ND Women's BB '16 -'17 Season

[BGIF]

What did you think of ND's defensive effort, Mike?

 

[NDgradstudent]

Creme post game believes ND is a lock for Lexington.

Last night he pointed out that only two teams could beat Con, Baylor and ... ND. He noted ND and Muffet have done it before. They know how to do it.

Muffet has done it before, but nobody on this team has been on a team that has beaten UConn. I wonder if there is a mental block of some sort.

I think playing UConn in the semifinal rather than the final is helpful. It is the same situation that it has been all year- they are beatable, somebody just has to do it.

 

[Old Man Mike]

VERY good game for Coach and her girls.

1). Lindsay was hero #1 of course. Muffet, however, over-ruled her desire to guard Duke's star, and put Arike on her for the vast majority of the game. Arike was MOTIVATED by this --- high energy on defense all night ---more magic coaching by Muffet;

2). Coach also made the exact correct choice on Greenwell --- Marina. Marina was tough as nails all game long --- she's hero #2 --- what an energy/hustle performance. It didn't matter that her shooting was just OK;

3). Muffet mixed the superb choices (which preserved both Lindsay and Brianna from foul trouble) with some gimmick defenses (triangle-and-twos, maybe a box-and-one now and then) and Duke rarely correctly read them;

4). Kat sort of got a restful game with Boley showing up well in the second half. Kat is very important for our stability at the beginnings of games --- we were plus-11 in the first half when she was out there. That margin didn't persist in the second half, mainly due to good shots but no makes by us to begin it, and losing two shooters immediately for threes.

5).Things changed when Muffet shifted back from Lindsay to Arike on the dangergirl, and everyone settled in to the first half pattern. (I think that Muffet just wanted to let Lindsay have the chance to go head-to-head a little bit, but it de-grooved the rest of the defense so she changed back after the magic time-out.)

We can beat anyone who is not a power-in-the-paint team who also has a good point guard. Muffet will design a good defensive plan, but no plan can account for being overpowered on the defensive boards (Boley, for instance, who had a good game, cannot hold up vs power on the boards. Neither Kat nor Brianna are climax rebounders. Note as usual, Lindsay and Jackie tend to rebound better than our bigs. If this team had a Natalie Achonwa you could give us the trophy right now.)

 

[Irish#1]

What did you think of ND's defensive effort, Mike?

VERY good game for Coach and her girls.

1). Lindsay was hero #1 of course. Muffet, however, over-ruled her desire to guard Duke's star, and put Arike on her for the vast majority of the game. Arike was MOTIVATED by this --- high energy on defense all night ---more magic coaching by Muffet;

2). Coach also made the exact correct choice on Greenwell --- Marina. Marina was tough as nails all game long --- she's hero #2 --- what an energy/hustle performance. It didn't matter that her shooting was just OK;

3). Muffet mixed the superb choices (which preserved both Lindsay and Brianna from foul trouble) with some gimmick defenses (triangle-and-twos, maybe a box-and-one now and then) and Duke rarely correctly read them;

4). Kat sort of got a restful game with Boley showing up well in the second half. Kat is very important for our stability at the beginnings of games --- we were plus-11 in the first half when she was out there. That margin didn't persist in the second half, mainly due to good shots but no makes by us to begin it, and losing two shooters immediately for threes.

5).Things changed when Muffet shifted back from Lindsay to Arike on the dangergirl, and everyone settled in to the first half pattern. (I think that Muffet just wanted to let Lindsay have the chance to go head-to-head a little bit, but it de-grooved the rest of the defense so she changed back after the magic time-out.)

We can beat anyone who is not a power-in-the-paint team who also has a good point guard. Muffet will design a good defensive plan, but no plan can account for being overpowered on the defensive boards (Boley, for instance, who had a good game, cannot hold up vs power on the boards. Neither Kat nor Brianna are climax rebounders. Note as usual, Lindsay and Jackie tend to rebound better than our bigs. If this team had a Natalie Achonwa you could give us the trophy right now.)

Very good effort, but I still think Muffet needs a lock down defender on this team. Someone who gets in the other girls shorts during warm ups and doesn't get out of them until the game is over. Find that girl that can guard a forward or a guard and they should be able to beat anyone. Even if someone in the middle is causing fits.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Lock-down basketball defenders are almost as rare as shutdown corners, but of course I agree.

Last season Muffet had a lock-down line-up that she'd throw out there when she felt the opponent was able to be cracked, and we could slowly pull away: Lindsay, Brianna, Mychal, Maddy, and Hannah. Maddy and Hannah were VERY nearly lock-down defenders, especially if Hannah didn't have to guard someone 6" taller than her (even then she was remarkable.)

This year, Maddy and Hannah are gone and Mychal has rarely been truly healthy. Plus, we can't afford to get Lindsay in foul trouble. Last year this was important but not as crazy-important as it is this year. This is because last year Michaela was pretty competent as a fill-in floor general, and Maddy and Hannah hustled so hard that there were always outlets vs pressure (when Marina has to be the general, she can't always count on her friends busting butt to get open.)

Muffet has adjusted to not having a lock-down team, or even a single defender, by employing her changing defenses including the gimmicks. We played some box-and-one and triangle-and-two last year, but nowhere near the lengths of time that we've done this season.

Jackie Young will probably become a lock-down defender once she masters the "no two hards on the opponent" rule, and gets better at anticipating certain cuts. A healthy Mychal might get her defensive mojo back. Arike could do it with a small forward or big wing, as she has the footspeed and physicality. None of that will happen this year. As an aside, both Kat and Marina get by as pretty good defenders by "feeling" the situations and being in position before things actually happen. Both also are intensely focussed, often (with Lindsay and Jackie) being the first people locating the loose ball and grabbing it --- we're usually REALLY good at that.

Marina adds a rather odd talent. Hanging off her right shoulder is an unusually long thing ending in a supernormal hand. If the opponent fazes out just a little in her presence, this long thing leaps out and its hand sends the ball going in some offensively undesirable direction. Quite astounding at how many times she manages to do this. Her left arm-and-hand is pretty good at it too.

Next season, if Mychal is healthy, and Aly is capable of an imitation of Lindsay, Muffet could field a line-up of Aly, Mychal, Brianna, Jackie, and Arike --- which if everyone is on-board could be a stopper team. Either Kat or Marina could be part of that, if the opponent has a weak-shooting post (for Kat; Kat needs to be able to play one big step off a driving threat), or a player who depends upon running off picks to receive passes (like Duke's Greenwood for Marina.) It's hard to stop great drivers, but we have that secondary stopper in Brianna. She can show to the driver, if everyone else will fill the backside help defense properly --- looking at you, Arike.

This season, Coach will have to conquer these situations by cleverness and duct tape, but next year it's just possible ..... frankly I'm WAY more terrified of ND without Lindsay offensively generaling the team than anything defensively.

 

[Irish#1]

Lock-down basketball defenders are almost as rare as shutdown corners, but of course I agree.

Last season Muffet had a lock-down line-up that she'd throw out there when she felt the opponent was able to be cracked, and we could slowly pull away: Lindsay, Brianna, Mychal, Maddy, and Hannah. Maddy and Hannah were VERY nearly lock-down defenders, especially if Hannah didn't have to guard someone 6" taller than her (even then she was remarkable.)

This year, Maddy and Hannah are gone and Mychal has rarely been truly healthy. Plus, we can't afford to get Lindsay in foul trouble. Last year this was important but not as crazy-important as it is this year. This is because last year Michaela was pretty competent as a fill-in floor general, and Maddy and Hannah hustled so hard that there were always outlets vs pressure (when Marina has to be the general, she can't always count on her friends busting butt to get open.)

Muffet has adjusted to not having a lock-down team, or even a single defender, by employing her changing defenses including the gimmicks. We played some box-and-one and triangle-and-two last year, but nowhere near the lengths of time that we've done this season.

Jackie Young will probably become a lock-down defender once she masters the "no two hards on the opponent" rule, and gets better at anticipating certain cuts. A healthy Mychal might get her defensive mojo back. Arike could do it with a small forward or big wing, as she has the footspeed and physicality. None of that will happen this year. As an aside, both Kat and Marina get by as pretty good defenders by "feeling" the situations and being in position before things actually happen. Both also are intensely focussed, often (with Lindsay and Jackie) being the first people locating the loose ball and grabbing it --- we're usually REALLY good at that.

Marina adds a rather odd talent. Hanging off her right shoulder is an unusually long thing ending in a supernormal hand. If the opponent fazes out just a little in her presence, this long thing leaps out and its hand sends the ball going in some offensively undesirable direction. Quite astounding at how many times she manages to do this. Her left arm-and-hand is pretty good at it too.

Next season, if Mychal is healthy, and Aly is capable of an imitation of Lindsay, Muffet could field a line-up of Aly, Mychal, Brianna, Jackie, and Arike --- which if everyone is on-board could be a stopper team. Either Kat or Marina could be part of that, if the opponent has a weak-shooting post (for Kat; Kat needs to be able to play one big step off a driving threat), or a player who depends upon running off picks to receive passes (like Duke's Greenwood for Marina.) It's hard to stop great drivers, but we have that secondary stopper in Brianna. She can show to the driver, if everyone else will fill the backside help defense properly --- looking at you, Arike.

This season, Coach will have to conquer these situations by cleverness and duct tape, but next year it's just possible ..... frankly I'm WAY more terrified of ND without Lindsay offensively generaling the team than anything defensively.

Muffet has used a lot of smoke and mirrors to steal some possessions. Playing lock down defense is so much a mental thing because you can't steal a little rest like you can in a zone or while on offense.

 

[BGIF]

Duke vs. Notre Dame - Game Recap - March 5, 2017 - ESPN

I thought we were a little more disciplined on offense and really just tightened up on defense

McGraw

 

[BGIF]

AP Top 25 Week 18 Mar 6 17

ND picked up 8 votes this week moving them 4 pts above the 3rd maximum votes. They picked up a couple of 2nd votes.

RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Connect (33)	31-0	825
2	Baylor	        30-2	782
3	Notre Dame	30-3	763
4	South Carolina	27-4	711
5	Maryland	  30-2	708
6	Stanford	  28-5	639
7	Mississippi St	29-4	621
8	Oregon State	29-4	595
9	Duke	        27-5	512
10	Florida State	25-6	508
11	Ohio State	  26-6	487
12	Washington	27-5	470
13	Louisville	  27-7	438
14	Texas	       23-8	417
15	UCLA	       23-8	361
16	Miami	       23-8	354
17	DePaul	       25-6	275
18	NC State	  22-8	261
19	Kentucky	  21-10	211
20	Drake	       25-4	169
21	Syracuse	  21-10	158
22	Oklahoma	   22-9	128
23	Creighton	  23-6	77
24	Kansas State   22-10	54
25	Missouri	  21-10	42

Others receiving votes: USF 35, Temple 31, WVU 31, Belmont 29, A&M 8, Green Bay 5, Purdue 4, Tennessee 4, Michigan 4, Little Rock 3, Dayton 3, ASU 1, WKU 1

 

[Old Man Mike]

Hah!! Yep, Coach, do your stuff and give all the credit to the girls. Not that your brilliant defensive plan to preserve Lindsay and Brianna, while motivating Arike, and still stopping Greenwood and slowing down Brown had anything to do with it. You're the best coach on campus (which is saying a gigantic lot.)

 

[BGIF]

Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat Duke Blue Devils for ACC tournament title
Vicki L. Friedman

For all the talk of parity in the ACC, Notre Dame left no doubt on Sunday as to which team reigns supreme.

The Fighting Irish (30-3) never trailed in dismantling Duke 84-61 at HTC Coliseum, showing off a dizzying display of offense even Tom Brady would envy.

Picking an MVP in this tournament is a lot like choosing your favorite Hershey bar: They're all great.

Consider Arike Ogunbowale, the sophomore who plays with the poise of a senior. The leading scorer in each of the tournament wins over Virginia, Louisville and Duke, the Nigerian finished with 21 points Sunday, including five 3-pointers.

Don't forget about out two-time ACC defensive player of the year Brianna Turner, whose 18 points against Duke came on 6-of-7 shooting. She followed up a 16-point effort in the quarterfinals with 16 more in Saturday's semifinal.

Sophomore Marina Mabrey might be the best pure shooter on the team. She scored 13 against the Blue Devils after amassing 26 against Louisville.

But the tie that binds is Lindsay Allen, who became the ACC's all-time assist leader on Friday and padded those stats over the weekend to finish with 33 in the trio of games. The senior from Mitchellville, Maryland, tied her record for assists in a game with 13 against the Blue Devils. Did we mention her 11 points, giving her a double-double?

The MVP nod went to Allen, who is at 811 assists and counting in the ACC.

"You don't need to score all the points to be MVP," Ogunbowale said.

"She makes my job easy," said Muffet McGraw, who notched her 850th coaching victory.

But Allen insists the cast around her makes her job a breeze. Notre Dame assisted on 24 of its 31 field goals.

"It's a point guard's dream, being able to pass it to anyone; anyone can shoot," said Allen, who added seven rebounds and five steals. "It's really fun for me to be look down court and find Bri or hit Orike on a drive or Marina for a 3."

Or Erin Boley. The freshman came off the bench for 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

That hint of vulnerability that Notre Dame showed in this league on Dec. 29 when the Irish were upset by North Carolina State, only their second loss ever in the ACC, was only a tease. They didn't lose again in the conference and will bring a 15-game win streak into the NCAA tournament.

Their win on Sunday cements a legacy that will likely grow in a conference that is arguably the best in the nation.

The Irish own the double-double of winning the ACC regular season and conference for the past four seasons, a mark previously only held by Duke from 2001-04. Add their final Big East title, and the Irish have a string of five straight conference tournament titles.

Allen never doubted she'd being standing amid the balloons and confetti again, even after the N.C. State game.

"If anything, that woke us up," she said.

"We didn't want to be that team that lost this," Turner added.

...

 

[BGIF]

Creme Still Has ND in Lexington

Creme Still Has ND in Lexington

Charlie Creme's Bracketology 3/6/17

Bracketology - Women's College Basketball Brackets and Predictions - ESPN

 

[BGIF]

ND #2 in Coaches Poll

ND #2 in Coaches Poll

ND solid in second 7 points short of the maximum second place vote.

Baylor slumped to 5th behind UMD and So Car.


2017 Women's College Basketball Rankings and Polls for Week 18 - ESPN

USA Today Coaches Poll Mar 7, 17

RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Connec (32)	32-0	800
2	Notre Dame	30-3	761
3	Maryland	30-2	733
4	South Carolina	27-4	695
5	Baylor	        30-3	670
6	Stanford	28-5	628
7	Mississi St	29-4	601
8	Oregon St	29-4	573
9	Duke	        27-5	516
10	Ohio State	26-6	492
11	Washington	27-5	475
12	Louisville	27-7	458
13	Florida St	25-6	416
14	UCLA	        23-8	368
15	Texas	        23-8	361
16	Miami	        23-8	316
17	DePaul	        26-6	309
18	NC State	22-8	248
19	Drake	        25-4	170
20	Oklahoma	22-9	152
21	Syracuse	21-10	151
22	Temple	        24-7	99
22	West Virg	23-10	99
24	Kentucky	21-10	78
25	South Florida	24-8	46

Others receiving votes: Marquette 40, Creighton 37, ASU 26, Missouri 26, KSU 12, IU 10, UTN9, Little Rock 9, Michigan 6, UVA4, Stetson 2, Elon 2, Gonzaga 1, Jacksonville 1

 

[BGIF]

Baylor remains a No. 1 seed after losing to West Virginia in Monday's Big 12 final. But the Lady Bears are now the top team in the Stockton Regional. South Carolina is No. 1 in Oklahoma City, and is joined by Texas as the 3-seed.

Baylor Lady Bears' upset causes ripple effect throughout bracket

The Lady Bears' loss dropped them to the No. 4 overall team on the board, while South Carolina made the move to No. 3. My initial belief was that the NCAA selection committee still wouldn't move top-seeded Baylor out of the Oklahoma City Regional. Oklahoma City is Big 12 country -- the conference tournament was played at the same arena that will host the regional. That regional needs a Big 12 team, right?

Despite that mindset, I laid out the bracket with South Carolina in Oklahoma City and shifted Baylor to the Stockton Regional. It's a flight for either school to either location, so attendance is the only reason to try to keep Baylor in OKC.

The result: a better, more balanced bracket -- and Texas as the No. 3 seed in the Oklahoma City Regional, giving it a Big 12 team after all. Due to bracketing principles and procedures, there was no way to get a competitively balanced bracket among the top four seeds with Baylor in OKC. With the Lady Bears in Stockton it's much more balanced -- and it's important to consider this scenario moving forward.

Bracketology - Women's College Basketball Brackets and Predictions - ESPN

 

[BGIF]

Creme's Brackets has ND #1 in Lexington with

Creme's Brackets has ND #1 in Lexington with

#2 UMD
#3 UW
#4 UK
#5 OU
#6 SYR
#7 UTN
#8 Creighton
#9 USF
#10 ISU

 

[BabyIrish]

Is ND hosting the 1st and 2nd round? I'll be in the bend next weekend and might see if I can attend a game with the family.

 

[BGIF]

Is ND hosting the 1st and 2nd round? I'll be in the bend next weekend and might see if I can attend a game with the family.

Yes but it's not official to until the Selections are announced.

Selections for the 2017 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship will be announced at 7 p.m. Eastern time, Monday, March 13 via ESPN

 

[arrowryan]

#2 UMD
#3 UW
#4 UK
#5 OU
#6 SYR
#7 UTN
#8 Creighton
#9 USF
#10 ISU

Why would a #4 seed get rewarded by playing the first four rounds of the tournament in the same city as the school!? If it was a #1 seed, it would be more understandable. But Kentucky has done absolutely nothing this year that makes me think they deserve to play an Elite Eight game at home. I know Notre Dame had that happen a few years ago but at least they were a #1 seed and deserved it. Ship Kentucky out to Stockton.

 

[aubeirish]

Why would a #4 seed get rewarded by playing the first four rounds of the tournament in the same city as the school!? If it was a #1 seed, it would be more understandable. But Kentucky has done absolutely nothing this year that makes me think they deserve to play an Elite Eight game at home. I know Notre Dame had that happen a few years ago but at least they were a #1 seed and deserved it. Ship Kentucky out to Stockton.

I think it's mostly about filling the arena. It's ridiculous that Uconn always get to play in Bridgeport and the Irish have to move around. Considering that Irish fans will fill the stadium just as well as Uconn fans. They should capitalize on that. Put it in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, or Chicago if you really don't want to do it in South Bend. Anyways...

 

[BGIF]

Why would a #4 seed get rewarded by playing the first four rounds of the tournament in the same city as the school!? If it was a #1 seed, it would be more understandable. But Kentucky has done absolutely nothing this year that makes me think they deserve to play an Elite Eight game at home. I know Notre Dame had that happen a few years ago but at least they were a #1 seed and deserved it. Ship Kentucky out to Stockton.

That is Charlie Creme's Prediction, the Selection Committee doesn't meet for a week. Creme's had UK playing in Lexington I believe since they beat Miss St on Feb 23. Their other good wins are Miami, OU, and Mizzou plus wins over LSU and Auburn. Their SOS ranges from 3 to 9. However the AP has them 19th and the Coaches Poll that came out today has them 24th.

 

[BGIF]

I think it's mostly about filling the arena. It's ridiculous that Uconn always get to play in Bridgeport and the Irish have to move around. Considering that Irish fans will fill the stadium just as well as Uconn fans. They should capitalize on that. Put it in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, or Chicago if you really don't want to do it in South Bend. Anyways...

I agree about preference for putting fannies in the seats but who is the draw in OK City (Texas or UL?) or Stockton (UCLA?)

 

[BGIF]

Depaul lost to Marquette tonight by 8 pts. Creme had DePaul as a #4 in the Bridgeport bracket and hosting, that's in jeopardy.

Creme's current #5's are Miami in Bridgeport, OSU in OKC, NCS in Stockton, and OU in Lexington.


Marquette was a 7 in OK City.

 

[arrowryan]

I think it's mostly about filling the arena. It's ridiculous that Uconn always get to play in Bridgeport and the Irish have to move around. Considering that Irish fans will fill the stadium just as well as Uconn fans. They should capitalize on that. Put it in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, or Chicago if you really don't want to do it in South Bend. Anyways...

That is Charlie Creme's Prediction, the Selection Committee doesn't meet for a week. Creme's had UK playing in Lexington I believe since they beat Miss St on Feb 23. Their other good wins are Miami, OU, and Mizzou plus wins over LSU and Auburn. Their SOS ranges from 3 to 9. However the AP has them 19th and the Coaches Poll that came out today has them 24th.

I understand that they need to sill the arena seats. But a team that lost 10 games and didn't win the conference tournament doesn't deserve 4 home games in the NCAA tournament. From what I understand, they only have 4 wins against the top 25; that isn't that good. Notre Dame had half that amount in just the ACC tournament lol.

 

[Old Man Mike]

This is probably a useless exercise since there are so many unpredictable variables, but I looked at the stats for Kentucky's significant games (their work this season isn't that bad by the way.) So... what if we met UK in the finals of Lexington?

Kentucky is essentially a six-player team --- coach doesn't seem to trust any of the other players much. They have a 6'3" forward (Akhator) who is pretty good, and a 5'10" guard who looks very physical (Epps --- sometimes leads them in rebounding.) Their point guard is 5'6" (Murray) and plays all game basically --- three of their starters might go 40 minutes. There is a 6'0" player (Morris) who will shoot threes, though is off and on about it. These four players start every game. The fifth position is divided between an erratic second big (Rice, 6'3") who seems a mediocre starter, and a 6'1" bomber (Cann). Kentucky seems to be able to be seriously limited by the "simple" strategy of not letting Cann and Morris make threes. They have also been foul prone vs the better teams, and especially vs South Carolina.

I haven't even seen a video, but the stats would seem to indicate that Kat can guard Rice, if Rice is in the line-up, while Brianna checks Akhator. Marina should guard Cann if she's in the line-up, as Marina's mind won't wander (see the Duke game vs Greenwell.) I'd put Lindsay on Murray, as that might be easier than Epps to stay away from fouls. Epps? That should be Arike; she can match almost anyone physically. In their shoot-the-three line-up of Akhator/Morris/Epps/Cann/Murray, our best line-up would be Jackie for Kat, and then Jackie and Marina on the gunners. If Muffet could get the correct match-ups on the floor, on paper we seem to be good defensively. Of course, that doesn't take into account what Coach wants to simultaneously do offensively, so my thinking is at best half-baked, and thankfully she's the Coach.

 

[aubeirish]

I agree about preference for putting fannies in the seats but who is the draw in OK City (Texas or UL?) or Stockton (UCLA?)

Typically, I would think that Stanford is the draw in Stockton. It's just the way things unfolds i think. I agree that OK City is just meh for everyone.

I understand that they need to sill the arena seats. But a team that lost 10 games and didn't win the conference tournament doesn't deserve 4 home games in the NCAA tournament. From what I understand, they only have 4 wins against the top 25; that isn't that good. Notre Dame had half that amount in just the ACC tournament lol.

Non, yeah I agree with you. If it were up to me, all four No1 seeds should host until the final 4. Uconn is virtually hosting it every year, why not all the other 1 seeds.

 

[BGIF]

Typically, I would think that Stanford is the draw in Stockton. It's just the way things unfolds i think. I agree that OK City is just meh for everyone.

...

Stanford was supposed to host, I read, but their facility was already contracted for another PAC 12 event. I believe it is the conference gymnastics competition.

 

[BGIF]

Ohio State Buckeyes reclaim final host seed

DePaul's loss to Marquette drops them to the 17th seed also dropping them out as a Top 16 host. OSU moves up to #16 and gets to host in Cbus.


Creme updated brackets.


Bracketology - Women's College Basketball Brackets and Predictions - ESPN

 

[BGIF]

http://www.und.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/031117aac.htmlMarch 11, 2017

By John Heisler

University of Notre Dame senior associate athletics director Jill Bodensteiner already has one full-time job overseeing compliance, policy management and legal affairs for the Irish.

For the next five years, at least during basketball season, she has a second.

And, as Bodensteiner says, "Luckily, I love basketball."

Bodensteiner in 2016-17 is a first-year member of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee. That means she and her colleagues are responsible for selecting and bracketing the 64 teams that will compete in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship that begins next week.

She joins committee chair Terry Gawlik, senior associate athletic director from Wisconsin, on a 10-person lineup of athletics directors, senior athletics administrators and conference representatives (currently from the Atlantic 10 and Southeastern Conference).

"We started meeting last June, in part to prepare for an August mock selection exercise which was open to coaches and media," says Bodensteiner.

"The mock selection is really an opportunity to be transparent and for people to learn more about what goes on with the process--and that was a good learning experience for me, too. I had sat in on it before, but you certainly have a different hat on when you're going to be making the decisions.

"We also did something new this season by inviting the new talent from ESPN to sit in on one of our meetings. Maria Taylor, Andy Landers and two producers for ESPN were there so they can make it more real in the studio and, again, to be transparent from our end."

Last season the committee helped build interest in the tournament with two regular-season "reveals" listing the top 10 teams. This year a third reveal was added (all on ESPN Big Monday women's game telecasts), all of them charting four teams on each of the top four seed lines.

"By Monday at 8 a.m. we had a written ballot due on our top 16," says Bodensteiner. "I normally stayed up from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. the night before to work on my ballot since there were usually a lot of games on Sunday.

"By 9 a.m. we had a record of all the ballots, and I could see how my nine colleagues voted in aggregate. Then we would have an 11 a.m. conference call where we would go through the ballot, talk it through and ask questions of the people who are the primary contacts for those conferences.

"By the end we voted and we had our 16 teams--and off it went to ESPN."

Committee members can utilize a variety of elements to rate teams--the eye test, RPI, schedule, wins and losses and many more.

"We really have four primary tools to access information," says Bodensteiner.

"First, we have a series of regional advisory calls with coaches from each region. All 10 of us can log in, or if you have to miss one live you can log in later and listen. Then the coaches follow up with written rankings so you have a top 20 for each region.

"The second tool is simply to watch as many games as possible. We can do that via DirecTV, recording as many games as we can. We have free access to each conference's streaming service. Then I've had our (Notre Dame) coaches load my iPad with Synergy which is the game-film exchange, so I can watch any time anywhere."

With 32 conferences across the country each committee member is assigned about seven as either the primary or secondary "expert" or contact (Bodensteiner is the primary contact for three). In that role she made a couple of road trips to see games in person.

She traveled to see Dayton play at St. Louis Feb. 22 in a game that was for all the regular-season marbles in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The month before, on her way from the NCAA Convention to meet the Irish women's team in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Bodensteiner rented a car and drove to see James Madison play at Elon (the top two teams in the Colonial Athletic Association).

"I try to watch a lot of televised games live," she says. "For the ones I watch on tape I can fast-forward through timeouts and dead balls and get it down to about 45 minutes. So I figure I've watched maybe 75 games live and another couple of hundred after the fact on tape. It's a lot of time."

As the sport administrator for the Notre Dame women's basketball program, she also sees all the Irish games—though she must recuse herself when the committee evaluates Muffet McGraw's squad.

Continues Bodensteiner, "The third way we get info is we each report out to our fellow committee members on regular conference calls and in-person meetings. We report on the conferences we're responsible for. So I'll do an in-depth report on each of those leagues. We've done that twice in person and maybe four or five times by phone now—and it gives people a good sense of how deep the league is, and what teams we should keep an eye on.

"Then the fourth way is a heck of a lot of data – the NCAA data gurus give us the team sheets that have all sorts of numbers. It's really complex, but it's great data to have."

On Thursday Bodensteiner headed to Indianapolis where the committee members locked themselves in a hotel for the weekend.

"We have TVs all over watching conference tournament games that are going on. We plug in the AQs (automatic qualifiers) as they are determined and cross off those teams from the at-large list.

"I'm a rookie and so I'm learning a ton this year, but it's been fascinating."

Bodensteiner particularly appreciates the way in which NCAA staffers collaborate with the committee:

"The NCAA staff guides us logistically and plays devil's advocate. Someone will say, ‘You said this about team X, are you being inconsistent with this about team Y?'

"But, at the end of the day, it has to be the committee's work and the committee has to be comfortable.

"I'll look forward to improving my game-watching in the future now that I've got a little more of a strategy. I may have over- or under-watched this year, but I'll certainly tweak some things moving forward."

A Notre Dame graduate and also holder of an MBA from Notre Dame and a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Bodensteiner spent 12 years in the Office of the General Counsel at Notre Dame before joining the Irish athletic staff in 2009.

The end product of her first year of work will be the announcement of the women's NCAA bracket Monday night. Then she and her fellow committee members will be assigned to monitor the various tournament sites over the next three weekends.

"The student-athletes and coaches work incredibly hard all season, so we feel a lot of pressure to get it right," she says.

"But the side benefit is learning so much about college basketball--styles of plays, coaching styles and strategy, all that good stuff.

"So it's been great."

 

[BGIF]

Allen's Leadership Nets Third Lieberman Award Finalist Nod :: Notre Dame Women's Basketball :: UND.COM :: The Official Site of Notre Dame Athletics

Senior point guard recognized as one of the country's five best for third straight year as she aims to capture 2017 honor.

March 13, 2017

By Leigh Torbin

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - For the third year in a row, Notre Dame’s Lindsay Allen has been named as one of five finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, presented annually to the nation’s best point guard.

Showing the strength of the Atlantic Coast Conference which Notre Dame won in both the regular season and tournament, three of the five finalists play in the league. Allen is joined by Duke’s Lexie Brown and Syracuse’s Alexis Peterson along with Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State and Kelsey Plum of Washington.

Allen has assaulted the Notre Dame and ACC record books as a senior. Allen’s 811 career assists are both the conference’s and the school’s career record. Her 252 assists this season are a Notre Dame record and stand second in ACC history. Allen’s 811 assists lead all active players nationally and are just 15 shy of cracking the top 25 in NCAA history. Allen is the first Notre Dame player in 30 years to post three 200-assist seasons in her career.

Allen set an ACC Tournament record by having 33 assists on the Irish road to the title, including an ACC Tournament record-tying 13 assists in the championship game win over Duke on March 5. Allen was named the tournament’s MVP after recording at least 10 assists in all three games – tying Notre Dame’s school record by having double-digit assists in three consecutive games.

With Allen running the point, Notre Dame stands third nationally in field goal percentage (.495) and fourth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.394). Allen herself ranks second in the nation this year in assists (252) and fourth for both assists per game (7.6) and assist to turnover ratio (3.55).

Not only has Allen never missed a start in her career, opening all 145 contests of her time at Notre Dame but, like a true leader, the point guard has made those around her better with the Irish posting a 136-9 (.938) record in those games. While Allen’s 145 total starts are a school record, her 145 consecutive starts streak is believed to be an NCAA record. Allen has played 4,404 minutes in her career, second in school history behind just the 4,639 minutes logged by two-time Lieberman Award recipient Skylar Diggins.

Additionally, Allen has 77 steals on the season and 223 in her Irish career, ranking ninth. She is 24th in school history with 1,267 points scored. Her 77 steals on the year rank 42nd nationally while her 1,129 minutes played this season (including nine 40-minute games) rank 36th in the nation.

She has helped guide the Irish to four consecutive outright ACC regular season and tournament titles, joining Duke (2001-04) as the only schools to accomplish that feat.

 

[BGIF]

SELECTION MONDAY ND #1 @ Lexington v Robert Morris

SELECTION MONDAY ND #1 @ Lexington v Robert Morris

#1 ND
#16 Robert Morris

#8 Green Bay
#9 Purdue

#5 OSU
#12 WKU

#4 UK
#13 Belmont

#6 NCS
#11 Auburn

#3 Texas
#14 Central Arkansas

#7 KSU
#10 Drake

#12 Stanford
#15 New Mexico St

 

[BGIF]

2017 NCAA Women's Basketball Brackets

2017 NCAA Women's Basketball Brackets

2017 NCAA Tournament Bracket - March Madness Tournament Brackets - ESPN