Philly Summer League: White Catches Idle Hunter Green To Tie For First
By Mel Greenberg
HATBORO, Pa. -- Team White took advantage of idle Hunter Green's night off with the next to the last of the 13 byes to move into a tie for first Thursday night with a narrow 61-57 win over Heather Grey in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women's NCAA Summer Basketball League here at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.
The game featured the only two players -- one on each side -- to hit the ongoing 20-points or more individual performance standard, making 31 overall, including repeat achievements since the season got under way in mid-June.
Jasmine Elum, a graduate of Bethune-Cookman, had 26 points for White (11-1) in repeating achieving the milestone, highlighted by shooting 6-for-6 from the line and nailing four 3-pointers.
Division II Holy Family graduate Catherine Carr added 16 points for White, which also got nine from incoming Villanova junior Emily Leer.
"It was ugly," Leer said of the struggles of one of the teams that had been among the frontrunners all summer.
Heather Grey (3-8), one of the four hopefuls of still making the eight-team playoffs among the 13 groups, got 25 points from Lehigh sophomore Kerry Kinek, who has hit the magical marker several times already since the June tipoff.
Division III Haverford junior Pallavi Juneja added 15 points.
Hunter Green (10-1) needs a win over last-place Royal Blue (1-10) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. on Court 3 to clinch the top seed or White to lose Black (4-7) in the 8:15 p.m. on the same court.
Of course if White wins and Hunter Green gets upset then White gets the No. 1 seed. But Black, dominated by Division II Philadelphia University on its roster, has its own motivation barely clinging to the eighth seed but in a tie with Kelly Green, dominated by Division II Holy Family, heading into Tuesday night's final action of the regulation before the quarterfinals get under way next Thursday.
Meanwhile, Sky Blue (5-6), despite a 73-55 thumping by Red (7-4), backed into position as the official seventh team headsing to the postseason.
Though seven get to play at least one more night after Tuesday -- semifinals and the championship are in the first full week of August -- pairings are still up for grabs with any or several of 12 tie-breaking scenarios listed below and 21 overall in terms of how the final standings will take shape.
Red, dominated by Division III Scranton players on the roster, got 14 points from Lafayette junior Emily Homan, while Lia Disciascia, a Scranton junior, scored 12 points; Allison Sweeney, who will be a senior with the Royals, scored 10 points, and Kate Sherry, another Royals senior, scored nine.
Sky Blue, with a strong Division II West Chester flavor, got 19 points from Golden Rams aophomore Chikisha Steele-Hook, while West Chester sophomore Brittany Sicinski, scored 13 points, and Taylor Bryant, who was a Delaware student last year, scored 10 points.
Gold (9-2), which could finish in a three-way tie for first and even place second ahead of Hunter Green off a tie-breaker, won't finish any lower than third and kept its winning ways alive with a 58-48 win over Black as Sarah Fairbanks, a Saint Joseph's sophomore, scored 14 points and was 4-for-4 from the line.
Hawks junior Natasha Cloud scored 11 points and Maureen Leahy, a Bryant sophomore at the school in Rhode Island, scored 10 points.
Victoria Arnao, a Philly U. scored 11 points, while Rams recent graduate Megan Finn scored 8 points, sophomore Jacqueline McCarron scored 7 points and Mary Newell, a Rams sophomore, also scored seven points.
Kelly Green bounced off last week's loss to Black, one of its local Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference local rivals, to get back to a tie with a 73-48 win over Royal Blue (1-10), as Erin Martin of Indiana University of Pennnsylvania scored 15 points, a total matched by Yasmin Walker, an incoming freshman with Holy Family's Tigers in Northeast Philadelphia.
Erin Fenningham, a Tigers sophomore, scored 11 points for Kelly Green.
Kara Bonenberger, a Penn junior, scored 17 points for Royal Blue, while Kelsey Watson, a Division II Kutztown freshman, scored eight points.
Kelly Green should have an easier time than Black Tuesday night wrapping up against Orange (2-9), but maybe not in the game scheduled for 8:15 p.m. on Court 1.
After going winless most of the season until last week, Orange took its second straight with a narrow 62-61 win in the closing seconds that put a serious dent in the playoff hopes of Navy Blue (3-8), which is now in a logjam parked in two-way tie with Heather Grey parked at 10th a game behind Kelly Green and Black.
Navy Blue finishes Tuesday against Sky Blue at 7 p.m. on Court 1 needing a win and perhaps a lot of help as the scenarios illustrate in the outlooks further down this blog.
Orange got 17 points from Danielle Derr, a recent graduate of Division II Bloomsburg, who scored 17 points. Melissa Poderis, a sophomore at Division II East Stroudsburg, and Helena Gemmell, also a sophomore at ESU, each scored 13 points.
A Saint Joseph's trio led the way for Navy Blue as sophomore Ciara Andrews scored 18 points, a total matched by Hawks sophomore Kelsey Berger, and freshman Geena Gomez scored 12 pointss.
Maroon (8-4), which will have a bye Tuesday night and finished its regular season assured of the fourth seed, turned aside Purple 59-53, bouncing the opposition to sixth place at 6-5, though with Sky Blue's loss, Purple clinched the sixth seed through a tie-break win over Sky Blue.
If Purple were to beat Heather Grey on Court 2 at 7 p.m on Tuesday, it could tie Red for fifth but would lose the tie-break off a head-to-head loss.
Maroon, which is dominated by Division II University of the Sciences of Philadelphia, got 14 points from the Devils' Brianne Traub, who shot 8-for-8 from the line. Natalie Stella, who is on a six-year program with graduation set for 2018, scored 11 points.
Christine Verrelle, a sophomore at Dowling College, scored 12 points for Purple, while Lexi Scrivano, a Division II Millersville sophomore, scored 10 points, Lehigh sophomore Liz Sharlow scored 11 points, and Lehigh freshman Kiernan McCloskey, scored nine points.
Having detailed all the action from Thursday in the front of the blog, there is no recap below usually reserved for games not handled in this part of the report.
Looking Ahead
The Guru down below in a special sub-section will go over tie-breaking scenarios for the final standings that will occur after Tuesday's game while in the standings explanation sub-section that has been on-going, he will address tie-breakers as they now exist in the present alignment.
Going into the last night of action this Tuesday, 12 potential tie-breaker scenarios to finalize the last playoff slot and pairings in the eight-team postseason field exist and 21 tie-breaker possibilities exist overall in terms of what can crop up to produce the final regular-season standings.
But to look at what is at stake in simplicity here on the final night of the regular season on the 12-game card for each team in the league, Hunter Green will be looking to wrap up the top seed when it meets Royal Blue, the 13th-place team at 7 p.m. on Court 3.
White will be looking to beat Black on Court 1 at 8:15 p.m. on Court 1 to take at least second place or hope that Gold loses to Red at 8:15 p.m. on Court 2 to gain likewise, though if White wins and Hunter Green loses, White gets the top seed and Hunter Green would be the third seed off a head-to-head loss Gold in breaking a second place deadlock.
Gold, which will be at worst third, needs to beat Red to have a shot at the second seed and if a three-way tie at the top results, the commissioner's office in this case would have to look at worse loss because they would all be 1-1 among themselves.
Black holding the eighth seed right now in what would be a head-to-head tie-break with Kelly Green needs to win to avoid potential playoff elimination and could even land in a seventh-place tie with Sky Blue but could lose the head-to-head tiebreaker in that situation.
Maroon finished its regular season Thursday night with a win and even if Red catches up in a fourth-place tie by beating Gold, Maroon wins the head-to-head tie-break situation.
Purple has a 7 p.m. game on Court 2 against Heather Grey and could catch Red for fifth but would lose the tie-break. However, it is a moot point since the seed setup for the playoffs would have them meeting either way in the quarterfinals in the 4-5 game.
However, if Purple loses, it could fall into a sixth-place tie with Sky Blue but would win the tie-break for sixth off head-to-head competition.
Heather Grey on the other hand must beat Purple and hope for several other things to claim a four-way tie for the eighth final playoff spot. But the only satisfaction would be a seeding disruption as a spoiler because Heather Grey is already eliminated in that it cannot emerge out of the four-way tie.
Sky Blue, which gained a playoff spot through tie-breakers despite the loss to Red on Thursday, will be looking to clinch seventh place with a win when it meets Navy Blue at 7 p.m. on Court 1.
Navy Blue in the same game will be looking for a win and with some help could finish in a three-way or four-way tie for eighth and could emerge with the tie-break.
Kelly Green, which meets Orange at 8:15 p.m. on Court 1, needs to win its game and Black to lose to take eighth place outright. In a three-way or four-way tie for eighth, Kelly Green's win over Red is nice but Navy Blue's win over Gold is a trump card.
Tuesday's complete schedule with team records is listed next followed by the playoffs slate through the championship game. Once the teams in the slots are determined they will be inserted into their proper matchups.
Tuesday, July 30 (End of Regular Season)
7 p.m. Sky Blue (5-6) vs. Navy Blue (3-8), Court 1
Purple (6-5) vs. Heather Grey (3-8), Court 2
Hunter Green (10-1) vs. Royal Blue (1-10), Court 3
8:15 p.m. Kelly Green (4-7) vs. Orange (2-9), Court 1
Red (7-4) vs. Gold (9-2), Court 2
Black (4-7) vs. White (10-1), Court 3
Bye: Maroon
Playoffs
Quarterfinals
Thursday, Aug. 1
7:15 p.m. 8th Place vs. 1st Place, Court 1
6th Place vs. 3rd Place, Court 2
8:15 p.m. 7th place vs. 2d Place, Court 1
5th Place vs. 4th Place, Court 2
Semifinals
Tuesday, Aug. 6
Court 1
7 p.m. Highest seed survivor vs. Lowest seed survivor
<8:15 p.m. Other two quarterfinals survivors
Thursday, Aug. 8
Court 1
7 p.m. Championship winner take all
Tidbits From the Commissioner
David B. Kessler, now in his 20th season as commissioner of the league, in the game-day newsletter, notes that this time around there are 156 players representing over 60 collegiate programs and the average player height is 5-foot-9 and the average age is 20.5.
Looking ahead to next season, the 2014 draft will be May 29, the season will open June 17, the entry deadline for registration form, player information sheet, and fee is May 24th,
On a serious note, the commissioner would like to remind players to please remove all jewelry prior to playing in games. He says it's a rule designed for everyone's protection and game officials need to enforce it because of potential liability issues if an injury occurs.
Injury Report
And speaking of injuries, of which there has been more than normal this summer in the league, Kessler reports that Purple's Jenna Swope, a Division III Gettysburg junior, said her MRI results she suffered a torn ACL in recent action but remains very upbeat.
Explaining the Standings
Once again this time around the standings are still in their natural tiebreaking state for the moment in terms of seeding order if regular season play ended today, though not everybody has yet to play the same number of games because of the nightly byes.
For those who have already taken their byes one remains which will be served Tuesday by Maroon after finishing its regular season Thursday night on its 12-game schedule while everyone else has played 11 heading into Tuesday night's final.
Right now Hunter Green and White are tied for first with Hunter Green holding the top seed off a head-to-head tiebreaker.
Gold, Maroon, Red, Purple and Sky Blue hold seeds three through seven each alone off their records.
Black and Kelly Green are tied for the eighth and final playoff spot and Black holds the eighth seed right now off its head-to-head win over Kelly Green.
Navy Blue and Heather Grey are tied for 10th with Navy Blue placed ahead off its win over Heather Grey.
Orange off its reord stands alone in 12th and Royal Blue is 13th standing alone for the same reason.
Here is another quick look at the final night of action ahead for the four teams fighting for the final playoff spot.
K.G. vs. Orange, 7/30
N.B. vs. Sky Blue, 7/30
Black vs. White, 7/30
Heath G. vs. Purple, 7/30
Tie-Break Scenarios In Final Standings
Scenario A: Hunter Green and White finish tie for first and Hunter Green gets the top seed off its win over White if both teams win or both lose and Gold loses.
Scenario B: Hunter Green loses, White wins, and Gold loses, putting White first off record, and likewise for Hunter Green in second and Gold in third.
Scenario C: White and Gold finish tied for second if White loses and Gold wins and White gets the second seed off its win over Gold.
Scenario D: Hunter Green and White lose while Gold wins causing a three-way tie for first. Among themselves they are 1-1 in the three-way mini-league, eliminating the first tie-break attempt.
This may change and it is a long shot this scenario may even result depending on final standings but if we take worst loss, Hunt G. losing to Royal Blue would put them third and then White takes first on head-to-head over Gold, which would be second.
Scenario E: Red wins and ties Maroon for fourth but is still fifth off a head-to-head loss to Maroon.
Scenario F: Red loses and Purple wins causing tie for fifth, which goes to Red off win over Purple.
Scenario G: Purple loses and Sky Blue wins causing tie for sixth, which goes to Purple off win over Sky Blue.
Scenario H: Sky Blue loses and Black and Kelly Green win causing three-way tie for seventh and eighth, the final playoff slots.
Sky Blue takes seventh seed with a sweep over the other two and then Black gets the eighth slot off its win over Kelly Green.
Scenario I: Black and Kelly Green win and tie for the eighth and final playoff spot which goes to Black off its head to head win over Kelly Green.
Scenario J: Black and Kelly Green lose and Navy Blue wins causing three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff slot.
The trio are 1-1 amongst themselves eliminating the first tie-break. Navy Blue, with a win over Gold has the best win and makes the field while Black in standings is ninth and Kelly Green 10th off Black head-to-head win over Kelly Green.
Scenario K: Black, Kelly Green and Navy Blue lose while Heather Grey win causing three-way tie fofr eighth among Black, Kelly Green and Heather Grey.
Black is 2-0 among the three teams and makes the playoffs as the eighth seed while Kelly Green is ninth in the final standings and Heather Grey 10th off Kelly Green's win over Heather Grey.
Scenario L: Black and Kelly Green lose while Navy Blue and Heather Grey win causing a four-way tie for the eighth and final playoff slot.
Heather Grey is 0-3 against the other three in the crowd and is relegated to 11th wile everyone else is 2-1. Reverting to Scenario J since they are all 2-1 overall in the first tie-break but 1-1 among themselves as the three survivors, Navy Blue off its win over Gold gets the eighth and slot with the best wion. Black is then ninth and Kelly Green 10th off Black's head-to-head over Kelly Green.
Scenario M: For final standings purposes not involving playoff slots if Black, Heather Grey and Navy Blue tie for ninth, then Navy Blue is ninth among the group at 2-0, Black is 10th at 1-1 and Heather Grey is 11th at 0-2.
Scenario N: If Kelly Green, Navy Blue and Heather Grey tie for ninth, then Kelly Green is ninth at 2-0, Navy Blue is 10th at 1-1, and Heather Grey is 11th at 0-2.
Scenario O: If Kelly Green and Navy Blue tie for ninth, then Kelly Green gets the nod off beating Navy Blue.
Scenario P: If Navy Blue and Heather Grey tie for 10th, then Navy Blue gets ninth off its win over Heather Grey.
Scenario Q: If Kelly Green and Heather Grey tie for 10th, then Kelly Green gets the nod off its win over Heather Grey.
Scenario R: If Navy Blue, Heather Grey and Orange tie for 10th, then after tossing the first tie-break because they're all 1-1 among themsevles in the trio, then Navy Blue off its win over Gold is 1oth, then Heather Grey is 11th off its win over Orange, which is 12th.
Scenario S: If Navy Blue and Orange tie for 11th the nod goes to Orange off its head-to-head one-point win over Navy Blue Thursday night.
Scenario T: If Heather Grey and Orange tie for 11th the nod goes to Heather Grey off its win over Orange.
Scenario U: Finally, if Royal Blue and Orange tie for 12th the nod goes to Orange off its win over Royal Blue.
All that said, the running grid is in proper order to look at tiebreakers for seeding and making the eight-team field, though while the big gridlocks have been reduced to small knots, enough games, as has just been illustrated, are left to either create some headaches at the pre-playoff finish or everything may be resolved without much angst caused to the commissioner and the Guru, his standings consulting officer.
Also, continued special thanks to Tom Utescher for providing pictures that will enable this report to switch over to being housed in PhilahoopsW and a duplicate of last Thursday's report of 7/18 here is now over at http://philahoopsw.com to see what the future of coverage may be.
The Guru will tweet @womhoopsguru when photos and coverage at philahoopsw are in play.
Standings
Team, Won-Loss, Pct., GB, Pts., Opp. Points
%-1-Hunter Green, 10-1, .909, ---, 757, 661
%-1-White, 10-1, .909, --- 656, 500
%-3-Gold, 9-2, .818, 1.0, 556, 506
$%-4-Maroon, 8-4, .667, 2.5, 650, 639
%-5-Red, 7-4, .636, 3.0, 689, 603
%-6-Purple, 6-5, .545, 4.0, 638, 635
%-7-Sky Blue, 5-6, .456, 5.0 , 627, 602
8-Black, 4-7, .364, 6.0, 618, 658
8-Kelly Green, 4-7, .364, 6.0, 664, 674
10-Navy Blue, 3-8, .273, 7.0, 597, 685
10-Heather Grey, 3-8, .273, 7.0, 652, 658
12-Orange, 2-9, .182, 8.0, 530, 628
13-Royal Blue, 1-10, .091, 9.0, 455, 612
%-Clinched playoff spot
$-Regular season complete
Running Grid
This becomes the tracking tie-breaker and seeding guide in a few weeks for the eight-team playoffs, which will begin after the regular season ends July 30.
1-Hunt. G. vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. White (W), vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. R.B.-Tues.
1-White vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly Green (W), vs. Gold (W), vs. Hunt. G. (L), vs. R.B. (W-Forfeit), vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Black-Tues.
3-Gold vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (W), vs. White (L), vs. R.B. (W-Forfeit), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G. (W), vs. Black (W), vs. Red-Tues.
4-Maroon vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Kelly G. (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. Royal Blue (W), vs. Purple (W) -- **
5-Red vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly Green (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (W), vs. Navy Blue (W), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Gold-Tues.
6-Purple vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W-OT), vs. R.B (W), vs. N.B. (W-OT), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Hunt. G (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Heath. Grey-Tues.
7-Sky B. vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. Orange (W), vs Heath. Grey (L), Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. N.B.-Tues.
8-Black vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B (L), Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt. G (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly Green (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. White-Tues.
8-Kelly G. vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B, (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Orange-Tues.
10-N.B. vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (W), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (L), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt. Green (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (L), vs. Sky B.-Tues.
10-Heath. Grey vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Red (L), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Hunt. Green (L), vs. White (L), vs. Purple-Tues.
12-Orange vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Sky B (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. Royal Blue (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Kelly G.-Tues.
13-R.B. vs. Black (L), vs. Purple (L), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Gold (L-Forfeit), vs. White (L-Forfeit), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Hunt. G.-Tues
**-Maroon has a bye with it's regular season concluded in fourth place.
Top Individual Peformances (20 or more points)
32 Pts.: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (W), vs. Sky Blue, July 16
29 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green, (W) vs. White, July 10
27 Pts.: Kathryn Stockbower, Heather Grey (W) vs. Orange, June 18
26 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Black, June 27
26 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Navy Blue, July 16
26 Pts.: Jasmine Elum, White (W) vs. Heather Grey, July 25
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Orange, June 20
25 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 2
25 Pts.: Liz Sharlow, Purple (W) vs. Orange, July 23
25 Pts.: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (L), vs. White, July 25
24 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L) vs. Maroon, July 10
23 Pts.: Katie Kuester, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
23 Pts.: Catherine Carr, White (L) vs. Hunter Green, July 10
23 Pts.: Liz Sharlow, Purple (L) vs. White, July 16
23 Pts.: Kara Bonenberger, Royal Blue (L) vs. Maroon, July 23
22 Pts.: Alyssa Bonenberger, Royal (L) vs. Purple, June 25
22 Pts.: Kelsey Watson, Royal (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 2
21 Pts.: Kendall Benovy, Sky Blue (W), vs. Black, July 2
21 Pts: Ashley Wood, White (W) vs. Kelly Green, July 2
21 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (L) vs. Gold, July 2
21 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L-OT)., vs. Purple, July 2
21 Pts.: Brittany Wood, Kelly Green (L) vs. Purple, July 10
21 Pts: Liz Sharlow, Purple (L) vs. Hunter Green, July 11
21 Pts: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (L) vs. Navy Blue, July 11
21 Pts: Emily Leer, White (W) vs. Sky Blue, July 23
21 Pts.: Jacqueline McCarron, Black (W), July 23
20 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (W) vs. Black, June 25
20 Pts.: Camille McPherson, Maroon (W) vs. Red, July 2
20 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (L) vs. Purple, July 9
20 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, SkyBlue (W) vs. Orange, July 10
Till next report and between now and then it's off to Moehgan in Connecticut for Friday's interview sessions and practices and Saturday's action at the annual WNBA All-Star game.
-- Mel
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
HATBORO, Pa. -- Team White took advantage of idle Hunter Green's night off with the next to the last of the 13 byes to move into a tie for first Thursday night with a narrow 61-57 win over Heather Grey in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women's NCAA Summer Basketball League here at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.
The game featured the only two players -- one on each side -- to hit the ongoing 20-points or more individual performance standard, making 31 overall, including repeat achievements since the season got under way in mid-June.
Jasmine Elum, a graduate of Bethune-Cookman, had 26 points for White (11-1) in repeating achieving the milestone, highlighted by shooting 6-for-6 from the line and nailing four 3-pointers.
Division II Holy Family graduate Catherine Carr added 16 points for White, which also got nine from incoming Villanova junior Emily Leer.
"It was ugly," Leer said of the struggles of one of the teams that had been among the frontrunners all summer.
Heather Grey (3-8), one of the four hopefuls of still making the eight-team playoffs among the 13 groups, got 25 points from Lehigh sophomore Kerry Kinek, who has hit the magical marker several times already since the June tipoff.
Division III Haverford junior Pallavi Juneja added 15 points.
Hunter Green (10-1) needs a win over last-place Royal Blue (1-10) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. on Court 3 to clinch the top seed or White to lose Black (4-7) in the 8:15 p.m. on the same court.
Of course if White wins and Hunter Green gets upset then White gets the No. 1 seed. But Black, dominated by Division II Philadelphia University on its roster, has its own motivation barely clinging to the eighth seed but in a tie with Kelly Green, dominated by Division II Holy Family, heading into Tuesday night's final action of the regulation before the quarterfinals get under way next Thursday.
Meanwhile, Sky Blue (5-6), despite a 73-55 thumping by Red (7-4), backed into position as the official seventh team headsing to the postseason.
Though seven get to play at least one more night after Tuesday -- semifinals and the championship are in the first full week of August -- pairings are still up for grabs with any or several of 12 tie-breaking scenarios listed below and 21 overall in terms of how the final standings will take shape.
Red, dominated by Division III Scranton players on the roster, got 14 points from Lafayette junior Emily Homan, while Lia Disciascia, a Scranton junior, scored 12 points; Allison Sweeney, who will be a senior with the Royals, scored 10 points, and Kate Sherry, another Royals senior, scored nine.
Sky Blue, with a strong Division II West Chester flavor, got 19 points from Golden Rams aophomore Chikisha Steele-Hook, while West Chester sophomore Brittany Sicinski, scored 13 points, and Taylor Bryant, who was a Delaware student last year, scored 10 points.
Gold (9-2), which could finish in a three-way tie for first and even place second ahead of Hunter Green off a tie-breaker, won't finish any lower than third and kept its winning ways alive with a 58-48 win over Black as Sarah Fairbanks, a Saint Joseph's sophomore, scored 14 points and was 4-for-4 from the line.
Hawks junior Natasha Cloud scored 11 points and Maureen Leahy, a Bryant sophomore at the school in Rhode Island, scored 10 points.
Victoria Arnao, a Philly U. scored 11 points, while Rams recent graduate Megan Finn scored 8 points, sophomore Jacqueline McCarron scored 7 points and Mary Newell, a Rams sophomore, also scored seven points.
Kelly Green bounced off last week's loss to Black, one of its local Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference local rivals, to get back to a tie with a 73-48 win over Royal Blue (1-10), as Erin Martin of Indiana University of Pennnsylvania scored 15 points, a total matched by Yasmin Walker, an incoming freshman with Holy Family's Tigers in Northeast Philadelphia.
Erin Fenningham, a Tigers sophomore, scored 11 points for Kelly Green.
Kara Bonenberger, a Penn junior, scored 17 points for Royal Blue, while Kelsey Watson, a Division II Kutztown freshman, scored eight points.
Kelly Green should have an easier time than Black Tuesday night wrapping up against Orange (2-9), but maybe not in the game scheduled for 8:15 p.m. on Court 1.
After going winless most of the season until last week, Orange took its second straight with a narrow 62-61 win in the closing seconds that put a serious dent in the playoff hopes of Navy Blue (3-8), which is now in a logjam parked in two-way tie with Heather Grey parked at 10th a game behind Kelly Green and Black.
Navy Blue finishes Tuesday against Sky Blue at 7 p.m. on Court 1 needing a win and perhaps a lot of help as the scenarios illustrate in the outlooks further down this blog.
Orange got 17 points from Danielle Derr, a recent graduate of Division II Bloomsburg, who scored 17 points. Melissa Poderis, a sophomore at Division II East Stroudsburg, and Helena Gemmell, also a sophomore at ESU, each scored 13 points.
A Saint Joseph's trio led the way for Navy Blue as sophomore Ciara Andrews scored 18 points, a total matched by Hawks sophomore Kelsey Berger, and freshman Geena Gomez scored 12 pointss.
Maroon (8-4), which will have a bye Tuesday night and finished its regular season assured of the fourth seed, turned aside Purple 59-53, bouncing the opposition to sixth place at 6-5, though with Sky Blue's loss, Purple clinched the sixth seed through a tie-break win over Sky Blue.
If Purple were to beat Heather Grey on Court 2 at 7 p.m on Tuesday, it could tie Red for fifth but would lose the tie-break off a head-to-head loss.
Maroon, which is dominated by Division II University of the Sciences of Philadelphia, got 14 points from the Devils' Brianne Traub, who shot 8-for-8 from the line. Natalie Stella, who is on a six-year program with graduation set for 2018, scored 11 points.
Christine Verrelle, a sophomore at Dowling College, scored 12 points for Purple, while Lexi Scrivano, a Division II Millersville sophomore, scored 10 points, Lehigh sophomore Liz Sharlow scored 11 points, and Lehigh freshman Kiernan McCloskey, scored nine points.
Having detailed all the action from Thursday in the front of the blog, there is no recap below usually reserved for games not handled in this part of the report.
Looking Ahead
The Guru down below in a special sub-section will go over tie-breaking scenarios for the final standings that will occur after Tuesday's game while in the standings explanation sub-section that has been on-going, he will address tie-breakers as they now exist in the present alignment.
Going into the last night of action this Tuesday, 12 potential tie-breaker scenarios to finalize the last playoff slot and pairings in the eight-team postseason field exist and 21 tie-breaker possibilities exist overall in terms of what can crop up to produce the final regular-season standings.
But to look at what is at stake in simplicity here on the final night of the regular season on the 12-game card for each team in the league, Hunter Green will be looking to wrap up the top seed when it meets Royal Blue, the 13th-place team at 7 p.m. on Court 3.
White will be looking to beat Black on Court 1 at 8:15 p.m. on Court 1 to take at least second place or hope that Gold loses to Red at 8:15 p.m. on Court 2 to gain likewise, though if White wins and Hunter Green loses, White gets the top seed and Hunter Green would be the third seed off a head-to-head loss Gold in breaking a second place deadlock.
Gold, which will be at worst third, needs to beat Red to have a shot at the second seed and if a three-way tie at the top results, the commissioner's office in this case would have to look at worse loss because they would all be 1-1 among themselves.
Black holding the eighth seed right now in what would be a head-to-head tie-break with Kelly Green needs to win to avoid potential playoff elimination and could even land in a seventh-place tie with Sky Blue but could lose the head-to-head tiebreaker in that situation.
Maroon finished its regular season Thursday night with a win and even if Red catches up in a fourth-place tie by beating Gold, Maroon wins the head-to-head tie-break situation.
Purple has a 7 p.m. game on Court 2 against Heather Grey and could catch Red for fifth but would lose the tie-break. However, it is a moot point since the seed setup for the playoffs would have them meeting either way in the quarterfinals in the 4-5 game.
However, if Purple loses, it could fall into a sixth-place tie with Sky Blue but would win the tie-break for sixth off head-to-head competition.
Heather Grey on the other hand must beat Purple and hope for several other things to claim a four-way tie for the eighth final playoff spot. But the only satisfaction would be a seeding disruption as a spoiler because Heather Grey is already eliminated in that it cannot emerge out of the four-way tie.
Sky Blue, which gained a playoff spot through tie-breakers despite the loss to Red on Thursday, will be looking to clinch seventh place with a win when it meets Navy Blue at 7 p.m. on Court 1.
Navy Blue in the same game will be looking for a win and with some help could finish in a three-way or four-way tie for eighth and could emerge with the tie-break.
Kelly Green, which meets Orange at 8:15 p.m. on Court 1, needs to win its game and Black to lose to take eighth place outright. In a three-way or four-way tie for eighth, Kelly Green's win over Red is nice but Navy Blue's win over Gold is a trump card.
Tuesday's complete schedule with team records is listed next followed by the playoffs slate through the championship game. Once the teams in the slots are determined they will be inserted into their proper matchups.
Tuesday, July 30 (End of Regular Season)
7 p.m. Sky Blue (5-6) vs. Navy Blue (3-8), Court 1
Purple (6-5) vs. Heather Grey (3-8), Court 2
Hunter Green (10-1) vs. Royal Blue (1-10), Court 3
8:15 p.m. Kelly Green (4-7) vs. Orange (2-9), Court 1
Red (7-4) vs. Gold (9-2), Court 2
Black (4-7) vs. White (10-1), Court 3
Bye: Maroon
Playoffs
Quarterfinals
Thursday, Aug. 1
7:15 p.m. 8th Place vs. 1st Place, Court 1
6th Place vs. 3rd Place, Court 2
8:15 p.m. 7th place vs. 2d Place, Court 1
5th Place vs. 4th Place, Court 2
Semifinals
Tuesday, Aug. 6
Court 1
7 p.m. Highest seed survivor vs. Lowest seed survivor
<8:15 p.m. Other two quarterfinals survivors
Thursday, Aug. 8
Court 1
7 p.m. Championship winner take all
Tidbits From the Commissioner
David B. Kessler, now in his 20th season as commissioner of the league, in the game-day newsletter, notes that this time around there are 156 players representing over 60 collegiate programs and the average player height is 5-foot-9 and the average age is 20.5.
Looking ahead to next season, the 2014 draft will be May 29, the season will open June 17, the entry deadline for registration form, player information sheet, and fee is May 24th,
On a serious note, the commissioner would like to remind players to please remove all jewelry prior to playing in games. He says it's a rule designed for everyone's protection and game officials need to enforce it because of potential liability issues if an injury occurs.
Injury Report
And speaking of injuries, of which there has been more than normal this summer in the league, Kessler reports that Purple's Jenna Swope, a Division III Gettysburg junior, said her MRI results she suffered a torn ACL in recent action but remains very upbeat.
Explaining the Standings
Once again this time around the standings are still in their natural tiebreaking state for the moment in terms of seeding order if regular season play ended today, though not everybody has yet to play the same number of games because of the nightly byes.
For those who have already taken their byes one remains which will be served Tuesday by Maroon after finishing its regular season Thursday night on its 12-game schedule while everyone else has played 11 heading into Tuesday night's final.
Right now Hunter Green and White are tied for first with Hunter Green holding the top seed off a head-to-head tiebreaker.
Gold, Maroon, Red, Purple and Sky Blue hold seeds three through seven each alone off their records.
Black and Kelly Green are tied for the eighth and final playoff spot and Black holds the eighth seed right now off its head-to-head win over Kelly Green.
Navy Blue and Heather Grey are tied for 10th with Navy Blue placed ahead off its win over Heather Grey.
Orange off its reord stands alone in 12th and Royal Blue is 13th standing alone for the same reason.
Here is another quick look at the final night of action ahead for the four teams fighting for the final playoff spot.
K.G. vs. Orange, 7/30
N.B. vs. Sky Blue, 7/30
Black vs. White, 7/30
Heath G. vs. Purple, 7/30
Tie-Break Scenarios In Final Standings
Scenario A: Hunter Green and White finish tie for first and Hunter Green gets the top seed off its win over White if both teams win or both lose and Gold loses.
Scenario B: Hunter Green loses, White wins, and Gold loses, putting White first off record, and likewise for Hunter Green in second and Gold in third.
Scenario C: White and Gold finish tied for second if White loses and Gold wins and White gets the second seed off its win over Gold.
Scenario D: Hunter Green and White lose while Gold wins causing a three-way tie for first. Among themselves they are 1-1 in the three-way mini-league, eliminating the first tie-break attempt.
This may change and it is a long shot this scenario may even result depending on final standings but if we take worst loss, Hunt G. losing to Royal Blue would put them third and then White takes first on head-to-head over Gold, which would be second.
Scenario E: Red wins and ties Maroon for fourth but is still fifth off a head-to-head loss to Maroon.
Scenario F: Red loses and Purple wins causing tie for fifth, which goes to Red off win over Purple.
Scenario G: Purple loses and Sky Blue wins causing tie for sixth, which goes to Purple off win over Sky Blue.
Scenario H: Sky Blue loses and Black and Kelly Green win causing three-way tie for seventh and eighth, the final playoff slots.
Sky Blue takes seventh seed with a sweep over the other two and then Black gets the eighth slot off its win over Kelly Green.
Scenario I: Black and Kelly Green win and tie for the eighth and final playoff spot which goes to Black off its head to head win over Kelly Green.
Scenario J: Black and Kelly Green lose and Navy Blue wins causing three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff slot.
The trio are 1-1 amongst themselves eliminating the first tie-break. Navy Blue, with a win over Gold has the best win and makes the field while Black in standings is ninth and Kelly Green 10th off Black head-to-head win over Kelly Green.
Scenario K: Black, Kelly Green and Navy Blue lose while Heather Grey win causing three-way tie fofr eighth among Black, Kelly Green and Heather Grey.
Black is 2-0 among the three teams and makes the playoffs as the eighth seed while Kelly Green is ninth in the final standings and Heather Grey 10th off Kelly Green's win over Heather Grey.
Scenario L: Black and Kelly Green lose while Navy Blue and Heather Grey win causing a four-way tie for the eighth and final playoff slot.
Heather Grey is 0-3 against the other three in the crowd and is relegated to 11th wile everyone else is 2-1. Reverting to Scenario J since they are all 2-1 overall in the first tie-break but 1-1 among themselves as the three survivors, Navy Blue off its win over Gold gets the eighth and slot with the best wion. Black is then ninth and Kelly Green 10th off Black's head-to-head over Kelly Green.
Scenario M: For final standings purposes not involving playoff slots if Black, Heather Grey and Navy Blue tie for ninth, then Navy Blue is ninth among the group at 2-0, Black is 10th at 1-1 and Heather Grey is 11th at 0-2.
Scenario N: If Kelly Green, Navy Blue and Heather Grey tie for ninth, then Kelly Green is ninth at 2-0, Navy Blue is 10th at 1-1, and Heather Grey is 11th at 0-2.
Scenario O: If Kelly Green and Navy Blue tie for ninth, then Kelly Green gets the nod off beating Navy Blue.
Scenario P: If Navy Blue and Heather Grey tie for 10th, then Navy Blue gets ninth off its win over Heather Grey.
Scenario Q: If Kelly Green and Heather Grey tie for 10th, then Kelly Green gets the nod off its win over Heather Grey.
Scenario R: If Navy Blue, Heather Grey and Orange tie for 10th, then after tossing the first tie-break because they're all 1-1 among themsevles in the trio, then Navy Blue off its win over Gold is 1oth, then Heather Grey is 11th off its win over Orange, which is 12th.
Scenario S: If Navy Blue and Orange tie for 11th the nod goes to Orange off its head-to-head one-point win over Navy Blue Thursday night.
Scenario T: If Heather Grey and Orange tie for 11th the nod goes to Heather Grey off its win over Orange.
Scenario U: Finally, if Royal Blue and Orange tie for 12th the nod goes to Orange off its win over Royal Blue.
All that said, the running grid is in proper order to look at tiebreakers for seeding and making the eight-team field, though while the big gridlocks have been reduced to small knots, enough games, as has just been illustrated, are left to either create some headaches at the pre-playoff finish or everything may be resolved without much angst caused to the commissioner and the Guru, his standings consulting officer.
Also, continued special thanks to Tom Utescher for providing pictures that will enable this report to switch over to being housed in PhilahoopsW and a duplicate of last Thursday's report of 7/18 here is now over at http://philahoopsw.com to see what the future of coverage may be.
The Guru will tweet @womhoopsguru when photos and coverage at philahoopsw are in play.
Standings
Team, Won-Loss, Pct., GB, Pts., Opp. Points
%-1-Hunter Green, 10-1, .909, ---, 757, 661
%-1-White, 10-1, .909, --- 656, 500
%-3-Gold, 9-2, .818, 1.0, 556, 506
$%-4-Maroon, 8-4, .667, 2.5, 650, 639
%-5-Red, 7-4, .636, 3.0, 689, 603
%-6-Purple, 6-5, .545, 4.0, 638, 635
%-7-Sky Blue, 5-6, .456, 5.0 , 627, 602
8-Black, 4-7, .364, 6.0, 618, 658
8-Kelly Green, 4-7, .364, 6.0, 664, 674
10-Navy Blue, 3-8, .273, 7.0, 597, 685
10-Heather Grey, 3-8, .273, 7.0, 652, 658
12-Orange, 2-9, .182, 8.0, 530, 628
13-Royal Blue, 1-10, .091, 9.0, 455, 612
%-Clinched playoff spot
$-Regular season complete
Running Grid
This becomes the tracking tie-breaker and seeding guide in a few weeks for the eight-team playoffs, which will begin after the regular season ends July 30.
1-Hunt. G. vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. White (W), vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. R.B.-Tues.
1-White vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly Green (W), vs. Gold (W), vs. Hunt. G. (L), vs. R.B. (W-Forfeit), vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Black-Tues.
3-Gold vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (W), vs. White (L), vs. R.B. (W-Forfeit), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G. (W), vs. Black (W), vs. Red-Tues.
4-Maroon vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Kelly G. (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. Royal Blue (W), vs. Purple (W) -- **
5-Red vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly Green (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (W), vs. Navy Blue (W), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Gold-Tues.
6-Purple vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W-OT), vs. R.B (W), vs. N.B. (W-OT), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Hunt. G (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Heath. Grey-Tues.
7-Sky B. vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. Orange (W), vs Heath. Grey (L), Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. N.B.-Tues.
8-Black vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B (L), Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt. G (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly Green (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. White-Tues.
8-Kelly G. vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B, (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Orange-Tues.
10-N.B. vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (W), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (L), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt. Green (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (L), vs. Sky B.-Tues.
10-Heath. Grey vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. R.B. (W), vs. Red (L), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky Blue (W), vs. Hunt. Green (L), vs. White (L), vs. Purple-Tues.
12-Orange vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Sky B (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L), vs. Royal Blue (W), vs. Purple (L), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Kelly G.-Tues.
13-R.B. vs. Black (L), vs. Purple (L), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Gold (L-Forfeit), vs. White (L-Forfeit), vs. Red (L), vs. Orange (L), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Hunt. G.-Tues
**-Maroon has a bye with it's regular season concluded in fourth place.
Top Individual Peformances (20 or more points)
32 Pts.: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (W), vs. Sky Blue, July 16
29 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green, (W) vs. White, July 10
27 Pts.: Kathryn Stockbower, Heather Grey (W) vs. Orange, June 18
26 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Black, June 27
26 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Navy Blue, July 16
26 Pts.: Jasmine Elum, White (W) vs. Heather Grey, July 25
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Orange, June 20
25 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 2
25 Pts.: Liz Sharlow, Purple (W) vs. Orange, July 23
25 Pts.: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (L), vs. White, July 25
24 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L) vs. Maroon, July 10
23 Pts.: Katie Kuester, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
23 Pts.: Catherine Carr, White (L) vs. Hunter Green, July 10
23 Pts.: Liz Sharlow, Purple (L) vs. White, July 16
23 Pts.: Kara Bonenberger, Royal Blue (L) vs. Maroon, July 23
22 Pts.: Alyssa Bonenberger, Royal (L) vs. Purple, June 25
22 Pts.: Kelsey Watson, Royal (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 2
21 Pts.: Kendall Benovy, Sky Blue (W), vs. Black, July 2
21 Pts: Ashley Wood, White (W) vs. Kelly Green, July 2
21 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (L) vs. Gold, July 2
21 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L-OT)., vs. Purple, July 2
21 Pts.: Brittany Wood, Kelly Green (L) vs. Purple, July 10
21 Pts: Liz Sharlow, Purple (L) vs. Hunter Green, July 11
21 Pts: Kerry Kinek, Heather Grey (L) vs. Navy Blue, July 11
21 Pts: Emily Leer, White (W) vs. Sky Blue, July 23
21 Pts.: Jacqueline McCarron, Black (W), July 23
20 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (W) vs. Black, June 25
20 Pts.: Camille McPherson, Maroon (W) vs. Red, July 2
20 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (L) vs. Purple, July 9
20 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, SkyBlue (W) vs. Orange, July 10
Till next report and between now and then it's off to Moehgan in Connecticut for Friday's interview sessions and practices and Saturday's action at the annual WNBA All-Star game.
-- Mel
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
posted by Mel Greenberg | 7:18 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home