Amherst Emerges as Top Seed with Help from Bates, Wesleyan

HADLEY, Mass. - There was plenty of excitement around the NESCAC during the final weekend of the 2007-08 regular season. When the dust settled Saturday afternoon, Amherst College emerged as the top seed in the 2008 NESCAC Women’s Basketball Championship. The Jeffs got the help they needed from Bates and Wesleyan, as both the Bobcats and Cardinals were winners in their respective regular season finales to give Amherst the number-one seed for the first time since the inaugural 2001 championship. The 2008 NESCAC Women’s Basketball Championship begins Saturday, Feb. 23 with quarterfinal action at Amherst, Bowdoin, Tufts and Wesleyan.

In the midst of the best season in team history, top-seeded Amherst (22-2, 7-2 NESCAC) finished the regular season tied atop the NESCAC standings with Tufts, however the Jeffs have the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Jumbos thanks to a 64-62 win that was the conference opener for both teams on Jan. 18. Amherst stormed out of the gate this season, rolling off a program-best 17-straight victories before being derailed at the hands of NESCAC rival Williams on Jan. 26, 64-59. The Jeffs only other loss of the year came at Bowdoin on Feb. 2, a 72-61 setback. Since that loss, Amherst has won three straight games, closing out the regular season on Saturday with a 77-51 victory at Trinity. Amherst will host eight-seeded Colby (8-15, 2-7 NESCAC) in the quarterfinals, as the Mules return to the tournament field after missing out on last year’s playoffs. Colby finished the regular season over the weekend with a pair of road losses, falling at Maine rival Bates on Friday and then at Tufts Saturday afternoon. The only meeting this season between the two squads went the way of the Jeffs on Feb. 1, a 71-44 win in Waterville, Maine. Saturday’s quarterfinal meeting will be the first in tournament history for the two teams. Amherst has only reached the conference semifinals on two occasions, most recently in 2005, while Colby has never advanced past the first round.

While second-seeded Tufts (21-2, 7-2 NESCAC) came up short in the fight for the number-one seed for the second year in a row, the Jumbos are also enjoying a record-setting season. Tufts has so far won a program-best 21 games to eclipse the previous mark of 19 set during the 1986-87 season. After falling to Amherst in the NESCAC opener, Tufts has gone on to win nine of its last 10 outings, the best showing by any team heading into the conference championship. The Jumbos closed out the regular season with a win over Bowdoin on Friday, the first for Tufts since December of 1994, and a victory over Colby on Saturday. Tufts will host seventh-seeded Middlebury (13-11, 4-5 NESCAC) in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. During last winter’s championship, the Jumbos claimed a 65-50 victory over the Panthers en route to Tufts’ first appearance in both the semifinals and tournament final. This season, Tufts won the only meeting between the two teams by a 61-46 score on Feb. 8 in Middlebury, Vt.

Third-seed Wesleyan (16-8, 6-3 NESCAC) will take on sixth-seeded Williams (16-8, 5-4 NESCAC) for not only the second weekend in a row but also the second year in a row in the quarterfinals. Wesleyan finished the regular season tied with Bowdoin for third in the NESCAC standings, however the Cardinals grabbed the third seed with a 62-49 win over the Polar Bears on Jan. 26 in Brunswick, Maine. Wesleyan ended the regular season on a strong note Saturday afternoon against Williams, coming away with a 65-47 victory, and the win could be a precursor of Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup in Middletown, Conn. During last year’s championship, it was Williams that came away with a win over Wesleyan on the final weekend of the regular season, 71-59, and then went on to earn another victory over the Cardinals in the quarterfinals. The Ephs, however, did post a 73-68 win over the Cardinals in a non-conference meeting of the two teams this season on Jan. 22 in Williamstown, Mass. Saturday’s quarterfinal contest will be only the second between the two teams in tournament history.

Fourth-seeded Bowdoin (17-7, 6-3 NESCAC) will also meet a familiar foe in the quarterfinals next weekend, fifth-seeded Bates (15-9, 5-4 NESCAC). The Bobcats came away with a 62-52 win over the Polar Bears in Lewiston, Maine on the final day of the regular season. Bowdoin, the seven-time defending NESCAC Women’s Basketball Champions, has had a difficult season, battling both opponents and injuries. The Polar Bears, however, have never lost a tournament game in playoff history and sport a 20-0 all-time tournament record. Bates, on the other hand, has reached the semifinals every year the championship has been held, and also won a non-conference meeting between the two teams 64-57 on Feb. 5 in Brunswick. The quarterfinal showdown between the Route 196 rivals will be the fifth in playoff history but the first in the quarterfinals, as the previous four meetings occurred in the championship game between 2003 and 2006.

2008 NESCAC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Saturday, February 23 at Higher Seeds
No. 8 Colby at No. 1 Amherst - 2:00 p.m.
No. 6 Williams at No. 3 Wesleyan - 2:00 p.m.
No. 5 Bates at No. 4 Bowdoin - 2:00 p.m.
No. 7 Middlebury at No. 2 Tufts - 3:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, March 1
at Highest Remaining Seed
Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed - 2:00 p.m.
Remaining first round winners - 4:00 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, March 2
Semifinal winners - 12:00 p.m.