Delaware looking real

[msf22b]

Defeat Wake Forest (7-2), 70-57
Delle Donne: 30 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks

 

[triaddukefan]

She was in my neck of the woods.... sorry that I couldnt make it over to see them play.

 

[Icebear]

She was in my neck of the woods.... sorry that I couldnt make it over to see them play.

Inexcusable ;-)

 

[DaddyChoc]

Defeat Wake Forest (7-2), 70-57
Delle Donne: 30 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks

its getting interesting

 

[pap49cba]

Danger - They Haven't Played Anyone Posts Ahead

 

[Aluminny69]

I seem to remember a very talented player taking her unknown Southwest Missouri State all the way to the Final Four. AND, they beat a higher ranked Rutgers and Duke to get there.

 

[Blakeon18]

They will likely play Maryland [at Maryland] in late December in the finals of a holiday tournament.
With no injuries and continued fine play UDel may well get a darn good seed [4 or 5?] and do some damage in the NCAA tournament.

 

[alexrgct]

Maryland will be the real key. BTW, they don't have to beat Maryland for me to think they can do real damage in the tourney, but if they even hang with a Maryland team that's looked pretty darn sharp early in the season, it will be extremely impressive.

Wake has a decent record, but their seven wins are not at all impressive. EDD's numbers, however, very much are.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Maryland is 11-0 and ranked 5th. They lead the nation in shooting percentage and rebounding margin. But Georgetown is the only good team that they have played. We'll get a better sense of how good they are right after New Years, when the play at FSU, UNC, and Miami. In case you haven't noticed, they have had a talent upgrade and now bring senior center Linetta Kizer off the bench.

 

[EricLA]

it will be interesting to see how they do. i hope they do well enough to make the NCAA's or win their division. i'm betting they'd be a 16 seed in UCONN's region in the first round. that would be great to see!

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'll take the middle ground for UDel--not a 16 seed, not a 5 seed, but rather an 8 seed.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Yep - Deleware's conference is too good for them to be a 16 seed. CAA, along with the MVC and Mountain West seem to get the most respect of mid majors, after the A10.

Wake Forest is rarely good, but always has a decent OOC record - a tendancy to avoid strong opponents. I suspect Deleware will end the pre-NCAA tourney season with only a couple of losses, barring anything unforseeable, of course.

 

[Ruffian75]

They will likely play Maryland [at Maryland] in late December in the finals of a holiday tournament.
With no injuries and continued fine play UDel may well get a darn good seed [4 or 5?] and do some damage in the NCAA tournament.

Would love to see Edelaware in Kingston as a 4 or 5 against us. She won't know what hit her when Kelly shuts her down.

 

[Northeast86]

Maryland is 11-0 and ranked 5th. They lead the nation in shooting percentage and rebounding margin. But Georgetown is the only good team that they have played. We'll get a better sense of how good they are right after New Years, when the play at FSU, UNC, and Miami. In case you haven't noticed, they have had a talent upgrade and now bring senior center Linetta Kizer off the bench.

I believe Lynetta Kizer would be starting for them if she hadn't been suspended at the beginning of the year for an undisclosed reason. I agree though that any team that can afford to bring her off the bench is very, very talented.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I'll take the middle ground for UDel--not a 16 seed, not a 5 seed, but rather an 8 seed.

There was a discussion about this very topic earlier. 8 0r 9 sounds about right for the CAA champion this season; Which
could still put them in UConn's crosshairs.

 

[Suebird10fan]

it will be interesting to see how they do. i hope they do well enough to make the NCAA's or win their division. i'm betting they'd be a 16 seed in UCONN's region in the first round. that would be great to see!

You're joking, right?

No way on God's green earth Delaware gets a 16 seed if EDD is healthy. I'd be shocked if they end up lower than a 7th seed. I'm on record predicting a 3rd seed. It's a bit aggressive, but I stand by it. They have beat a whole bunch of very good teams relatively easily. Not top ten teams, but a lot of them are top 30 for sure.

 

[pap49cba]

If EDD lights up Maryland and Delaware keeps it close they could be a fairly high seed. Also, if you look at the Del box scores they are not just a one-trick pony..... even though the lead 'pony' is a thoroughbred.

 

[Suebird10fan]

If EDD lights up Maryland and Delaware keeps it close they could be a fairly high seed. Also, if you look at the Del box scores they are not just a one-trick pony..... even though the lead 'pony' is a thoroughbred.

I wouldn't be shocked in the slightest to see Delaware beat MD on a neutral court (which I assume it will be). MD probably wins, but it won't be easy. If Delaware loses by 10 or more, I'll come back here and eat crow. But, if they win or make it really, really tight, I'm coming back here to crow.

I'm not particularly a Delaware fan but they've earned some respect. They're consistently beating decent to good teams by around ten points. Not many teams can say that.
You can make a strong case that the top ten teams are better than Delaware. After that, it's very hard to find any team that's clearly better than Delaware.

 

[Wonkster]

i'm betting they'd be a 16 seed in UCONN's region in the first round. that would be great to see!

.
When was the last time a Top 25 team got a 16 seed in the NCAA's?
.

 

[msf22b]

The idea that Kelly will shut down 6' 5' EDD is silly. Give her fits yes, shut her down, no way.
She's been a miracle worker in this area, but the height differential is just too great. the next thing you know and someone will suggest she guard Griner.

 

[VAUConnFan]

You're joking, right?

No way on God's green earth Delaware gets a 16 seed if EDD is healthy. I'd be shocked if they end up lower than a 7th seed. I'm on record predicting a 3rd seed. It's a bit aggressive, but I stand by it. They have beat a whole bunch of very good teams relatively easily. Not top ten teams, but a lot of them are top 30 for sure.

And therein lies the conundrum. As vowelguy pointed out to me in last week's poll thread(12/5) when I mentioned that Old Dominion was a #5 seed back in 2008, Old Dominion typically plays a much better schedule. It will be extremely difficult for Delaware, with its schedule, to advance its RPI high enough to merit a very high seed. Delaware may get rated within #3 seed range, but their RPI will expose them.
(You sold me vowelguy. )

 

[Suebird10fan]

You may be right. The men's selection committee does a better job than the women's. Rpi is a joke but it may be a problem for Delaware. On the other hand If they are 29-2 with only a very close loss to MD and maybe a loss on the road to a very good Hofstra team, and coming from one of the two or three best mid-major conferences? We'll probably find out.

 

[MilfordHusky]

UDEL has 4 transfers: from St. Joes, GW, WVU, and Florida. It looks like a talent upgrade. The question is how much.

The Maryland game is at a tourney in College Park, assuming both win the first game. IF EDD is really on her game, it could be interesting.

I'm thinking UDEL is right at about 20, but IF they win at Maryland and run the table in conference, they could move up a lot. Should be interesting.

 

[BrianUC]

The idea that Kelly will shut down 6' 5' EDD is silly. Give her fits yes, shut her down, no way.
She's been a miracle worker in this area, but the height differential is just too great. the next thing you know and someone will suggest she guard Griner.

Who would have thought Kelly could have played Nneka as well as she did? I'd love to see her take the challenge and cover Griner (after Stef, Heather and Kiah foul out of course!).

 

[Blakeon18]

The possible late December game is at Maryland....almost positive. UDel needs to win the first night and same for Maryland...
4 team tournament.