December 23, 2023: Who won the week?
In Holland, Michigan, we saw #16 Hope take down Millikin behind an exceptional defensive effort. Inside a tiny gym in Gallatin, Tennessee, the nation’s #3 team found itself trailing by eight at the end of the first quarter, only to respond with a big second quarter, and win 70-61. Down in Florida, Rhode Island College backed up its high national rank in an exceptional win over Gustavus Adolphus. Up in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, Scranton saw its perfect record taken down to the wire in an overtime battle against DeSales’ relentless defense.
And that was just the tip of the iceberg of what unfolded within these last two days in D3 women’s hoops.
It was nothing short of incredible, seeing so many high-level teams challenged on both ends of the floor for four quarters. I honestly think this was the best two days of basketball we’ve had all year, and it is a credit to the teams involved. At this tournaments/classics, the coaching staffs often have some say in who they play (though this isn’t always the case), and the fact that we saw so many Top 25 teams facing great national contenders whether ranked or unranked was really impressive.
“Who won the week?” is a question that Matt and Zac Snyder discuss each week on the D3 Datacast, as they each talk about a team that stood apart from the rest or took a bigger stride with a key win or two. I’ve always enjoyed that segment of the show, and thought I’d do something similar with this past week’s games. Some of these picks may be more obvious than others, but the following teams are certainly ones that elevated their tournament resumes over the last four or five days.
So…who won the week?
Hope continues to impress. Wednesday’s matchup against #13 Millikin was a perfect example, as the Flying Dutch emerged with a 77-69 win, and played some of their best basketball of the year. The defensive gameplan was very much on-point, and more than anything, I was impressed by Hope’s off-ball defensive pressure. They made passing windows tight, and limiting the touches for Elyce Knudsen and Bailey Coffman, Millikin’s top two scorers. Knudsen had 19 points on a 9-of-22 shooting day, but was challenged in finding high-percentage shots in a credit to Hope’s pressure on that end of the floor. We saw Hope deflect plenty of passes, all of that forced Millikin to go deeper into the shot clock on countless possessions, as the Big Blue struggled to find the same amount of offensive success that has been evident for much of their season so far. It was far from a one-sided game, but I thought Hope’s defense was the difference. A 24-13 second quarter from Hope also helped a great deal, and Jada Garner was terrific at guard for the Flying Dutch. She finished with eight points, five rebounds, and four assists, putting her teammates in good spots to score. Sydney Vis also deserves some mention, as she tallied four steals in addition to a team-high 18 points. And I’d be remiss not to mention Tuesday’s 83-64 win over Augustana. The Vikings may fly under the radar a little bit with how tough the CCIW is this season, but they’re a competitive team that could factor into the CCIW title race as the season goes along. It took Hope a few minutes to get going against Augie, but once they did, there was no stopping the Flying Dutch.
Christopher Newport. The Captains had a strong showing at the Music City Classic in Tennessee, and we saw CNU tested against both Grove City and Whitman, but in both cases, the Captains ultimately emerged with the win. CNU stays undefeated and is right there in that Top 5 for me. The Whitman game (a 70-61 win) was especially interesting to watch, as Whitman opened the game in similar to fashion its dominant win over Wartburg the day before. The Blues did a good job with cuts to the bucket and solid ball movement early on, but once CNU’s defense stepped up, the Captains quickly erased Whitman’s 20-12 lead. CNU outscored Whitman 21-5 and held onto the momentum from there. That was a win that CNU really needed, especially in maintaining a resume strong enough to compete for NCAA Tournament hosting on the second weekend. I’d expect that Whitman is the highest ranked opponent the Captains will see for the remainder of this regular season, and the win solidified CNU’s place in the national conversation. That said, they’ve got two more tough tests away from home coming up on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30, battling SUNY New Paltz and Stevens. Both are currently projected to be regionally-ranked, so that is an opportunity for two key RRO wins before the new year, in addition to extending their road win streak, which is currently tied for the longest ever in D-III history. I’d also add that having Hannah Kaloi back at full strength has noticeably made a difference for CNU. She immediately gives the Captains a strong post presence when she steps on the floor, and I think that was shown against Whitman, as she scored 17. A 6’1 forward, Kaloi is a tough matchup and one of those players who can affect the game, even without the ball in her hands.
To that point on CNU, Whitman also fell into this category for me. CNU pulled away late, but the Blues contended well on a possession-by-possession basis, and more importantly, it was what I saw against Wartburg that landed them amongst my “winners of the week”. Yes, I saw the wins over Colorado College and Pacific earlier in the year, and those were impressive. Whitman was certainly a fringe Top 25 team for me after those two. But it is a totally different story when you beat a Top 10 opponent on a neutral court by 34. Beating Wartburg 85-51 certainly turned some heads on Tuesday, and for good reason. Whitman opened the game with a 25-9 run, and had two 25+ point quarters in the victory, all while executing especially well on the defensive end. We definitely saw some of that against CNU, though to a slightly lesser degree. But overall, Whitman has reason to be feeling good as the Blues head back to the Pacific Northwest. And Korin Baker should be an All-American without question…the way she played on consecutive says against Top 10 opponents was remarkable, and a testament to her scoring ability. Keep an eye on this Whitman team as it progresses through the upcoming NWC schedule. Whitman feels like a much stronger favorite to win the NWC based on what we saw in Tennessee.
Rhode Island College. The Anchorwomen continue to trend upwards, proving that last year’s Final Four run was no fluke. I have found myself slowly increasing RIC’s rank and by this point, with a 12-0 record and several quality wins, it is hard to see this team not being in the Top 4 on each voter’s ballot. If there were any doubts about RIC’s offensive capability, those were put to rest in Florida this past week. In a marquee matchup against #8 Gustavus Adolphus on Wednesday, we saw RIC put up back-to-back 20-point quarters in the second half, earning a massive 71-61 win over a Top 10 foe. But it got even better. Against a talented Baldwin Wallace team that will contend in the OAC, RIC further showed its skill level on both ends of the floor. It was 42-13 at halftime….and no, that’s not a typo. I see this with the lens of Baldwin Wallace sitting as a Top 50 team nationally. You just don’t see scores like that between top-level programs, but it is a testament to what RIC can do from a defensive standpoint as well as from a scoring perspective. I really like the direction that RIC is headed in at this point.
Chatham is flying under the radar a little bit in my opinion. This is a dangerous team that heads back from Puerto Rico with a 10-2 record, and they won the week by taking down St. Mary’s (MD) and #25 Elizabethtown. Obviously the win over Elizabethtown was the trademark victory of the event for Chatham, who shot 12-of-29 from 3-point range after going just 8-of-28 from beyond the arc the day prior. It was a 68-64 win for Chatham, who is definitely a top contender in the PAC at this point. The Cougars boast wins over Washington & Jefferson and Oberlin, which enhances their resume, though the PAC is still going to be a 1-bid league. Regardless, I think Chatham did a good job of pushing the pace and coming up with timely defensive stops in both victories, especially against Elizabethtown, considering how competitive that was throughout. Chatham did a nice job defending its early lead, and heads into the remainder of PAC play on a nine-game win streak.
Scranton had beaten Rowan and Stevens heading into the week, but #18 DeSales was by far the toughest opponent on the Lady Royals’ non-conference slate. And it was on the road. What unfolded was an overtime battle won by Scranton, 68-63, and while I expected the Scranton offense to perform a little better, the narrow margin was not all too surprising. DeSales has one of the most efficient defenses in the country, and is very effective on that end of the floor. So it wasn’t a surprise that DeSales’ defense kept the Bulldogs in contention, though I really liked what we saw from Scranton on the defensive end at the same time. In OT, Scranton did a great job of getting to the foul line and coming up with defensive stops as the Lady Royals opened OT on a 7-0 run. DeSales tied the score with 25 seconds left after a pair of 3-pointers, but a three-point play from Kaci Kranson as the clock ticked down to 12 seconds put Scranton back in the lead. Playing in a tough road environment, Scranton won the week with its first Top 25 win of the year, and remains perfect, at 10-0 overall.
I’ll close this list by mentioning Coe College, who is now 10-2 and off to a fast start in this season. A West Coast trip rewarded Coe well, as the Kohawks leave Santa Cruz with wins over Pacific and Lewis & Clark. The Pacific win by an 89-83 result was the one that stuck out, because this is a Pacific team firmly in contention in the NWC and still in the mix to be regionally-ranked (though that looks a little less likely at this point). The ARC is already a deep league, and if Coe is a challenger, that makes it even stronger. Up to this week, the Kohawks had put up some solid results, but did not have a win over a Massey Top 75 team. This win over Pacific was an overtime win, and about halfway through the OT period, Coe took charge with a 6-2 run that gave the Kohawks a 82-76 lead. Caydee Kirkham was fantastic for Coe, with 31 points, and followed up with 19 in the win over Lewis & Clark on Thursday. She’ll definitely be a guard to be watching as ARC play ramps up.
Have another team that you think warrants mention after its performance this past week? Let me know in the comments section below. I wasn’t able to cover everything that happened this last week, but those are a few of my thoughts on teams that played exceptionally well and/or had especially impactful results. Our next D3 games don’t tip-off until Dec. 27, so we have a few days before things ramp up again. I’ll work on a “unofficial” Top 25 ballot over the next few days, and release that sometime next week. Obviously, next week’s games will still factor in quite a bit to what my Top 25 ballot looks like on Jan. 2, when the next official D3hoops.com Top 25 is released. But it’ll give you an idea of how I’m seeing things right now.
Hope everyone has a great Christmas and a happy holidays!