Welcome back! Hope your weekend was a good one. As some may know, I am a Top 25 voter for the D3hoops.com Women’s Top 25 Poll each week. With it being so early in the season, we did not have a poll this week, but I thought I’d put down a Top 10 based on my thoughts from watching these teams play the last 12 days or so. So here you go…
- Hope: The Flying Dutch don’t rebuild, they reload. Despite losing a strong senior core from last year’s national championship team, Hope was seldom challenged in its first three contests against Geneva, Illinois Wesleyan, and Finlandia. Even UW-Eau Claire, who I would put around #11 or #12 right now, wasn’t able to keep the score within single digits on Saturday. Hope is the clear No. 1 and I’d be surprised if anyone else picks up a No. 1 vote in next week’s official poll.
- Transylvania: The Pioneers opened the season late, just a few days ago on Nov. 18. Their swing through Texas saw them pick up wins over Concordia (TX) and UT-Dallas, good ASC teams, but not the most high-level competition. Still, Transylvania’s play on the court suggests another dominant season seems to be in store. Perhaps, as we spoke about on Hoopsville last week, an undefeated season…
- UW-Whitewater: Here is where I differ from the Preseason Top 25. NYU has done nothing but roll to big wins in these first two weeks, but Whitewater has done the same…and against what appears at this point to be better competition. Millikin is a Top 25 program at this point, despite some recent struggles on the road, and IWU will compete right alongside Millikin for the top spot in the CCIW. Those two wins give the Warhawks the upper hand from my perspective, and for what it’s worth, Massey has Whitewater #8 in defensive efficiency, while NYU is #25. Defense wins championship. But seriously, the margin between these two is very thin.
- NYU: So keeping on with that same conversation, NYU’s four wins are over Alvernia, Haverford, Vassar, and Kean, who has a combined record of 8-11 right now. You certainly can’t punish a team for the poor play of its opponents, but when the margin is thin in this early part of the season, the quality of its non-conference opponents is significant in all of this. NYU won’t truly be tested until Dec. 11, when it faces #11 Tufts in a must-see battle.
- Trinity (TX): Going very much off of the eye test here, but watching Trinity play is just so impressive. The execution in transition is flawless, and the overall offense is one of the best I’ve seen at this point. They move the ball well and create shots, which have led to four fairly one-sided wins. The real tests come this week in a home-and-home with #18 Hardin-Simmons. Trinity goes to Abilene tomorrow, before HSU makes the return trip to San Antonio on Saturday.
- Christopher Newport: CNU has opened its season strong, winning all five of its games by double digits. ETBU came the closest, falling just 63-53 at home on Nov. 11. Massey has CNU at #3 in offensive efficiency, and I’d believe it. Four starters average 9.0+ PPG.
- Amherst: Amherst slides up to #7 for a few different reasons. One is the resume; notably, the 54-50 win over No. 16 Springfield, and the fact that all three opponents have been held to 50 points or lower. There’s a reason Amherst is the No. 1 defensive team according to Massey. Even on days when the shots aren’t falling, the Mammoths are often in the lead, due to superior defense. But #8 Trine’s loss to Baldwin-Wallace slides them back a spot, and #7 Smith had close calls at Maine-Maritime and Bowdoin this weekend, which drop them back as well.
- Scranton: #10 to open the season, Scranton is 5-0, and has given no reason why they don’t deserve to slide two spots up. Once I get all the numbers next week, this could change, but watching Scranton’s game against Wilkes yesterday, the Royals are clearly a title contender. They are so deep, which makes them dangerous for any opponent. We’ll get a good look at the Royals on Nov. 29 when they face #20 Ithaca. That will be a great indicator of where both teams are at.
- Trine: The Thunder didn’t look all that good at Baldwin Wallace, but it was also the second game of the season, and the bottom line is that they found a way to push it into double overtime. Though BW won 75-70, that is Trine’s only loss in four games. I can’t see putting them any lower than #9 based on what I’ve seen up to this point.
- Smith: Yes, Smith is undefeated. But in the two games that would give us the best indication of where the Pioneers were at, they struggled, nearly losing to Maine-Maritime (but eventually winning 66-60 in OT) and trailed Bowdoin 32-21 at the half on Saturday. Again, they came back to beat Bowdoin 54-50, and there is little doubt they are a good team, but at this point, I can’t see them still as the seventh-best team in the nation. They will have a good test against a 3-0 Trinity (CT) team on Nov. 27, that I’ll certainly be watching to get another look at Smith and where they might stack up in next week’s top 10.
Other notes:
- Not a whole lot of other action today, but NJCU does play at D-I Delaware State in a winnable game for the Gothic Knights. Their only game currently played is a 79-70 loss to D-I Monmouth, and they looked sharp for much of that one. If they can stay strong on the boards, this could end up as a win. DSU is just 1-3 overall.
- Concordia-Chicago plays a UW-La Crosse team that is 5-0. Concordia has won its last two, but nobody has been able to stop UWL yet. Consistency on the defensive end will be important to both teams in this one.
- Colorado College and Augustana play in what could be a good game at 6 pm EST. CC is looking to get back on track after a 1-3 start, though the schedule has been tough with Emory and Calvin on there. Augustana is 3-1, coming off the loss to Calvin.
That’s all for today. Hope you enjoyed reading through my thoughts on the Top 10…what are yours? Feel free to add a comment below!