Takeaways from the weekend
Teams on the rise, teams with question marks, teams holding steady
Wow. What a weekend it was in the world of D3 women’s hoops. We saw plenty of interesting results, as everybody has now played at least two games. That said, it has been tough to figure some of these teams out, as early-season inconsistencies have shown up a little bit, along with the fact that several under-the-radar programs are now on the rise.
So with the second weekend of the season in the books, here are some of my post-weekend thoughts, arranged by teams I see as being on the rise, teams that leave us with some question marks, and teams that have held steady thus far.
Trending Up
#21 Hope is trending up for me after taking down Illinois Wesleyan at home, 80-73, on Saturday, improving to a perfect 4-0. That record includes solid wins over John Carroll and UW-Platteville, and the Flying Dutch have looked better than I had expected with several players stepping up into major contributing roles after seeing limited playing time a year ago. On Saturday, Olivia Bellows came off the bench to score 20 points for Hope on a 7-of-10 shooting day. Love to see it. Really competitive second half, especially after IWU took a 39-36 lead into halftime. Hope is now in a spot where the Flying Dutch should contend for a spot in my Top 25 ballot.
Illinois Wesleyan is also trending up in my opinion, even with Saturday’s loss. The win over Puget Sound was really impressive on Friday, with the Titans winning 78-77. IWU is now 3-1 and has gotten plenty of production from its starting five. Four of its starters finished with double figures in points yesterday, including Lauren Huber. She had 27 points against Hope and shoots with accuracy from everywhere on the floor. It’s also been nice to see D2 transfer Ava Bardic make an immediate impact as a sophomore, averaging 18.8 points per game. This team will definitely be a contender in the CCIW.
Ohio Wesleyan is on the rise after Saturday’s strong win over Marietta. Can’t say I saw an 83-58 OWU coming, but this team is very cohesive and is solid offensively. Lauren Denison had 24 points and Kasey Schipfer added 20. As a team, OWU shot 44.1 percent from field. Even with the 58-57 loss to Washington & Jefferson, OWU will remain in Top 25 consideration heading into Tuesday’s matchup against #10 Ohio Northern.
Wittenberg is very much a top contender for a spot in my next Top 25 ballot. If I had to vote today, the Tigers would be in there. That’s because Wittenberg has now recorded two Top 25 wins over very competitive programs in #10 Ohio Northern and #17 Trine and is off to a 3-0 start in this 2023-24 season. This team has exceeded expectations already, and we’re only a couple weeks in. They’re a team that plays really well in the second half of games, as was the case Sunday, when they outscored Trine, 19-11, in the 3rd. Trine is a strong opponent, and Wittenberg went on the road, earning a 65-59 win over the Thunder yesterday. One of the more impressive victories of the weekend.
#7 Trinity (CT) was already high in my preseason ballot but the quality of the Bantams two wins this past week was high. On Friday, Trinity took down Albertus Magnus, 72-51, and followed that by beating a good Skidmore team, 51-38. Chances are, Trinity already has 3 regionally-ranked wins and they’ve only played 3 games thus far. Trinity’s defensive effort is impressive, and points in the paint are hard to come by against the Bantams. Next Sunday’s matchup at Smith will be a must-see contest, and is extremely likely to be another RRO result for both teams.
Question marks…
Bowdoin hasn’t been easy to figure out so far. The Polar Bears three wins are over Springfield, Mass. Maritime, and Bridgewater State, which are of top quality, but then they turned around and lost, 61-57, to Whittier on Saturday. Not what I would’ve expected. Whittier is a decent team, but not at the level of Bowdoin. Teams can be inconsistent early in the season, my guess would be that happened here. Still, it’ll be a blemish on Bowdoin’s record moving forwards. Good bounce-back opportunity ahead for the Polar Bears against NYU on Nov. 22.
RV Washington & Jefferson is another team that I have questions about. The Presidents got past Carnegie Mellon and Ohio Wesleyan, along with Westminster (Pa.), but then turned around and lost to Chatham. And it was an 80-69 loss. It may have been the most surprising result on Saturday, and one that will hurt W&J’s chances to be ranked. This doesn’t change the fact that this team has plenty of talent and will contend in the race for the PAC title. But it was a bad loss, however you look at it.
#11 Smith raised some eyebrows with the 70-65 loss to Mass-Dartmouth on Sunday afternoon. That included being outscored 42-32 over the final two quarters, as Mass-Dartmouth took charge and stayed undefeated. The stats were fairly even, but I thought Mass-Dartmouth got more quality production from the bench, and had better depth than Smith. As it turned out, UMD had 32 points from the bench. Smith finished with just 18. Smith won’t drop too far for me in my Top 25 for now, but next Sunday’s matchup with Trinity (CT) could be very telling.
#13 Babson took a very surprising loss to Colby on Sunday. It wasn’t even close, with that Colby winning 74-58. Babson was outscored in all four quarters and couldn’t stop Colby in the paint. Kelly Walsh and Katelyn Mollica led Babson’s offensive charge, but beyond those two, the Beavers didn’t get a whole lot of production. It’s early, and games like this will happen. You don’t want to overreact to one loss. But Babson is 2-2 now. Definitely going to keep a close eye on Babson as this week’s games with Brandeis and Rhode Island College play out.
#20 Mary Washington is another team I’d add to this list. Randolph-Macon pulled out a 60-52 overtime win against the Eagles on Sunday, and credit to RMC, who had a solid 2-0 weekend on its home court. But as for Mary Washington, the Eagles narrowly beat a decent, yet not great, Shenandoah team on Saturday, 58-57. And before that, they beat York (Pa.) by just five points. This is now three straight games in which Mary Washington has looked okay, but not quite at Top 25 level.
Holding steady
Christopher Newport took care of business at home this weekend, facing East Texas Baptist and Elizabethtown, both of whom will contend on a national scale this season. And in both games, CNU prevailed, winning with defense against ETBU on a mediocre shooting day, and with strong offense against Elizabethtown on Sunday. The Captains scored 22 points in three of the game’s four quarters, holding off the Blue Jays after taking a 44-31 lead into halftime. Really impressive win today against an Elizabethtown squad that will be vying for an NCAA Tournament bid come February. Camille Malagar had 17 points in the win, and Alivia Giles added 15. McKenna Snively scored 13 off the bench on a 5-of-10 shooting day. Solid scoring all the way around for the Captains, who remain undefeated.
As for Elizabethtown, a loss to the nation’s #3 team is nothing to be disappointed about. The Blue Jays started somewhat slow, and gave up perhaps too many scoring opportunities over the first two quarters, but they fought well throughout the contest. The win over ETBU was a solid result on Friday as well, and this is a team that belongs in the Top 25. I love that teams like Elizabethtown are challenging themselves against the best early on, because it is good for their tournament resume, and will prepare them well for the Landmark Conference schedule. Summer McNulty had 24 points today for ETown in a really strong showing for her in 39 minutes of action. 39 minutes…against CNU…wow. Credit to her. And she wasn’t the only one. DaniRae Renno also played 39 minutes, finishing with 12 points.
Emory is holding steady as well and will remain in my Top 25 after rattling off four straight wins. The Eagles’ lone loss is to CNU and that was a well-played game by CNU that stayed competitive throughout. Nothing too notable, but Emory has taken care of business in games against N.C. Wesleyan, LaGrange, Swarthmore, and Berry. Daniella Aronsky has shot the ball really well for Emory as of late and the duo of her and Claire Brock will be difficult to stop in the UAA.
NYU is now 4-0, and holding steady, because they are already No. 1 in my opinion. No game they have played has been within 20 points, including Sunday’s 80-54 win over a solid Colorado College squad. This team has come together quickly and is excelling. Today’s game opened with NYU leading 27-14 after the first quarter. Natalie Bruns and Morgan Morrison each had 17 points, followed by Belle Pellecchia, who had 10 points and nine assists. The depth on this roster continues to be eye-opening.
That’ll wrap up this write-up, as we head into Thanksgiving week. Pretty light slate on tap tonight, though both #6 Scranton and #7 Trinity (CT) are in action. Tomorrow brings about a good amount of intriguing matchups, including #10 Ohio Northern/Ohio Wesleyan and #9 UW-Whitewater/Illinois Wesleyan.