December 30, 2022: Quick thoughts from a massive day in D3 Women's Basketball
What a day it was in D3 women’s hoops yesterday. Wow! Lots of impressive, surprising, and interesting results came in from around the country. There were almost too many games to break down. But I put down some thoughts on a few of the results that should be in the national conversation…
The biggest upset of the day had to be Concordia-Moorehead’s 79-68 double-overtime thriller over #6 Amherst at the D3hoops.com Classic. Amherst was 8-0 entering that matchup and while Concordia had been playing decently well, with a 6-2 record, I anticipated the Mammoths’ defense holding off the opposition, at least until some sort of run could be put together, as they did against Oneta on Wednesday. But Concordia hung right in, a massive credit to their defense for stepping up in a huge way, despite being outrebounded by 13. It didn’t help Amherst’s cause that the Mammoths turned the ball over 27 times. Ouch.
In a massive MIAA-WIAC showdown between #15 UW-Eau Claire and #10 Trine, it was the Blugolds of UWEC who pulled out a 75-68 win at Trine. And that was despite a 29-18 run from Trine to close the game. What really did the Thunder in after taking a 21-13 lead at the end of the opening quarter was a drop-off in the offensive production, putting just eight points on the board in the second quarter. I said in yesterday’s post I thought this game would come down to perimeter shooting and in a way it did. UWEC connected on four more three-pointers than Trine, and in a game where Trine actually had the statistical advantage in almost every category, those long-range swishes proved key as UWEC continues its quest for the WIAC title.
The result I expected but didn’t quite expect at the same time came in Loras’ massive 73-54 win over #23 Calvin. I expected Loras would win, but did not anticipate a win coming by 19 points. If there was any question as to whether the Duhawks deserved a Top 25 spot after beating Babson, this win answers that pretty clearly. Loras is firing on all cylinders right now. 3 of their last 4 wins have come over Top 25 opponents. Sami Martin came through with 25 points and eight rebounds for Loras. That’s the kind of performance the Duhawks needed from her, especially with Gabby Timmer as Calvin’s go-to force in the post. Timmer had 17 points.
UW-Oshkosh left no doubt in a 78-42 win over WashU, which may mean my prediction of Stout-WashU being a great game today is way off the mark. I don’t know what happened to WashU, but the Bears struggled massively. They were just 8-of-18 at the free throw line and turned the ball over 23 times. Credit to UWO as well, because that might be the best I’ve seen the Titans play this year. The scoring attack was balanced, they scored on nearly every forced turnover, and were 14-of-31 from three-point range. It was really the three-pointers that gave UWO some separation in this one.
UW-Stout’s 10-game win streak was snapped by Ripon, 67-59, in what was a pretty stellar victory for the Redhawks, who entered the game 5-5 overall. Allison Leslie scored time and time again for Ripon, finishing with 21 points, and as a team, Ripon just shot the ball a lot better. While Stout did a good job at time of pushing the ball upcourt in fastbreak opportunities, I felt like Ripon was much more poised, and patient with its offensive possessions.
There are some incredible games today, starting with #1 NYU vs. Bowdoin at 3 pm EST. If you want to read more on that, visit my article from yesterday, in which I broke down the matchup. Another great game will be Baldwin-Wallace against Hamilton, also 3 pm EST tip-off. Hamilton doesn’t have to win this game to be under consideration for a spot in my Top 25 ballot, but they will need a quality performance. BW has looked really good, especially at home, but I honestly like Hamilton’s chances here. I don’t think this game will be decided by double digits.
Other games to watch:
#19 Tufts plays #7 Scranton at 7 pm EST in what should be a thrilling showdown.
Trinity (CT) vs. #13 Springfield, 5:30 pm EST
#15 UW-Eau Claire vs. DePauw, 4 pm EST
That’s about it…I’m looking forward to tuning into several of these games today and getting a good look at where they stand entering their conference schedules. This might be one of the best slates we have had this entire season. So many pivotal non-conference matchups!