Women's Notebook - The NCAA tournament is here!

Women’s Notebook – NCAA East Regional Preview

By Stephen Zerdelian 

After a busy regular season and conference tournaments which saw the favorites win in each league, we turn our attention to the NCAA East Regional, starting on Friday in Waltham. Bentley is the host for the first time since 2016, not coincidentally the last time they advanced to the Elite Eight. In fact, the region hasn’t seen a repeat champion since 2012, when the Falcons went back-to-back. Also, the only team to have a shot at two straight since then was Daemen, who won the asterisk title in 2021, and lost to Pace in the ’22 title game. Assumption has the chance to go back-to-back this weekend, how will they fare? Will any of these tidbits be impacted by the weekend results? We shall see.

So, who is facing who in the first round? You ask, I answer…

(1) Bentley vs. (8) Mercy

The host team welcomes Mercy to town for the Mavericks first NCAA visit since 1985, and second one overall. Bentley is clearly the favorite here, especially when one factors in their home record this season (14-2) and the fact that only two #8 seeds have ever come out of this matchup in the region since the 64-team format began (Holy Family in 2015 and Daemen in 2022). Veterans Ella Thompson, Maggie Whitmore and Kylie DuCharme lead the way for Bentley with NE10 tournament MOP Cierra Norman and NE10 Rookie of the Year Niya Morgen adding quality off the bench.

Mercy won’t shrink from the challenge. Scott Lagas’ team had won ten games in a row prior to dropping the ECC title clash to Daemen and are playing with conviction and resilience, as evidenced by their ECC semifinal comeback from a 23-4 second quarter deficit to dump St. Thomas Aquinas into the abyss. Katie Wall, Jacklyn Stanavich, and Angelina Barreras (ECC Defensive Player of the Year) are lineup staples and provide the Mavericks a fighting chance to be in the game. If Mercy can withstand Bentley’s three-point barrage (seven makes a game) and keep their key trio on the floor (they all average at least 34 minutes a night), they’ll force NE10 champion Bentley to play a full 40 minutes to prevail.

(2) Assumption vs. (7) Franklin Pierce

Defending regional champion Assumption holds the #2 seed but with it comes a daunting task in facing potent Franklin Pierce. The Greyhounds went on an 18-1 tear after losing to Bentley in early January, including a revenge rout of the Falcons in mid-February, but it was the Ravens who stopped the spree with an 80-71 win in Worcester. Kerry Phayre’s team didn’t have the best NE10 tourney, slipping past Pace by a point thanks to Molly Stokes’ basket in the dying seconds before being eliminated by Southern Connecticut in the semifinals. Still, the experience of last year’s regional crown and the power and versatility of their lineup (dead-eye shooter Stokes, rangy Marina Callahan, coach-on-the-floor Amanda Mieczowski, improved post Kaijhe Hall and talented freshman Emma Dahl) bodes well for the Greyhounds.

Speaking of versatile, Anna Badosa Soler, the NE10 Defensive Player of the Year, is FPU’s fulcrum. She does it all for the team and guarantees a good performance every game, and when center Colette Mulderig and wings Leanne Heitmann and Kenzie Sirowich play well, the Ravens are a real menace. FPU had a nine-game winning run stopped by Bentley in the NE10 semifinals but were 11-6 away from Rindge this season and can raise their game on any night. The only first round game in the region with two teams from the same league (they split this year, each winning on the road) supplies fans with a tasty treat.

(3) College of Saint Rose vs. (6) Daemen

There are some serious storylines here. The Capital District and Western New York cross swords here for the third and final time ever (1-1 split so far). Sadly, the closure of Saint Rose as an institution means their next loss will be the last college basketball game in school history. It’s a weird trend in the region – Concordia (’21) and the University of the Sciences (’22) played their last games in recent years, ending their hoop lives in the NCAA regional, and the Golden Knights will eventually follow. But will it be in this game?

That leads the narrative to another talking point – how will the region’s top scorer, Alahna Paige (Daemen), fare against the best statistical defense in the nation in Saint Rose (47.5 ppg allowed; 32.3% field goal defense)? It will be a fascinating watch. Daemen has been to the NCAA’s every year since ’20 (when the pandemic denied them a chance to debut) and expects to be here every March, so their players are aware of the baseline expectations. The Golden Knights, meanwhile, are led largely by newcomers (Payton Graber, Syrita Faraj, Maddisyn Mahoney) and a first-year head coach (Will Brown, who does have decades of head coaching experience on the men’s side at Albany), and their transformation into such a formidable unit is impressive. The contrast is spell binding, and the game promises to be, as well.

(4) Jefferson vs. (5) Southern New Hampshire

A rematch of last season’s second round clash, this one pits a team that almost can’t lose (Jefferson is 30-1) against a team that might have forgotten how to win (SNHU has lost five in a row since a win over AIC on Valentine’s Day). The Rams only defeat was a triple-overtime setback to Bloomsburg in December, and they’ve won 21 straight games since then. But they have only faced one team in this year’s NCAA field, West Chester (the #7 seed in the Atlantic region), so there are questions to be answered. Despite that, the uber-talented and veteran core of Haley Meinel (CACC Defensive Player of the Year), Sam Yencha (CACC Player of the Year), Morgan Robinson, and Cassie Murphy (all 1,000-point scorers) are as good as it gets in the region. They want to take one more step and represent the CACC at the Elite Eight, which would be a first.

SNHU is led by two-time NE10 Player of the Year Adriana Timberlake, only the fifth player to ever achieve that feat, and fellow stalwart Jess Knight in the middle. Don’t expect to see lots of bench minutes in this game; SNHU is dented by injuries and their fans may have to look between their fingers if Karen Pinkos goes more than six deep. Jefferson, despite a scoring margin of +20.1ppg (5^th in Division II), rides their core four for more than 31 minutes per game and gets about 60 of their usual 74 points from their starters. The Rams severe lack of three-point production (only 87 in 31 games at a 30.6% clip) is something opponents may try to exploit in this tournament, but they do shoot over 48% inside the arc, so gamble at your peril.

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The regionals begin tomorrow with the semifinals on Saturday and title game on Monday evening. Some of the storylines above will matter when we recap the weekend while others will materialize out of thin air. That’s the fun of it, right? The survivor will advance to the national Elite Eight in St. Joseph, Missouri on March 25, 27 and 29. We will recap the regional next week and look ahead at the Elite Eight at the same time. Until then, enjoy the tournament!

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