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March 9, 2023: Breaking news this morning

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Within the last hour, we’ve had three breaking news reports come out in the D3 world, all of which are related to women’s basketball in some way or another. So I thought I’d put out something on all of this news, in addition to my look at the Sweet 16, which should be out this evening (and probably hit your inbox tomorrow morning).

This first one is combined because, well, the move itself is combined. Both Trinity (TX) and Southwestern are on the move, announcing they will join the Southern Athletic Association by the fall of 2025. This move was reported over a month ago by D3VBWest, a Region 10 volleyball website, but we were unsure when that move would be announced, and how committed both universities were to moving all sports to a league based heavily in the southeast U.S. and headquartered in Atlanta.

Apparently, this move was closer than many of us expected, and with Southwestern moving its football program from ASC affiliation to SAA affiliation next year, neither school’s football program will see any changes made. The other sports will now be playing Rhodes, Berry, Centre in others, replacing short treks to north Texas and Louisiana with regular season road trips involving flights and such.

My first reaction is what the SCAC is losing. D3football.com will probably cover the football aspect of this extensively in a story, and I know I’m a WBB blog. But football often drives conference realignment (especially when it comes to Texas) and with all the question marks surrounding the ASC (with the league dropping to four teams by 2026 if there are no new additions), the SCAC now has only six football schools as well. As a reminder, the min. number of teams for an AQ is 6, so both the SCAC and ASC are on thin ice right now. With Southwestern and Trinity gone, the SCAC is in danger of losing its AQ before it even restarts football if another school in the league leaves or drops its football program for whatever the reason.

How does it relate to WBB? Trinity will be the top team in their league in the SAA, just as they were in the SCAC. But the basement of the SAA in WBB isn’t as deep as the SCAC’s is. Scott Peterson, the D3 WBB numbers guru, quickly ran a few calculations. If you replace all of Trinity’s SCAC games this year with SAA games (sam number of conference games too), the Tigers’ SOS goes from .522 to .579. Southwestern would likely see a similar jump in SOS, though the competition level is also a bit higher in the SAA. There are no juggernaut programs in the SAA currently, but Rhodes, Centre, and others have frequently been competitive within Region 6.

The SCAC, meanwhile, has lost its “top dog” in terms of WBB. Colorado College probably fills that void and is a program on the rise, but the SCAC will become a more-wide open league without Trinity.

Full release from Trinity (Southwestern has not put anything out publicly in regards to this move): https://www.trinity.edu/news/trinity-university-athletics-moving-southern-athletic-association

The third piece of breaking news that came out a little while ago was that Justin Heinzen will be stepping down as Loras’ head coach after 15 seasons at the helm. Dave McHugh of Hoopsville was the first to report that coaching change. Loras was nationally prominent this past season and hosted a first weekend pod a few days ago that included Trine and WashU.

But according to McHugh’s tweet, Heinzen was operating without an assistant for much of the year, and has decided to take a break from coaching. Personally, he has been a huge supporter of my coverage of D3 WBB and I greatly appreciate that. I enjoyed watching Loras play numerous times this season, and wish him the best of luck in the future. Coaching at the D3 level is not easy, and doing it without an assistant makes the job that much more difficult.

Heinzen has Loras in a good spot within the ARC right now, and I expect the Duhawks will remain competitive in the years to come with the foundation he has built.

As always, if you have tips/thoughts/feedback/questions, shoot me an email at rileyzayas@gmail.com or a DM on Twitter (@ZayasRiley). Always happy to respond and talk about D3 WBB and D3 sports as a whole. Have a great day. More to come on tomorrow’s games!

Where grace meets celebration

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On Saturday night, I attended the NCAA Tournament second round game at Messiah University between the 11th ranked Falcons and No. 6 New York University. While our national rankings do not influence Tournament seeding, this is a case where NYU really was the higher seed and should’ve hosted.

The game should’ve been played in Greenwich Village in NYU’s sparking new Paulson Center. The University was scheduled to open its state-of-the-art facility midway through this season. But over the holidays, mother nature intervened and a “bomb cyclone” caused a pipe to burst. Water leaked enough to damage the floor, and the Violets had to play their “home” games at an offsite facility in Brooklyn the rest of the season.

So, NYU headed off to Central Pennsylvania and took care of business over the weekend, first against Greensboro on Friday night and then on Saturday night against the Falcons. Messiah scored the first four points and then NYU scored next 14 and was never seriously threatened the rest of the way. NYU won handily, 62-41.

As the clock wound down on Messiah’s season, there were all the familiar but powerful moments that I love about this time of year. The last time a player comes off the floor in her college career. The tears and embraces with teammates. The longer embrace between a player and her coach.

Messiah’s talented forward Megan Zimmerman waived to the crowd of Messiah supporters to thank them. The fans behind me, including one little boy wearing a carton of milk costume for some reason, cheered back.

And then I saw something that you don’t usually see at the end of the first weekend of Tournament games.

Someone from NYU approached the scorer’s table and asked if the players could cut down the nets. I read the face of the Messiah Administrator as he quickly progressed from disappointment in his team’s defeat, to a little bit of confusion, to trying to figure out how to make it happen. Instead of being annoyed or curt, he said, “Um, yeah, sure we can do that.”

And, so they did.

NYU celebrates its victory, with a little assist from Falcon Nation.

Messiah brought out a ladder and scissors and allowed the NYU fans and players to stream onto the floor and celebrate this moment. They queued up the video screen so it would show the players and coaches as they took their snip of the nets. All the while, Messiah players were being consoled by family members and fans who had hoped for a different outcome to the game. It’s the sharp contrast between jubilation and devastation that never fails to shock me in place, no matter how many times I see it.

As NYU cut down the net and celebrated, I saw the confusion in the eyes of an onlooker.

Why were they celebrating like this? Weren’t they the favorites? Didn’t they just win their conference?

Yes, but the UAA doesn’t have a conference tournament. The NYU women clinched the UAA title by blowing out Brandeis in the regular season finale. And while the players jumped and cheered and enjoyed the moment, there wasn’t time or space for a net cutting. The NYU men took the floor for their regular season finale and needed a win to bolster that resume for an at-large bid. NYU wasn’t even playing their home game at home.

Maybe this won’t be the only net cutting ceremony that NYU gets to enjoy this year. They could do it again this weekend if they win both games at Transylvania. They could do it again in the national championship, if they go that far.

But maybe this will be the only chance that this team can celebrate its special season in this manner, with their family and friends. If that’s the case, they will always have the snippets of nylon net and the photos to cherish the rest of their lives.

And, while it was not planned, convenient or particularly fun for them to watch, Messiah’s staff extended a gracious hand and made it happen.

For the administrators and staff at Messiah, I just wanted you to know that your act of kindness and sportsmanship did not go unnoticed.

February 23, 2023: Conference tournaments in full swing

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Here we are, already to Thursday, with some tournaments tipping off today, while others are already through the semifinal rounds and looking towards the championship game this week. You have to love postseason basketball, and all the excitement that it brings. There were certainly some notable results last night…including in the PAC, where a top seed fell. Here are my initial thoughts following last night’s results, along with some games to look forward to this evening!

The biggest surprise of the night (in my opinion) was fourth-seeded Chatham’s massive upset of top-seed (and the #24 team in the nation) Washington & Jefferson in the PAC Tournament semifinals. It was such a well-executed game by Chatham, and probably the worst shooting performance for W&J this season. You always hope those cold shooting days don’t come in a tournament game because…well…this can happen.

Chatham didn’t just slip past W&J, the Cougars dominated defensively, holding W&J 0-for-23 from 3-point range in a 57-40 victory. 0-for-23! That’s a big stat right there.

W&J just couldn’t get into a rhythm, and the result of playing such a weak schedule is that the loss, despite the Presidents’ near-perfect 24-3 record, will probably keep them out of the NCAA Tournament. Without the Pool A, there isn’t really a path to the national tournament for them. That is postseason basketball for you.

St. Vincent will play Chatham for the PAC title on Saturday at 4 pm.

In an NJAC classic, TCNJ and NJCU went into OT, with Damaris Rodriguez spearheading the NJCU offensive attack. With a spot in the NJAC title game on the line, Rodriguez scored 33 points, as the Gothic Knights prevailed, 78-74, in a game that came down to the wire.

It was such a fun game to watch, and you wouldn’t have known it was a #1 seed vs #4 seed matchup. TCNJ looked especially sharp for most of the contest, even leading 61-54 with 4:15 left in the 4th quarter. But they then went ice cold offensively, and did not score for the remainder of regulation, as NJCU mounted a 7-0 run. That’s a situation where TCNJ (rightfully so) would feel like they let victory slip away. NJCU hadn’t been great shooting the ball, and one or two more layups from TCNJ probably would have won the game.

But you’ve got to credit NJCU. They’re aiming at a three-peat in the NJAC in Saturday’s championship game against Rowan (who beat Kean 78-68), and yesterday night was the reason why. They are very tough, battle-tested, and somehow seem to always find a way, even at times when chances of victory are doubtful.

Speaking of Rowan, the third-seed in the NJAC Tourney played an exceptional game at second-seeded Kean, winning by 10. This improves Rowan’s Pool C chances, though I still think they’ll need the auto qualifier to make the NCAA Tournament, which means the Profs will have plenty to play for Saturday night. Grace Marshall scored 12 of her 16 points in the 4th quarter for Rowan.

I thought Elizabethtown also looked very strong in its Landmark semifinal game against Catholic, winning 81-64. It seemed like maybe the frustration of being slotted behind Gettysburg and Marymount in this week’s regional rankings came out on the court, because ETown left no doubt against a competitive Catholic squad.

The Blue Jays shot 44% rom the field, 56% from 3-point range, with Cyleigh Wilson connecting on 7-of-9 3-point shots. She had an exceptional game, scoring a team-high 23 points!

Four ETown starters ended up scoring in double figures, and if they manage to get that sort of offensive production in Saturday’s championship game against Scranton, we could see ETown finally pick up that much-needed victory over the Lady Royals. They do have a legitimate Pool C shot, but winning the Pool A would make things a whole lot easier for the Blue Jays come Monday.

Landmark Championship Game: ETown vs Scranton, 2 pm EST, Saturday

All 4 Top 25 teams won pretty convincingly last night…

#3 Scranton def. Moravian, 58-31

#9 DeSales def. Arcadia, 64-54

#13 Messiah def. Widener, 66-39

#17 Babson def. Wheaton (Mass.), 79-41

Some games you should be tracking tonight…

#12 Baldwin Wallace at Marietta (OAC semis), 7 pm EST

Luther at Wartburg (ARC semis), 8 pm EST

Simpson at #Loras (ARC semis), 8 pm EST

Concordia (Wis.) at Wisconsin Lutheran (NACC semis), 8 pm EST

St. Joseph’s (L.I.) at Merchant Marine (Skyline semis), 7 pm EST

Randolph at Guilford (ODAC quarterfinals, Neutral site), 3 pm EST

UMass Dartmouth at Rhode Island College (LEC semis), 5:30 pm EST

Lots to look forward to on the schedule today! Can’t wait to watch all this great basketball!

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February 14, 2023: The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: My Week 11 Top 25 ballot…with context

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It’s that time of the week! The Week 11 D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll is out and I submitted by ballot yesterday afternoon, which I posted to Twitter. It is crazy to believe we only have two ballots left to submit this year…this season has flown by. A few conference tournaments are starting this week, the rest coming next week. Before postseason action begins, here’s how I saw the Week 11 Top 25, with the ranking for each team in the poll listed in parentheses next to the ranking I gave that team in my ballot. As always, drop your thoughts in the comments section below. Also feel free to shoot me a DM on Twitter (@ZayasRiley) or an email at rileyzayas@gmail.com. Always appreciate insight from readers! All the info listed below should be spot-on, but apologies in advance for any flaws. This is not a perfect perspective on the Top 25 by any means. Just one voter’s view of things. As we’ve said so many times this season, there is such a vast number of top quality D3 WBB programs that several great teams will be left off ballots each week.

Side Note: Your D3 hoops viewing schedule tonight should include the rematch between DeSales and Stevens, as DeSales seeks to avenge its only loss of the year. 8 pm EST tip-off in that one. Additionally, Hoopsville had yet another phenomenal show last night with a number of great MBB & WBB interviews that you should certainly check out. Link to that archive is here: https://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2022-23/feb13. And Dave will be on air again Thursday, as Hoopsville is the home of the Top 16 reveal from the MBB and WBB national tournament selection committees. These Top 16 are ideally the 16 who would host in the first weekend of the national tournament if the season ended today. Link to that show will be put out in my Thursday morning post.

Getting to the poll…

The Week 11 D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll

Biggest risers: Gustavus Adolphus (+7), Baldwin Wallace (+7)

Biggest drops: Trinity CT (-7), Puget Sound (-5)

ADDITIONS: Loras (#24), Millikin (#25)

SUBTRACTIONS: La Verne (#23), Rochester (#25)

I really liked…that Gustavus Adolphus broke into the Top 15. This is a team that will really do some damage in the NCAA Tournament, and currently has a .913 win percentage and a .529 SOS. Not enough for one of those Top 16 seeds probably, but still pretty exceptional. They continue to separate themselves in the MIAC.

I didn’t like…Messiah sliding all the way up to #13. I will say that middle part of the ballot is a challenge at times, with no good options for a team in that 12-15 range. But Messiah seems to be a team relying on its win percentage rather than the quality of opponents played. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good team, I’ve seen them play. But #13 good? I don’t know about that. Most of their “quality” wins came before Dec. 10, so in late February, that’s a hard argument to make, sliding a team up two spots.

My Ballot

1-Christopher Newport (#1)- The Captains rolled past Salisbury on the road in their lone game of the week. They’re at that No. 1 caliber and likely won’t move out of this spot for me, unless a loss makes me reconsider.

2-Trinity TX (#4)- Trinity bounced back from the loss to Colorado College by trouncing Dallas 109-47, and Austin, 84-40. The Tigers play at home from here on out, with two regular season games left (both at home), then the SCAC Tournament on their campus in the week to follow.

3- -NYU #6)- The Violets made a statement this week, and moved up two spots in my ballot. I debated whether or not to mvoe NYU higher than 5th, but with a statement win over Chicago and another over WashU this weekend, I couldn’t keep them that low.

4-Scranton (#3)- The Lady Royals pulled out a road win at Elizabethtown in overtime in a solid effort and also beat Drew, 54-42, this past week. Two nice wins there. These top 8 or so are very close in margin for me. They could honestly be put in any order, and I’d probably agree, somewhat.

5- Smith (#5)- Smith had a really strong week of its own, winning by a somewhat surprising 74-56 winning margin at Springfield, along with an exceptional 80-67 win over Babson. Smith is now 22-1 and watching them multiple times recently, they appear to be a squad that will make a tournament run.

6-Transylvania (#2)-Transy held Mount St. Joseph and Anderson each below 40 points in two more dominant defensive efforts this past week. I really like the way the Pioneers are playing right now, with an experienced roster, and I expect they will be in the Top 16 on Thursday, despite many of the numbers (such as SOS and results v/RROs) being lower than most of the teams in that conversation.

7-Hope (#7)- Hope took down Calvin in a great game on Wednesday, and held Olivet to just 18 points in Saturday’s win. 18 points! The bottom half of the MIAA is really weak, so from a numbers standpoint, that game actually hurts Hope’s SOS a bit. But what can you do? Overall, the Flying Dutch have a very solid resume, and more than pass the eye test for me. Hope is a national title contender, and I like the depth on the roster as well. That depth will help them tremendously come tournament time.

8-UW-Whitewater (#16)- The Warhawks pick up two more high-quality WIAC wins, taking down Oshkosh and Stout, and after having their struggles throughout the course of the conference schedule, became the first WIAC team to clinch at least a share of the conference title.

9-DeSales (#9)- DeSales dominated against Immaculata and Delaware Valley this past week, and should be in the Top 16 despite a very low SOS. I didn’t move DeSales up or down this week.

10-Hardin-Simmons (#8)- The Cowgirls slide up to 10th after putting 120 points on McMurry in their only game of the week. Kendra Whitehead has her team at top level right now, already locked in to host the final two rounds of the ASC Tournament, along with receiving a quarterfinal round bye.

11-Trine (#15)- I had the Thunder four spots higher than where they ended up in the poll. The win at Calvin on Saturday did it for me. Trine looked composed and played very well in a tough road atmosphere against an experienced and talented Calvin squad. That’s a big win there in addition to the other notable victories they have on their resume currently. However, I think #15 is fair…Massey has them #17.

12-Gustavus Adolphus (#14)- This is a team that continues to impress, and it was nice to see them rewarded with a Top 15 ranking this week. I had them 12th as I came away convinced in the Gusties’ standing as one of the nation’s top squads after Wednesday’s dominant 82-56 win over Concordia-Moorhead, who is in the Pool C conversation and Gustavus’ main challenger in the MIAC. Nobody has been able to slow the Gusties in MIAC play.

13- WashU (#22)- You can’t really fault the loss at NYU. That’s a tough place to play and an even tougher team to beat. They end up sliding down two spots for me, but part of that is me putting Gusty higher, rather than purposely dropping WashU lower. It’s somewhat of a mute point, but for the record, NYU certainly didn’t dominate WashU. The stats were fairly similar and WashU actually led by a solid margin throughout the first half and into the third quarter before NYU closed the gap and won by five. WashU also beat Brandeis this past week, moving to 16-6 overall.

14-Trinity CT (#19)- Trinity knew how tough the end of the NESCAC schedule was, but I’m not sure that many people anticipated Trinity going 1-3 to end the regular season. The Bantams were 0-2 against Bates and Tufts this past weekend, and though both games were competitive, Trinity was unable to get the job done on the road. Naturally, that hurts their ranking ability a little bit, especially as the three losses in their final four games moved them out of first place in the league standings. But I still think this is a team equipped for a deep run. Teams will key in on Reilly Campbell so it’ll be about who can step up around her in that post unit that will have an effect on Trinity’s postseason success. Just my $0.02.

15-Ithaca (#10)- Ithaca hasn’t played many top notch opponents within the last month and a half, but a 21-2 record can’t be easily ignored. I just don’t know how good the Bombers are. Outside of Skidmore (#96 Massey), Ithaca hasn’t played a Massey Top 150 team in their last 10 games. Looking forward to seeing them in a high-quality battle come tournament time.

16-Chicago (#18)- Chicago’s loss at NYU bothered me a little bit. I can understand a 10-point loss, even a 20-point loss. After all, NYU is stellar, and you’re on the road. But Chicago losing 80-44 definitely surprised me on Friday evening. Of course that’s not the only reason I dropped them two spots. Part of it was also Gustavus Adolphus playing really well and Ithaca jumping up in my ballot. Chicago is certainly in the Pool C conversation, but it appears that it’ll be a two-way battle between NYU and WashU for the UAA crown.

17-UW-Oshkosh (RV)- Maybe my most controversial (or questionable) selection of the week. I’ll admit, #17 is somewhat high. By my calculations, all eight points UWO received came from me. That’s ok. The Titans went 0-2 this past week, so I didn’t anticipate they would show up on a lot of ballots. But looking at the total body of work, UWO has an outstanding resume. Wins over Wartburg, DePauw, and Ripon are great in non-conference, and in the WIAC, they’ve beaten La Crosse, Stout, and Eau Claire all at least once. Their Pool C chances seem fairly favorable right now as well.

18-Millikin (#25)-Millikin broke back into the Top 25, though seven spots lower than where I had them. The CCIW’s leader is in a tough Region 8, with WashU, Transylvania, and Chicago all in there. But I don’t think Millikin will be contending for a Pool C on Selection Monday (or “Matchup Monday”, I’ve heard both terms used). They won twice on the road at IWU and Carthage this past week, looking very sharp in both. Head coach Olivia Lett has her squad ready for a tournament run.

19-UW-Eau Claire (RV)- The Blugolds aren’t ranked for the second straight week, and like UWO, I can see why. But applying my similar line of thinking and approach to this ballot, UWEC’s SOS and total body of work cannot be overlooked. Massey has the Blugolds #2 nationally in SOS and while I thought the last five games from UWEC were decent but not outstanding by any means, overall, when I compare UWEC to the rest of the teams in competition for these final six spots in my ballot, I don’t see a better resume or a more dangerous tournament team.

20-Puget Sound (#21)- The tough part about teams with resumes like Puget Sound’s is that one loss can cause some significant ramifications. Though the Loggers had been frequently trailing NWC opponents in the first half of games only to dominate in the second half, Pacific found a way to maintain its lead and shock PS on the Loggers’ home court this past week. I had no choice but to drop them five spots, mostly because other teams were just more deserving. I’m more interested to see how much the loss affects regional rankings in Region 10. It shouldn’t be too much, though R10 has been a roller coaster this year.

21-Wartburg (#20)- Wartburg enters my ballot after yet another 2-0 week, with wins over Central and Buena Vista. The Knights will have a challenge on their hands against the next team in my ballot, Loras, in Saturday’s regular season finale, but haven’t lost since Dec. 20. I’ve watched a bit more of them since they broke into the poll last week and this definitely appears to be a team that will be dangerous in March. They’ll almost certainly have a tough first weekend draw, though, so a tournament run will not come easily.

22-Loras (#24)- The Duhawks, also out of the ARC remain in my ballot, and are back in the poll as well. That’s good to see. Loras has taken a pair of losses in conference action, but since losing to Wartburg on Jan. 18, the Duhawks have rattled off six straight victories. It’s a two-way battle between Wartburg and Loras atop the ARC standings and right now, there isn’t a clear favorite.

23-Babson (#17)- Babson slides down five spots in my ballot, in part due to Wartburg and Loras rising and PS and UWEC sliding further down, but still deserving a higher ranking than Babson from perspective. The Beavers were 1-1 this past week, losing by 13 at Smith, while beating Wellesley. I need to see a bit more of Babson if I’m going to rank the Beavers ahead of a team like UWEC or Puget Sound.

24-Baldwin Wallace (#12)- The Yellow Jackets prevailed in a big way on Wednesday night, taking down ONU in overtime, 66-62. It was a well-executed performance from BW, and though I’m not yet sold on the Yellow Jackets, they have the resume of a Top 25 team in my opinion. I will say it feels a bit too high to have BW at #12 in the poll; Massey has them #24 and Scott Peterson’s model has them #31.

25- Ohio Northern (#11)- I wasn’t sure what to do with ONU. They have an .850 win percentage and .585 SOS but at the same time struggled at times against Capital and John Carroll. I thought they were decent against BW, despite coming away with the loss. Maybe I’m being too harsh on ONU, I don’t know. This is the largest point of difference between my ballot and the poll, with a difference of 14 spots. I’ll reevaluate next week, but it’s really difficult with these teams who have been inconsistent in their last 8-10 games and aren’t generally favored as a Top 25 team by computers, but still have some quality wins and a resume worthy to be in the Top 4 of their region.

26-Calvin

27-UW-Stout

28-Mary Hardin-Baylor

29-Tufts

30-Rhode Island College

Fell Out: Rochester, Calvin

Back In: Wartburg, Baldwin Wallace

Biggest risers: Gustavus Adolphus (+7), Ithaca (+5), Hardin-Simmons (+3), Millikin (+3)

Biggest drops: Puget Sound (-6), Babson (-5), ONU (-3)

I’ll end it here. Some good games tonight that you’ll want to tune into…livestream/live stat links are always on D3hoops.com.

And while you’re at it, be sure to share The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops if you, whether it be with a fellow D3 fan, coach, student-athlete or someone else who enjoys D3 WBB. Really trying to bring more attention to this level of women’s college hoops with tournament time literally two weeks away. Have a great day! Subscribe to The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops on Substack: https://d3wbbscoop.substack.com/.

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The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: Hope emerges victorious in The Rivalry!

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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!