February 9, 2023

By Riley Zayas

What a night it was last evening…we knew it’d be a great slate, and like most Wednesdays. with the WIAC, OAC, CCIW, and MIAA in action, we weren’t disappointed. On top of that, the (alphabetical) NCAA regional rankings came out, so while we don’t know which order teams are in their respective regions, we do know the 7 teams currently ranked in each region. That helps a lot as the final few weeks of the regular season plays out and we start looking ahead at Pool C resumes and all that fun stuff. Check out the regional rankings at D3hoops.com here.

Now, to take a look back on last night’s action…

• “The Rivalry” was in Holland, Michigan, on the campus of Hope College for the second meeting between Hope and Calvin this season. On top of the fact that it is almost undoubtedly the biggest rivalry in D-III, it was also a battle for first place in the MIAA. And both teams played like it. There was such a level of intensity around the matchup that it truly felt like I was watching an NCAA Tournament game unfold. Hope emerged with a 16th straight win in the rivalry, with the win streak dating back to 2017, taking down the Knights, 71-59. Interestingly enough. Calvin shot 42.9% compared to Hope’s 36.9%. But the Flying Dutch won the battle on the boards by 8, and had 10 more offensive rebounds than Calvin leading to 18 second-chance points. That is huge, and as Hope head coach Brian Morehouse talked about in the pregame interview, rebounding always seems to be a key component in these annual matchups between Hope and Calvin. I always love the matchups that take place within the greater contest, between two players at the same position on opposite teams. It’s fascinating to watch each work against the other, and there are plenty of times where it is in those situations that a player has his or her best game of the season. Hope’s Savannah Feenstra went up against Calvin’s Gabby Timmer, and you may not see a better matchup between two posts until tournament time. They each have such a presence around the rim on both ends of the floor that impacts the game whether they touch the ball or not. Timmer finished with a double-double (16 pts, 12 reb) along with 5 blocks before fouling out after 32 minutes of action. Feenstra played 31 minutes, tallying 5 steals in addition to her 16 points and 9 rebounds. Overall, really impressive effort from both teams, and this rivalry never fails to disappoint.
• The other big Top 25 matchup came a little to the east of Michigan, in Berea, Ohio, where #19 Baldwin Wallace prevailed at home in a thrilling overtime duel against #10 Ohio Northern, 66-62. It was a huge win for Baldwin Wallace, and if anything, just solidified that they still belong in the national conversation. I have been skeptical of BW for a few weeks, and didn’t even have them on my ballot this past Monday. They hadn’t looked sharp in OAC play for a couple of weeks, and there were times last night’s game where they didn’t look too sharp. At one point, with a couple minutes left in the 3rd quarter, ONU went up by 13, 36-23, and I thought, ‘There’s no way ONU loses this game.’ But BW found a way, fighting all the way back, taking a two-point lead with 21 ticks left on the clock. It took a layup with eight seconds left in regulation from Kristen Luersman to even send the game in OT and avoid a BW win right then and there. The Yellow Jackets outscored ONU 11-7 over the five-minute OT period, converting on 3-of-5 shooting attempts compared to ONU’s 3-of-11 mark. 3 BW starters finished with double figures in scoring, and overall, I was really impressed by what I saw from the Yellow Jackets.
• Getting to WIAC play, the best game of the day (BY FAR) came between UW-La Crosse and UW-Stout. I was on the edge of my seat for at least 20 minutes as the entire fourth quarter played out, then two overtime periods that followed. Not only was it lengthy, leading to several key players on both sides playing at least 10 more minutes than they are used to, but La Crosse had already beaten Stout once this year. Now at home, and needing a win to tie UW-Whitewater for first place atop the league, Stout had plenty of motivation as the lead changed hands and overtime elapsed. Stout ended up pulling out a 95-90 victory in thrilling fashion, breaking the 90-point mark for just the second time in the last two years. The Blue Devils led for only 13% of the game, completing an incredible comeback that saw Stout go from trailing 33-16 at one point in the first half to leading 71-69 with 29 seconds left in the 4th. La Crosse went up 74-71 late in the 4th, but Stout’s Allison Letcher came up with perhaps the shot of the game, connecting on a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left that sent it into OT. After both scored 11 in first OT, Stout outscored the Eagles 10-5 in the second go-around. The tough part for La Crosse is that the game could’ve easily been won at the free throw line at multiple points, and the shots just didn’t fall when they needed to, leaving the door open for Stout. To the Blue Devils’ credit, they excelled against a team that had beaten them badly in the paint back in January. Stout outrebounded La Crosse 44-31. Raegan Sorensen should be the WIAC Player of the Week (especially with a big performance at Whitewater on Saturday), as she poured it in, scoring 30 points in 39 minutes, with a perfect 10-for-10 mark at the FT line, and 8 rebounds.
• In a MIAC game I thought would turn out close between #21 Gustavus Adolphus and Concordia-Moorhead it was anything but that, as the Gusties prevailed in dominant fashion, 82-56. The more I watch Gustavus Adolphus play, the more I think they’re a higher-ranked team than what they currently are now. They were #19 in my ballot earlier this week, but performances like this make me believe the sky is the limit for a deep squad like this one. Four starters scored in double figures and another 27 points came off the bench. Outside of the FT shooting (just 57.1%), Gusty put what seemed to be a near-perfect performance on the floor, widening the lead to 32 at one point.
• NJCU didn’t have nearly the same kind of SportsCenter-worthy sequence of events as the men’s game later in the evening (check out this video and you’ll know what I mean), but nonetheless, put up a huge result against Rowan, winning 93-76. The win moves NJCU into a tie for first place in the NJAC with Kean, remarkable considering NJCU opened the year by going 1-7. Rowan, now third in the league, was listed in the regional rankings yesterday, along with Kean, out of the NJAC. NJCU wasn’t in, but perhaps last night’s win will change that. Damaris Rodriguez put up 30 points in 38 minutes for NJCU. She’s really an exciting player to watch.
• Out in the Midwest, Millikin got back on track, rebounding from Saturday’s loss with a big 82-65 victory at Illinois Wesleyan. The Big Blue are now 18-4, 12-1 in CCIW play, and jumped out to a 27-7 lead by the end of the 1st quarter in this one. That start alone was impressive to me, and a main reason why I kept them ranked in my Top 25 when others dropped them out. They’re capable of those huge scoring runs that can turn a game on its head. Elyse Knudsen had 28 points to lead Millikin’s offense, and as a team, Millikin was 46.4% from 3-point range (13-of-28).
• Another notable WIAC showdown came between UW-Platteville and UW-Eau Claire, a game UWEC won 65-59. The WIAC Tourney only takes the top six teams, and with just two games left, it would take a lot for Platteville to even qualify for that as the #6 seed. It could happen, but the odds are low, with so few games left. And yet, I wouldn’t hesitate to say that UWP, the same team that beat Whitewater (AT Whitewater) could win the whole tournament if given the chance. They’re just that kind of team, capable of coming out of nowhere and winning in big moments. Watching the game last night play out, I didn’t know if UWEC would lose a third straight, or find a way to win. UWP was in it the whole way, even on the road. In fact, the Pioneers led 50-49 entering the 4th quarter, before UWEC opened the quarter on an 8-3 run. The Blugolds shot 49% from the field in the win.
• And then, also in WIAC play, UW-Oshkosh hosted UW-Whitewater. Tough UWO outscored Whitewater in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, Whitewater’s early 26-12 lead was a challenging deficit to overcome. Whitewater ended up with a key 67-55 road win, which sets up a battle for first place in the league on Saturday against Stout. I thought the Warhawks looked fairly poised offensively, shooting 45.6% from the field, and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. I still think people are overlooking Whitewater. This is an experienced team that went all the way to the national title game a year ago, and frankly, could do it again this season. I get the losses that seem uncharacteristic…but at the same time, wins like the one on Saturday over UWEC and yesterday’s road victory over a great Oshkosh team give me confidence that the Warhawks are indeed one of the country’s top teams, even if the win percentage is a little lower than the majority of Top 15 teams.

Thinking maybe I should stop here! Those were the main games that piqued my interest as I watched the slate unfold, and Saturday is shaping up to be another pivotal set of contests. What a great time of the year this is.

I’ll be headed to the UT-Dallas vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor games tonight in a MBB/WBB doubleheader. Looking forward to seeing Joe Shotland and his UTD women’s team in person for the first time this year. Shotland has done a great job in his first season as a head coach, after spending many as an assistant at Trinity (TX). We’ll see how it goes. Monday’s loss for UTD against McMurry probably hurt their chances of being regionally ranked (which also takes away a potential RRO for a few teams, such as Transylvania and Rochester, who both could’ve used another one). But either way, UTD has been playing great basketball, so I’ll be interested to see how they do on the road against a good UMHB team.

I’ll have something short out tomorrow, especially looking ahead to the Friday games in the UAA and NESCAC. Until then, have a great day!