Spiders No. 19

Its all very tight but i think there is one and only one path to at-large - - we need to win out in reg season through to a loss to Rhody in tourney final. Anything less and I think we are out. As close as we are, we can't afford 2 more losses which means no more in reg season. All would not be lost if we lost a game, but then our only path becomes an A-10 tourney win!

Starts to raise some questions about what are the tiebreakers for A-10 seeding. If we end up tied with Rhody - who gets first seed - - which matters because 2 seed will get Mason and 1 seed will Davidson in the semi's.
 
I find it very frustrating that we have done nothing wrong and yet we are still fighting for our lives as a potential at-large. Something is not right in the larger basketball universe when that's the way it works.
 
PhillySpider said:
Starts to raise some questions about what are the tiebreakers for A-10 seeding. If we end up tied with Rhody - who gets first seed - - which matters because 2 seed will get Mason and 1 seed will Davidson in the semi's.
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Presuming we both win out other than us beating them, so we're both 17–1, I think we'd get the 1-seed. Head-to-head would be a split, so it goes to record against highest common opponent. Presuming Mason doesn't collapse and ends up in the third spot, we'd be 2–0 against them while Rhody would only be 1–0. The tiebreaker rules explicitly call out that 2–0 beats 1–0.

 
PhillySpider said:
Its all very tight but i think there is one and only one path to at-large - - we need to win out in reg season through to a loss to Rhody in tourney final. Anything less and I think we are out. As close as we are, we can't afford 2 more losses which means no more in reg season. All would not be lost if we lost a game, but then our only path becomes an A-10 tourney win!

Starts to raise some questions about what are the tiebreakers for A-10 seeding. If we end up tied with Rhody - who gets first seed - - which matters because 2 seed will get Mason and 1 seed will Davidson in the semi's.
Click to expand...
Not in a great spot for certain, but I think the goal for Maggie is to win the A10 tournament after last year’s disappointment. Similar to last year, winning out in the regular season and the tournament is a tall order and winning the A10 tournament guarantees a bid, so that is where I focus my hope.

Definitely want to see the Spiders avenge the loss to Rhody though too.
 
Spiders move from 5 points to 12 in this week's AP poll, good for 29th. Rhody has 41 points for 26th, just 12 points behind #25 Alabama.

Spiders still at #39 in the NET, with Rhody close behind at #43.
 
Spiders hold steady at #39 NET despite the loss, but the résumé damage is obviously more significant than just the NET. Mason moved up five spots to #63.
 
Some (many?) of these ballots may have been filed before we lost yesterday, but we went back up to 2 points in this week's coaches poll. Rhode Island went from 10 to 17 points, good for 28th.

NCAA Women’s College Basketball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports

Weekly results from the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Women’s College Basketball coaches poll, conducted weekly using a panel of head coaches at Division I schools.
sportsdata.usatoday.com
 
Couple of bracketology updates following yesterday's loss. Surprised we didn't drop.

- ESPN: Still 4th team out. Fairfield right behind us as 5th team out.

- CBS: Moved us up to 3rd team out from 4th team out thanks to Fairfield moving from 3rd out to auto bid slot.
 
Couple more bracketology updates today bring decent news for the Spiders.

- The Athletic has moved us down to the last four in group and had this to say:
Had Richmond defeated George Mason on Monday, the Spiders would have been in the “last four byes” group. Still, being among the last four in is still a win for the Spiders. One loss can derail a mid-major team’s quest for an at-large bid, but because George Mason is also strong (12-2 in the A-10, 63rd in the NET and 49th in strength of schedule), the Spiders avoid disaster.
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www.nytimes.com

Women’s basketball Bubble Watch: Could Stanford miss out for a second year?

Iowa State seems safe, but what about Colorado, Princeton and Utah?
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

- Fresh off his Doogan WNBA draft piece, Northam at USA Today actually moved the Spiders up from last four in last week to last four byes this week. He also had this to say about the A-10 potentially being a bid-stealer conference:
It’s more likely that a bid-stealing situation rises out of the Atlantic-10, where Rhode Island and Richmond both have resumes that could land them at-large bids, and where George Mason looks like a real threat to win the conference tournament for a second year in a row. Don't sleep on Davidson either, a sharp 3-point shooting team that could get hot in a tournament setting.
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www.usatoday.com

Women’s basketball bracketology: A No. 1 seed belongs to Texas, for now

While UConn, UCLA and South Carolina seem like locks on the one-line, the fourth No. 1 seed in the NCAA Women's Tournament remains up for grabs.
www.usatoday.com www.usatoday.com
 
All of this is now moot obviously. We need to use the remaining three games as prep time only - - winning vs losing doesn't much matter. That means lots of rest if necessary for big three (especially Maggie if she is dinged up from last night). We certainly can still win the A-10 tourney, but we need to get fixed up. I liked what I heard from Coach in the post-game. No excuses - "It was really bad" etc. but also no panic and he seemed confident they could get back on track.

One thing I think we might see a whole lot more of is Wright playing with the starters in the spot Dewey and Simon play. That ignited us energy wise last night and we can be a much more aggressive team defensively with that group and try to push the ball more to get some easy hoops. Wright played most all of the 4th last night and gave us a big lift with her energy and defense. Time will tell if that group can rebound and generally be physical enough to stay out there.
 
FWIW, our NET only dropped three spots to #42, but the Q4 is an absolute killer without a Q1 win to offset it (plus a losing Q2 record).
 
No votes in this week's AP poll for the Spiders after getting 12 points last week, while Rhody dropped from 41 points to 7.
 
Zero votes in today's coaches poll after getting two points last week. Rhody dropped from 17 points to 4.

Also, a bracketology check-in heading into tomorrow's big game:

- ESPN (Feb 24): Fourth team out

- CBS (Feb 24): Fourth team out - we even got a headline mention and they say we need to beat Rhody to keep at-large hopes alive

- IX Sports (Feb 24): Third team out

- College Sports Madness (Feb 22): Second team out

- The Athletic (Feb 20): First team out

- Her Hoops Stats (Feb 18): 11-seed and apparently with the auto bid, as Rhody is in a First Four game - I don't know how they can think this after the GW loss, but it says updated 11:33pm on that day, which was after the game

- USA Today (Feb 18): Last four byes, but this was pre-GW loss later that day
 
Just a list of coaches to watch with a little background. Mason, Rhody, Columbia, and Fairfield coaches all on there as well.
Roussell has been a head coach since 2004 and has steadily moved up ever since. He’s been at Richmond for the past seven seasons and has completely rebuilt the program. The year before his arrival, the team posted a 9-21 record. He took the Spiders to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2005 two seasons ago and then went dancing again last year.
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Have to think coaches on these teams will have serious looks for higher jobs.

A10:
Rhode Island
George Mason

MAAC:
Fairfield
Quinnipiac

Ivy:
Princeton
Columbia

Summit League:
ND State
SD State
South Dakota

Other:
High Point
Rice
Miami (OH)


Hope Roussell realizes he can build a legacy here and achieve national success. He has recruited an all American and WNBA caliber player in Doogan, a top 100 recruit coming in next year. We’re not knocking on the door step of a 3rd NCAAs appearance in a row and the A10 is a very good league too. I’d rather pay Roussell the money than give it to Mooney for NIL whose just going to complain and flush the money down the toilet anyway.
 
The 18 on On3's list:

- Lindsay Edmonds, Rice
- Vanessa Blair-Lewis, George Mason
- Aaron Roussell, Richmond
- Carla Berube, Princeton
- Megan Griffith, Columbia
- Carrie Moore, Harvard
- Carly Thibault-DuDonis, Fairfield
- Ty Grace, Howard
- Bart Brooks, Belmont
- Ayla Guzzardo, McNeese
- Destinee Rogers, Arkansas State
- Alisa Kresge, Vermont
- Tammi Reiss, Rhode Island
- Maria Marchesano, Purdue FW
- Lindy La Rocque, UNLV
- Jory Collins, North Dakota State
- Karen Aston, UTSA
- Sean O'Regan, JMU
 
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