Top 25 Ballot Breakdown: Final ballot of 2024-25 (Part I)
A look at my Top 10 to close to the 2024-25 D3 women's basketball season
It’s time for the final ballot breakdown of the year. There are no more games to be played. No more questions to be answered. Following the March 22 national title game, the 25 voters in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll filed their last ballots of what was a remarkable season for D-III women’s hoops. That final Top 25 was released last Monday, and you can find it here. Of note, both SUNY Geneseo and McMurry broke into the poll, UW-Stout jumped from No. 22 to No. 5, and UW-Oshkosh went from No. 11 to No. 3.
I wanted to breakdown my final ballot with some amount of increased detail, especially with a handful of relatively significant shifts throughout my 25 ranked teams. As a result, I’ll break it down in 3 parts, with my Top 10 today, my 11-15 tomorrow (Along with a look at the D3 connections in the “Fab Four” of the WNIT), and the 16-25 on Wednesday. Feel free to put your thoughts below in the comments section, and once again, these are simply my thoughts as one voter, but by no means do I speak for the majority.
NYU (31-0): The Violets beat quality teams in the tournament and beat them handily. Yes, there were a few first halves that played out far closer than most would have anticipated, but that was more than made up for with the kind of second halves NYU put together. They were not only the most athletic team on the floor in every game this season, but also played with an exceptional basketball IQ that led to high efficiency numbers (including the top shooting percentage in D3 (50.6%) and the second-highest in any NCAA division). No. 1 in both offensive and defensive efficiency as well as scoring margin (37.3), NYU played with an unrelenting passion that revealed itself through the box scores in game after game. I wrote plenty on NYU on the Sunday after the title game (which you can check out here), but it’s hard to believe the Violets have been my No. 1 since the preseason poll in 2023-24. Two years straight the Violets have sat atop my Top 25 ballot. And sure, it’s probably too early to be looking ahead to next year, but with NYU returning Caroline Peper, Brooke Batchelor, and Eden Williamson, I won’t be surprised to see them No. 1 again heading into 2025-26.
Smith (31-3): I’ve certainly had my criticisms of Smith throughout the year, but that tournament run said so much about Smith’s program. To win 30+ games for a third consecutive year, reach the Final Four for the third year in a row, and do it having brought back only two starters is such a testament to Lynn Hersey’s coaching ability. She played a main rotation of six for most of the year and yet never seemed to really struggle with depth at the end of games, which is notable considering how many tight games Smith played in en route to a second-straight title game appearance. The Pioneers beat Cobleskill in the first round by 10, Amherst by 2 in the second round, No. 1 overall seed Bowdoin by 5 in a true road game, Gustavus Adolphus by 11, and UW-Oshkosh by 2. They had a way of executing really well when the game was on the line, as we saw against Amherst, Bowdoin, and Oshkosh in particular. Smith’s discipline and defensive grit really stood out to me, and I felt really confident going with the Pioneers at No. 2.
UW-Oshkosh (27-5): The Titans played Smith as close as anyone all season, coming within a missed 3-pointer of sending the Pioneers home and advancing to the championship game themselves. On a better shooting night, maybe it’s not that close, but then again, few defenses in the country were as good as Smith this year. I had Oshkosh high in my ballot for much of the season, and they rarely disappointed, winning the WIAC regular season title, beating Trine in non-conference, and making a strong tournament run to the program’s first Final Four since 1996. In doing that, the Titans picked up two wins that really assured my confidence that they belonged at No. 3. In Bloomington, Illinois in the Sweet 16, they matched up with another band of Titans, the Illinois Wesleyan squad who had won the CCIW and put up excellent offensive numbers all year. With Oshkosh’s calculated, slower-paced, highly-efficient approach against IWU’s run-and-jump, up-tempo style of play, it promised to be a clash of styles and competitive Sweet 16 showdown. Instead we saw Oshkosh run away with it in the opening quarter, winning 63-43. IWU had an off night, and Oshkosh had one of their best. But to go on the road and execute in that way said plenty about Oshkosh, who turned around and put up a 21-9 first quarter against Baldwin Wallace a day later, then got the stops they needed late to win when BW made a comeback. The cool thing is that Brad Fischer’s team should have several familiar faces back for next season as well. Kayce Vaile is the big loss, but point guard Kate Huml and fellow starting guard Avery Poole will both be seniors. Starting forward Sarah Hardwick will also be in that senior class. Paige Seckar will be a sophomore. Sammi Beyer, the team’s second-leading scorer, will be a junior. Watch out for the Titans next season.
UW-Stout (23-8): I’ll go right into the Stout vs Scranton rationale. Because with Stout at No. 4, Scranton is No. 5. No, I didn’t automatically put the final four participants in my top four spots. But we did watch Stout and Scranton go head to head, with Stout winning in the Elite Eight at Scranton. That immediately counts for something in my book. Winning on the road is tough, and doing so with a trip to Salem on the line is another level of intensity. Stout weathered that storm, made the defensive adjustments necessary, and got to the rim consistently in securing that win. Yes, Scranton went 29-2, and there’s no discounting that. But as I’ve said consistently, record is only a small part of the equation without context. Stout had six fewer overall wins but played the No. 2 Strength-of-Schedule per Massey Ratings, while Scranton played the No. 114 SOS; an obvious large disparity. Then you add the fact that two of Stout’s six regular season losses came without two of their top three scorers on the floor, and the record disparity doesn’t feel all that significant. Stout went 9-6 against Top 100 NPI opponents while Scranton went 7-1, but deeper than the fact that Stout played nearly double the number of Top 100 games than Scranton is that the Blue Devils faced 10 different Top 100 teams while the Lady Royals faced just six. Eye-test wise, Stout was a very tough matchup for almost everyone they faced with such a guard-heavy lineup that drove the ball from the wings and constantly attacked the interior. I’m not sure we fully realized that until the tournament, considering All-American Raegan Sorensen was hurt for most of non-conference play, and the WIAC opponents knew Stout well enough to negate some of what they did offensively. But against Whitman, Scranton, and NYU, we saw the Blue Devils really push the defenses, and that includes NYU. Outside of the second quarter, Stout played the Violets straight-up for the most part, and finished tied for the lowest margin of defeat (19) against the eventual national champs of the 31 opponents the Violets played this year. For all those reasons, I give Stout the slight edge.
Scranton (29-2): The Lady Royals were terrific this year, and some of what I referenced above highlighted just how high-level the top 6-7 teams were this season. Scranton made its second-straight Elite Eight appearance, won the Landmark Tournament in convincing fashion, and overall, put together a very solid campaign. It does seem like things are building towards a potential title run next year, considering All-American Kaci Kranson returns for her senior year along with forward Elizabeth Bennett and guards Meghan Lamanna (who had 8 3s vs Stout in the Elite Eight) and Kaeli Romanowski (All-Landmark Second Team). For all the reasons I mentioned above, I put Stout ahead of Scranton in this final ballot, but I expect to have Scranton in my Top 2 to open next season. They’re capable of being dynamic offensively, especially when Lamanna’s 3-point shots are falling, and defensively, Scranton is one of the best I saw this year in terms of staying composed and limiting offensive rebounds by staying strong on the glass.
Gettysburg (28-3): The Bullets reached the Elite Eight and pushed NYU for a full half before falling away in that sectional final at home. But it was way more than that. I slowly climbed Gettysburg up my ballot all season, so No. 6 isn’t a huge jump, but there’s a very key storyline within the Bullets’ final 28-3 record that led to me putting them this high (4 spots higher than the poll). In the third game of the season against Roanoke, 2024 All-Region honoree Mackenzie Szlosek suffered a season-ending injury, leaving the Bullets weakened offensively. Yet, they overcame that, and just kept winning, including in the Centennial Tournament. But then we got into the NCAA Tournament, and leading scorer Alayna Arnolie, who had been crucial all season, suffered a concussion in the first round win over Stevens. As a result, she was sidelined for Gettysburg’s last three games, a very difficult situation for the Bullets against a trio of top opponents in Western New England, Randolph-Macon, and NYU. But Gettysburg beat both WNE and RMC without Arnolie, a further testament to just how balanced and resilient Nate Davis’ squad is. If you can go to the Elite Eight without arguably your two best scorers, you deserve to end up pretty high in this final ballot.
Bowdoin (29-1): Yes, it was a disappointing end to a special season for the Polar Bears. Hosting a sectional, they were knocked out of the tournament in the Sweet 16 with a loss to Smith, losing control in the third quarter. As the No. 1 overall seed with a 29-0 record at that point, it seemed Bowdoin may go all the way to Salem this season, led by NESCAC Player of the Year Sydney Jones. While that wasn’t in the cards, you can’t take away from the fact that they went 10-0 in a league that produced five NCAA Tournament teams and won 29 consecutive games, joining NYU and Baldwin Wallace as the only teams to do so this season. That unblemished conference record is particularly notable, because while the NESCAC may have lacked some national firepower (Bowdoin was the lone NESCAC ranked in the final poll), there’s no denying the balance and parity within the league. Navigating that is a challenge for any quality program, and Bowdoin did it exceptionally well, with an average margin of victory of 16.0 points against league opponents. This ballot isn’t just a ranking of tournament performance, so if we properly account for the regular season success, while acknowledging a tournament run that went to the third round, I think Bowdoin certainly warrants ending up at No. 7.
Illinois Wesleyan (28-2): Just like Bowdoin, it was a very memorable year for IWU, with a number of exceptional senior players in their final season with the Titans. IWU went 28-2 with a near-perfect 15-1 mark in CCIW play, and simply had the misfortune of meeting UW-Oshkosh in the Sweet 16. The contrast of styles played out in Oshkosh’s favor, and IWU took a 20-point loss to conclude its 2024-25 campaign. But again, that was one result. An impactful one, sure, but not the only one. The game prior to that in the second round, IWU took care of a disciplined Trine team in dominant fashion, winning 82-50. The Titans beat Carroll three times in the season, took down four Top 25 opponents by Dec. 17, and won eight straight at the end of the year heading into the Sweet 16. The rest of the voters apparently had the same read, as IWU ended up No. 8 in the poll itself as well.
Baldwin Wallace (29-2): The YellowJackets went 29-2 in a historic run, and just as they did in the regular season, executed remarkably well late in games in the NCAA Tournament. All three of BW’s wins came by 10 points or less, with the latter two over Washington & Lee and Ohio Wesleyan decided by a combined 7 points. They couldn’t quite keep the magic going against Oshkosh, but put together an exceptional resume this season, highlighted by the 29-game win streak. While they may not have had a ton of dominant wins over great teams, they just found ways to win when it mattered most, whether it be coming up with a crucial defensive stop or hitting a go-ahead 3 in the final minute. And that’s an impressive quality, especially when it shows up in the NCAA Tournament. It’s also a byproduct of starting three talented seniors, who each contributed in different ways and had that remarkable poise that allowed BW to make those game-changing plays late in the fourth quarter. Just like the final poll, I had BW at No. 9, securely in my Top 10.
Gustavus Adolphus (29-2): The Gusties reached the Elite Eight for the first time in program history, a fitting conclusion to the careers of a number of key seniors. That group, which included Emma Kniefel, Syd Hauger, and Kylie Baranick, certainly left its mark in GAC WBB history, going 80-8 over the last three years and claiming four consecutive MIAC Tournament titles. While Gustavus definitely had its points of struggle this year, I felt good about them in my Top 10 to end the year, especially when you consider the overall body of work (5 regular season/conf tournament wins over NCAA Tournament teams, #7 in NPI). Their defensive discipline was really what stood out most, and carried them to a handful of key wins, including the 14-2 run in overtime to beat Wisconsin Lutheran in the first round of the NCAAs. Gustavus closed the year ranked No. 7 nationally in scoring defense and No. 5 in defensive efficiency.
Additional D3 news of note
Rosemont College will play its final year of varsity athletics in 2025-26, with the school shutting down its athletic programs as the merger process with Villanova University approaches. The news of the merger was announced yesterday, with it set to take place starting in 2027. It is yet another piece of relevant D3 institutional news that has come about in recent weeks, from the reclassification announcements of Azusa Pacific and Saint Francis (PA) to D3, to Bryn Athyn shuttering athletics as the college develops a new plan for the future. Rosemont struggled athletically in recent years, with women’s basketball going just 2-23 in the UEC in 2024-25. The UEC will have lost two institutions by the summer of 2026, though with 15 remaining schools, the conference is on very stable ground.
Eureka will be looking for its next head coach, as Mike Hedrick announced yesterday that he is taking a head men’s basketball coaching position at a high school in South Carolina. Hedrick led Eureka for two seasons, leading the Red Devils to an 11-win improvement this past season and a 16-11 record. It was the program’s first winning season since 2019-20, as they also won a SLIAC Tournament game for the first time since 2021. That raises the total to 10 open D3 WBB head coaching jobs at the current moment.