Hope 09: Getting ready for game day

Welcome to our continuing coverage of the 2009 Women’s Division III Basketball Championship tournament. Throughout the next couple days, we’ll use the Daily Dose as command central for all sorts of coverage from Holland, Mich. where Hope College hosts the final four teams in the tournament. Check back for game previews and reviews, interviews, podcasts and links galore. Our broadcast coverage begins with pregame coverage at 3:00 pm EDT on Friday. But if you can’t wait until then, let’s take a look ahead to tomorrow’s games. National Semifinal Game 1 – 4 PM EDT No. 6 Washington U. Bears (25-4, 13-1 UAA) vs. No. 11 Amherst Lord Jeffs (29-2, 8-1 NESCAC) Video broadcast Audio broadcast Live Stats Bears’ road to Hope: UAA champion (automatic bid); tournament wins over Capital (77-72), Transylvania (83-57), St. Benedict (56-43) and No. 1 Illinois Wesleyan (58-53) Lord Jeffs’ road to Hope: At-large bid; tournament wins over Babson (77-54), Emmanuel (76-37), No. 14 NYU (74-51) and No. 25 Brandeis (68-54) Washington U, the most experienced team in the semifinal field, meets one of three national semifinal newbies. Amherst is in just its second NCAA Tournament appearance ever after advancing to the sectional round in 2008 when the Lord Jeffs fell to DePauw. Wash U is in its 20th straight tournament, but failed to reach the sectionals a year ago. The Bears will be the Lord Jeffs’ third straight opponent from the UAA. Last weekend Amherst handled NYU and three-time UAA Player of the Year Jessica McEntee, who was limited to just six points in the defeat. Amherst won the sectional for the first time in school history by topping Brandeis. Amherst Head Coach G.P. Gromacki takes his second different school to the Final Four after reaching the championship game with St. Lawrence in 2002. The Lord Jeffs only allow 48.7 points per game and outrebound opponents by more than eight per contest. Washington U. doesn’t have a single player averaging more than 8.9 points but is in the national semifinals for an eighth time to tie the University of Scranton for most appearances ever. The Bears won four straight titles under current Head Coach Nancy Fahey from 1998-2001, and Fahey’s squad brings a 14-game win streak to Holland. The Bears lost to DePauw in the 2007 National Championship Game during their last visit to the Final Four. Nine players currently on the roster were a part of that defeat and will look to make their second visit much more memorable. The Bears, who stumbled to a 4-3 start, also outrebound their opponents by over eight per game and won at Illinois Wesleyan to advance to Holland and avenge an earlier defeat. (Game preview by Tim Calderwood, D3hoops.com) More Washington U. coverage: Team page (D3hoops) Team page (Wash. U) D3hoops.com feature: Off the floor, Bears all friends Game notes (Wash. U) More Amherst coverage: Team page (D3hoops) Team page (Amherst) D3hoops.com feature: Nope, no pressure Player blogs (Amherst) Game notes (Amherst) National Semifinal Game 2 – 6 PM EDT No. 3 George Fox Bruins (30-0, 16-0 NWC) vs. The College of New Jersey Lions (27-4, 11-2 NJAC) Video broadcast Audio broadcast Live Stats Bruins’ road to Hope: NWC champion (Automatic bid); first round bye, defeated Chapman (83-40), defeated No. 5 Oglethorpe (71-56), defeated No. 2 Hope (58-46) Lions’ road to Hope: NJAC champion (Automatic bid); defeated No. 19 DeSales (64-51), defeated No. 16 Tufts (57-55), defeated No. 8 Rochester (70-58), defeated No. 20 Scranton (54-48) Defense will be the name of the second game when two zone defenses battle for a chance to win a national championship. Both schools are making their first ever visit to the national semifinals. After losing to Hope in last year’s sectional semifinal, George Fox graduated its entire starting five, yet still finds itself as the last remaining unbeaten in Division III. The Bruins, who won their third straight Northwest Conference title, avenged their loss to Hope by denying the Flying Dutch the chance to play for the title on their home floor with a 58-46 decision at Thomas More in the sectional final last Saturday. West Region Player of the Year Kristen Shielee blocked nine shots in the win over Hope, including five in the final eight minutes. The Bruins have 10 first year players, including All Region selection Sage Indendi and fellow back court starter Keisha Gordon. The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) has been the surprise of the tournament, becoming the first team to reach the national semifinals after entering the tournament unranked since Wilmington did it in 2004. After starting the season 3-3, the Lions switched from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone defense. TCNJ has won 13 in a row since a loss to confernece foe Kean on January 29. Led by Atlantic Region Player of the Year Hillary Klimowicz, who is the tournament’s leading scorer at 21.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, the Lions denied Scranton another Final Four appearance by beating the Lady Royals in Rochester last Saturday. Klimowicz is a strong National Player of the Year candidate, but don’t sleep on Alexandra Gregorek who anchors the zone defense and came up big last weekend. TCNJ outrebounds opponents by over 10 a night, ninth best nationally. (Game preview written by Tim Calderwood with contributions from John McGraw, D3hoops.com) More George Fox coverage: Team page (D3hoops) Team page (George Fox) D3hoops podcast: Rejector, Rookies, Rueck Game notes (George Fox) More TCNJ coverage: Team page (D3hoops) Team page (TCNJ) D3hoops feature: Hillary K, TCNJ in the Final Four

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This episode was published on Mar 19, 2009.

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