We have arrived at the end of the week…which means it is time for weekend basketball! Yes, that includes the Friday night matchups, at least in my definition! And we have plenty of intriguing games on the slate on tonight, starting with the duel in Worcester…
Game of the Day: #11 Tufts @ WPI, 7:30 pm EST
Tufts will be on the road for the second time this season, after opening at Bates on Saturday. So far, Tufts has found a way to beat two solid teams in Bates (still looking to fill the hole left by Mia Roy), and RWU. But WPI presents another challenge, as a NEWMAC contender with an excellent defensive presence. I haven’t seen WPI play yet this year, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can take away in a game that will likely be controlled by defense.
Keep an eye on…
- #14 Millikin @ Coe, 6 pm EST
- #12 Baldwin-Wallace @ Wittenberg, 7 pm EST
- UW-Oshkosh @ DePauw, 8 pm EST
- ETBU @ Rhodes, 7 pm EST
Thoughts as we head into the weekend…
- Rochester has the potential to be really good this year. Like NCAA Tournament-caliber good. At least, as long as the Yellowjackets put together performances like last night’s, as they downed #17 St. John Fisher, a previously 2-0 squad, by a score of 68-55. Racing out to a 25-12 lead in the first quarter certainly helped, but I was most impressed by the consistency at which they shot the ball. Taking good looks, moving the ball around the perimeter, and finding the open shooter, were all things U of R did very well in the win. The final stats reflected it, as they shot exactly 50% from the field (25 of 50), and 40% from 3-point range (9 of 22). Four of their five starters ended up with double figures in scoring. Rochester is another one of those teams that had zero preseason Top 25 votes, but may start getting some attention from voters, considering they’ve now won consecutive games over ranked opponents with the 13-point win over #21 Messiah on Saturday.
- Was scrolling through the D3hoops.com scoreboard and caught the end of an overtime battle between Wentworth and Anna Maria, with Wentworth winning its second straight, 66-63. It wasn’t a game that meant a whole lot nationally, but watching these two teams go toe-to-toe down the stretch, it was a good reminder that even in games that do not involve Top 25 teams (or as we get later on in the year, Pool C bids), the passion and will to win is most certainly there. Maddy Foster was terrific for Wentworth, with 19 points and 12 rebounds as she played all but eight minutes of the 45-minute contest. Not that Wentworth’s starters had much choice. They had just three on the bench, which is the smallest roster I’ve seen this season (10 are listed on the roster, but it appeared that only eight were in uniform).
- Quick congratulatory note to Theil’s Destiny Johnson, who broke the program’s single-game record with 28 rebounds. Had 22 points as well, as she accounted for 1/3 of her team’s scoring, and almost half of its rebounds.
- Also wanted to give a shout-out to Howard Payne’s Presley Fisk, who earned her first win as head coach of her alma mater last night. HPU defeated Barclay College 89-67.
- I had the opportunity to join Dave McHugh, Gordon Mann, and Scott Peterson on the WBB Top 25 panel of Hoopsville yesterday (show is out now, listen here!). Let me just say now that putting together a list of some of our “dubious, debateable, and deep dive” teams was hard. It’s just too early to really know with a lot of these teams, of how good they can be, and how to grade the losses and wins through the first two weeks of the season. But a great show nonetheless. I enjoyed being a part of it!
That wraps up today’s post…we’ll have even more to cover tomorrow, and if a few games go the way I’m thinking they will, it will be a lot of fun to take a look at those in particular. But until then, enjoy the rest of your day and the D3 hoops slate on this weekend before Thanksgiving.