| Rank | Team | LW | Change |
| 1 | Green Bay | 2 | +1 |
| 2 | Cleveland State | 4 | +2 |
| 3 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 1 | -2 |
| 4 | Detroit Mercy | 3 | -1 |
| 5 | Milwaukee | 5 | – |
| 6 | Robert Morris | 7 | +1 |
| 7 | Northern Kentucky | 6 | -1 |
| 8 | IU Indianapolis | 8 | – |
| 9 | Oakland | 11 | +2 |
| 10 | Wright State | 9 | -1 |
| 11 | Youngstown State | 10 | -1 |
Maddy Schreiber’s turnaround jumper from the middle of the key with eight seconds remaining on Saturday gave Green Bay a dramatic 55-54 win over Norfolk State, and helped the Phoenix go 2-1 at the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout. That mark is quite impressive, given the competition: Virginia (a five-point loss that was close throughout), Drake (a vintage Green Bay win that saw the Phoenix hold the Bulldogs scoreless for a key fourth-quarter stretch), and the Spartans, a team that has laid down three competitive games against power conference opponents, including a win over Missouri. Schreiber’s performance against NSU was more than a memorable finish, as she had 23 points – 42 percent of the team’s total – on 9-for-14 shooting. Callie Genke buried four threes on the way to 18 points in the UVA loss.
For the first time all season, Cleveland State looked like the juggernaut everyone expected in the preseason polls last week, as the Vikings rolled through both Louisiana and Lamar to sweep the Big Easy Classic. The latter victory, on Saturday against the Cardinals, was particularly impressive, given that LU is the defending regular-season champion of the Southland Conference, and was the preseason pick to repeat this year. Mickayla Perdue’s 26 points and five assists had a lot to do with that outcome, as did a CSU defense that once again is firing on all cylinders, thanks largely to the expanded role of Toledo transfer Macey Fegan, who has earned a starting job by recharging the Vikings’ perimeter pressure. Destiny Leo also enjoyed her best back-to-back games since last season’s ACL tear, firing home seven three-pointers and 30 points during the wins in New Orleans.
Purdue Fort Wayne will likely have nightmares about its time at the Georgia State Thanksgiving Tournament. The Mastodons dropped three straight close contests to the host Panthers, Campbell and Furman, each of which they were at least 80 percent likely to win at some point during the fourth quarter on that ESPN win probability thingy. Running down the specifics of all three would require more words than I have available here, though the Campbell game, which witnessed the Camels go on a 14-0 run early in the fourth quarter to all-but-erase a 15-point PFW lead, and the Furman contest, where a buzzer-beating Paladins three forced overtime, were particularly excruciating. Lauren Ross and the Dons’ headliners all had their moments during the week, but just as encouraging was a 16-point breakout performance from freshman Taeya Steinauer in the Campbell game.
Five Horizon League teams opted out of the first of the two major MTE periods of the season. That list includes Detroit Mercy, which celebrated Feast Week by bringing Eastern Michigan up the road to Calihan Hall, beating the Eagles, then enjoying Thanksgiving at home (significant, given the decidedly local turn the UDM roster has taken over the last couple years). Aaliyah McQueen had 19 points and eight rebounds against EMU, a victory that boosted the Titans to 3-0 against the Mid-American Conference this year – a mark that is most of why the Horizon League, as a whole, will be able to claim supremacy over their fellow Great Lakes region mid-major circuit this season. Alize Tripp has seen an uptick in her minutes over the last couple games and went 5-for-9 from three against EMU and Western Michigan, and she may be yet another weapon on a team that suddenly looks to have quite a few of them.
Milwaukee split their games at the Puerto Rico Clasico, including a victory over American and a loss to Air Force. Neither result was particularly surprising, nor was the performance of Kacee Baumhower against the Eagles, as the Toledo export threw in an efficient 25 points, marking her fifth game of 20+ this season. Kamy Peppler added a sheet stuffing line of 14 points, ten assists, six rebounds and two steals to the effort, while Anna Lutz was the only one of the Panthers’ stars who got much done the next day against the Falcons. Lutz scored 16 points in the loss, while Jada Donaldson offered nine with eight rebounds. UWM now sits at 3-6 overall, though (similarly to their games in Puerto Rico) it’s hard to see where anything flies against prediction in either direction. A relatively soft opening HL schedule (a trip to Youngstown State and Robert Morris) might boost the vibes in Cream City a bit.
Pitt football fans are free to disagree, given the irregular frequency of their games against Penn State, but in basketball, it’s really cool that most of the Pennsylvania schools routinely play each other. Already this season, Robert Morris has played Pittsburgh Division II school Point Park, Pitt, former NEC rival Saint Francis then, this past week, Duquesne and Bucknell. Granted, the Colonials would prefer to have a bit better of a record in those games, as they fell to 1-4 against their fellow Keystone Staters, and 2-5 overall, with defeats to the Dukes and Bison. RMU’s showing against heavily-favored Duquesne was pretty impressive all in all though, given that the teams played to (essentially) a stalemate for 20 minutes before a third-quarter DU run created the final margin. Madison O’Dell went for 20 points in that contest, welcome news as Chandler McCabe continues to look for consistent secondary scoring.
Northern Kentucky collapsed in the fourth quarter and dropped an extremely-winnable game against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, perhaps the first time this season that the Norse have done something that trailed expectations. That much is a credit to an NKU team that has played well enough to shift those expectations to an extent, as Jeff Hans’ squad is just 2-6 overall, but against a tough schedule. Halle Idowu continues to be one of the conference’s breakout stars, as the Northeastern transfer has blossomed in an expanded role. She offered 21 points and five rebounds to the EKU effort, three days after scoring 16 points in a loss at Bradley. Mya Meredith delivered a solid outing (11 points, five rebounds) against the Colonels as well, adding validity to the idea that the former Western Kentucky player who missed all of last year due to injury can become a consistent threat alongside Idowu, Macey Blevins and emerging Kamora Morgan.
It’s hard to offer much that hasn’t been said yet on IU Indianapolis, given that the Jaguars (like Detroit Mercy) stayed close to home and only played one game during the week, a 66-49 loss at Eastern Illinois to drop to 1-6. The Panthers opened the third quarter with a 16-2 run to wreck what had been a close, low-scoring game in the first half, and the Jags never fully recovered. Jada Patton was outstanding in defeat though, with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting, once again demonstrating that Kate Bruce has several very good players on her roster, even if getting two of them to go off at the same time continues to be a struggle. This still feels like a team that’s just trying to tread water until Katie Davidson’s return – though that’s easier said than done, given that the Jags open conference play with Green Bay and Cleveland State this week.
There’s a building case to be made that Oakland is a better team than anticipated. In their finale at the Daytona Beach Classic, the Golden Grizzlies gave a very good Old Dominion team a solid run, behind Maddy Skorupski’s 17 points and five assists. Skorupski continues to be an all-league talent in both name and production, though for OU to succeed, they’ll also need Macy Smith to get going. Smith, a Utah State transfer, is just 11-for-51 (21.6 percent) from the floor over her last five games. If she can improve her efficiency just a bit and serve as a reliable second option, Jeff Tungate might have the sort of diversity that can help his team make some noise in the HL. Though the Grizzlies are just 2-6 overall, their opening conference games – at home against Wright State, then at Robert Morris – will likely tell at least some of the story.
In Wright State’s only game last week, the Raiders ate a loss to the Division II Findlay Oilers. The optics of losing to a DII team are always awful regardless of the circumstances but, to me, the game was more a case of Findlay playing extraordinarily well, as opposed to lethargy or catastrophe on WSU’s end. However, after a Claire Henson three gave the Raiders a 60-54 lead with 4:44 to play, the home team went frigid, missing their next six field goal attempts while the Oilers’ Kate Ellis more or less singlehandedly flipped the score around. A huge Olivia Brown three gave Wright State a chance in the final seconds, but Henson subsequently misfired from the free throw line, and then on a follow-up attempt off of the rebound. Macie Taylor had 24 points in defeat, as the redshirt sophomore continues to enjoy a big early season while standing as one of the Raiders’ most reliable options.
Simply put, it wasn’t a very good week for Youngstown State, as the Penguins dropped both of their contests at the Puerto Rico Clasico. What’s worse, it’s pretty difficult to figure out which defeat was more embarrassing: Saturday’s setback against a previously-winless Towson team, or an absolute drubbing at the hands of Southern Indiana, one that gained national attention because the Penguins had exactly one made field goal and five points at halftime. It’s worth pointing out, once again, that YSU is an extraordinarily young team that is still working through growing pains with a new coach. Accordingly, it seems likely that, as ugly as the results are right now (particularly on the offensive side of the floor), the Guins will be playing much better ball in February than at present. To that point, freshman post player Sarah Baker has enjoyed a good start to her college career. The Kentuckian scored a personal-best 13 points against Towson and has averaged 5.3 points and 5.9 rebounds so far, in a supporting role.
Player of the Week
Halle Idowu (Northern Kentucky)
In a week littered with standout performances, but little consistency, Idowu’s steady hand deserves some flowers. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Norse have discovered a star-level talent who is both versatile and extremely fun to watch.
Also considered: Maddy Schreiber (Green Bay), Mickayla Perdue (Cleveland State), Aaliyah McQueen (Detroit Mercy), Macie Taylor (Wright State)
