Heading into tomorrow's start of the conference tournament, it is clear the landscape of NESCAC women's basketball has undergone drastic changes. Heavyweights Bowdoin and Bates managed just the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively, as Amherst, Tufts and Wesleyan rose to the level of conference powers. But in a league where the No. 6 seed beat the top two teams in the conference during the regular season, it is hard to count anyone out of the mix. A look at tomorrow's four first-round matchups:
No. 8 Colby at No. 1 Amherst: The nationally-ranked No. 14 Jeffs own the top seed in the conference for the first time since the inaugural 2001 NESCAC Tournament, when the team made it to the finals before bowing out to third-seeded Bowdoin. Since then, Amherst has picked up only one postseason victory, but after putting together a program-best season under first-year coach G.P. Gromacki, the team seems poised to end its playoff drought. The Jeffs' first-round opponent will be 8-15 Colby, a team Amherst hasn't lost to since Jan. 16, 2004. The Mules are led by senior forward Katie McCabe, who ranks second in the NESCAC in both points and rebounds.
No. 7 Middlebury at No. 2 Tufts: This year's Middlebury squad has been hard to predict. The Panthers earned victories over third-seeded Wesleyan and fifth-seeded Bates earlier this year, but lost to ninth-place Conn. College on the final day of the regular season and bested last-place Trinity by just a point on Jan. 26. Middlebury's topsy-turvy season produced a 13-11 record that the team will carry into Cousens Gym tomorrow, where the Panthers will meet Tufts in a rematch of last year's two-seven matchup. The Jumbos won that game 65-50 for the program's first-ever NESCAC Tournament victory.
No. 6 Williams at No. 3 Wesleyan: The Ephs entered the final weekend of the regular season tied for first place in the NESCAC standings, and had the team won out, it would have clinched the top seed in the conference tournament. Instead, Williams fell flat, losing a stunner to then-winless Conn. College before falling by 18 at Wesleyan the following afternoon. As a result, an Ephs team that earned regular-season wins over both Amherst and Tufts fell all the way to the sixth seed in the conference. Williams will look to get back on track tomorrow, when it faces off against Wesleyan in a rematch of both teams' final regular-season game.
No. 5 Bates at No. 4 Bowdoin: The two schools have plenty of history between them, as they met in the title game of every NESCAC Tournament between 2003 and 2006. The Polar Bears not only won every one of those matchups, but have posted a 20-0 mark in conference-tournament action all-time, leading to seven NESCAC championships. Perennial powerhouse Bates, meanwhile, struggled to a 5-4 conference record despite featuring a lineup with a preseason All-American at point guard in Sarah Barton, a former NESCAC Player of the Year in Meg Coffin and a 2007 First Team all-conference selection in Val Beckwith.
