It was business as usual in the world of D3 women’s hoops last night. The Top 25 teams took care of business, and the rest of the “favorites” did the same, with no large-scale upsets coming about, a stark difference from the way Wednesday night went. And that’s a good sign. As much as I enjoy the fact that on any given night, “anybody can beat anybody”, it is good to see a level of consistency as we approach the one-month mark of the season. Most teams are close to one-third of the way through their schedules, and after nearly two full months of practice, are finding their rhythms.

Friday’s slate has the potential for another night of Top 25 teams going undefeated, but it won’t be easy. For one thing, Babson has a test tonight in Bridgewater, MA…

Game of the Day: #17 Babson (4-0) @ Bridgewater State (6-1), 8 pm EST

Babson has started off well, but so has Bridgewater State, and this is a big one for both teams, as it should increase each of their the non-conference SOS numbers. BSU’s offense looked good in Tuesday’s 95-91 win over Mass-Dartmouth, with Kylie Grassi and Sydney Bradbury forming a scoring duo that tallied 47 points. But they’ll be up against a strong test tonight, as Babson’s defense has not allowed more than 69 points in a game, and limited opponents to 28.2% from the field this season. Expect a game decided by single digits, with the score getting into the high-60s, maybe 70s.

Thoughts…

• Top 25 teams went 2-0 last night, with #6 Smith pulling out a 66-55 win over Eastern Connecticut, and #24 Hardin-Simmons taking down LeTourneau, 81-52.
• Bench production is something I always try to pay attention to, as it is a good indicator of the depth of a team. Smith’s Ally Yamada came off the bench last night, scoring 16 points in 26 minutes on 4-of-6 three-point shooting. Also worth a mention, MIT’s Elise Harvey had 12 points off the bench in MIT’s 82-77 overtime win at Worcester State, and Mary Washington’s Sydney Sherman scored 18 in just 23 minutes, making all 10 of her free throw attempts as Mary Washington rolled to victory.
• Speaking to that same point about individual performances, forward Jordan Ouellette played a full 40 minutes in the win for St. Joseph (CT) and Mitchell, scoring 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting and added eight rebounds.
• My game of the day, between ETBU and McMurry, was very competitive through the first half, with ETBU leading by just three, 34-31, at halftime. But ETBU held nothing back in the third quarter, outscoring McMurry 24-8 in the third quarter, as the Tigers ran away with a 76-51 victory. McMurry, now 6-1, has started very well as I said yesterday, and the Warhawks proved they could play with one of the ASC’s top-level programs last night, even leading 18-12 after the first quarter. ETBU, having to replace a number of key players due to graduation, has continued getting solid contributions from Jade Goynes and Bridget Upton, who each scored in double figures.
• There was a conversation on Twitter yesterday in regards to the Coast-to-Coast Conference, which is an eight-team conference comprised of schools in 7 different states and all parts of the country. Due to this set up, very few conference games are played, though the conference does have an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. Why not? The C2C meets the requirements set forth for an AQ, but I can understand the argument from the other side too; the side that says the C2C having an AQ is somewhat unfair, considering the lack of conference games, and that the C2C teams should be forced instead to vie for a Pool B bid. It is definitely an intriguing situation, but we must remember that it is the coaches of those programs who are forced to schedule nearly triple the number of non-conference games as most teams across the country. Their job is not easy. Potentially something could be worked out to increase the number of conference games within the C2C during the regular season (thus making scheduling a little easier on the coaches and adding some confirmation to the C2C getting an AQ) though finances become a factor there as well. For the time being, the C2C has an AQ. And to be honest, whichever conference CNU plays in, there’s a good chance they will win the league title, so it’s really not all that controversial. Unless the NCAA changes its AQ requirements, there’s no reason for the C2C to change its way of life. Just my $0.02. So the question is, should those requirements for an AQ be changed?

With that, I’ll end it here. Lots of great action set for tomorrow, but there will be some great games out of this slate tonight as well. Enjoy the action, and as always, feel free to leave a comment, question, or feedback in the comments section below.