WALTHAM, Mass. – Stephen Zerdelian, publisher of the Division II East Region Women's Basketball Report, has produced Tournament Notes for the upcoming East Regional Tournament, hosted by No. 1 seed Bentley University.

2010-2011 Division II Women's NCAA East Regional Notes

By Stephen Zerdelian

Historical Perspective ('Era of 64')

 

This season is the ninth in which the Division II NCAA women's basketball tournament consists of 64 teams, 8 per region. In a way, it's as if the tournament came into its own for the 2003 season; the full 64 teams helped to get it into line with Division I and it's gotten stronger ever since. Thus, the 'Era of 64' is largely the timeframe under the spotlight here.

 

The Division II tournament began in 1982 with 16 teams. It expanded to 24 teams (3 per region) from 1983-1987, and then went to 32 teams (4 per region) for the period of 1988-1993. A slightly unwieldy 48 teams (6 per region, necessitating 1^st round byes) held sway from 1994-2002; since then it's been 64 teams, a clean 8 per region. The current Elite Eight format (all regional winners heading to one site for the national quarterfinals-onward) has been in place since 1994, although at first it was at a host/participant site before moving to neutral, pre-determined sites, as it is now. Prior to that, the four quarterfinal games were played at four different sites, depending on the matchups, which fed into a Final Four format, hosted by one of the participants.

 

In this part of the country, we've seen the growth first-hand. This, the 30^th year of the Division II national tournament, has yielded two national champions from this region (New Haven in 1987 and Southern Connecticut in 2007) along with three other finalists (Bentley in 1990, AIC in 2006 and Franklin Pierce in 2009), with recent results indicating the increased strength of the region. In fact, since the tournament went to 64 teams (8 years), the East Region stacks up decently with any other:

 

 

Region	Champions	Finalists	Overall Champions/Finalists
Central	2 (Minnesota State, 2009)     (South Dakota State, 2003)	2 (Fort Lewis, 2010)     (South Dakota, 2008)	10/6
South Central	2 (Emporia State, 2010)         (Washburn, 2005)	1 (Drury, 2004, prior to      switching regions)	3/6
Midwest	2 (Northern Kentucky, 2008)     (Grand Valley State, 2006)	1 (Northern Kentucky, 2003)	3/2
East	1 (Southern Conn. State, 2007)	2 (Franklin Pierce, 2009)    (AIC, 2006)	2/3
Atlantic	1 (California, PA, 2004)	0	1/1
South	0	1 (Florida Gulf Coast, 2007;     now a Division I institution)	3/4
West	0	1 (Seattle Pacific, 2005)	5/6
Southeast	0	0	2/1

 

 

Thus, the East Region can hold its head high. Only one institution has reached the title game twice in the span under the spotlight (Northern Kentucky), a long way from the days of domination from the likes of North Dakota State (5 titles and 2 finals appearances from 1991-2000), North Dakota (3 titles and a finals appearance from 1997-2001), Delta State (three titles and a finals appearance from 1989-1993) and Cal Poly Pomona (six finals showings from 1982-1989 with three championships taken home). In fact, the only institution to win three consecutive regional crowns since 2003 is Franklin Pierce, the defending three-time East winner. To take the latter point a step further, the only team since 2003 to win more than three regional crowns in any region is California, PA, which has annexed four Atlantic titles ('03, '04, '08, '09).

 

 

 

Interestingly, the one region that has not had a finalist in the 64-team era is the Southeast. This region was known as the South Atlantic in the old days (much like the current East region was known as New England and then Northeast regions) but it has suffered quite a drought. That particular region has won only two national titles but they came in 1983 (Virginia Union) and 1998 (Hampton); since then, the region has yet to send a team to the title contest, a 22-year blank.

 

Why does that matter? Well, the East regional winner gets to face the Southeast champion in the 2011 Elite Eight in St. Joseph, Missouri, on March 22. The favorite from that area is Clayton State (GA), the #2 team in the nation, according to the WBCA/ESPN/USA Today national poll. From the Peach Belt Conference (where former NE-10 commissioner David Brunk now holds the top job), the Lakers enter the NCAA's at 29-1, having won 29 games in a row before losing in the PBC semifinals. This is a team that likes to score (80.4ppg) and feasts on turnovers (they've forced nearly 300 more than they have committed); whether or not they get by the region and into the Elite Eight (where they have been twice, 2007 and 2009) remains to be seen. The last time the East winner faced the Southeast champion at the Elite Eight was in 2004, when Merrimack faced, and defeated, Augusta State (GA).

 

The East Field

 

There are more than enough avenues to glean info on the teams playing in this year's East regional, and although this space can give a few bits of detail, the focus here is on the more esoteric, big-picture things. Half of this season's field is different than last year, with Stonehill (missing out for the first time since 2005, having been in it 7 of the last 8 years), Molloy, Bridgeport and Nyack being replaced by Assumption, the College of Saint Rose, Goldey-Beacom and C.W. Post.

 

 

Seed	Team (NCAA record) (Bid source)	Notes
1	Bentley (44-30) (NE-10 AQ)	28th visit to the NCAA's, the most in Division II… The Falcons have been to all but two NCAA tournaments, 1986 and 2006… #2 on the all-time DII tournament appearance list is Delta State with 23.
2	Holy Family (7-7) (At-Large)	8th NCAA trip, the Tigers have qualified for every NCAA DII tournament they have been eligible for (since 2004)… HFU has been to two of the last three regional finals, losing to Franklin Pierce each time.
3	Franklin Pierce (13-8) (At-Large)	8th NCAA appearance; the Ravens come into this one with a nine-game regional winning streak, their last loss a setback against St. Anselm in 1999… FPU has a 12-3 overall record in NCAA play since 2008.
4	Assumption (2-3) (At-Large)	4th NCAA trip, the others coming in 2000, 2002 and 2008… AC has never reached the regional finals, having advanced to the round of 32 twice ('00 and '08).
5	Saint Rose (7-10) (At-Large)	11th showing in the NCAA's, they've had two 3-year streaks ('95-'97; '99-'01) and have been in the field every odd year since '05 ('05, '07, '09, '11)… Only non-NE-10 team (although part of the league now, they were then a NYCAC team) to win regional ('99) since 1988 (New Haven).
6	Pace (7-14) (At-Large)	15th visit to the NCAA's, having been a part of the 'old' East region (now the Atlantic) in the 80's… The Setters have taken part in 8 of the last 12 regionals and made it to the national quarterfinals in 1985 and 2001.
7	Goldey-Beacom (0-0) (CACC AQ)	The only debutante in the regional field, the Lightning won the CACC crown to earn their ticket… GBC is the third CACC team to make a debut in the last four years (Nyack in '10; Dominican in '08).
8	C.W. Post (1-2) (ECC AQ)	It's the 3rd NCAA visit for C.W. Post, the other two coming in 1983 and 2001… The Pioneers only win was back in '83, when they beat Florida International before losing to Canisius; they lost to AIC at Bentley in '01.

 

The background of the region (which began as New England, became Northeast and is now the East) shows that of the 29 previous winners, the Northeast-10 Conference supplied every winner since 1988 but one (see Saint Rose note above). Prior to 1988, only one regional winner was an NE-10 (back then, NE-8) club, Springfield ('82). But, aside of Central Connecticut ('86, part of the old New England Collegiate Conference), every regional winner at one time or another was part of the NE-10. Consider that New Haven ('87-'88), Quinnipiac ('84-'85) and Southern Connecticut ('83) either were, or are now, NE-10 institutions.

 

New Faces Find Road Difficult

 

It can be a bit daunting to try and succeed in an NCAA debut season. This region has had their share of new faces over the years, and the results have been predictably mixed. With Goldey-Beacom taking their bow in the field this season, let's see how recent debutantes have fared:

 

Season	Team	Result
2010	Nyack	0-1
2009	Queens	0-1
2008	Molloy, Dominican	Both 0-1
2005-2007	No debuts	-
2004	Holy Family, University of the Sciences	Both 0-1
2003	Merrimack	1-1
2003	St. Thomas Aquinas, Dowling	Both 0-1
2002	LeMoyne	0-1
2001	No debuts	-
2000	Assumption	1-1
1999	Binghamton	0-1

 

Thus, over the past dozen seasons, the newly-minted NCAA teams have posted a 2-10 record. None have won more than one game in their initial regional trip.

 

Seeding Results

 

At times the importance of earning a high(er) seed is prioritized but other times it's not all that relevant. Naturally the higher the seed, the (generally) better the team but there are no guarantees. Since the 64-team field came into creation, the East (formerly Northeast) region has had its share of idiosyncrasies, such as the 1-2-3-5 seeds winning the 1^st round contests each of the last six years. Let's take a look at the 8-team regional field history:

 

1st Round Match-up	Outcome
#1 vs. #8	#1 has won all 8 times
#2 vs. #7	#2 has won 6 times, with the only exceptions being 2003 and 2004
#3 vs. #6	#3 owns 7 wins, the sole aberration being in 2004
#4 vs. #5	#5 has amazingly dominated this match-up, 7-1. The only time the #4 has won a game was in 2004

 

As for regional finals, the #1 seed has lived up to its' billing more often than not:

 

Regional Finalist Seed	Results
#1	6-2 (have been to all 8 RF)
#2	0-3 ('05, '07, '10)
#3	2-2 ('06 and '08)
#7	0-1 ('04)
#4,5,6 and 8	No RF appearances

Why not look at all eight prior 8-team regional results?

 

Round	2010 (at Fitchburg State, hosted by Fr. Pierce)	2009 (at Holy Family)
1st	#1 Franklin Pierce def. #8 Nyack	#1 Franklin Pierce def. #8 Philadelphia
1st	#2 Holy Family def. #7 Bridgeport	#2 Holy Family def. #7 Queens
1st	#3 Stonehill def. #6 Bentley	#3 Stonehill def. #6 Saint Rose
1st	#5 Molloy def. #4 Pace	#5 AIC def. #4 Bentley
SF	#1 Franklin Pierce def. #5 Molloy	#1 Franklin Pierce def. #5 AIC
SF	#2 Holy Family def. #3 Stonehill	#3 Stonehill def. #2 Holy Family
Final	#1 Franklin Pierce def. #2 Holy Family	#1 Franklin Pierce def. #3 Stonehill

 

 

Round	2008 (at Holy Family)	2007 (at Southern Connecticut)
1st	#1 Holy Family def. #8 Molloy	#1 Southern Conn. def. #8 New Haven
1st	#2 Stonehill def. #7 Bryant	#2 Bentley def. #7 Stonehill
1st	#3 Franklin Pierce def. #6 Dominican	#3 Pace def. #6 AIC
1st	#5 Assumption def. #4 Bentley	#5 Holy Family def. #4 Saint Rose
SF	#1 Holy Family def. #5 Assumption	#1 Southern Conn. def. #5 Holy Family
SF	#3 Franklin Pierce def. #2 Stonehill	#2 Bentley def. #3 Pace
Final	#3 Franklin Pierce def. #1 Holy Family	#1 Southern Connecticut def. #2 Bentley

 

 

Round	2006 (at Southern Connecticut)	2005 (at Merrimack)
1st	#1 Southern Conn. def. #8 Univ. of Sciences	#1 Merrimack def. #8 Bridgeport
1st	#2 Stonehill def. #7 New Haven	#2 Bentley def. #7 Bryant
1st	#3 AIC def. #6 Saint Rose	#3 Southern Connecticut def. #6 Pace
1st	#5 Holy Family def. #4 Pace	#5 AIC def. #4 Holy Family
SF	#1 Southern Conn. def. #5 Holy Family	#1 Merrimack def. #5 AIC
SF	#3 AIC def. #2 Stonehill	#2 Bentley def. #3 Southern Connecticut
Final	#3 AIC def. #1 Southern Connecticut	#1 Merrimack def. #2 Bentley

 

 

Round	2004 (at Merrimack)	2003 (at Bentley)
1st	#1 Merrimack def. #8 Adelphi	#1 Bentley def. #8 New Haven
1st	#7 Bryant def. #2 Bentley	#7 Southern Conn. def. #2 Mass.-Lowell
1st	#6 Stonehill def. #3 Holy Family	#3 Stonehill def. #6 St. Thomas Aquinas
1st	#4 AIC def. #5 Univ. of Sciences	#5 Merrimack def. #4 Dowling
SF	#1 Merrimack def. #4 AIC	#1 Bentley def. #5 Merrimack
SF	#7 Bryant def. #6 Stonehill	#3 Stonehill def. #7 Southern Connecticut
Final	#1 Merrimack def. #7 Bryant	#1 Bentley def. #3 Stonehill