NESCAC playoff picture to be decided in final week

With the first round of the NESCAC playoffs less than two weeks away, many questions remain as to tournament seedings and final league standings.

The top eight out of ten NESCAC teams will qualify for the tournament. Of those, the top four seeds will host quarterfinal games on Saturday, Feb. 21.

Tufts, along with Bates, Wesleyan and Williams, are vying for high seeds as they all sit in a second place tie at 5-2 in the conference. The four squads trail Bowdoin (21-0, 8-0 NESCAC), which will likely run away with its fourth consecutive number one NESCAC tournament seed.

The real battle this year will come for the number two through five seeds as the current second place teams duke it out this coming weekend. Williams will play head to head matches with both Bates and Tufts while Wesleyan squares off against ninth place Trinity and seventh place Amherst on the road. Tufts and Bates will also both travel to Middlebury to take on the sixth place Panthers.

Tufts has specific goals going into these final days of the regular season.

"We just want to win both games [this weekend] because that's all we can control," senior tri-captain Maritsa Christoudias said. "Where we fall is up to the rest of the teams, but we still could get a home seed for at least one game and maybe even two."

Should Tufts win its games against Williams and Middlebury, and Williams beat Bates on Saturday, Tufts would take sole possession of second place, and the second seed in the tournament.

Williams is 2-3 in its last five games, but has last week's NESCAC player of the week, sophomore guard Colleen Hession, and two final games at home to its advantage. Hession averaged 21.3 points per game over a three game period and made 13 of her 23 three point attempts during the same span. The Ephs' only two league losses this year came to Bowdoin (a 62-61 heartbreaker in overtime) and to Wesleyan, 68-53. At 18-4 overall, Williams is ranked fourth in New England.

Christoudias feels her team has a good chance at Williams if the Jumbos stay focused and play their game.

"[Williams] knows the situation and they're going to want it just as much as we do," Christoudias said. "Home court always is an advantage, but if we play the way the way can, it doesn't matter where we are."

Wesleyan, ranked fifth in New England at 16-3 overall, is also 2-3 in its last five contests. The squad suffered back to back losses to Bowdoin and Williams on Jan. 24 and 27, respectively. The Williams loss did not count towards Wesleyan's league record, however, because the two teams played each other twice this season with only one game noted in the NESCAC.

Of the four second place teams, Wesleyan has the easiest end to its season, facing Amherst (2-5 NESCAC) and Trinity (1-6 NESCAC). The Cardinals lost to Bowdoin 55-43, and to Tufts in an overtime thriller, 47-46.

"Wesleyan is a really good defensive team. Every single game of theirs is 50-45, 53-42; below 60 points for both teams," Christoudias said. "They [also] have five people who can run the floor."

The Bates Bobcats had a five game win streak intact before falling to Bowdoin 56-46 last Saturday. Bates beat Tufts, 70-58, but fell to Wesleyan 62-57 earlier in the season. The Bobcats have a similar end to the season as Tufts with their final games coming against Middlebury and Williams.

The results of these games could be comparable to those between Williams and Middlebury against Tufts.

"[Bates and Tufts] are both very similar teams," Christoudias said. "We probably match up head to head pretty equally with them."

Depending on this coming weekend's results, any of the top six teams could end up with a home game in the quarterfinals. Two of these squads, however, will earn the fifth and sixth seeds giving them road games against close rivals. Should two or more teams be tied coming out of the weekend's games, tiebreakers will determine final tournament seeds.

"We are so excited," Christoudias said. "We want another home game, especially for the seniors. We should be well prepared."

Rounding out the bottom of the league are Amherst, Colby, Trinity and Connecticut College. Amherst will most likely make the playoffs with home games against Conn. College (0-7 NESCAC) and Wesleyan on Friday and Saturday. Colby and Trinity sit at 2-6 and 1-6, respectively, in the league and could end up with the same final record should Colby lose to Bowdoin and Trinity lose to Wesleyan and beat Conn. College making for a tiebreaker for the final tournament seed.