Spring Break
Double the madness
Both basketball teams make NCAA Tournament
by Ian Cutler, Jeffrey Pickette and Melissa Siegel
Sports | 3/3/09
Posted online at 3:49 AM EST on 3/3/09
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Despite posting its worst University Athletic Association record since the 2002 to 2003 season, the women's basketball team not only made the NCAA Tournament, but will host first- and second-round games for the first time in school history this weekend. The Judges will play Western Connecticut State University in the first round Friday at 7 p.m., with the winner to play against the winner of the game between Mount St. Mary's College and the State University of New York in Brockport in the second round Saturday at 5 p.m.
The men's team also received a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season and will travel to Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. to play the University of Scranton in the first round Friday at 6 p.m. The winner of that game will play the winner of the game between Franklin & Marshall and Wesley College Saturday at 7 p.m.
"I was very surprised," Simon said when asked about the women's team hosting first- and second-round games. "I thought we were going to make the tournament. I thought we were probably going to get sent to either Amherst [College] or Bowdoin [College]. Never in a million years honestly did I think we'd host, and I just think that it shows our strength of schedule and that [the NCAA] respects that."
The women's team finished the season 17-7 overall and 7-7 in the UAA. The team was third in the final public Northeast Regional Rankings and fifth in the UAA.
But despite seven losses, the team's tournament résumé was fortified by its difficult strength of schedule. The Judges had the second-highest opponent's winning percentage in Division III. Five of the Judges' 17 victories came against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament.
The women's basketball team is the first Brandeis athletics team since the 1996 to 1999 baseball squads to make the NCAA Tournament four years in a row. Forwards Cassidy Dadaos '09, Lauren Orlando '09 and Amanda Wells '09 have been on the team all four years.
"It's just a really good way to kind of cap off the four years and get a good postseason and to get to do it at home makes it even better," Dadaos said.
Western Connecticut, which finished 21-5, made it to the semifinals of the Little East Conference Tournament before losing to eventual conference champion University of Southern Maine. Western Connecticut was ranked sixth in the final public Northeast Regional Rankings. Western Connecticut came to Brandeis earlier in the season for the Brandeis Tip-Off Tournament but did not play the Judges because it lost to Bowdoin College in the first round.
"They're an athletic team, and they're good," Dadaos said of Western Connecticut. "It's going to be a good challenge for us now that every game means a lot."
Even though the men's team's postseason fate was less clear than the women's team's heading into selection day, assistant coach Eric McKoy confidently told the Justice, "See you next week," after the Judges' 63-44 win at New York University last Saturday.
Despite starting the season 0-3, the men's team makes its third straight NCAA Tournament, finishing with a 17-8 record and a 10-4 UAA mark. Like the women's team, its strength of schedule propelled them into the field. The Judges' opponents' winning percentage was the 11th-highest in Division III, according to d3hoops.com.
"I kind of expected [that we would make the NCAA Tournament], to be honest," head coach Brian Meehan said. "Our schedule alone made a convincing case [to the selection committee]. Ten games against ranked opponents is pretty impressive. That's why we set that schedule up year after year."
Brandeis was ranked eighth in the final public Northeast Regional Rankings, in addition to finishing second in the UAA.
The team will face 21-6 Scranton, who topped Susquehanna University 80-75 in overtime in the Landmark Conference tournament championship last Saturday. The Royals have won seven in a row and 10 of their last 11 games.
Scranton head coach Carl Danzig describes his team as "deep" and "versatile." They feature four players who average between 11.5 and 13.9 points per game.
"We're a slow, grind-it team. … [We] try to work for the best shot," Danzig said. "We're going to work that shot-clock down; we're going to move the ball."
While the Judges feature Kevin Olson '09, the most statistically accurate three-point shooter in all three divisions of men's college basketball at 59.7 percent, Scranton senior guard Ryan FitzPatrick is close behind him, hitting 52.9 percent of his 136 three-point attempts this season.
Host school Franklin & Marshall is about 360 miles southwest of Brandeis, but Meehan is not concerned about his team having to travel.
"I think for this team it's good to be on the road. We tend to play a little better on the road," he said.
McKoy said he was particularly excited that forward Steve DeLuca (GRAD) and Olson will be able to participate in the tournament in their final season with the team.
"They gave us their all; what better way to send them out than [to] make the NCAA Tournament," McKoy said. "They deserve it; they've put in hard work all season."
Last season, the men's squad lost to Amherst in the Round of 8, while the women's team fell to Kean University in the second round.
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