D3 WBB Daily (1/31/23): A stacked slate of high-profile matchups are set to tip-off
The Top 2 teams in the WIAC, MASCAC, Landmark, Centennial and other conferences battle tonight in the homestretch of regular season play
An afternoon edition of D3 WBB Daily is available now! I take a quick look at Middlebury’s win over MIT last night, and preview tonight’s action, including a number of No. 1 vs No. 2 matchups in conferences across the country. This might be one of the best nights of D3 women’s hoops we’ve had all season. There’s an opportunity for a number of huge results with the contests we have set to tip-off.
Tipping Off
Middlebury shoots well from outside, Mustafaj scores 43, against MIT
In a late non-conference NESCAC/NEWMAC tilt, we saw Middlebury roll to a 65-51 win on the road at MIT, which was notable, considering MIT entered as a slight favorite, ranked #64 in Massey, while Middlebury was #69. As it turned out, it was the Alexa Mustafaj show for most of the night, as she poured in a career-high 43 points. Yep, she accounted for 70% of the Panthers’ scoring. Interestingly, the shot selection from Middlebury wasn’t what you might expect for a team that shot 47 percent in the victory. The Panthers took just eight shots (not counting layups) in the paint, compared to 25 on the outside, and of those 25, 16 were from 3-point range. Comparatively, MIT took a high number of shots from the paint, and on the fringes of it (especially from the right baseline). Point being, Middlebury’s outside shooting is interesting, because while the Panthers scored on plenty of layups, they also took quite a few shots from longer range and still converted at a high clip. The 20-8 third quarter for Middlebury gave the Panthers control over the final 20 minutes, as they are now 14-7 overall with three regular season games left.
Photo: Heat chart of shots taken by MIT (on right) and Middlebury (on left) in last night’s win for Middlebury
First Place vs. Second Place across the country tonight
At this point, every conference is into the second half of its league schedule, and we often get some pretty intriguing matchups as title races start to come into view. And if we’re lucky, we’ll get to see the first and second place teams in a league battle it out head-to-head with only a few weeks left, in a game that could play a major role in conference tournament seeding, Pool C potential, and more. That is the case in the WIAC, LEC, HCAC, Landmark, ARC, Centennial, NEWMAC, and MASCAC tonight…wow. Lots on the line in these matchups….here’s a quick look at each:
WIAC: #23 UW-Oshkosh at #5 UW-Whitewater: The league’s highest-scoring offense (Whitewater) matches up against the No. 1 defense in the WIAC (Oshkosh). The clash of strengths will be put on full display as the WIAC’s two Top 25 programs square off. The first meeting ended with a 79-71 Whitewater win.
LEC: #3 Rhode Island College at UMass-Dartmouth: UMD beat Smith earlier in the year, and is 17-2 overall, receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Poll and ranked #22 by the WBCA. The first meeting ended with a one-sided 69-31 RIC victory, and the Anchorwomen are only getting better as the season goes on. But, UMD is at home, which throws another element into the mix.
HCAC: #2 Transylvania at Hanover: Another Top 3 team goes on the road in what might be Transy’s toughest conference matchup of the season. Hanover is 11-1 in the HCAC, with its only loss coming to the Pioneers, 54-39. Transy is playing at a high-level and holds the longest winning streak in the NCAA right now, but once again, road matchups in league play are tough, and Hanover will be ready.
Landmark: Elizabethtown at #8 Catholic: Technically, Elizabethtown and Scranton are tied for second place, but since ETown won the first meeting with Scranton, holding a 1-0 H2H advantage, I’m calling this a No. 1 vs No. 2 game. ETown is led by Summer McNulty, who surpassed the career 1,000-point mark and scored a combined 52 points in two games against Loras and Chatham in Puerto Rico in December. Catholic has the outside shooting presence of Kerry Flaherty leading the way, and both teams have dynamic scorers in addition to the two already mentioned, making this a tough battle for both defenses. Catholic has become known as a great fourth-quarter team, and is at home in this one, so those are two factors ETown will be contending with tonight. Catholic won the first meeting, 79-70, in OT back on Nov. 29.
ARC: #19 Loras at #11 Wartburg: This is interesting considering Loras and Wartburg both enter with lengthy winning streaks and playing some of their best basketball. These are the top two defenses in the ARC, and points will certainly be hard to come by. Wartburg is 8-1 at home this season, and beat Loras, 64-56, the first time they played on Nov. 29.
Centennial: #9 Johns Hopkins at #25 Gettysburg: Gettysburg’s 3-point shooting has been the best in the Centennial this season, at just under 35%, and the Bullets also own the top FG% in the league as well. But JHU is especially strong in the rebounding battle, and should take away second-chance scoring opportunities from Gettysburg. The first meeting was decided by three points in a 66-63 JHU win.
NEWMAC: #21 Smith at Coast Guard: There are five teams in the NEWMAC tied for first place at 4-1, but that will change after this matchup tonight. One of these two teams will improve to 5-1, and while Smith is nationally-ranked, Coast Guard has a stingy defense, and has limited opponents to the lowest points per game, shooting percentage, and 3-point percentage in the NEWMAC this season. Smith is certainly talented, and unlike the others on this list, this marks the first time these two teams have faced off this season.
MASCAC: Bridgewater State and Framingham State: The MASCAC is a two-team race, and FSU’s only loss in league play came on Jan. 6 at BSU, 56-47, which will naturally, create a strong push for FSU to avenge that loss on the Rams’ home court. Kylie Grassi is the top scorer in the MASCAC, averaging 22.1 PPG for BSU, but FSU has a high-scorer of its own in Flannery O’Connor (16.3 PPG). FSU’s offense actually ranks higher than BSU’s in efficiency, and I really think this comes down to the defensive performance of both sides.
Fast Breaks
Gallaudet’s Cassidy Perry became the second player in program history to record 1,000 career rebounds in the 59-50 loss for the Bison against PSU-Harrisburg last night. She joins the great Ronda Jo Miller as the only two Gallaudet players with 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
Dave McHugh spoke with Kean head coach Mandy King and St. Joseph (CT) head coach Wendy Davis on Monday’s edition of Hoopsville (Link)
Centenary snapped a 13-game losing skid last night, beating St. Thomas (TX) in an overtime thriller, 61-59. Nia McGee led the way with a double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 15 rebounds for Centenary.
Belhaven won at Huntingdon for the first time since the 2015-16 season, using a 23-10 third quarter en route to a come-from-behind 65-57 victory.
Korin Baker scored a career-high 31 points on Tuesday night, as Whitman bounced back from a 0-2 weekend with a 59-46 rivalry win over Whitworth. Baker shot 13-of-22.
Looking Ahead
#3 Rhode Island College at UMass-Dartmouth, 5:30 pm ET
Western New England at Suffolk, 5:30 pm ET
Bridgewater State at Framingham State, 5:30 pm ET
Mary Washington at #4 Christopher Newport, 6:00 pm ET
#9 Johns Hopkins at #25 Gettysburg, 6:00 pm ET
#19 Loras at #11 Wartburg, 6:30 pm ET
Elizabethtown at #8 Catholic, 7:00 pm ET
#23 UW-Oshkosh at #5 UW-Whitewater, 8:00 pm ET