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[Wayne23]

2/5: At 14-7, 7-3 NJIT. They beat us by 1 at our place in a game that still makes me shake my head. Their starting PG is out with a fractured ankle. Their backup isn't very good, although he's playing SG and the starting Sg is now at PG. They're still picked to win.

Ruf Long is bitching again. I'm trying to talk him into staying but he might transfer out. He hasn't lived up to his potential but he's still one of my best players. I wouldn't like to lose him.

2/6: They take a quick lead. Up 1 after 10; Hays is beating up on the fill in. Up 4 at the half. 9 each for Meek and Hays. -7 RBs, +6 in the paint, so that's a wash. 1 TO to 8. Taking more shots and making 2 more. This one is up for grabs. Up 7 with 10 left to play.

73-67 and payback for the loss at our place. 15, 8, 5 blocks for Meek, 16, 5, 3, 5 steals for Hays. -8 RBs Only 2 TOs! +18 in the paint. We took 16 more shots.

The Lady Cats are now 22-2, ranked #5.

"I really want that #1 seed!"

"Keep winning."

"Working on it."

"So... been on any hikes lately?"

"How did you know!"

"You were seen entering the trail."

"So now you have spies!"

"Slow down, Dee. No. I was chatting with someone in the cafeteria and they mentioned that the Vermont 'girls' coach'- I always cringe at that- must be back to hiking."

"Oh... Yeah, but I took it easy."

"No point mentioning the danger or reminding you about that fracture, I suppose."

"That was just an accident. It won't happen again."

"Not my job to tell you what to do."

"Thank you!"

This relationship thing is mostly really good but I don't like that i worry about her a lot. Of course she lives way out on the edge...

[Wayne23]

2/8: 7-15, 3-8 Albany is here. We won by 10 there. Their starting Sf is out with severe back issues. They get more from their bench than any other team in the AEC. They give up a lot of points.

2/9: Back and forth. Up 5 after 10. We go on a big run. Up 13 at the half; we kind of fell asleep at the end; we were up 21. 11 each for Meek and Hays and 10 for Thor. +5 RBs, +6 in the paint. Up 12 with 10 to go.

91-71. 20, 6 for Thor, 19, 7 for Meek, 15, 4, 5, 3 steals for Hays, 12, 10 for Long. +6 RBs, 14 fewer TOs. +20 in the paint.

In a 2 way tie for 1st with 2 teams 1 back. 6 to play.

[Wayne23]

2/12: At 5-18, 1-11 New Hampshire. And yep, they're favored. I'm showing that to my guys to keep them from being complacent.

2/13: Quick lead. Up 13 after 10. Up 19 at the break. 15 for Simm, 14 for Hays. +8 RBs, +14 in the paint. 10 TOs but they have 12. Up 15 with 10 to play.

90-78. 24, 2, 3 for Hays, 22, 3 for Simm, 13, 9 for Meek. +18 in the paint.

We're alone in 1st, 2 teams 1 back, 2 teams 2 back.

"Look who's leading the league."

"Hey, just paying attention to what the women's coach is doing and trying to do the same!"

"Ha!"

[Wayne23]

2/15: 16-8, 9-4 Maine is here. They crushed us by 20 at their place, scoring 100. I've been using that game when my guys seem cocky; it's reached the point where I just say, "Maine!" Very close statistically. Last time they shot 59%, and controlled the inside, and their bench scored 16 more than ours. We need to do almost everything better than we did that night.

2/16: They take an immediate lead, then we come back. Up 10 after 10. Up 4 at the break. 11, 7 for Meek, 10, 5 for Thor. +4 RBs, only 3 TOs. We took 12 more shots. +10 in the paint and +8 on 2nd chances. -6 from the line. Last time we fell apart in the 2nd half and I just reminded them of that! Up 3 with 10 left. Late run!

82-68. The man to man D has really made a difference! 15, 11 for Thor, 18, 2, 5 for Hays, 12, 12 for Meek, 12, 6, 4 for Simm. +7 RBs, +8 in the paint. 10 TOs to 17.

Only Stony Brook is 1 game back of us.

Dee's team continues to win and is now #4 NET, #5 ranked.

[Wayne23]

2/19: At 12-13, 8-6 Hartford. We neat them in OT at our place so we're expecting a tough game. They're tough outside and they have a solid Center.

2/20: Close early. Down 8 after 10. Lousy D, which has been rare lately. Down 8 at the half. The D got better but the O didn't. 9 for Hays but
3 fouls. -6 from the line, which is most of the difference. The refs are not on our side tonight. Down 13 with 10 left; not looking good.

57-83. The D wasn't there but 57 points? A season high 26 TOs; disgusting.

The win streak ends at 7.

[Wayne23]

2/22: 17-9, 11-4 Stony Brook is here. This is the battle for 1st place. We're tied right now. At their place we got mugged, losing by 21.

They're a big favorite to do it again, but as I look at the stats I think the numbers favor us. They beat us outside last time. Their starting guards combined for 42 to 17 for ours. That's what we need to fix.

2/23: We take an early lead. Up 5 after 10. Up m5 at the half. Our guards are playing much better than last time, more than holding their own so far. Their bench is keeping it close. Both Centers have 3, which favors us since their C is better than ours. Their Sg also has 3 which gives us a big edge. Stats are close. Up 2 with 10 to go.

77-68! Our starting guards did a complete turn around. 15, 4, 3, 3 steals for Bays, 12, 4, 3 for Hays; their starting guards combined for 17. Simm had 14 and 6. +6 RBs, +8 from the line.

We'd need to lose both of our last 2 to NOT win the regular season conf. title.

Dee's team clinched the AEC some time ago. They're 27-2, 15-1. Ranked #3, NET #4.

[Wayne23]

2/26: 11-16, 7-9 UMass-Lowell is here. We won by 15 there. We have a stats edge in several categories but yet again we're the underdog. I think my guys like it.

2/27: Close early. Up 6 after 10. Up 6 at the break. 18 for Bays, 10 for Hays, so our guards are getting it done. 2 TOs. Up 7 with 10 to play.

76-69. We led for the entire 2nd half but never by a lot.

18, 0, 4 for Bays, 12, 9 for Meek, 12, 4, 3 for Hays. 9 TOs to 16. We took 14 more shots.

Long has just gotten quieter and quieter as the season progresses. He's doing his job, usually out performing his man, but he's no star.

[Wayne23]

3/1: We end the regular season at 4-24, 3-14 MDBC. We won by only 8 at our place. They have a lot of trouble scoring, and they give up 12 more a game than they score, and yet we're the underdog.

3/2: We miss our first 9 shots but up 8 after 10. Up 6 at the half. 9 for Thor, 8 for Bays, 7 for Hite. 4 TOs to their 11. We took 9 more shots but only made 2 more. Thor's man has 3 fouls so we're going to try to get the ball to him. Up 15 with 10 left.

75-63 and the regular season AEC title! 12, 14, 5 steals for Thor, 12, 7, 4, 4 steals, 3 blocks for Meek. 13 each for Bays and Simm.

8 TOs to 18. +14 in the paint.

We end the regular season at 21-8, 14-4, alone in 1st. NET #81.

+5.7 PPG, +5.6 RBs (#8 in RBS), -2.5 TOs.

Bays leads us with 13.2 PPG. Hays is 2nd with 12.7, then Long with 11.0, Thor and Meek, both with 10.2. Simm gets 8.6. Thor leads in RBs with 8.1. Meek gets 7.2 and Long 7.1. Bays gets 4.8 assists.

The women finish up at 29-2, 17-1, win the AEC by 5 games.

Heading for the post season!

[Wayne23]

3/5: We play #8 seed Albany, 11-19, 6-12, in the AEC quarter finals. This is my first post season game as a head coach and I'm as pumped as the kids are.

We beat Albany by 10 there and then by 20 at our place. Their very good PG has a groin pull but he'll play. We'll see how much and how well. They're an outside team. D is their biggest weakness; they give up a lot of points. They don't rebound all that well.

3/6: Slow start for both teams. Down 2 after 10. Up 4 at the midway point. 13 for Bays, 10 for Meek. Their bench is keeping them in it, 13 points to our 7. We're +5 from the line. The other stats are about even.

"Win or go home, guys. I'm guessing we don't go anywhere if we don't win this one and maybe the next one. Play hard!"

Up 5 with 10 minutes left.

75-67. It was tied with 98 seconds left.

22 for Bays against a really good PG. Their starting guards had 33 to our 23. Our inside game pulled us through.

+12 RBs. We won it at the line though, 27-38 to 8-20. They didn't get there often but they sure shot lousy from the line.

Cam Grif, who plays very little, strained a calf muscle. Out for this tournament.

Ali is in talks with the Big East. She wants us there next season. Not sure my team will be ready but I'm in favor. We'll get there.

"So why are you still paying rent?"

"Yeah, you're right. I should buy a condo."

"He swings and he misses!"

"Huh?"

"Try again, girl. SO-O-O-O-O... why... are... you... still... paying... rent?"

"I think I'm missing something."

"When you could be paying half my mortgage and other bills."

"... Oh..."

"Well?"

"That's a big step."

"So what are we waiting for. We're not exactly kids. We get along well. We have feelings for each other though I can't seem to get you to say it unless I use force or torture."

"You know. It might be a good idea."

"It MIGHT be a good idea?"

"You kind of surprised me."

"Never thought about it?"

"I told you- like a hundred times, I'm clueless about this stuff."

"Yes! Yes you are!"

"Anyway, yeah. It's a good idea."

"And so?"

"And so, let me think about it."

"You need to think about it!"

"Yeah- NO! Uh..."

"Okay, think about it. But the offer has an expiration date."

"Huh? Oh."

[Wayne23]

3/7: Tonight we play #4 seed Hartford, 17-13, 12-6. We won in OT at our place and then got hammered by 26 there. Our only loss in our last 12 games. We have an edge on the boards but the other stats are close. In the loss at their place their bench outscored ours 40-19. And they shot way better than we did. We need to be a lot better tonight.

Game time: It's a battle early. Down 1 after 10. All the calls are going against us. Up 2 at the half. The fouls evened out eventually but it is not a well officiated game so far. What's new! We have 6 guys who have either 5, 6, or 7 points. Their bench has 20 to our 10. They're shooting a lot better but we've taken 9 more shots. -5 from the line.

"Gotta win this one guys. Win or go home!"

Up 6 with 10 left.

80-72 and we're in the title game. We played really well in the last 10 minutes; they kept battling but we held them off.

20, 2, 7 for Hays, 15 for Bays, 11, 11 for Thor.

Their bench outscored ours by 13. 9 TOs to their 14. 16 more shots and we made 5 of them. -9 from the line but 9 threes to their 4.

The women breezed through their AEC tourney and they should be a #1 seed.