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The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: November 18, 2022: Rochester is on a roll…

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We have arrived at the end of the week…which means it is time for weekend basketball! Yes, that includes the Friday night matchups, at least in my definition! And we have plenty of intriguing games on the slate on tonight, starting with the duel in Worcester…

Game of the Day: #11 Tufts @ WPI, 7:30 pm EST

Tufts will be on the road for the second time this season, after opening at Bates on Saturday. So far, Tufts has found a way to beat two solid teams in Bates (still looking to fill the hole left by Mia Roy), and RWU. But WPI presents another challenge, as a NEWMAC contender with an excellent defensive presence. I haven’t seen WPI play yet this year, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can take away in a game that will likely be controlled by defense.

Keep an eye on…

  • #14 Millikin @ Coe, 6 pm EST
  • #12 Baldwin-Wallace @ Wittenberg, 7 pm EST
  • UW-Oshkosh @ DePauw, 8 pm EST
  • ETBU @ Rhodes, 7 pm EST

Thoughts as we head into the weekend…

  • Rochester has the potential to be really good this year. Like NCAA Tournament-caliber good. At least, as long as the Yellowjackets put together performances like last night’s, as they downed #17 St. John Fisher, a previously 2-0 squad, by a score of 68-55. Racing out to a 25-12 lead in the first quarter certainly helped, but I was most impressed by the consistency at which they shot the ball. Taking good looks, moving the ball around the perimeter, and finding the open shooter, were all things U of R did very well in the win. The final stats reflected it, as they shot exactly 50% from the field (25 of 50), and 40% from 3-point range (9 of 22). Four of their five starters ended up with double figures in scoring. Rochester is another one of those teams that had zero preseason Top 25 votes, but may start getting some attention from voters, considering they’ve now won consecutive games over ranked opponents with the 13-point win over #21 Messiah on Saturday.
  • Was scrolling through the D3hoops.com scoreboard and caught the end of an overtime battle between Wentworth and Anna Maria, with Wentworth winning its second straight, 66-63. It wasn’t a game that meant a whole lot nationally, but watching these two teams go toe-to-toe down the stretch, it was a good reminder that even in games that do not involve Top 25 teams (or as we get later on in the year, Pool C bids), the passion and will to win is most certainly there. Maddy Foster was terrific for Wentworth, with 19 points and 12 rebounds as she played all but eight minutes of the 45-minute contest. Not that Wentworth’s starters had much choice. They had just three on the bench, which is the smallest roster I’ve seen this season (10 are listed on the roster, but it appeared that only eight were in uniform).
  • Quick congratulatory note to Theil’s Destiny Johnson, who broke the program’s single-game record with 28 rebounds. Had 22 points as well, as she accounted for 1/3 of her team’s scoring, and almost half of its rebounds.
  • Also wanted to give a shout-out to Howard Payne’s Presley Fisk, who earned her first win as head coach of her alma mater last night. HPU defeated Barclay College 89-67.
  • I had the opportunity to join Dave McHugh, Gordon Mann, and Scott Peterson on the WBB Top 25 panel of Hoopsville yesterday (show is out now, listen here!). Let me just say now that putting together a list of some of our “dubious, debateable, and deep dive” teams was hard. It’s just too early to really know with a lot of these teams, of how good they can be, and how to grade the losses and wins through the first two weeks of the season. But a great show nonetheless. I enjoyed being a part of it!

That wraps up today’s post…we’ll have even more to cover tomorrow, and if a few games go the way I’m thinking they will, it will be a lot of fun to take a look at those in particular. But until then, enjoy the rest of your day and the D3 hoops slate on this weekend before Thanksgiving.

The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: November 17, 2022: Whitewater with a comeback, a look at some of the top unranked teams

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Welcome back! Glad you’re here, reading another edition of The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops. Decided to take a look at some of the unranked teams who received votes in the preseason poll and have what I consider to be the best resumes for Top 25 spots heading into the first in-season poll of the year. More on that below. But first, there’s going to be a good game tonight in Rochester…

Game of the Day: #17 St. John Fisher @ Rochester, 8 pm EST

I didn’t necessarily pick this game because it is the only one tonight with a Top 25 team involved, though that is part of it! Rochester looked sharp in wins over UT-Dallas and Messiah to open the year, but SJF will present a whole new test. At 3-0, SJF has not been challenged all that much, and will benefit from facing a quality unranked opponent in Rochester. SJF is balanced offensively, sharing the ball well, with a tremendous amount of depth, which should help in late-game situations, where foul trouble, and fatigue begins to take effect.

Thoughts…

  • #4 UW-Whitewater’s duel with Illinois Wesleyan lived up the expectation of being a big-time non-conference showdown. Though UWW emerged with a hard-fought 70-61 (and trust me, it was hard-fought) win, IWU came out of the gate much stronger, shooting 64 percent in the opening quarter as the Titans took a 21-8 lead. But in a split second, things switched for the Warhawks, who scored 23 in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 38-31 at the half. Outscoring IWU 21-10 in the third is really when things began looking up for Whitewater, and the Warhawks held off a strong charge from IWU late, cutting it to two, before the hosts pulled away. Kacie Carollo continues to shoot the ball well, as she had 20 points. IWU had a 20-point scorer of its own in Katelyn Heller.
  • DeSales is 3-0 to start the year, having added a nine-point win over Muhlenberg last night. Team “No. 26” in the Preseason Top 25 (the team that received the most votes that was not ranked), DeSales is certainly making a case for a Top 25 spot. Problem is that they do not play a particularly strong non-conference schedule, so it is somewhat hard to compare their resume with others in contention for those last five spots in the poll.
  • Big win for Gustavus Adolphus over in the midwest last night. This Simpson College team may not be the SC teams of old, but nonetheless, the Storm are still a serious contender in the ARC. The Gusties however, seem to be following up well on last year’s 22-5 season. They’re 2-0, and last night’s 76-73 win proved they can execute in pressure situations. Anna Sanders was 4-of-5 from 3-point land for Gustavus Adolphus in a pretty impressive performance.
  • Catholic is another team that I’m certainly considering as a Top 25 voter. They had the seventh-most points amongst unranked teams in the preseason poll, and have started 4-0, the most recent of those coming in last night’s 71-46 rout of Salisbury. They shot an eye-popping 66 percent from 3-point rnage (yes, you read that right), as they were 12-of-18. That long-range accuracy certainly played in Catholic’s favor, especially in the first half.

Going on Hoopsville today to talk some women’s hoops with Dave, Gordon and Scott, who always offer great insight. This isn’t a live segment, so I’m unsure when it will be put out, but once it is, I’ll be sure to add a link here! Always great to have some back-and-forth and good discussions on such a large division of college basketball!

The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: November 16, 2022: Illinois Wesleyan playing in another Top 5 matchup…at #4 UW-Whitewater

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Welcome back to this Wednesday edition of The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops! Hard to believe I’ve been writing this blog for a week now. Very honored and excited to see so many people supporting and reading this each day. Now for the Game of the Day…

Game of the Day: Illinois Wesleyan @ #4 UW-Whitewater, 8 pm EST

These are two NCAA Tournament contenders, who haven’t been afraid to face some of the nation’s best right out of the gate. IWU played at the Hope Tip-Off Tournament last weekend, and UW-Whitewater hosted a tournament that included #14 Millikin on its home floor. Facing high-quality competition has only made these two teams better in this early part of the season, and both know a major non-conference win is on the line in this one. The perimeter shooting of IWU will clash with the post play of Whitewater in what should be a game decided in the final quarter.

Keep an eye on…

  • #16 Springfield @ Endicott, 7 pm EST
  • Salisbury @ Catholic, 6 pm EST
  • Cornell @ Wartburg, 8 pm EST
  • St. Norbert @ UW-Stevens Point, 8 pm EST

Other Notes…

  • As far as last night’s games go, there were certainly some entertaining ones. I titled yesterday’s post, “Can RWU stop Tufts and Maggie Russell?” Well…RWU did a fantastic job against Russell, holding the dynamic forward to just eight points in 28 minutes. But the focus on Russell opened up opportunities for Sarah Crossett and Sophia Gonzalez, who each scored in double figures in Tufts’ 57-48 win. RWU was good inside, scoring 40 of its 48 points in the paint, but Tufts’ defense was impressive, forcing 22 turnovers. The defensive battle between Tufts and Amherst later this season will probably be one of those games where neither team scores 60, and yet is exciting for all 40 minutes.
  • I saw a few minutes of UW-Oshkosh’s battle against Edgewood. Maybe Edgewood was just having a good day, but I think the Eagles could be an outside contender in the NACC. It’s a pretty wide-open conference, though Wisconsin Lutheran seems to be pretty strong at this point. Edgewood has had a tough start to the year, facing Wartburg and UWO in consecutive games, but I was impressed by how well they found scoring opportunities from short-range. Paige Banks is a stellar forward, and had 23 points in that one. Looking at UWO, it’s still a learning process for that young group, but they turned it over just eight times and came up with a couple of key 3-pointers when it counted. Sarah Hardwick continues to be my pick for WIAC Freshman of the Year (not that I have any say in that!). Had a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds last night.
  • I got the chance to listen to an excellent interview on Hoopsville with Hope’s Brian Morehouse. Lots of great topics covered there, including the record-breaking season opener, enjoying the 2022 national title, and the MIAA as a whole. I thought Morehouse made some great points about how competitive the MIAA is going to be this season, with Calvin and Trine as real contenders (though it’s hard for anyone in the country to compete with Hope), and he also mentioned they will be going to NYC next year. I know nothing about this, but I feel like a Hope-NYU matchup might be the works…maybe? That’d be a must-see for sure. He also said that he had recently talked with Randolph-Macon MBB HC Josh Merkel over Zoom, which had to be an incredible conversation considering those two are some of the best minds in D3 hoops. It’s always cool to see the support between the coaches of MBB and WBB teams in D3. That’s a special part of this division. There’s way too much to cover here, so don’t just read my thoughts. Go listen to the interview!
  • Take a look at this stat line from Anderson’s Lexi Dellinger this past weekend: 29.5 PPG, 4.5 Steals/Game, 5.5 RPG…wow! Well-deserved selection to the D3hoops.com Team of the Work for her.

This has been a long post…so if you’ve read this far, thank you. Be sure to try to get out and support your local D3 schools if you aren’t doing so already. It is always disappointing to see box scores with attendance numbers of 100 or below listed. It means a lot to players and coaches alike when there are fans in the stands, and people believing in what they’re doing. And have a great rest of your day!

By the way, If you enjoy The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops, please tell a friend, a teammate, a fellow coach, or just another D3 fan. It goes a long way! Follow this blog daily on Substack or the D3hoops.com Daily Dose!

The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: November 15, 2022: Can RWU stop Tufts and Maggie Russell?

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Welcome back to The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops! Here’s your daily look at the world of D-III women’s basketball, as we continue to move through the month of November…

Game of the Day: Roger Williams @ #11 Tufts

RWU looked especially strong out of the gates in last Wednesday’s season opener against MIT, taking a 22-9 lead early, and ended up with a 71-47 win. But Tufts is another level up in the relative pyramid of D-III, and is also 1-0 after a 24-point win over Bates. The thing I like about RWU is that the Hawks share the ball so well. It forces the defense to pay attention to all five on the floor, rather than keying in on one or two shooters. But RWU’s defense will be tested in a huge way against Maggie Russell. I’m not sure that very many teams in D-III will find a way to hold her to less than 20 points per game. Yes, she’s that good (had 31 pts and 17 rebs against Bates). It would be an exaggeration to label this as a possible upset, but who knows? RWU will no doubt stay competitive with Tufts through the first half. It will come down to the second half play.

Keep an eye on…

  • #20 Ithaca @ SUNY-Geneseo (Battle of unbeatens), 5:30 pm EST
  • UW-River Falls @ Augsburg, 8:00 pm EST
  • Oglethorpe @ Covenant, 6:00 pm EST

Thoughts on this Tuesday morning…

  • I’m not sure we’ve had a slate of games yet this season with more lopsided scores than yesterday. At least percentage wise. I did the math, 90% of games were decided by 15 points or more, and we had four games with a margin of 40+ points. The only “close” game of the day was also one of the lowest scoring, as Medgar Evers beat SUNY-Old Westbury 38-35. They combined to shoot 19% from the field!
  • I did catch a few minutes of Mitchell’s 68-44 win over CCNY. Granted, you have to factor in for the opponent here, but I was very impressed by Mitchell’s defensive effort early on. CCNY had just two points in the first quarter, as Mitchell kept pressure on the ball, and forced a few turnovers too, turning those in points in transition.
  • Manhattanville might be a team to keep your eye, considering how efficient the Valiants (what a cool team name) are from three-point range. To shoot above 40% from beyond the arc in wins over York (NY) and Pratt is impressive. They were 13-of-31 on threes in yesterday’s 102-21 rout of Pratt.
  • Interim HC Shelby Lyman is looking to keep UW-River Falls undefeated through three games this year, as the Falcons play tonight at Augsburg. It’s been a pretty convincing start from a team that was below .500 a year ago. And Augsburg still hasn’t played a game yet, making them one of the last teams to begin the season, though #15 UMHB won’t play its first game until Saturday.
  • Saw that UW-Whjtewater’s Kacie Carollo was named the tournament MVP of the Whitewater tournament this past weekend. In two wins over Carroll and Millikin, she averaged 15.0 points and 10.0 rebounds.

On a side note, Hoopsville, the comprehensive show about D3 men’s and women’s hoops, made its season debut last night. As always, great work by Dave McHugh on the mic. Be sure to check it out! https://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2022-23/nov14

 

The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops: November 14, 2022: Amherst’s defense is the real deal!

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Happy Monday! We’re back into the weeknight games now after an excellent first weekend of several tournaments around the country that gave us some exciting matchups, and a scoring record broken too, (Ref. Hope). Hope you had a good weekend, and let’s take a look at today’s Game of the Day…

Game of the Day: William Peace @ Guilford

Admittedly, it is a very light schedule tonight…but this one still has storylines to follow, as William Peace (1-1 overall) comes off a 84-71 loss to Lynchburg and will look to rebound with a better performance in this one. Guilford (1-0) won at Greensboro on Saturday, aided by the shooting of forward Courtney McMillan who scored 25 points….off the bench! I expect Guilford to win this one, but look for an increased pursuit on the glass from them, as they were outrebounded in the season opener, 52-40.

Additional thoughts from around the league…

  • Tuned into the #9 Amherst-Rowan game yesterday, and as it progressed, I became more and more impressed by Amherst’s defense. The Mammoths have always seemed to be best in low-scoring, defensive-dominated contests, so this 57-50 final score fit them like a glove. Rowan led by five with about six minutes to go, but Amherst had already stepped up its defense by that point. Rowan would not make a single (yes, you read that right) shot from the field in the fourth quarter, and did not score at all in the final 4:07. Really impressive performance from Amherst on this opening weekend.
  • #3 NYU rolled to a pair of wins this weekend over Alvernia and Haverford. The Violets looked incredibly sharp, and Belle Pellecchia had 24 points for NYU in yesterday’s nine-point win over Haverford. She is a dynamic player, sees the floor well, and is someone NYU will probably have on the floor for 30+ minutes a game this season.
  • Stevens won its second game in a double-overtime thriller against Moravian, winning 87-84. Didn’t get a chance to watch it, but looking back over the box score, Stevens used a 27-point fourth quarter to force the game into overtime, and after each side scored seven apeice in the first extra period, it went into a second. Stevens’ Lucy Alberici played 47 minutes in that one and Moravian’s Morgan Amy played 48. Both had 20+ points. Talk about endurance!
  • Mary Washington came away with a 53-49 win over Gettysburg yesterday. Keep an eye on Mary Washington. One thing that sticks out to me about them is their depth. Three players came off the bench to play 20+ minutes in the win. They’ll need to cut down on turnovers though. Had 20 against Gettysburg.

That’s all for today. Hope you continue following along, as the season will only get better from here!