5 key conference games to watch on today's slate
A look at a few of the high-stakes matchups this afternoon and evening, involving teams in tight conference races
Another massive Saturday is upon us, as conference races continue to unfold. We’re now in mid-January, and these conferences are starting to reveal a clear two or three contenders, several of whom will be facing off this afternoon and evening across the country. So here’s a look at five of those matchups, some of which involve nationally-ranked teams, others that feature a contest between the last two undefeated teams within a particular league. Plus, I included some of my notes from last night’s action, including a few noteworthy UAA results in the Midwest, in the “Around the Nation” portion of this newsletter.
(All game times are Eastern Time)
No. 16 Catholic at No. 3 Scranton | 2 p.m. | Scranton, PA: We’ve already seen Scranton face off against Elizabethtown, and now we get to see Catholic match up with the Lady Royals. It seems fairly certain that the Landmark title will be won by either Scranton, Catholic, or ETown, with Scranton as the clear frontrunner. But Catholic has won 10 straight, and is a perfect 3-0 on the road this season, paced by its stellar guard play. For the Cardinals, this is a crucial game in their quest to stay in the Landmark title hunt, having already taken a home loss to ETown. Scranton remains 14-0, having rolled past all of its conference competition so far. The matchup between Catholic and Scranton on the defensive end will be fun to watch, with the chance to produce a lower-scoring contest as both teams rank in the Top 2 in the Landmark in scoring defense. That said, they are also included with the Landmark’s Top 3 in scoring offense heading into this one.
Bethel at No. 6 Gustavus Adolphus | 8 p.m. | St. Peter, MN: The MIAC title race is far from over. But Gustavus Adolphus is quickly gaining separation. The Gusties are undefeated this year, and there is only team in the league besides them that hasn’t yet lost to a MIAC opponent: Bethel. The Royals are in the midst of one the best seasons in recent memory, 7-0 in league play and 11-3 overall. Considering nobody else in the MIAC has fewer than two conference losses, Bethel might just be the only team standing in the way of Gustavus rolling to yet another MIAC regular season championship. If past trends serve as any indication for how this one might play out, Bethel needs to find success on the offensive glass and turn those offensive rebounds into second-chance points at a steady rate. Bethel is averaging 13.3 offensive rebs/game in MIAC play, and while the Gusties are a solid rebounding team, the Royals have an advantage in that category. That said, scoring against the Gusties’ defense will be a tall task for Bethel and could be the key factor in a win for the hosts.
UW-Stevens Point at UW-Stout | 4 p.m. | Menomonie, WI: This is the battle for second place in the WIAC…for now. The WIAC is one of those leagues where you really don’t want to overanalyze the standings in mid-January, considering they’re liable to have plenty of movement from week to week. But there is a lot of importance in this game for both teams, who are each 3-1. When chasing Oshkosh, you don’t really want to be back further than one game in the standings, which is where both UWSP and Stout are heading into today. From a matchup standpoint, Stout is one of the WIAC’s top offensive teams, averaging 70.8 PPG in WIAC play and known for its dribble-drive tendency, attacking the rim whenever an opportunity presents itself. UWSP can score it too, but the Pointers are particularly strong on the defensive end, allowing just 54.5 points per game against WIAC opponents in addition to their conference-leading 8.5 steals per game.
Hanover at Mt. St. Joseph | 1 p.m. | Cincinnati, OH: The HCAC has turned into a pretty entertaining race this season, and these two are right up at the top of the standings, one game behind Transylvania. They’re each 6-2 in league play, so there’s not much room for more missteps, especially as Transy continues to get better. Interestingly enough, they share similar HCAC resumes, having both taken losses to Transy and Franklin, yet they remain ahead of Franklin (who is 5-3) in the standings. Hanover’s Grace Bezold is definitely a top contender of HCAC Player of the Year (23.1 PPG, 9.9 RPG, both league-highs) and a lot of this will be how MSJ’s defense matches up with the Hanover offense. Hanover shoots it well, at 41.2% against conference competition, though MSJ’s advantage really comes in its defense and rebounding, leading the HCAC with 44.9 rebounds/game.
RIT at Vassar | 2 p.m. | Poughkeepsie NY: The Liberty League is another tight conference, and with Vassar and RIT each winning last night, it raises the stakes for this Saturday afternoon matinee. Now, Vassar, RIT, and Ithaca find themselves in a three-way tie for first place, at 5-1 in LL play. They’re still in the first half of the schedule, so these teams will all meet again, but in a race this tight, every result (especially head-to-head results) will hold significance down the road. Led by head coach Melissa Kuberka, who led St. John Fisher to a dominant run of three straight Empire 8 Tournament titles from 2022-2024, RIT finds itself in the midst of a massive turnaround. The Tigers are two wins shy of tying last year’s overall win total (9), and are well on their way to RIT’s first season above .500 in LL play since 2018-19. But the big test comes today, visiting Vassar, who avoided an upset in last night’s 58-57 overtime win over RPI. Vassar has been shaky in a handful of recent games, and it seems plausible that this game ends up closer than the 15.5 spread listed on today’s D3 Datacast’s predictions sheet. The last time RIT won in Poughkeepsie? 2018. But Vassar won’t let that happen easily, led by guards Tova Gelb, Sierra McDermed, and Julia Harvey, who make up the best backcourt in the Liberty League.
Around the Nation
Case Western Reserve made the trip to St. Louis with just a 5% chance at knocking off 13th-ranked WashU, per the D3Datacast’s prediction, but the Spartans pulled off the upset in an improbable 64-57 victory. It was just the second time CWRU won inside the WashU Fieldhourse, as they went 10-of-32 from 3-point range, with five of those 3s coming from Emily Plachta. She played all but two minutes in the win and had a career-best 22 points, with 12 of those coming in the fourth quarter.
WashU wasn’t the only nationally-ranked UAA team to suffer a loss on Friday night. Carnegie Mellon also took a loss to 24th-ranked Chicago on the road, 62-54. With 2:31 to play, the game was tied at 50, but Chicago put together a 7-0 run, highlighted by Kate Gross’ 3-pointer with 1:25 left. The Maroons gained separation and picked up a key home win, bouncing back from last weekend’s 27-point loss to WashU.
SUNY New Paltz earned perhaps its biggest win of the year up to this point, taking down 11-2 Cortland in SUNYAC play. The 64-50 win at home improved the Hawks to a perfect 6-0 in conference action, as they moved ahead of Cortland in the SUNYAC standings. Cortland’s standout forward Joleen Lusk was held scoreless in 20 minutes on the floor, while New Paltz’s Abby Korzekwinski and Julia Sabatino each had 15 points apiece.
Middlebury and Bowdoin are now atop the NESCAC standings, each sitting at 3-0. Bowdoin picked up a tough road win over Bates, 57-52, led by a 20-point performance from Sydney Jones. Middlebury also won on the road on Friday night, with a 70-55 defeat of Connecticut College.
Trinity (TX) ended up two points shy of the program record for points in a game in the Tigers’ 124-79 drubbing of UDallas. Trinity outscored UDallas, 69-42, in the second half and led by as many as 48 points. True freshman Livy Sauvageau put up a career-high 25 points in 17 minutes off the bench, shooting 8-of-13 from the field.
Zoe Tomlinson broke a Colorado College record that had stood since 1980 in the Tigers’ 69-60 win over Concordia (TX), grabbing the 1,100th rebound of her career. It set a new career rebounding record, and she ended up with yet another double-double, scoring 36 points and pulling down 14 rebounds as CC improved to 12-2 overall.