Just the Facts, Ma'am: Mary Goulding scored 16 second-half points, and added 12 rebounds, to power Fordham to a comeback win over Charlotte. Bre Cavanaugh had a team-high 20 points for the Rams. Jade Phillips had 23 points to lead Charlotte in the loss, with Jazmin Harris adding 20 off the bench.
For freshmen, Kiwis, hitting the deck, celebrity sightings, dubious calls, and terrible jackets, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon, basketball fans! We're coming to you from historic Rose Hill Gymnasium on the campus of Fordham University, where the Rams will be taking on the 49ers of Charlotte as a break between two games of a men's tournament. I may be slightly salty about this, but on the other hand, we're getting basically a free half of basketball (between Youngstown State and Florida International) as an appetizer, so I can't be too mad. It's pretty competitive.
Unfortunately, I think Halei Gillis is hurt again, which might explain some of our issues, since we don't have much of a post presence with the unexpected departure of Johanna Klug.
Florida International pulled away in the end, by the way. They have a driving guard, Brian Beard, who took the game over with 36 points. I was impressed. But it's on to what is for us the main event.
I'm about 90% certain I spotted Swin Cash, husband, and kidlet in the crowd. Well, it makes sense, with Tanisha Wright as an assistant for Charlotte.
Good Lord, there are a lot of blondes with ponytails on this year's Fordham squad. At least some of them have different hairstyles, and we do have a few non-blondes (and, y'know, people of color).
Under Armour doesn't pull off the camo shooting shirts well, at least not in maroon.
Yes, I can turn my wrist like a stir-fry, thanks for asking. I have, in fact, made a stir-fry.
No anthem, since this was the second of three consecutive games. Band has arrived for the Fordham portion of the program, and they are rocking it.
Given that our defense is anchorless and we have almost no height worth mentioning, I'm actually sort of relieved that we're only down 36-29 at the break. Bre Cavanaugh is doing Bre things, with 11 points and five rebounds. Jazmin Harris has made a splash off the bench for Charlotte, with 10 points in nine minutes.
Yes, that is definitely Swin, because that is most definitely T-Spoon, and that is also Kristin Bernert. (I still love my Libs. It's just going to be a long-distance relationship until the team is out of That Dump.) And that is also Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe. (It went essentially: "That looks like Bird, but I don't think it's her." *notices platinum blonde sitting next to her*)
I was expecting us to miss G'mrice Davis's presence. I didn't realize how badly we'd be hurting for Johanna Klug's, especially with Halei hurt.
And then Kiwis happened.
Okay, okay, you're going to get somewhat more detail than that. If nothing else, that doesn't really define Charlotte all that well.
I guess Jada McMillian was the player who came in when Lauren Hurley fouled out, since she didn't play very much and I don't remember her. Ka'Neeshia Brown got some run in the first quarter as a long forward. Christian Hithe didn't make a noticeable impact.
Oh my goodness, Jazmin Harris. I can't believe she's only a true freshman. She has such a soft shooting touch for a big post, and she moves so well, and she has such a sense of where to be on the floor. I keep thinking there's no way she can stay this good, that she's going to hit the wall at some point, but if she doesn't, Charlotte's got something special in her. Mariah Linney got the guard minutes off the bench in the second half. She showed a tendency to throw elbows in the first half, but toned it down more in the second.
Dara Pearson somehow managed to get her first name pronounced three different ways in the course of the game. Like many of Charlotte's players, she's long and lanky. That may not have been the right match-up for this game. Octavia Jett-Wilson did some nice work boxing out in the early going. Lauren Harley drove the lane for lay-ups, and at the end of the game, she seemed to be the only player interested in fouling Fordham. Now, whether that's because Charlotte was ready to concede and she didn't want to, or because she was the only one keeping track of the fouls and the clock, I'm not sure.
Laia Raventós ran the Charlotte offense fairly smoothly- there were some stretches where her passes were a little too enthusiastic for her teammates to handle, but overall she was pretty impressive at the point. Jade Phillips was the focal point of the offense, going to the rack for lay-ups. She had stuff spin in and out a few times, but she also took a lot of contested shots once the defense learned how to collapse on her.
Charlotte, for the most part, seems to go for the long and skinny type, with the notable exception of Harris. Their end-game clock management needs work.
Alexa Giuliano came off the bench in the first half, played maybe three possessions, and came off having a lively discussion with Coach Gaitley. I have no idea what it was about. Vilisi Tavui looked way out of her depth, which is a problem since she's one of our few tall players right now. Extremely not good. Catherine Polisano gave pretty good minutes at guard in the first half- not great, but pretty solid and heady.
I was impressed with Megan Jonasson's offensive rebounding. She's already showing the kind of heart and hustle we know Fordham best for. She still needs work, but she seems to be developing well. Zara Jillings took over in the fourth quarter with a little scoring burst and the kind of tough-nosed defense we've come to expect from her. She came in and shut down whoever she was assigned to.
Bre Cavanaugh stepped up in the second and third quarters. She's such a Swiss Army knife on offense. Her rebounding has picked up from last year, which makes her even more dangerous. I love her potential. I love what she's already doing for us. I'm going to continue to side-eye those shots that Lauren Holden persists in taking from somewhere in the vicinity of Cape May, because while they stretch the opposing defense, they're not very accurate, and sometimes we need more accuracy than we need spacing. Maybe it was just this game, but something was off about her. Kendell Heremaia did not cover herself with glory in the early going, with careless fouls and uncharacteristic defensive lapses (I don't often see people blow right past Kendell going to the basket). But in the fourth quarte,r she found her stroke, and it was glorious.
I really hope this was an uncharacteristically awful game from Kaitlyn Downey, because otherwise I have no idea why she's starting. Her shot was terrible and came entirely too often. She couldn't get lift on it, but that didn't stop her from putting it up. It was extremely not good, to put it lightly. She looked lost and out of her depth. And then Kiwis happened. In the fourth quarter, Mary Goulding put on her cape and got to work. Everything she touched went into the basket. She laid down monster blocks and pulled down big boards. She doesn't do what you want her to do all the time, but she does what you need her to do. She was the biggest reason we were able to come back in this game. I just.
Look, I said Kiwis happened, and for the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, the only points we got were from our three New Zealand natives. The rest of the squad arrived in time, but Kenny, Zara, and especially Mary came through big time.
Seriously, though, this is Division I basketball, not streetball. The rules are not "no blood, no foul". It's possible to call things other than jump balls.
I'm deeply concerned about our defense, and our lack of height. You probably guessed that by now, though. But we have players who can step up when the team needs them.
Monday, November 19, 2018
November 18th, 2018: Charlotte at Fordham
Friday, November 25, 2011
November 25th, 2011: Charlotte at Long Island
Just the Facts, Ma'am: A strong second half gave the Long Island Blackbirds an 81-72 win over the visiting Charlotte 49ers. Kiara Evans led all scorers with 23 points, one of four Long Island players in double figures. Epiphany Woodson led Charlotte with 21.
For squeaky brasses, the frustration of coaches, pizza, and a lot of free throws, join your intrepid and half-everything blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon, everyone! We're coming to you on the Internet version of tape delay from the Wellness, Recreation, and Athletic Center on the campus of Long Island University in beautiful and somewhat congested Downtown Brooklyn, bringing you the LIU Turkey Classic.
I've mentioned this before, but LIU may have my favorite small arena in the New York area, with Hofstra's as my favorite medium and Carnesecca as my medium-large favorite. They keep it up well, though they still haven't taken off the old three-point line. It's a bargain for the price, it really is. (This doesn't mean increase the price, LIU.) It has enough amenities to be comfortable and enough smaller touches to still be intimate. They've upgraded the sound system from the last time I was here; now they use an iPod touch to provide the music. They're still working on the band, though.
I like LIU's new warmup jackets. The uniforms are sharp.
There are a few Charlotte fans behind their bench, and a few Florida people arrived early. I haven't seen anyone in La Salle gear yet, but that doesn't prove anything. I've seen more of La Salle than I ever wanted to, and I haven't been impressed much yet.
At halftime, Charlotte leads LIU 31-28. I have so far been impressed with Epiphany Woodson's stepback jumper, Ny Hammonds's on-ball defense, and Ashley Palmer's willingness to go towards the hole. I have so far not been impressed with the LIU band, Kiara Evans's court vision, and the referees' tendency to call everything short of assault and battery a travel or a no-call.
Make the band stop. Please. Make them stop. It's especially bad when you recognize a tune that St. John's usually butchers... and they're doing worse things to it.
Charlotte is a big, tenacious team. That'll serve them well in the Atlantic 10. They'll need that. Ny Hammonds seems to have only one gear- go go go go go. She's one of the fiercest on-ball defenders I've seen in my life, and she never quits. Sometimes she doesn't quit even when she should. I was surprised she didn't foul out of the game, but that's because my Sharpie went a little crazy with the fouls. Paige McCallum brought a lot of hustle and offense off the bench. I think Katie Meador fancied herself a shooter, and it didn't work out so well.
I think I might be a little in love with Epiphany Woodson's step-back jumper. Gods, that thing is gorgeous. Textbook. That's someone I want to keep an eye on when Charlotte goes into the A-10 season. I also want to see if Jennifer Hailey is just a second-half player, or if that second half was the aberration, or if the first half was the aberration. I like her size and her touch around the basket. They need to go to her more. I'd also want Amanda Dowe to be more aggressive. At 6-4, she should have been having her way with LIU. Ayanna Holmes had one wicked block, but was otherwise not a factor that I can remember. Jai Forney came on late. There's something I like about her, but I can't put my finger on it.
If Cara Consuegra spends less time kvetching to the refs and more time working on close-to-the-basket shooting, this team might get somewhere. They had a lot of chances, especially when they cut the lead late in the game.
Krystal Wells may have saved the game for LIU. Her threes off the bench came at opportune times, and she made a diving save near the end of the game to maintain possession and keep Charlotte from having a shot to make it a two-possession game. She's tenacious, and she hustles. I like her. They got more than I was expecting from their tank in the middle, Tamika Guz. She's lost a little weight since the last time I saw LIU play, but she's still a load in the middle. I'd like to see her be more aggressive, but that might involve more speed, higher vertical, and better footwork than she's capable of. We got brief appearances by Cleandra Roberts and Letava Whippy, as Gail Striegler worked her freshmen into the rotation.
I really like Ebony Davis's ability to rebound. I don't like her hands of stone and her walking tendencies, though. I'd like to see her fine-tune her shot. She'tiarra Pledger did not impress me, though she made a lot of big plays at the end of the game. Marika Sprow, despite starting, was mostly used to allow Kiara Evans and Krystal Wells to switch between the guard spots. Ashley Palmer looks like she's put on a little weight and gotten this crazy idea that she can shoot from the outside again. But somehow, she just kept getting the job done, getting to the basket and scoring with that high-arcing shot that always looks like it's going to fall short. Evans started off slow, and her overall shooting wasn't great, but in the second half she got a better idea of the defenses that were being played against her and was able to get off better passes instead of throwing it directly to opposing players and causing her coach to scream “do something different!” on the next possession.
That second half was something else. Both teams kept making big plays to stay in the game, with steals and rebounds galore. I wouldn't say it was like a tournament game, but it was the next best thing. LIU knew this would be a resume win for this year, while Charlotte couldn't afford a bad loss with a down A-10 this year.
I really don't know what to say about the officiating. I'm fairly certain piggyback rides are not a permissible part of the game. They got whistle-happy with travels in the first half, then a bit tighter with fouls, then they swallowed just about everything. I understand human imperfection. I understand that refs aren't perfect. All I ask for is something that vaguely resembles consistency so I know what to expect and so no one gets hurt.
After the game, LIU did what is my favorite tradition of theirs: they went up into the stands and greeted whoever happened to be there. For the most part, it was family and friends, but they'll acknowledge whoever speaks to them. I remember being thanked for coming out there once. To me, that's part of the essence of the game, and one of the most striking differences between the women's game and the men's game.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
March 8th, 2008: Atlantic 10 quarterfinals
The Atlantic 10's new slogan: We know where our towel is.
I don't want to say that I was psyched up for this road trip, but I was up at three in the morning the day we were scheduled to leave, and I haven't slept yet, except for the occasional catnap in the car. So if these notes are a little loopier, a little less coherent, and a little more oddly phrased than you're used to seeing from this prolific note-taker, there's a very good reason for it- I've been up for almost twenty-four hours straight. At least for the first three games of the fourplay. The balance are being written from the familiar confines of the 718.
Part of why I'm a little disoriented is because the quadruple-header tipped off almost two hours late because there was a leak in the roof that came down right over the lane in front of the high seed's bench, and a secondary leak near the scoreboard. Fun times for all as one brave gentleman went up on a cherry-picker several times to sort out what the problem was. He first attempted to hang a bucket from the rafters, but it didn't stick. Somehow, though, stretching a towel between two rafters seemed to do the trick without sagging into collapse for seven hours. I wish I knew what kind of material that thing was made of…
It was very hard to take the PA announcer seriously, because he sounded like a slightly higher-pitched Bullwinkle J. Moose. Same intonations.
Don't know how many teams sent representatives, but even from a distance, we recognized Catherine Proto and Nick DiPillo from the Liberty's coaching staff. Methinks they were scouting Beck; DiPillo was definitely taking more detailed notes in game 3 than he was the rest of the time.
First game was #1 Temple versus #8 Richmond. Richmond brought a fair contingent, and their mascot (who's revamped their costume and looks more like Jessica Drew than Peter Parker, if you follow what I mean) was very animated. The Temple fans were out in force, of course, what with this being Philadelphia and all. One of them brought a title belt emblazoned with the A-10 logo and they hollered "YOU CAN'T HAVE THIS!" when the Spiders came out for practice. Temple, like the other high seeds in the tournament, brought their band, as well as their mascot. Made for a nice loud crowd.
Richmond found themselves forcing shots against the tenacious and physical Temple defense- but I'm definitely not saying that Richmond was innocent in these matters. There was a lot of hitting by both sides. I got the distinct sense that neither team was particularly fond of the other. Unfortunately, the Spiders got the worst of a lot of the calls. Temple's extremely physical style… well, put it this way: if they weren't coached by a Philadelphia legend who's also an Olympian and a WNBA All-Star, I sincerely doubt the Owls would get the benefit of the doubt as often as they do. I was all set to cheer for Temple- home team of sorts and a Board Junkie on the bench- but I was so put off by the rough play that I threw in my lot with Richmond.
For Richmond, I loved me some Brittani Shells- nice aggressive shooter, filled the stat sheet decently. I also liked Christina Campion's all-around game. Most of the offense went through those two in the first half, and in much of the second half, although Joanna McKnight saw fit to make her presence felt in the second, scoring all ten of her points in the second half. I think Crystal Goring has potential if she can put a little meat on her frame and work on her footwork. Also, dear Spiders, please stop going over the top to people who can't catch passes. IT DOESN'T WORK.
Temple was rough, as I've mentioned; the ironically named Lady Comfort, along with the more normally named Shanea Cotton and Shenita Landry, were throwing their weight around freely. Cotton kept putting me in mind of a loaf of Easter bread with her thick plait of hair that kept coming undone, to the point where she actually had to be subbed out to retie her hair. I was impressed with Staley's careful balancing act in handling her post rotation, as Cotton and Comfort both picked up four fouls early in the second half, while Landry played with three fouls for most of the game. She managed to keep all three of them in play for most of the game until Cotton picked up her fifth on a really stupid attempted block. Ashley Morris, while I like the way she runs her team and fears nothing, is not 5'5". 5'3", maybe. On a good day. With Dawn Staley's stilettos on.
I knew Richmond was done for with about twelve minutes left in the second half, when they had four chances to tie or take the lead on this one possession (I don't remember the exact score at the time) and completely blew it. They would keep drawing closer, and then they would lose it. And they don't have time, because while Shells is only a freshman, Campion is a senior. I think Richmond will stay competitive in the conference, though, because they keep getting players and their coach does know how to use them- of course, a solid coach in the A-10 always has the chance to move up on the ladder, if you know what I mean.
Dwalkfan did a superb job mopping up during a set of free throws when the towel dripped slightly. Excellent job camouflaging the Richmond-blue sweater with that jacket, chica.
Gulbeyan worked this game as crew chief, and I think that did affect the officiating in Temple's favor, as mentioned earlier. I'd love to take apart Temple's record and check out the foul differential in wins and losses, see whether that's one of the critical factors.
Game two of the fourplay was #5 Dayton versus #4 Charlotte. From a fashion standpoint, I almost wished Charlotte had been the lower seed, if only because their road uniforms are far more attractive than their home whites. But then they wouldn't have been able to bring their most excellent cheerleading squad and a band that could transpose "Iron Man" into something for marching band and still make it recognizable, so there's that to be said for tiebreakers.
This was a much faster-paced game than the first- it was one of the fastest of the four. Both teams liked to run it a lot. Made it more interesting. Unfortunately, the refs did their damnedest to make it less interesting as a game and more interesting in terms of tournament seeding. Not amusing.
Charlotte goes full throttle in everything they do. They brought a sizeable, if not very loud, fan base; their cheerleaders were the most athletic out there (and at one point, they proclaimed themselves to be fuckin' metal); their band was among the most enthusiastic; their team, until approximately the fourth quarter of their game, left it all on the court. Remind me again why the Sting couldn't draw in the same effing town? The 49ers, at least in the first half, went after every loose ball and played tough, sticky one-on-one defense. I loved senior forward Sabrina Gregory, who had a way of running her team and was the linchpin of their defense. Guard Shannon McCallum also impressed me; I liked the way she looked for her shot. In general, though, Charlotte played a very balanced game; everyone scored, and looking at the boxscore, everyone played at least ten minutes, so there's that to be said for their coach's style. On the other hand, Charlotte doesn't seem to know what to do when things go bad. They got a lot of crappy calls against them on the offensive end, and when Dayton started to pull away on the strength of free throws and three-pointers, they just wilted. You could almost see the intensity level drop. It was a sad, sad thing.
Dayton looked like they weren't quite sure what to do with prosperity. Even at the end of the game, when they were running away with it by damn near thirty, they were taking threes with time on the shot clock. This is not on, people. This is not on. Running up the score on Charlotte is not going to make Temple quake in their sneakers; it's going to make Lady Comfort flatten you against the stanchion. Dayton looked to be a "live by the three, die by the three" team, and they survived by the three. That being said, I loved sophomore forward Kendel Ross, who came alive in the second half on the offensive boards- she had two that spring to mind as fierce follows, and one amazing pass to Nikki Oakland that resulted in an assist. I think she recognized the urgency that her senior teammates were playing with, recognized that Dayton needed this game to be even seriously considered as a tournament at-large, and kicked it up a notch, and I like that in a player.
Sometime during the game, the refs just turned on Charlotte like the 49ers owed them money or something, and it got ugly fast. At one point, when the foul differential was something like 8 to 3 with a lot of time left in the second half, I caught Gregory looking at the scoreboard and shaking her head in frustration. That was about the time that Charlotte took it down a notch, and it's a crying shame to see a team brought that low that easily, though I'm sure the onus is as much on the coach as it is on the uneven calls.
The worst part about the way the first half of the fourplay shook out is that I don't want to root for Temple, I don't want to root for Dayton, and I can't even root for the flaming abyss, because I don't want to end up in the flaming abyss myself, and also, where would they play the second game? I like GW. I don't want them to end up in a flaming abyss.
Speaking of George Washington, game three pitted the #2 Colonials against #10 Rhode Island (who, fortunately for GW's sanity, knocked St. Bonaventure out in qualifiers). GW does things right, man. Their band has jerseys with their class number on them, and they rocked out pretty hard. A big loud fan base came down for the game- makes sense, because they were pretty certain that they'd be around for the whole weekend- but it's still pretty damn awesome. They brought their mascot, and while they didn't have their cheerleaders, they did have their dance team, and strangely enough, I can see parallels between the dance team and the basketball team: they go about their business competently and classily, they're very good at what they do, they work well with each other, and there is a minimum of wasted motion in everything they do.
Rhode Island was in over their heads, and I think they knew it, but that didn't keep them from trying to make it interesting, and I salute them for that. Definitely didn't help their cause that their leading scorer was held to 1-12 shooting and got into foul trouble early. That all being said, I loved LaQuanda Brandon, who decided in the second half that she was going to do her level best to make this a respectable game. She seemed to be everywhere. This is a good thing. They also got great shooting out of Amanda McGrew, although GW seemed to figure her out after her third three. I enjoyed the bench play from Rhode Island more than their starters, actually; Brandon, Sierra Cooper, and Ebony Evans brought a lot more intensity and passion than the starting five.
Kimberly Beck. Mother of mercy. WANT. SO MUCH WANT. She could do with some muscle, especially on her toothpick legs, but WANT. She's one of those players who, as soon as she walks on the court with her team, owns the game and is clearly and totally in control of her team. Love her court vision. Love her defense. Love her shooting- she had one amazing clutch three as the shot clock was winding down, although I hesitate to use the word clutch when it comes to a game that was won by 27. Love her hustle. Love her intensity. I hope she's around with our second first-rounder. I think she'd be a great complement to Loree Moore. But George Washington brought a full team effort, and I think Whitney Allen may have played herself into the attention of WNBA scouts with her shooting and rebounding. Sarah-Jo Lawrence started off hot, but she got hurt in the second half and never came back in (though, granted, that might just have been because there was no reason to bring her back, but we'll know more about that during the semis). The Adairs are… well, the boy described them as a poor man's Paris twins, and I suppose that's true in a sense, but McKeown seems to have a rule that there must always be an Adair on the court, but almost never more than one; either that or he likes to screw around with PA announcers, because they were almost constantly in and out for each other. I think the better one came off the bench, but both of them seemed to be in the mold of big girls who are simply just big. I also don't think GW is going to lose as much as people think in terms of point guard play when Beck graduates, because I like Rivera; she just needs to get some of the rough edges smoothed out.
On to game four, Xavier versus St. Joseph's. If you're exhausted from reading these notes, don't worry; I was just as exhausted the day of the game, and by the time this matchup rolled around, there were kids asleep in the bleachers. This was a game that I thought St. Joseph's had a decent chance of stealing, since I wasn't sure how good Xavier was, and St. Joseph's has pulled interesting upsets on their home floor in the A-10 tournament before. The crowd wasn't as big as I would have expected it to be, but then again, there was that giant delay, and Hawk fans might have considered it a lost cause. Besides, a fair number of GW fans stuck around, so the arena looked halfway decent.
I really don't like the way these Musketeers handle themselves. I don't remember them having this kind of arrogance the last time I saw them, in the A-10 tournament two years ago. I'll admit that I'm a little biased because I don't like the way Xavier's been recruiting lately- the Purdue situation, the transfers from Rutgers- it all makes me uneasy about what McGuff is doing or promising. But they seem to carry themselves with a large chip on their shoulders. Honestly, if I were a Purdue fan and I saw this team, I'd be relieved that Ta'Shia Phillips wasn't on my team. She's nasty. Talented, don't get me wrong, but she plays dirty. She and Amber Harris seriously seemed to have it in for one of the Hawk forwards, and I don't understand why. Harris… she's freaky. She looked so out of place on the court because of her size that it was frightening. She reminded me a little of Garnett in her build. St. Joseph's had no answer for her, or for Phillips. Bear these words in mind. I liked the backcourt tandem of Taylor and Jennings, especially Taylor's shooting. On the other hand, while I enjoyed watching her on the court and the way she ran her team, I cannot take anyone named Special seriously. Yes. Special Jennings. I wish I were kidding.
Most of the Hawks had been wandering through the building throughout the elongated quadrupleheader, so I grew quickly fond of the tall, eccentric redhead who spent a lot of time shaking her booty to the music coming over the sound system. She turned out to be the hustling and oft-whacked freshman center Sarah Acker, who did her best against the bigger, stronger, and more aggressive Harris and Phillips. I'll say this for St. Joseph's: they embodied the essence of their school, the whole "The Hawk will never die" thing and the motto on all the banners around the campus- "The faith and strength to dare". They never gave up, even when Xavier was up big at the end of the game and showboating. Amy Wold's shooting and Loschiavo's playmaking impressed me- I think St. Joseph's, if they didn't have the rest of the Big Five to compete against in terms of recruiting, could do very well for themselves with the coach they have, if she doesn't decide to leave for a better position.
So after the second day, four teams were left to dance for the A-10 title: Temple, Dayton, George Washington, and Xavier.
Awards for the first day, from yours truly:
Best players: Ashley Morris, Temple; Kendel Ross, Dayton; Kimberly Beck, George Washington; Amber Harris, Xavier
Best coaching job: Dawn Staley, Temple
Best cheerleaders: Charlotte, by a mile- their squad was classy and athletic.
Best band: George Washington by a hair- the jerseys put them over the top. But all four top seeds brought great bands.
Best mascot: Richmond. Spidey actually worked with the Richmond cheerleaders on a couple of routines.
Best fan contingent: Close between Dayton and GW. Sorry, Philly fans, but you're going to have to do a lot more than you did to get the award.