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The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops Q&A: Lynette Schroeder, Southern Virginia Head Coach

By Riley Zayas

Southern Virginia had a season to remember in 2023-24, going a near-perfect 18-1 in USA South Conference play, along with a 22-7 overall record. It culminated with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the second in the last three years, as SVU went stride-for-stride with DeSales before falling, 53-42.

But that seems to just be the beginning, for a team whose starting five was made up of four sophomores and a junior in that matchup with DeSales. SVU returns its entire core in 2024-25, with the exception of graduating senior Emma Camden, and is poised for another strong year, not just in the USA South, but on a national scale. The Knights are projected to have one of the highest percentages of returning production in the country, and that will certainly be a storyline to follow as we move closer to another season in Division III women’s basketball.

And leading the program to new heights is Lynette Schroeder, who will enter her sixth year as SVU’s head coach next season. An alum of the program herself, who appeared in 111 contests from 2004-08 and was a four-time USCAA All-America selection, Schroeder is 76-40 in five years as head coach.

Winning is nothing new for Schroeder, who went 112-43 in six years as head coach at Skyline High School (Millcreek, Utah), leading the team to a state title in 2016-17, in additional to five region championships. In fact, following the 2016-17 state championship season, Schroeder was named USA Today’s Utah High School Coach of the Year. She then moved to D2 Westminster College (UT), as an assistant coach, and helped that program reach the RMAC title game for the first time, before earning a bid to the in 2019 NCAA D2 Tournament.

I had the chance to talk with Coach Schroeder recently, discussing her coaching background, this past season, lessons learned from high school coaching, and her excitement for the future of SVU women’s basketball heading into next season.


This was an outstanding past season for your program with the USA South Championship, a new record for wins in a season, and the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament for the second time under your leadership. What clicked so well for you all?

“It was special. I’ve been coaching for a while and it has been a team that I can honestly say really enjoyed being around each other, from No. 1 on the roster and all the way to No. 17. It was definitely a team that cared about each other and respected one another. I think that really played into how they performed on the court.

“They also had this goal. We fell short in our conference tournament last year, just barely missing a chance to go to the championship game. I think that was a really unifying remembrance to the team of, ‘We can do this. We’re capable. It doesn’t matter that we’re majority sophomores. We’re going to see what we can do.’ They really bought into what our goals were.”

Watching your team play this past year, the defensive intensity really stuck out. You all were third in D-III in field goal percentage defense (29.4%). How important is that aspect of the playing style to both limit the number of quality shots your opponent gets, but also generate some offense out of it?

“That is something we talk about every day in practice. We talked about, if there’s a poor shooting night or we’re not doing what we need to do offensively, we can always stay in a game with good defense. It doesn’t take talent or skill to play defense. It takes hard work, grit, and determination. We knew defense can always travel, so we made sure they knew how important it was to play defense. They really understood that their defensive intensity led to better and more efficient scoring opportunities for us.”

This past March, you all got that NCAA Tournament experience, playing DeSales on their home court. And you hung with them, leading 25-23 at halftime and 36-35 through three quarters before they pulled out the win in the fourth. What do you take away from an experience like that when you know you have a lot coming back?

“It was a pretty good three quarters, and we talked about how defensively, they executed the game plan that we had. We came in and knew we could defend, and had almost that full week to scout for what [DeSales] did offensively. We tied it into what we needed to do on the defensive end and started off doing that really well. We were hitting some shots offensively, but you know, as the game went on, DeSales’ defense stepped it up a notch.

“We had many opportunities in the fourth. We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket. As a coaching staff, it’s ‘We know we can play defense. Let’s continue to work offensively,’ which we do a ton. It also helped us be like, ‘Okay, this is what our recruiting pool needs to look like coming in. We need some more consistent shooting. We need a few more playmakers on the offensive end.’ But I was really proud of our athletes and their commitment, [especially] for as young as they are. I didn’t start one senior that game, and it was all but a few’s first experience at an NCAA Tournament. To be at someone else’s home site who is Top 25 in the nation, I was proud of how they handled that.”

This past season, you all did not have a player average double figures in points, but you had five averaging at least 7.2 points per game. Where does that balance come from? Because it definitely keeps the defense on its toes with the ball movement and quality shooters on the floor at almost all times.

“It goes back to our offense of having a five-out, four-out motion offense with not a ton of sets to rely on. We push the ball heavily and want to run in transition. We become better the more we play with each other, because it is such a read-and-react offense. But I think we were a difficult scout this year with not having a standout scorer and seeing we had 8-10 players who could score the ball. On the downside, it was hard to not have some of that consistency, though, and be able to say, ‘OK, so-and-so is going to give us 15 tonight.’ But again, there were a lot of advantages to sharing the ball a ton and having everyone have the possibility of scoring.”

Ruth Kempler had a solid year as a sophomore center for you, with 9.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 45 blocks. Certainly plenty of room to improve, but she seems like a player that could be in for a big year this coming season.

“We love her versatility. She’s continued to learn and grow and soak it all up. If she can continue to have improvements like she did from her freshman year to her sophomore year, we’re only going to get better because of that.”

We see geographical diversity on rosters across Division III basketball, but you have an especially interesting roster makeup. Arizona, North Carolina, Utah, Colorado, Georgia, Virginia, Kansas, California, and Alberta, Canada, are all featured on your roster, in several cases more than once. What is that unique dynamic of your program like?

“It is really fun to be a representation of basically the whole country, because we do have athletes from all regional areas. To be able to bring them together and get them on the same page of playing for the same purpose, even though their style of basketball may be different. Being able to combine their talents and bring it together to make it work as one effective team is a fun challenge for my staff and I.”

I know some of the unique geographical representation on the roster stems from Southern Virginia’s ties to the LDS Church, which attracts prospective students from across the country and in Canada as well. And I’m sure your high school and college coaching experience in Utah helped create some connections in the Western U.S too. Maybe talk a little more about the recruiting piece of all that, because I would imagine identifying talent from these different states thousands of miles from Southern Virginia isn’t always an easy task.

“Yes, my background, being in Utah and in the West, able to develop those relationships with club coaches and high school coaches [was key]. And then moving east, and being able to create those connections with coaches in the area has been really important and helped in our recruiting.

“Because of our unique situation, and being predominantly connected with Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have been able to have those athletes that are members of our church that know, ‘I can’t go play at BYU, but I love basketball and love to play,’ and they’ll reach out to us. What that does is it expands our recruiting network. Now we have club coaches from that area and high school coaches from that area, where we can continue to network and find those up-and-coming athletes that would be a good fit for our program. Our whole roster isn’t made up of LDS players, and I think it’s such a great mix.

“As we recruit, we talk about what our culture in our program is about. Yes, we believe in Jesus Christ, we believe in being disciples of Jesus Christ and sharing His Light with others in all that we do. And it’s so welcoming to have those athletes that say, ‘I can roll with that. I’m here for that. I want to be a part of that program,’ regardless of their religious affiliation. I think that is something that continues to unify our teams and our culture that we’re building on.”

You were one of those players that went cross-country (and across the U.S.-Canada border) to play at Southern Virginia, coming from Alberta, Canada in 2004. What did you take away from your experience as a student-athlete there, being part of that 2006 USCAA National Championship team and accomplishing so much during your four years?

“I loved my time at Southern Virginia. I loved playing for my coach and still keep in contact with him. Actually, the first conference championship we won, he was a coaching consultant for our team and ran our players through a lot of mental skills training. It’s really cool to, 15 years later, share another championship with him, just in different roles. And being able to understand where Southern Virginia has come from, the years I’ve played, and see the progress, with the transition to NCAA and the growth. It’s been really humbling and really exciting. To continue to be part of that is a blessing, and I’ve loved these experiences I’ve had over the last five years to help get Southern Virginia on the map a little bit, and help have it become a more familiar name in the D3 realm.”

The opportunity to return to your alma mater came after a really impressive run at Skyline High School from for six years, and then one year as an assistant at D2 Westminster (Utah). It has to be a difficult decision to make, considering SVU is a place with a lot of memories for you, but it also meant your family moving across the country. What all went into that move?

“Honestly, we were in a good spot with our careers and professions. We knew taking the job would be a life change for our kids. We had four kids, ages six and under, and lots of family around there. It was a comfortable lifestyle. But we prayed and made sure this was the right decision for us, and once we felt like this is what we wanted to do, there was no hesitation. We packed everything up and moved across the country and we don’t regret that decision at all. We’ve loved our time here.”

When it comes to your coaching story, was becoming a coach always your plan?

“Absolutely not, haha. I had no inclination of wanting to coach at all; I wanted to continuing playing. Basketball is in my blood. Once I graduated, I had an opportunity to go to Germany, go play in front of scouts, and try to play overseas. I ended up having an opportunity to play in Amsterdam, but I had gotten married going into my senior year, and it required me to be away from my husband for an extended period of time. It was a difficult decision, but I made the decision to not go and started focusing on being a physician’s assistant. I started working at a PT clinic in Utah and applying for PA school, thinking, ‘Okay, basketball is done now,’ as hard as that was. [But] one of the physician therapists working there had a daughter who needed a sophomore coach at her high school. But he was great and convinced me to try it, and so I did. The rest is history. I fell in love with the coaching aspect and thought, ‘I think I can see myself doing this for a long time.’”

Obviously there are some significant differences in high school coaching compared to college coaching, but in your experience, was there anything you took away from your time as a high school head coach that you’ve been able to apply now as a college head coach?

“I think one of the advantages of coaching at the high school level prior to being a college coach is that you learn to coach athletes who are not super skilled. You don’t get to pick who you want on your team, so to speak. Those that want to play, you give them those opportunities to try basketball, to learn and grow, and you learn how to coach athletes that aren’t all necessarily going to play in college. You learn to navigate tons of different emotions. You learn how to interact with parents from all different supportive and non-supportive standpoints. And you learn how to try to win when you have various levels of commitment from high school athletes. You have the girls doing this for fun, you have the kids who are doing it because their parents are making them, you have the kids who just love sports, and you have some who want to get a college scholarship. It’s a huge mix, and you do your best to be successful with what you have. To me, that takes a lot of skill and a high coaching IQ to take those athletes from all over to try to compete and win.”

Lastly, what is the level of excitement like for you all as you start glancing ahead towards next season? I know it’s still early, but with the performance your team had this past year, and returning so many, I would imagine there’s a lot of confidence inside the program right now.

“We graduated one senior, and everyone else from our core is returning. We’re very excited for them to continue to build off the confidence we gained this year and to have more maturity and the understanding of what is expected. It allows us to elevate our standards, and allows us to have those goals of going further in the NCAA Tournament. Every year as we continue to improve ourselves, we can add another goal closer to hopefully competing for a Final Four and national championship spot. With this core group coming back, it allows us to continue to elevate our standards and expectations and multiply the talent we have.”

Thank you to Coach Schroeder for taking the time to share her insight and talk about the exceptional program she continues to lead at Southern Virginia! You can learn more about her team and follow Southern Virginia women’s basketball online at knightathletics.com.

Want to see more of Riley Zayas’ D3 women’s basketball coverage? Visit d3wbbscoop.substack.com.

The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: Juli Fulks heads to Marshall as head coach

LEXINGTON, Kentucky—Lexington continues to be at the center of college basketball coaching news.

In what is surely going to be the most significant move in Division III women’s basketball this offseason, Transylvania head coach Juli Fulks is taking on a new challenge…at the Division I level. Within the last hour, Marshall University, out of the Division I Sun Belt Conference, announced Fulks will be the program’s ninth head coach, taking over for Kim Caldwell, who recently took the head coaching job at Tennessee.

It marks the end of a remarkable era under Fulks’ leadership for Transy women’s hoops, as she lifted the Pioneers to new heights in 10 years at the helm. That, of course, included a 33-0 campaign in 2022-23 that culminated with the program’s first-ever national title. This past year, Transy went 31-1, reaching the Final Four before falling to eventual national champ, NYU, in the national semifinals. Fulks was also named the 2024 WBCA Division III Coach of the Year, and led the Pioneers to a 6th consecutive HCAC Title, as the program continued its run of dominance.

Over the last three seasons, Transy posted a 91-2 record, and Fulks became the eighth coach in all division of women’s college basketball to reach the 400-win mark in 20 seasons or fewer.

Her final win at Transy came against UW-Whitewater in the Elite Eight in March, and marked the 400th victory of her collegiate coaching career. She leaves the Division III level, where she spent 18 years as a head coach, with a remarkable record of 400-143.

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve Marshall University as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach,” Fulks said in a press release. “I would like to thank President Smith, Christian Spears and their entire leadership team for entrusting me and our future staff in leading the program. We will take immense pride in serving our athletes and mentoring their personal growth as students, leaders and future professionals. Go Herd!”

This is a groundbreaking move, as Marshall comes off an NCAA Tournament appearance, and is in position to compete at a high level in the Sun Belt once again in 2024-25. It also marks the second D-III-to-D-I move in women’s basketball in as many days, as Cornell hired Trinity College (CT) head coach Emily Garner yesterday.

“You know, no one has a more significant impact on the student-athlete experience than their head coach, so the people we bring to Marshall have to be amazing and have to honor that opportunity,” Marshall Director of Athletic Christian Spears said in the release. “Today, with the hiring of Juli Fulks, we are doing that once again. There is no doubt she is a winner – not many coaches have 400-plus wins – but what makes her so special is the culture she will create, the way she will engage with our student-athletes and the relationships she will form with them.

“Juli will bring enormous intellect and passion to our program, and I am simply thrilled for our current and future student-athletes who will have a remarkable experience while they represent The Herd under her leadership. She will also be a colleague to our other Head Coaches and she will be a leader in our community and on campus.”

According to the press release, “The Marshall University Board of Governors has scheduled a meeting for Friday afternoon. Pending the Board’s approval, a press conference to introduce Fulks will take place at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 16.”

Fulks will certainly leave behind a legacy in Lexington, one that is highlighted by both on-court success as well as her dedication and commitment to empowering her student-athletes in their future goals. It was more than just basketball in her program, and the standard of excellence carried into the classroom just as much as it did the Clive M. Beck Center. She created a culture founded upon high character and striving for excellence, and it created well-rounded individuals who were truly accomplished student-athletes. I have no doubt the same will be true for her new program at Marshall.

»Read the full press release from Marshall

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The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: Geneva stuns W&J, ONU takes down top seed Baldwin Wallace in OAC semis

Welcome back to another day in one of the best weeks of the year, as conference tournament time unfolds and we approach championship weekend. We’ve got several league title games in play tonight, and honestly, we had so much that happened yesterday that most of this newsletter will be looking back on last night. After all, two No. 1 seeds fell in a matter of minutes, and we had great games from coast-to-coast (literally).

UPSET COMPLETE: Geneva ends W&J’s season in PAC semifinals

Three days ago, Geneva entered the week with a sub-.500 overall record, sitting at 12-13, lucky to have grabbed to the fifth seed in the PAC Tournament. But what do records matter when it comes to postseason basketball?

The Golden Tornadoes cleared their first hurdle at Allegheny on Tuesday, winning 84-73, clinching the program’s first PAC semifinal appearance in the process. And last night, they made history once again, finding their way into Saturday’s championship game with a chance to reach the NCAA Tournament. Who would’ve thought…

The 89-75 win for Geneva over heavily-favored Washington & Jefferson came as a shocker, especially considering W&J’s 23-2 record and No. 6 ranking within Region 7. After taking a surprising loss to Chatham in last year’s PAC semifinals, it seemed W&J may have used that loss as motivation in this scenario, jumping out to a 26-15 lead through one quarter.

Things changed in the second half however, after Geneva had gotten the halftime deficit to just nine. A 26-17 third quarter was followed by a massive 31-17 fourth for Geneva, who saw its seven-point lead dwindle to zero with 4:32 left. In fact, at that point, Geneva trailed, 68-67. But a 16-0 run followed for the Golden Tornadoes and there was no bigger stretch at any point in the contest. Mackenzie Barricklow’s 3-pointer for an 81-68 lead was the nail in the coffin to W&J’s hopes at a comeback, as Geneva earned the biggest upset of the night…by far.

W&J scheduled really well in non-conference, but unfortunately, the Presidents are going to have a difficult time getting into the Pool C discussion. The SOS is just too low, and much of that is the PAC weighing those numbers down. The win percentage is impressive, but with the emphasis on SOS in this conversations, W&J is very far down on the Pool C board. Scott Peterson’s updated NCAA resumes model has W&J at #51 on the Pool C board. And for reference, only 21 Pool C bids are up for grabs.

Ohio Northern stuns top seed Baldwin Wallace in OAC Tourney

That said, Ohio Northern might have something to say. The Polar Bears also took down a top seed, though as I noted in yesterday morning’s newsletter, this was one we could see as being a possibility. Fourth-seeded ONU took down No. 1 seed Baldwin Wallace in the OAC semifinals on the road, 57-43. For as tough of a year as its been for ONU, I think it was always understood that the Polar Bears had the talent capable of winning a game like this one. It was 33-13 at halftime, and ONU absolutely controlled the game from start to finish in one of the more dominant semifinal showings I saw last night. Brynn Serbin had 22 points and with Kristen Luersman having been back on the floor as of late, ONU has looked more in rhythm offensively.

This also creates an interesting situation with Baldwin Wallace and the Yellowjackets status as the current No. 3 team in Region 7. While they might not be a Pool C “lock”, I think chances are good that Baldwin Wallace gets to the selection table within the first 10 rounds at least. As the projected Pool A out of the OAC, we also have our first potential bid thief situation, as Baldwin Wallace is likely to “steal” an at-large bid now. We knew coming into the week that BW’s chances to get in via Pool C were decent but not secure, and we’ll see how that aspect of things plays out, especially since Marietta, who beat Capital handily the other OAC semifinal, will almost certainly jump ahead of Baldwin Wallace now. In the case that ONU wins on Saturday, Marietta will likely get to the Pool C table before Baldwin Wallace, creating a situation where BW is “blocked” from being considered until Marietta is selected, which could be in the later rounds. It is definitely something that Scott Peterson and I have both been tracking, and will continue to keep an eye on as it relates to the Pool C projections and how other teams are fitting into that mix.

Closest game of the day? Loras vs. Coe

The finish to the ARC semifinal between Loras and Coe might have been the closest of any of the day’s games, with the difference being a free throw made with four-tenths of a second left on the clock. Loras’ 61-60 victory sent the Duhawks to the ARC championship as Daniella Jarrell converted on a critical free throw, undoubtedly the biggest free throw of her career, to break a 60-60 tie. With nine seconds left, Coe’s Ellie Wisner hit a 3-pointer that knotted the score, and Loras inbounded the ball with just over eight seconds left out of a timeout, looking for the game-winner. Silvana Scarsella had a decent look with only a few seconds left from the right corner, but missed short, and Jarrell was in the right spot for the offensive rebound. As she went up for the putback, it appeared contact was made, resulting in the trip to the line with 0.4 left. Needless to say, the call was met with some frustration from the Coe bench, and to a degree, the contact seemed minimal, especially for that kind of a moment in a tournament semifinal. But take a look at it yourself (VIDEO LINK)…I’d love to hear thoughts on whether that contact warranted a whistle, especially with under a second left. As an overall game, it was so competitive, and credit to Loras for fighting back. Coe led big, 40-29 at the half, but Loras outscored Coe 30-22 over the final 20 minutes. And I’m certainly not criticizing the officiating here at all, but the free throw disparity is worth a mention. Coe was 3-of-3 at the FT line. Loras? 15-of-18.

Carroll starts fast, takes down Millikin in CCIW semifinals

I’m not sure anyone had a better start in a more pivotal game than Carroll last night, who defeated Millikin for a THIRD time this season. This time, it was in the CCIW semifinals on a neutral court at Illinois Wesleyan, and Carroll got out to a significant lead in a hurry. It was 27-17 after the opening quarter, and 45-26 at halftime, as the Pioneers shot a ridiculous 19-of-29 in the first two quarters. Millikin answered with a 22-12 third quarter, and impressively, got the deficit to three with 4:46 to go. But Carroll refused to let it slip away and sealed its trip to the CCIW championship game with a 9-3 spurt for a 71-62 lead. Carroll walked away with a 75-66 victory and one of the day’s more impressive performances. Olivia Rangel was terrific for Carroll, as she has been all year, and tallied 24 points in the win.

As for NCAA Tournament implications, both teams are safe. Millikin is in a good position right now, and should be one of the first several teams taken in Pool C. Carroll now plays for the CCIW’s AQ, but the Pioneers also have a strong Pool C chance.

Other Notes

Occidental and La Verne battled in a game that saw the final minute play out in about 17 minutes total…it was a true chess match, and La Verne cut an 12-point deficit to 3 in the span of 36 seconds. Marissa Howell had two big 3-pointers (off-balance, too) for La Verne, but Occidental was 10-of-13 at the free throw line in the final minute. That kept Oxy in front en route to the 76-70 win, and sends the Tigers to a SCIAC title game on Saturday against top-seeded Cal Lutheran.

In a MASCAC semifinal, Framingham State emerged with an 81-55 win over Salem State. In that victory, FSU’s Flannery O’Connor scored 24 points along with 19 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks in an absolutely stellar performance. Her presence will be key as FSU prepares to face Bridgewater State in the MASCAC title game. FSU also set a new program record for wins, with 23, last night, surpassing the previous high of 22.

Houghton pulled off a big win at Nazareth in the Empire 8 Tournament semifinals, 63-52, sending Houghton to its first E8 championship game. Second-seeded Nazareth fell behind in the first quarter, and never got especially close to taking back a lead, as third-seeded Houghton took down the Golden Flyers for the second time within the last two weeks.

Scranton and Elizabethtown battled hard in the Landmark Conference semifinals, with Scranton eventually pulling out a 51-42 win. But it was close all the way through, and with 5:43 left, the score was tied at 40. ETown briefly took a 41-40 lead with 3:23 left before Scranton scored the next six points. Notably, Kaci Kranson did not play for Scranton in the win, so that is something to keep an eye on heading into Saturday’s Landmark championship game, and the NCAA Tournament beyond.

Conference Championship Games finalized last night:

GNAC, Region 1: #2 St. Joseph (CT) at #1 St. Joseph’s (ME), Saturday

MASCAC, Region 2, #2 Bridgewater State at #1 Framingham State,

OAC, Region 7: #4 Ohio Northern at #2 Marietta, Saturday

PAC, Region 7: #5 Geneva at #2 Chatham, Saturday

MIAC, Region 9: #2 Concordia (MN) at #1 Gustavus Adolphus, Saturday

SCIAC, Region 10: #3 Occidental at #1 Cal Lutheran, Saturday

Championship Games on tap tonight

CUNYAC, Region 4: John Jay at Brooklyn, 5:30 p.m. ET

NJAC, Region 4: NJCU at TCNJ, 7:00 p.m. ET

WIAC, Region 10: UW-Stout at UW-Oshkosh, 8:00 p.m. ET

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The most impactful results of the weekend in D3 Women’s Hoops

The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops by Riley Zayas

February 19, 2024

It’s been a few days since I posted a write-up here, but we’re in the postseason now (for almost everyone with the exception of the UAA) and I’m excited for what is to come. You can expect much more consistent coverage here as we follow along through conference tournaments and into this weekend as the NCAA Tournament discussions ramp up. This is such a fun time of the year to be following D3 women’s hoops!

I wanted to quickly recap some of the most impactful games of the weekend (all of them coming from Saturday’s slate) from a regional ranking/Pool C perspective. As I will note below, these were games that could shift regional rankings as well as the Pool C conversation and there will certainly be plenty more of these in the week ahead.

Before I get to that though, I wanted to quickly mention a few things…

  • The Conference Tournament Tracker is up on D3hoops.com…find that here and keep up with all of the tournament games across the country!
  • All data referenced here is from Scott Peterson’s D3 WBB website, d3data.weebly.com. Check it out if you get a chance. Lots of insightful data there, especially with Pool C outlook and projected final regional rankings.
  • I will probably not be putting out a Top 25 ballot breakdown this week as I want to focus more on regional rankings and conference tournaments. At this point in the year, those are the things that will be much more impactful to the national audience than my Top 25, but a screenshot of my ballot is below.

Most impactful games of the weekend
Scranton def. Elizabethtown, 67-58: The odds were stacked against Elizabethtown, playing on the road, but the Blue Jays certainly had a chance to knock off the Lady Royals, already holding one win over Scranton this season. But the Lady Royals defended their home court well, and in the process, eliminated Elizabethtown from Pool C contention. It is possible Elizabethtown remains regionally-ranked, which will help Scranton and Catholic, but the Blue Jays will likely fall to the No. 7 spot in Region 5.

Hardin-Simmons def. Mary Hardin-Baylor, 88-85: UMHB’s resume was not impacted all that much by the overtime loss at home to close the regular season, but HSU put itself in even more of a firm Pool C position, in the event the Cowgirls do not win the league tournament. UMHB’s Pool C resume remains solid as well, and it is likely we see The Cru still sitting at No. 1 in Region 10 tomorrow. For HSU, this was big, as the Cowgirls have been a bubble-in team for the last several weeks. Now, it’s safe to stay HSU is a lock to get into the tournament, with a projected final 865/523 resume.

Nazareth def. St. John Fisher, 73-65: In Region 3, this was a big win for Nazareth, who went down the road and took down its bitter rival. Due to an SOS tiebreaker, SJF got the top seed in the E8 Tournament, but there’s a chance Nazareth might jump ahead of SJF in Region 3. Maybe. SJF was No. 5 last week in R3, while Nazareth was No. 6. SJF is now 21-4, while the Golden Flyers are 22-3. In terms of projected resumes, Nazareth has an edge via both win percentage (+15 points) and SOS (+2 points). But current resumes are what is used. SJF has a slight edge on SOS, but it is very narrow. The two teams split their season series, and interestingly, both lost to Houghton two weeks ago. There are plenty of common opponents between the two, including Rochester, who Nazareth lost to, while SJF beat. I think SJF still probably stays ahead, but Nazareth’s head-to-head win makes this something to keep an eye on.

Vassar def. Ithaca, 66-59: Another big Region 3 result here. Vassar was No. 2, and Ithaca was No. 4 this past week in the regional rankings. Vassar lost to William Smith last week before bouncing back with this Ithaca win. By Vassar winning this one, I think it keeps them ahead in Region 3, which will be important considering three Liberty League teams are currently in the Top 4 in this region. Even with the loss, Ithaca’s Pool C resume is really solid. For Vassar to execute on the road like they did, coming off a bad loss, is impressive to me.

UW-Stout def. UW-Platteville, 66-52: I tell you what, Stout continues fighting elimination, and did so against a really good UW-Platteville team on Saturday. Stout found itself in a position six games into conference play in which the Blue Devils really couldn’t afford another loss without falling out of Pool C contention, and since that point, they’ve only lost once, to Oshkosh. Everything else has been a win, and Stout is currently sitting No. 6 in Region 9. With the depth in the region, they are the definition of a bubble team, with a slim Pool C possibility but a need to continue winning. Every time they step onto the court, they are fighting elimination from Pool C contention. As a reminder, tonight’s result against UW-River Falls has zero bearing on where Stout ends up in tomorrow’s regional rankings. Only games through Sunday are considered.

Marietta def. Baldwin Wallace, 71-56: The final team ranked in Region 7, Marietta kept itself in the Pool C conversation with this win over the OAC’s top team and did so on the road, which is so impressive. Margin of victory isn’t included in the NCAA regional ranking or Pool C conversation, but for my own assessment, I thought the 15-point win really added significance to Marietta’s victory. The Pioneers won that game on both ends of the floor, but are still going to be on the outside of the Pool C discussion. I think the Pool C chances are slight for Marietta, but still, this win at least keeps the Pioneers in the conversation. If you’re a Marietta fan, you need to be rooting for as few bid thieves as possible. It’s going to take a strong performance at the OAC Tournament and reaching the championship game. Of course, if Marietta wins the championship game, we don’t have to talk about the Pool C chances.

CalTech def. Whittier, 59-47 : CalTech played spoiler in the SCIAC on Saturday, and eliminated Whittier from the SCIAC playoffs, and as a result, NCAA Tournament contention. Whittier notably fell by just four points at NYU earlier this season, and seemed like a team that could make noise in the NCAA Tournament if they got in. As it turned out, Whittier’s season is already over. Only the top four teams in the SCIAC make the postseason, and the Poets ended up tied for fifth after the loss (at home!) to CalTech. Just a disappointing finish to what was a very promising season early, but credit to CalTech for pulling off that big win.

Piedmont def. Berea, 57-50: This result won’t affect the NCAA Tournament as Berea should be the Pool B selection by a significant margin. But it could affect the Region 6 regional rankings. Berea was No. 7 in R6 last week, and I have to think there’s a chance Berea falls out with this loss and Millsaps gets in. It’ll be close, and Berea’s 22-3 record is strong, but the 469 SOS is not good, especially with a committee that values SOS highly. We saw it with undefeated Webster being unranked. So I’m not sure 22-3 is automatically going to keep Berea in. But then again, Millsaps 472 SOS is only three points higher, and doesn’t seem like enough to overcome 73 points of win percentage. So we’ll see.

Game of the Day: UW-River Falls at UW-Stout (WIAC Tournament)

As I already mentioned, this is a must-win for Stout in terms of staying alive in Pool C. And for UWRF, it is also a must-win. It’s tournament time. Neither team really has a Pool C berth to fall back on, so it heightens the intensity of this matchup that much more. What makes it more interesting is that both matchups this season have been especially close and competitive. They just played last Wednesday with Stout at home, and the Blue Devils emerged with a 71-66 win. I fully expect a similar-type game tonight, and both teams can shoot the ball well. UWRF is one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the league, so Stout’s perimeter defense needs to be on point through all four quarters, and Macy Nilsen always tends to be a tough matchup for the Stout defense. She is one of the more dynamic scorers in the WIAC, and scored 29 points in last week’s meeting with the Blue Devils. Stout has a high scorer of its own in Raegan Sorensen, who had 35 points against UW-Eau Claire two weeks ago, and both Nilsen and Sorensen rank in the top three in points per game in the WIAC. 7 p.m. CT tip-off from Menomonie tonight. Watch here: https://wiacnetwork.com/stout/

Have a great rest of your day! I’ll check back in tomorrow morning and take a look back on how tonight’s conference tournament action unfolded.

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The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: In this past week, here are resumes that saw rises and resumes that took hits

By Riley Zayas

February 12, 2024

Welcome back to another week! I’ll have a Top 25 ballot breakdown for you soon, but wanted to first take a look at the teams whose resumes rose and fell the most over this past week. These are my thoughts and assessments, and not necessarily the way it will be perceived by the regional advisory committees in putting together regional rankings today. Additionally, as I will note throughout this, not all of these teams are in Pool C contention, so some of the teams I mention are still only able to reach the national tournament via Pool A, even with an improved set of results.

But here are a few thoughts for you as we begin the FINAL week of the regular season (for everyone except the UAA)!

Teams whose resumes are on the rise
Trinity (CT): The Bantams are 18-6 overall, but 8-2 in the NESCAC, which is tough to do considering the depth in the league this season. With five straight wins heading into the NESCAC Tournament, something has certainly clicked for Trinity as of late. A 59-45 win over Bates on Friday really pushes the Bantams into a position where they could host in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, an opportunity that appeared pretty doubtful when they dropped four games between Nov. 26 and Dec. 9. Reilly Campbell has recorded four-straight double-digit scoring performances and the Bantams currently lead the NESCAC in scoring defense and free throw percentage. I will not be surprised if we see Trinity still playing in the second weekend of the national tournament.

Concordia-Moorhead: The Cobbers’ 2-0 week was highlighted by their 73-65 win over #4 Gustavus Adolphus, as it not only makes the MIAC title race a bit more interesting, but very much keeps Concordia in the Pool C conversation. The Cobbers are 9-0 at home this season, and by splitting the season series with Gustavus, solidified their spot within the Region 9 regional rankings. Now 17-4, and 16-2 in MIAC play, Concordia is on the rise and playing some of its best basketball at the right time of year.

Smith: The Pioneers went 3-0 on the week, opening things up with a 68-61 win at Tufts before holding Mount Holyoke to 26 points in yet another victory, followed by Saturday’s 68-63 road win at MIT. Two of those wins (both on the road) came against Massey Top 100 opponents along with another RRO win over MIT for Smith. The Pioneers have reached the 20-win mark now, as well, and are 20-3, sitting atop the NEWMAC standings along with Springfield. Smith should be a solid No. 2 in Region 2 behind Rhode Island College.

UW-Stout: The Blue Devils were sitting dead last in the WIAC three weeks ago, with a 1-5 league record. But in a pretty remarkable turnaround, Stout has won four straight and five of its last six. The Blue Devils now sit in fourth place in the league standings, and are 16-7 overall, playing with plenty of confidence and momentum in a late-season surge. Raegan Sorensen had 35 points to lead Stout to a dominant win at UW-Eau Claire on Saturday, 96-64. Why is Stout’s stock rising so much? Well, they beat both UWEC and UW-La Crosse on the road by double-digit margins this past week, and the fact that they previously lost to both of those teams at home makes the victories that much more impressive. The Blue Devils head into the final week of the regular season with a pair of home games upcoming against UW-River Falls and UW-Platteville and are #14 in Massey.

Willamette: The Bearcats now likely have the No. 1 resume in Region 10 after a pair of huge home wins over Pacific and Puget Sound this past week. Willamette now holds a two-game lead in the NWC and just continues to find ways to win. The Pacific win came on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Elyse Waldal in a dramatic conclusion to such a back-and-forth game and Saturday’s 57-47 victory over a quality Puget Sound squad saw Willamette lead 34-17 at halftime. The Bearcats are really in a good position to close the regular season this week with a 12-2 record since January. That’s impressive.

Albion: There are a couple potential bid stealers in the MIAA, and Albion is certainly one of them. The Britons have won five straight, including a statement 67-41 over Calvin on Wednesday that now puts them a half-game back of Trine in the MIAA standings. Albion isn’t in position to be ranked in the Top 25 or contend for a Pool C spot, but the win over Calvin was an impressive result. Going further back, Albion has wins over Trine and Alma and while the Britons are just 5-5 on the road this season, I do think this is a team with the capability to spring an MIAA Tournament upset, especially with the way they are playing lately.

Teams whose resumes took a hit
Dickinson: I’m not sure what happened to Dickinson this past week, but the Red Devils looked very much out of sorts. They dropped three straight games in the span of seven days, including a 70-67 OT loss to Massey #147 Washington College (MD) on Saturday. That came on the heels of double-digit home losses to Centennial Conference foes Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins, and Dickinson is now 16-7 overall with a 13-5 mark in the league. In a very tough Region 5, I’m not sure the win percentage will hold up, despite a projected SOS of .550, much less earn Dickinson a Pool C bid. This week’s performance may put Dickinson in that “Pool A or bust” category, especially because Elizabethtown holds a 1-0 head-to-head against them, and has a good chance to move ahead of Dickinson, potentially “blocking” the Red Devils from even getting to the Pool C table until late in the process.

Mary Hardin-Baylor: The Cru are 1-3 on the road in their last four road games and two of those losses came this past week to UT-Dallas and Ozarks. UMHB has now dropped to second place behind Hardin-Simmons and while the Crusaders are still in a fairly comfortable Pool C position, UMHB does have McMurry and Hardin-Simmons coming up this week at home in a two very tough conference duels. The offense has stagnated, even with Arieona Rosborough back on the floor this week, and UMHB is now shooting below 40% from the field on the season (39.7%).

Messiah: Out of the MACC, the Falcons still have a Pool C shot, but it is fairly low, and a loss at Widener on Wednesday hurt those chances quite a bit more. Ranked #153 by Massey, Widener sprung the 56-50 upset and I’m interested to see how the Region 5 committee evaluates both this loss for Messiah as well as Dickinson’s results that I mentioned above. Credit to Messiah, we saw a bounce-back win at York, 52-39, two days ago, but in a league like the MACC, you really can’t afford any conference losses if you want to be in a prime Pool C position.

Colorado College: The Pool C chances are essentially nonexistent for Colorado College (now 16-7, 10-4 in SCAC), but still, the Tigers were in close contention with Trinity (TX) for the SCAC regular season title and No. 1 SCAC Tournament seed entering the week. Instead, CC heads back to Colorado with back-to-back losses, having dropped consecutive games for just the second time all season (the first came when they played NYU and Tufts in consecutive order). Having watched both games, credit goes to both Schreiner and Trinity (TX) for the big wins over CC, and the travel schedule isn’t easy for the Tigers. But they certainly looked out of sorts in a 69-63 overtime loss at Schreiner on Friday, and yesterday, Trinity hit several big 3-pointers and the CC defense struggled to keep up in a 90-80 loss. Their resume took a hit, and from a logistics standpoint, CC will now most likely be the No. 3 seed in the SCAC Tournament, meaning Trinity and TLU get the coveted first-round tournament byes while CC will now need to win three games in three days to make it to March.

There are several other teams that would qualify for this conversation, but these were a handful that stuck out to me. We don’t have a very large slate of games at all tonight, but the schedule really ramps up as the week progresses. Lots of marquee matchups are on tap especially on Friday and Saturday! Plus, the NESCAC Tournament tips off this weekend. Also, stay tuned for tomorrow’s release of the ordered regional rankings, as we’ll find out how many of these regions are shaping up, and what the Pool C order could look like based on where the committee placed several teams, especially in the deeper regions. Until then, have a great rest of your day!