opening round and would only need to win twice to advance out of the region.
Daemen has been guided by the duo of White (14.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and Titus (14.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg) with veterans Mickalya Ivy (9 ppg) and Paige (7.4 ppg) as the pick of the supporting group. The latter pair became increasingly important after Tiara Filbert (13.3 ppg) went down with injury after eight games and the depth question will be pivotal for the Wildcats to answer if they hope to advance. Daemen defends well as a group (51.2 ppg and 32.5% from the floor allowed) and is almost +12 per game on the glass, excellent building blocks for success. The Wildcats qualified for last year’s tournament, so their actual debut on the court for an NCAA tourney game had to wait a year. No doubt, Jenepher Banker’s team will be ready to play this time around.
Dominican takes a 12-game winning streak into the NCAA’s, responding well to losing their opener to Georgian Court. Even though the Chargers finished 2nd in the CACC, they were the best team in the loop during the last month, as evidenced by winning eleven of the twelve games in the streak by at least 13 points (only a 58-53 victory at Bloomfield stands apart). Bill Diener’s club is on the proverbial roll. While only Tomlinson (11.6 ppg) and Latimer (10.8 ppg) average in double digits, Dominican boasts a deep well of scoring (nine others average between 3.2 and 8.2 ppg) and can win in a variety of ways. They’ve made more than twice as many three-pointers as they’ve conceded (106-52) and force a glut of turnovers (nearly nine more than they commit), so there is balance to their profile.
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