#HLWBB Power Rankings — Week 3

Rank	Team	Pre.	Change
1	Green Bay	1	–
2	Robert Morris	4	+2
3	Cleveland State	2	-1
4	Purdue Fort Wayne	3	-1
5	Youngstown State	5	–
6	IU Indianapolis	10	+4
7	Northern Kentucky	7	–
8	Wright State	9	+1
9	Detroit Mercy	6	-3
10	Milwaukee	8	-2
11	Oakland	11	–

Green Bay delivered what is probably the Horizon League’s best victory of the season (at least on paper) on Saturday, locking down Big 12 foe Kansas State 47-44. It should be said that the Wildcats don’t appear to be anything resembling last year’s Ayoka Lee-led squad that demolished the Phoenix in the 2024-25 opener. Nevertheless, if GB can consistently limit opponents to 31 percent shooting from the floor (including 2-for-23 from three-point range), that should work just fine against pretty much anyone. Meghan Schultz has been the biggest surprise of the team’s 5-1 start, including 17.5 points and 6.3 rebounds across 24 minutes per game, after only seeing roughly four minutes in an average contest last year. The center had 12 and ten against K-State, and was complimented by Maddy Skorupski’s 13 tallies.

While they haven’t arrived in particularly dominating fashion, Robert Morris has mostly lived up to their preseason hype through a 4-1 start. Without a doubt, the signature victory in that quartet was the Colonials’ first win over crosstown rival Duquesne since 2009, a 64-62 result on Tuesday. Noa Givon starred with 21 points against the Dukes, but the (arguable) decisive play came from Aislin Malcolm, who powered through contact for a second-chance and-one with 34 seconds left in a tied game, to give RMU the lead for good. Despite firing out to a 27-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter on Saturday against Pitt, the Colonials surrendered a comeback to Malcolm’s old squad. In hindsight, it probably didn’t help that the Panthers lost to Division III Scranton a week earlier, and were desperate to avoid another optically-bad defeat.

Cleveland State has done a lot to answer most questions in the early going: Izabella Zingaro looks like a worthy heir to the middle of the floor, while the starting backcourt of Colbi Maples (who is still not 100 percent, according to Chris Kielsmeier) and Jada Leonard has been a menace most of the time. In short, it’s a safe bet that the Vikings are good enough to sit near the top of the standings once again. If there is a concern, it’s that nobody on their schedule to this point has looked like a great, or even good, team. Big Ten squad Northwestern, a centerpiece of CSU’s non-conference slate, is 5-0, but hasn’t dominated its string of mid-major opponents (which includes a three-point win over IU Indianapolis in the season opener). With that context, the Vikings letting a 15-point second quarter lead slip away on Friday in Evanston, IL feels like a missed opportunity.

Before Green Bay’s outcome against Kansas State, Purdue Fort Wayne stood alone as the HL’s high-major conqueror, thanks to a shocking 68-67 victory over Purdue West Lafayette on a Rylee Bess three with six seconds remaining on November 12th. The Mastodons, though 3-2 overall, are very much a case of a team whose games have aged well. West Virginia, which blew out the ‘Dons in their opener, is still unbeaten and has crept into the top 25. PFW also experienced a crushing loss at Xavier, when Alana Nelson’s apparent overtime-forcing three was instead ruled a two after review. Beyond the expected stars like Nelson and Jordan Reid, Boston College transfer Lily Krasovec has enjoyed a fantastic start, including 15 points and seven rebounds against Eastern Michigan on Wednesday.

Youngstown State hasn’t done anything truly eye-opening yet but, if nothing else, the Penguins have clearly established themselves as a capable team through a 4-1 start. They’ve even appeared to solve their frontcourt logjam by playing Sophia Gregory and Sarah Baker at the same time (at the four and five, respectively), backed up by former Cleveland Staters Faith Burch and Paulina Hernandez. A significant part of YSU’s early season has involved those bigs, and how effective they are at moving the ball when opponents (understandably) collapse towards the inside. Partly as a result, guards Casey Santoro and Erica King each set career scoring highs in a gritty Guins victory at Mercyhurst on Thursday, and Danielle Cameron has proven a capable weapon from the outside as well.

It’s early, but IU Indianapolis has several very solid results on its record already, including relatively close losses against Northwestern and a powerhouse Ball State team that beat Northern Kentucky by 31, and positive outcomes against Bradley and Indiana State. Then, the Jaguars went to Evansville on Thursday and were decisively beaten by a notoriously-downtrodden Aces squad. Bouncing back from that to give a solid push to a decent Marshall team on Sunday sort of tipped the scales back towards the idea that IU Indy might actually be a much better team than over the last couple years. Transfer additions Hailey and Olivia Smith have been fantastic alongside Neveah Foster, on both ends of the floor.

Superficially, Northern Kentucky has the worst record in the Horizon League so far, 1-5, but that’s incredibly deceptive. The Norse have played just one game at Truist Arena, a 70-61 win over perennial mid-major power Toledo on Wednesday. They have also had to deal with a pair of power-conference teams, notably hanging within seven points of Louisville into the fourth quarter. Through all of that, it’s become obvious that NKU’s present – and future – is largely on the shoulders of true freshmen Karina Bystry and Maddie Moody. The duo combined for 33 points in the victory over the Rockets, and when the Norse lost at Chattanooga on Saturday, it had plenty to do with Moody’s foul trouble. Regardless, Bystry scored 21 points against the Mocs before missing a chance to force overtime in the last second.

Wright State is a bit of a tough read at this point, given that the Raiders are 4-2, but have enjoyed a pair of stat nights against lower-division opponents. There’s plenty of reason for optimism though, as Bryant transfer Breezie Williams has already shown to be the type of dynamic scoring guard that Kari Hoffman desperately needed last season. Williams popped home 27 points in a season-opening victory against Tennessee State, and tallied 18, with five rebounds and four assists, in an overtime loss to Bellarmine on Wednesday. That contest was particularly frustrating for WSU, which led into the final two minutes of regulation, but couldn’t make the winning plays then, or late in the extra period. Sharpshooter Rylee Sagester has also been great early on, connecting on just under half of her three-balls.

To some extent, Detroit Mercy is a victim of only playing four games so far, though – outside of a season-opening rout of Valparaiso – none have gone particularly well. To be fair, UDM did keep things close with Wisconsin until fading late on Sunday, led by Makayla Jackson’s 14 points. Jackson also scored 16 against the Beacons, as both she and Jasmine Edwards (17.7 points per game) have started the year very well, though it might take until the Titans’ opening conference games against Cleveland State and IU Indianapolis to truly know what sort of team they might be. Kiefer Haffey should get an additional boost when his returning-from-injury NKU transfers, Kailee Davis and Allison Basye, are finally ready to go.

Milwaukee has endured a brutal early-season schedule, including blowout losses against Wisconsin, Marquette, and Butler. While better showings in those games would have been nice, the Panthers at least managed wins over future Horizon League member Northern Illinois and former Horizon League member Valparaiso. The game against the Beacons was particularly notable, as Grace Lomen forced overtime at the free throw line, then eventually clinched the result with a few more of those 15-footers. Quite obviously, Kyle Rechlicz hopes that getting past the Beacons finally represents the end to her program’s two-year struggle with close games, a run of despair that included a last-second defeat to Western Michigan three days before the Valpo game. Jorey Buwalda has averaged a double-double so far, but UWM badly needs to find a bit more offense.

Expectations for Oakland were low entering the season, but the Golden Grizzlies do appear to have the makings of a tough squad. A now-healthy Cali Denson has been fantastic for Keisha Newell, while additions like Angie Smith, Filippa Goula, and Layla Gold have each enjoyed standout moments, and Makenzie Luehring looks like a lock for all-freshman honors at this stage. OU actually started 2-1, and was pretty competitive in the loss, at Wisconsin, though things have shifted over the last ten days. Last weekend, the Grizzlies went out to an MTE in Berkeley, CA and were smoked by Harvard and Charlotte. Then, on Sunday, they made the short trip to Michigan State and ate the expected beating. So things could be going better at the moment, but there is potential for a solid HL finish in what’s supposed to be a building year.

Player of the Week

Karina Bystry (Northern Kentucky)

Certainly, the past week presented a pretty crowded field, though most candidates only played once. Bystry, on the other hand, had two very strong games, keying a big win over Toledo and nearly pulling out a tough road result at Chattanooga.

Also considered: Meghan Schultz (Green Bay), Erica King (Youngstown State), Casey Santoro (Youngstown State), Lily Krasovec (Purdue Fort Wayne), Colbi Maples (Cleveland State)