Women's Basketball Championship Seeding Released

Amherst Finishes Conference Slate Undefeated For Second-Straight Year

HADLEY, Mass. – Defending NESCAC champion Amherst College wrapped up the regular season on Saturday a perfect 9-0 in league play thanks to a 66-55 victory at rival Williams. The Lord Jeffs have earned the top seed in the 2011 NESCAC Women's Basketball Championship, the third time in the last four years that they have secured the number-one spot in the conference tournament.

Amherst joins Colby, Bowdoin, and Williams in hosting a quarterfinal contest on Saturday, Feb. 19, and if the Jeffs advance they will host the semifinals and final on Feb. 26-27. Ticket information for the quarterfinals shall be released by the hosts in the upcoming week.

Amherst (23-1, 9-0 NESCAC) has been nearly unstoppable this season. The Jeffs lead the league in scoring offense and defense and have out-scored opponents by nearly 30 points per game. Last year, Amherst entered the NESCAC championship a perfect 24-0 and continued its winning ways, claiming its second conference crown and reaching the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament before suffering its first loss. This year, the Jeffs' only setback came at Kean on Jan. 11, 85-82 in overtime, but bounced back nicely by winning their next 10 outings, including Friday's 63-43 win at Middlebury which guaranteed them the top seed. Amherst looks primed to repeat as NESCAC champion and will begin its quest for a third title next Saturday when it hosts its travel partner, eighth-seeded Trinity (13-10, 3-6 NESCAC). The Bantams opened the year with an 11-3 record but have managed only two wins in their last nine games since an 85-83 overtime loss at Rhode Island College on Jan. 20. Trinity also dropped its next game two days later, 81-45, at Amherst. The Bantams finished tied in the NESCAC standings with Middlebury at 3-6 but were relegated to eighth due to their loss to the Panthers on Saturday afternoon by a 66-47 score. Before Trinity meets Amherst for the first time in tournament history on Saturday it will host Baruch on Tuesday evening.

A year after the best season in program history, second-seeded Colby (20-4, 7-2 NESCAC) returns to the NESCAC championship in a similar position. The Mules posted their highest finish in the conference standings last winter, reached the conference final for the first time, and earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth. Colby heads into this year's tournament as the number-two seed once again and is in the midst of a seven-game winning streak, most recently downing Wesleyan and Connecticut College over the weekend to close out the regular season. The Mules will take on seventh-seeded Middlebury (14-8, 3-6 NESCAC) in what will be the first contest between the two in the NESCAC tournament. The Panthers are back in the conference championship for the first time since 2008, claiming the seventh spot following the aforementioned win over Trinity. Saturday's quarterfinal matchup will pit these foes against one another for the second time in just over two weeks. Colby won the regular season showdown in Waterville on Feb. 4, 81-60.

Bowdoin (20-4, 6-3 NESCAC) snatched the third seed away from Williams by holding the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Ephs. After going on the road in the quarterfinals for the first time ever last year, the Polar Bears are back home this year thanks to wins at Connecticut College and Wesleyan this past weekend. The NESCAC Women's Basketball Championship has been synonymous with Bowdoin for many years. The Polar Bears have eight conference titles to their credit, winning the first seven in a row, and boast a 25-2 mark in tournament play. It is only fitting that Bowdoin will renew its quest for another NESCAC championship against one of its oldest tournament rivals, sixth-seeded Bates (17-7, 5-4 NESCAC). The Polar Bears own a 5-0 record against the Bobcats in the playoffs with four wins coming in the championship game. This season, the two teams split their annual two-game series with the road team winning both times. Bowdoin claimed the non-conference match on Jan. 11, 67-61, before Bates took the Jan. 22 meeting by a 77-56 score. Saturday's quarterfinal should be interesting to watch, as the two teams are nearly even in scoring offense overall yet the Polar Bears have the statistical advantage in scoring defense, holding opponents to nearly 10 points fewer per game than the Bobcats.

The remaining quarterfinal contests features fourth-seeded Williams (20-4, 6-3 NESCAC) against fifth-seeded Tufts (17-5, 5-4 NESCAC) in what should be an exciting rematch from the regular season. During the Jan. 15 meeting in Medford, the Ephs led by as many as nine points midway through the second half, however the Jumbos battled back and eventually tied the contest. Williams earned the victory in overtime, as sophomore Danny Rainer (Marlborough, Mass.) tipped in the game-winning basket for her team with five seconds left on the clock to hand Tufts what was at the time only its second loss of the season. Both teams have had their struggles as of late. The Ephs are 1-3 over their last four while the Jumbos are 2-2, most recently picking up a 67-53 win at Bates. Williams was once a perennial participant in the semifinals, making six consecutive appearances at one point, but the Ephs have not advanced past the first round since 2007. Tufts, which had made back-to-back title games in 2007 and 2008, missed out on the semis last year for the first time in four years. The only time these two have met in the conference tournament came in the 2004 quarterfinals when fifth-seeded Williams recorded a 73-52 decision over fourth-seeded Tufts.

2011 NESCAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Saturday, Feb. 19 at Higher Seeds
No. 7 Middlebury at No. 2 Colby - 3:00 p.m.
No. 6 Bates at No. 3 Bowdoin - 3:00 p.m.
No. 8 Trinity at No. 1 Amherst - 4:00 p.m.
No. 5 Tufts at No. 4 Williams - 4:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, February 26 at Highest Remaining Seed
Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed - 2:00 p.m.
Remaining first round winners - 4:00 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, February 27
Semifinal winners - 12:00 p.m.