The final week of the NCBBA-W regular season has fallen upon us. All but three spots are locked up, but there’s still a lot to play for. Michigan State and Grand Valley State will decide the GL-North, Oswego needs a split with St. Bonaventure to secure their spot, and Sacred Heart needs a sweep of Fairfield to win their conference title. It’s almost that time of year, and teams like Nevada, Boston College, and Penn are getting hot.
*= Clinched regional playoff berth.
Great Lakes Regional:
1 Ohio State* (South Champion) VS 4 Grand Valley State* (North Runner-Up)
2 Michigan State* (North Champion) VS 3 Indiana* (South Runner-Up)
Sparty has only played six games thus far but have won them in dominating fashion by 21 ppg They are actually ranked #19 in CBT's Domination Rankings of all of college hoops. The Spartans are a relatively young squad, with only one senior on the team. Michigan State has plenty of height though, with four women over six foot. They clinched a spot in the regional with a sweep over Saginaw Valley last weekend and play for a conference championship at Grand Valley State this weekend.
Mid-America Regional:
1 SIUE* vs 2 WUSTL*
After a sweep of Nebraska, WUSTL has made way for the rubber match with SIUE. The two teams split their conference series and will battle it out in a best of three series to make it to the national tournament. The Bears have a duo with seniors Isabelle Hren at the point and Katie Batten down low that looks to lead their team across the Mississippi and state lines to take on the Cougars.
Mid-Atlantic Regional:
1 Villanova* VS 2 Penn*
Penn swept Rowan at home this past weekend to secure their rematch with cross-town rival Villanova. The Quakers are 13-3 on the year, splitting with other conference contenders Villanova, West Virginia, and Drexel. They have an impressive point differential of 258 total points on the year, winning games by over 18 points a game, including a 16-point win over the Wildcats. They will need to bring their A-game if they want to represent the city of Philadelphia at nationals.
New England Regional:
1 Boston College* (East Champion) VS 8 Lehigh* (West Runner-Up)
Boston College has only lost one game the last two seasons going an impressive 33-1 since last November. Their lone loss came to Brown week 3, by 5. Despite the hiccup, the reigning national champions seem to be on a mission to repeat. The Eagles have an average margin of victory of over 21 points per game and are back to being ranked the #1 team in the land in the most recent Top 15 poll. They will look to remain hot heading into the tournament against winless Maine to close the regular season.
4 Montclair State* (West Champion) VS 5 UCONN* (South Runner-Up)
3 Sacred Heart* (South Champion) VS 6 Vermont* (North Runner-Up)
2 UMASS* (North Champion) VS 7 Northeastern* (East Runner-Up)
North Atlantic Regional:
1 Penn State* (East Champion) VS 4 Brockport (West Runner-Up)
2 Oswego (West Champion) VS 3 SUNY-Cortland* (East Runner-Up)
SUNY-Cortland will finish as the NA-East runner-up after their sweep of Syracuse. This will make their third straight trip to the regional tournament. They have reached the playoffs each year since joining the league. The Dragons will look to play Penn State for the fourth time this season for a chance to make nationals.
Pacific Regional:
1 Nevada* VS 2 Stanford*
Nevada is a perfect 9-0 thus far in conference play, but four of those came from forfeits by Chico State. In games they have played, they have won by 34.8 points per game. This includes the Wolfpack being 3-0 against Stanford winning by a staggering 38 a game. Even with only 8 girls on the roster, they have made it clear the road to nationals out west goes through Nevada.
South-Atlantic Regional:
1 Kennesaw State* VS 2 Furman
The remaining spot in the SA region will go to either Furman or Coastal Carolina. Furman has no scores reported, and Coastal is 0-4 on the year. Once results roll in, the winner will face Kennesaw State in a best of 3 series. The South Atlantic is still the biggest question mark headed into April.
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