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The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: My Week 5 Top 25 ballot…with context

January 4, 2023

By Riley Zayas

Publishing this on this Wednesday morning, as we turned in our ballots yesterday afternoon, but here is my Top 25 ballot for D3hoops.com as I accounted for all the results over the past week (and there were a lot of them!). I ranked out to #30, and will have thoughts on the new Top 25 soon. Hope the new year is treating you well!

  1. Trinity (TX): The Tigers are 13-0 having picked up a solid SCAC win over Colorado College on Monday afternoon, aided by 19 points off the bench from Maggie Shipley. Shipley’s presence, following an injury that kept her out for nearly a month, will help the Tigers tremendously through conference play. Interestingly, the Tigers are seventh in Massey ratings, but having watched them play multiple times, this is a team on a national title quest. They are experienced, deep, and have plenty of shooters, which spreads the opposing defense out, creating three-point shots on a number of possessions.
  2. NYU: That said, NYU is a very close second. And with a strong back half of the regular season schedule, including a matchup at Chicago on Jan. 13, the Violets will have plenty of chances to improve an already strong resume over the next two months. Bowdoin gave NYU all it could handle this past Friday, but credit to NYU for pulling it out late. The 78-75 win was in part due to an impressive 49.2% mark from the field.
  3. Christopher Newport: The Captains are playing phenomenal basketball, and amongst the nation’s best this year, I feel the margin is extremely thin. CNU looked good in both games in Puerto Rico before Christmas against Cortland and Colorado College, and returned to the States with a 33-point win over Rowan. Washington & Lee (8-3 overall) is CNU’s next big test, in a game set for Jan. 8.
  4. Hope: I value Carnegie Mellon as a fairly competitive opponent on the national scale, and the way Hope played in an 85-66 win over CMU on Dec. 29 was pretty impressive. The Flying Dutch got to the free throw line and forced turnovers, along with hitting 12 three-pointers (41.4% from beyond the arc), which seemed to be the keys in that victory. For a program like Hope, the loss to Trine back on Dec. 19 could be the spark that propels them to another Final Four. We saw it happen a year ago…
  5. Transylvania: Transylvania is 12-0, rolling through its schedule, and added wins over Wisconsin Lutheran and Berea at home on the final weekend of 2022. Both were quality opponents, but the experience and defense of the Pioneers continues to reign supreme. It has been a major element in their victories this season, as they have allowed above 50 points just twice, which is incredibly impressive.
  6. Baldwin Wallace: BW was challenged by a good Hamilton team at home, and actually entered the fourth quarter trailing by a point. The Yellow Jackets remain undefeated and have the big win over Trine, which has boosted their resume in a big way. The victory over Marietta back on Dec. 10 also helps. Late-game execution is certainly a strength of this team. Watching the overtime against Trine and seeing how they handled the fourth quarter against Hamilton were really indicative of the sort of poise and ability to perform under pressure that will serve BW well come tournament time.
  7. Scranton:12-0 this season, I was really interested to see how Scranton would handle its matchup against Tufts on Dec. 30, quite possibly their biggest test since battling Ithaca on Nov. 29. Coming away with a 68-59 win solidifies the Lady Royals’ spot at #7, which is where I had them in my Week 4 2.0 Top 25 a week ago. They’ll get another great matchup at Catholic, who is 10-2, this Saturday.
  8. UW-Eau Claire: Similar to Scranton, UWEC had a huge test over the holiday week between Christmas and New Year’s, traveling to Trine for a Top 15 contest. The Blugolds came away with a 75-68 victory, overcoming an eight-point deficit at the end of the first quarter to take a 36-29 lead at the half. Their performance in the second and third quarters were the reason they came away with the win, and the experience on this roster continues to give UWEC an advantage. Led by Jessie Ruden, there are five seniors on the roster. UWEC also beat DePauw by 14 a day after taking down Trine.
  9. DeSales: DeSales also broke into my Top 10 with a 12-0 record, and held the distinction for the largest margin of victory over this past week, defeating CCNY 82-18. A 70-53 win over a solid St. Joe’s (CT) team improves their resume in my opinion. I still worry about the lack of quality opponents, but the Bulldogs are due to travel to Stevens on Jan. 18 in what will probably decide the top spot in the MACF.
  10. Smith: Though I was initially weary of voting Smith high (and to some extent I still am) the win over Trinity (CT) is looking better and better, since it was on the road, and Trinity took down another Top 25 opponent in Springfield this past week. Before that win, Smith beat Bowdoin 59-54, who nearly took down NYU on the road a week ago. The Pioneers do not lack quality opponents, and should do very well on the regional rankings because of that. At 10-1, they’ll get another test in Saturday’s game against Springfield (10-2 overall), and will also face Hamilton, Tufts, and Babson before the regular season is over.
  11. UW-Whitewater: Whitewater has slid up due to some losses ahead of them, but the Warhawks also beat UC Santa Cruz on the road, which I consider to be a high-quality victory, especially having come just before Christmas. A 17-point win over a Bethel team that is 5-1 in the MIAC on Dec. 30 only adds to an extremely strong resume for the defending WIAC champions. I’ll be very interested to see how Saturday’s duel with UW-Eau Claire goes (on a side note…I’m mentioning Saturday a lot…might want to clear out some time in your day for D3 hoops…the slate will be stacked!).
  12. Chicago: Ah, yes. The great challenge of Whitewater and Chicago. They look pretty similar when you dive into the numbers, and have similar resumes. I still feel like Whitewater is the better team out of these two, but the results do not lie. I venture to guess this is the final week (for now) I’ll have to decide between putting Whitewater ahead of Chicago or vice versa. Chicago plays WashU in a key UAA matchup on Saturday. WashU has been unpredictable as of late. Chicago is looking to move to 12-0 in that contest.
  13. Trine: Losing to UWEC drops Trine back from #9 to #13, and it was a respectable loss, but still a loss. Honestly, I feel like Whitewater, Chicago, and Trine are very close right now. Any order would certainly be explainable at this point. Trine is strong, and actually outrebounded UWEC by 10 in the game last week. The Thunder really rely on the post play, and do it well.
  14. Amherst: Amherst was #6 entering the week for me, but a pair of losses on the West Coast drops the Mammoths back by eight spots in my ballot. That said, Chapman and Concordia-Moorhead are both good teams, and playing unique styles coming off a holiday break is not easy, so I did not think dropping Amherst below the Top 15 was warranted. We will see how NESCAC play progresses for the Mammoths, who will need to rebound well to stay in the Pool C conversation.
  15. Rochester: Admittedly, Rochester might be too high on my ballot, but there have been times when this squad has shown plenty of potential for a deep tournament run. Katie Titus is certainly in the All-American conversation by this point, averaging 20.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. No new results for Rochester in this voting period, as the Yellowjackets haven’t played since Dec. 13.
  16. Puget Sound: As I said last week, going to San Antonio and taking down Mary Hardin-Baylor before giving Trinity (TX) a really strong run rises Puget Sound’s stock in my ballot. This is a team that runs a full-court press and can make things happen in transition. If the Loggers find a way to limit the number of times the opponent breaks the press and ends up with an easy layup on the offensive end, this is a team that we will be talking about come Selection Monday.
  17. Babson: The loss to Loras down in Florida dropped Babson quite a bit in my ballot, and though the Beavers have since rebounded with wins over Hanover and Middlebury (neither of which were dominant victories by any means), I haven’t seen reason to put Babson ahead of Rochester or Puget Sound for the time being. But they’ll have plenty of great opportunities in the NEWMAC, and could end up in the Top 15 once again in the span of just a week or two.
  18. Loras: Loras was #25 in my Top 25 a week ago, and jumps up to #18 after two outstanding wins over Calvin and UW-Stevens Point. Loras is putting together an incredible resume, with victories over Coe, UW-Eau Claire, Babson, and now, Calvin and UWSP. It’s hard to think UW-Platteville and Augustana beat them earlier in the year. Sami Martin is a tremendous forward, and has been one of the better forwards I’ve seen play this season.
  19. Gustavus Adolphus: Here’s the thing with the Gusties. If UW-Stout ends up faltering in WIAC play, their resume could take a hit. Still, Gusty passes the eye test for me, shoots the ball with confidence, and right now, has five players averaging eight points or more. The victory over St. Benedict still looks really good, as they won that one by 17, and Bethel is next on the schedule tomorrow. Bethel is a solid program that seems to be clicking at the right time, despite a 5-4 overall record.
  20. Mary Hardin-Baylor: UMHB looked out of sorts against Trinity and Puget Sound prior to Christmas, but back on their home floor, the Crusaders were exceptional against both Piedmont and UC Santa Cruz. It was the latter of those two wins that caused me to move them up from #23 to #20. The second half performance against UCSC was key in the Cru’s Top 25 win, and the way UMHB has been executing defensively as of late has been vastly different from what we saw a couple weeks back.
  21. Springfield: Springfield fell to a Trinity (CT) that will quite possibly make its way into my ballot next week or the week after, with the way the Bantams have been playing. But for Springfield, the 58-45 loss on Dec. 30 hurts because outside of beating Williams and Middlebury, Springfield does not have another Top 100 Massey win. That concerns me a bit, as I have liked what I’ve seen watching Springfield live, but they’ve been unable to emerge victorious in their two biggest games thus far, against Amherst and Trinity. The Jan. 7 game at Smith will be key for their ranking and tournament resume.
  22. Hardin-Simmons: HSU is another solid team with experienced talent, but has not put up any outstanding wins from my perspective. Again, that is just one element of things, but it is hard to rave about a team who has just one victory over a team with nine or more wins at this point (ETBU). That said, I still think HSU is a top contender for the ASC title along with UMHB and ETBU, and as result, certainly deserves a Top 25 ranking. The Cowgirls played well against Adrian and SUNY Geneseo in Puerto Rico on Dec. 29-30, which was a cool experience for the team I’m sure, despite some schedule adjustments with the travel craziness we all witnessed across the nation a week ago.
  23. Ohio Northern: ONU is 10-1, and I’m convinced Ohio Wesleyan caught the Polar Bears on a bad day, because besides that performance, ONU has been unstoppable. Two wins over sub-.500 teams got them to 10 wins last week, and OAC play resumes against Otterbein and John Carroll on the road in the week ahead.
  24. UC Santa Cruz: UCSC took a pair of rough losses in Texas (though today’s loss to ETBU doesn’t count towards our voting), and has now dropped three straight. Chances are, UCSC needs to win the C2C Tournament now in order to get into the NCAA Tournament. But regardless, this is a talented squad, with some of the best inside-outside presence in the nation, in my opinion. Tess Oakley-Stilson, Aubrey Wagner, Amanda Inserra, Ashley Kowack, and Kaylee Murphy can play with the best, and I feel like it’s only a matter of time before we see them pull off a big-time win.
  25. Tufts: Tufts takes the coveted No. 25 spot in my ballot, and it was a hard decision, since Trinity (CT), Millikin, Bowdoin, and several others were in strong consideration for my ballot. But I need to see Tufts play against Babson on Saturday before determining whether I should drop Tufts out completely. The Jumbos are led by one of the nation’s most prolific scorers in Maggie Russell, and I believe as much in contention for the NESCAC title as anyone at this point. The wins at WPI and Stevens remain their most impressive victories.
  26. Trinity (CT)
  27. Bowdoin
  28. Ithaca
  29. Millikin
  30. UW-La Crosse