Saturday Superlatives: What stood out on the first Saturday of January
Welcome back to a Sunday afternoon edition of The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops! As Trinity (CT) face Rhode Island College in a high-profile matchup today, here’s a look back on how yesterday’s slate of games unfolded, through the lens of some superlatives.
Standout individual performance: Kate Herlihy, Rowan
In Rowan’s best win of the season to this point, Herlihy led the Profs to a 68-52 victory over DeSales, hitting 6 3-pointers and scoring 28 points. She was 11-of-24 from the field overall, 50% from beyond the arc, and added five rebounds and three assists. 17 of those points came in the second half as Rowan pulled away from DeSales, outscoring the Bulldogs, 42-29. It marked a career-high for the senior guard, who is now averaging 16.5 PPG.
Other noteworthy performances:
Middlebury’s Alexa Mustafaj had 39 points in a 66-49 win over Oswego State, scoring 23 of those in the first half.
UW-Whitewater’s Kacie Carollo dished out 11 assists as the Warhawks avoided UW-River Falls’ upset bid in the WIAC opener, winning 57-50.
In Gettysburg’s big win over Susquehanna, Shinya Lee tallied 6 blocks, raising her season total to 43.
In a low-scoring duel, Kean edged Eastern, 48-36, with Erika Mercedes tallying 8 steals. Mercedes nearly had a unique triple-double, with 9 rebounds and 9 points as well.
Standout team performance: UW-Oshkosh (vs UW-Stout)
This was the day’s most-anticipated WIAC opener, and Oshkosh defended its home court, coming away with a 67-57 win over the Blue Devils to move to 12-0. Early on, it was all Stout, who opened on an 8-2 run. But Oshkosh slowly reeled them back in, eventually taking a 13-12 lead with 2:05 left in the first quarter. As it turned out, the Titans never trailed again, opening the second quarter on an 8-0 run, with the first four points coming on layups from Kate Huml. Huml had an efficient 8-of-10 shooting day, scoring 18 points and contributing significantly to Oshkosh’s 49.1% shooting percentage. What stood out more than anything was the defensive performance from the Titans, who held Stout to a 1-of-12 mark from 3, just 6 assists, and only one double-digit scorer. While Anna Mutch had 24 points, nobody else had more than 7 for Stout, a credit to Oshkosh’s lock-down zone, which was especially key in a third quarter stretch that saw Stout go over five minutes without scoring. Oshkosh is now No. 4 nationally in NPI, and certainly yesterday’s win carried a little more weight for Brad Fischer’s squad, considering it was Stout that beat the Titans in Oshkosh in last year’s WIAC Tournament final.
Biggest NPI Mover: Rochester
Rochester took a huge jump up in NPI, moving forward 67 spots into the Top 100 yesterday after a huge 91-81 win over Cortland. They went from #162 to #95, scoring 90+ points for the second time this season. Erin Lillis and Abby Gress led the charge, with 27 and 23 points, respectively, and Gress nearly had a double-double, adding a team-best 9 rebounds. Rochester’s offense continues to come along, something that should serve the Yellowjackets well in UAA play. They shot 55.9% from the field against Cortland, and were an impressive 10-of-19 from 3-point range, while also finishing nearly perfect at the free throw line (15-of-16). 18 assists certainly helped that, as did 23 points from the bench.
Surprise of the Day: University of New England stuns Western New England
UNE entered the day ranked 170th in Massey Ratings, sitting at 5-5 and looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since the second week of the season. It was a tall task too, with 10-0 Western New England coming to town, but the Nor’easters pulled off the upset at home, winning 56-52. WNE was on the ropes early, outscored in each of the first two quarters en route to a 34-29 halftime deficit. A 14-7 run in the third quarter put WNE right back in it, and with 2:59 left, a three-point play from Shaina Cooney put the Golden Bears up, 49-47.
But UNE refused to let it slip away, tying the score twice after WNE took the lead before Faye Veilleux came through with the play of the game. After WNE’s Emma Kahn broke the 51-51 tie with a free throw, Veilleux hit a 3 just 11 seconds later, putting UNE in the lead for good. There was no counter from WNE as the Golden Bears (ranked #44 in Massey) took a devastating loss in their first CNE game of 2025.
UNE made up for being -9 on the boards with a +6 turnover differential, scoring 14 pts off turnovers. But the big number that sticks out to me? In what was a single possession game for almost the entirety of the fourth, UNE was 14-of-15 at the free throw line. WNE was 12-of-18.
Best play: ETBU’s buzzer-beater to beat Millsaps
It was, as expected, a back-and-forth battle inside Ornelas Gym as the current frontrunners in the SAA and ASC went down to the wire. Millsaps led 32-24 at the half, but ETBU got right back in it with a 15-9 third quarter. It culminated in Millsaps taking the clock down under five seconds in a contest tied at 49-49, as Garin Freeman drove for a game-winning layup. But her shot rimmed out, bouncing out-of-bounds as multiple players dove for the loose ball. ETBU possession. Three-tenths of a second left.
ETBU head coach Blake Arbogast drew up an inbounds play after the ball was advanced, setting up a perfectly executing buzzer-beater for the Tigers. Payton Hicks lofted the high-arcing pass to Hannah Ayala, who slipped behind the defense and got off the catch-and-shoot floater just in time. It was a dramatic conclusion to a non-conference tilt that certainly lived up to the hype in the Lone Star State. ETBU is now 11-3.
Coming up from The Scoop on D3 Women’s Hoops…
Monday: I’ll take a look at three teams that raised their odds of making the NCAA Tournament over the past week, as well as three that saw their tournament odds decrease.
Tuesday: My Top 25 ballot breakdown will come to you, with a look at all 25 teams I voted for and how it compares to the latest D3hoops.com Top 25.