| Rank | Team | Last | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Green Bay | 1 | – |
| 2 | Youngstown State | 2 | – |
| 3 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 3 | – |
| 4 | Cleveland State | 4 | – |
| 5 | Robert Morris | 5 | – |
| 6 | Detroit Mercy | 7 | +1 |
| 7 | Northern Kentucky | 6 | -1 |
| 8 | IU Indianapolis | 8 | – |
| 9 | Wright State | 9 | – |
| 10 | Milwaukee | 11 | +1 |
| 11 | Oakland | 10 | -1 |
It’s a little bit mind-boggling to think about how close Green Bay came to having three or four power conference wins this season. The Phoenix did get one, of course, on November 22nd against Kansas State, but also dropped close fourth quarters against NC State and Wisconsin. Saturday might have been the cruelest outcome of all though. Leading No. 20 Washington 67-56 after a Kamy Peppler bucket to open the fourth quarter, GB proceeded to get outscored 23-7 the rest of the way, ending the upset bid. It’s probably little consolation at the moment, but a program that schedules as Green Bay does certainly won’t be intimidated by anything the NCAA Tournament has to offer at this point, should the Phoenix return to March Madness. The defending champs also improved to 3-0 in Horizon League play with a mid-week rout of IU Indianapolis.
Most teams are sure to keep a light schedule during finals, but Youngstown State took things to an extreme by leaving their slate clear between December 7th and 16th. The Penguins will dive back into things headfirst in the coming week though, hosting Wright State on Tuesday, followed by a trip to Miami for an MTE that includes games against host Florida International and Massachusetts. In the meantime, Melissa Jackson’s squad has had some time to reflect on what’s been a very positive start to the season. Contributors to YSU’s 6-3 record have included Casey Santoro, whose 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds rank first and second, respectively, on the roster. Paulina Hernandez’s 2.2 blocks per game rank 20th nationally, even though the junior plays just 15 minutes on average.
Purdue Fort Wayne logged a pair of routine victories last week, first over Milwaukee on Wednesday, then against future conference foe Northern Illinois on Sunday. Nevertheless, Maria Marchesano and her staff will undoubtedly take a bit of extra time on the Mastodons’ three-point defense, after the Panthers hit 13 of their 25 attempts to stay competitive to the finish line in that contest. NIU’s success wasn’t quite that dramatic, but the Huskies did go 5-for-5 from deep in the second quarter (four of those by Emilie Sorensen) to temporarily stay afloat. On the other side of the ledger, Alana Nelson continues to be perhaps the most consistent top player in the conference, a record that now includes 20 points against UWM and a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds versus Northern Illinois.
Cleveland State clubbed Niagara on Saturday to improve to 9-2 overall. That, in and of itself, isn’t particularly remarkable – Niagara is one of the worst teams in the country – but the noteworthy part is that the Vikings are starting to show signs of consistent production from their forwards. Last Saturday at Oakland, Macey Fegan had a career game. Against the Purple Eagles, it was Ella Van Weelden turning in her best effort in green and white so far. CSU is a good team when it has a high-quality post and disruptive defense-into-offense guards. The Vikings, however, hit another gear when they receive reliable shooting from the three position, and put-back efforts from the four. Tough battles against Northern Kentucky and College of Charleston (in Puerto Rico and, on paper, Cleveland State’s most difficult non-conference game) loom in the coming week.
After a six-day layoff, Robert Morris swung back into action on Saturday, punching the clock with a 72-44 victory over local Division II opponent California (PA). Assuming Chandler McCabe and company didn’t have to deal with any angry Vulcans club hockey parents afterwards, the afternoon was a decent way to get re-acclimated, while giving most of the roster a healthy number of minutes. Eva Levingston led four Colonials in double figures with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Aislin Malcolm added 14 and seven, as well as four assists. RMU will embark on the dreaded Wisconsin trip during the first week of the new year, but before that, Tuesday offers the chance to separate from surprising Detroit Mercy, while reducing the number of other teams with perfect HL records.
Unexpectedly, given their 1-5 start to the year, Detroit Mercy has found itself near the top of the Horizon League standings after opening conference play with victories against Cleveland State and IU Indianapolis. Are the Titans a serious title threat? That answer will probably have to wait until January, which includes both scheduled games against Green Bay two weeks apart, as well as a rematch with a salty CSU. In the shorter term, however, UDM has the aforementioned intriguing game coming up on Tuesday at Robert Morris, one of the chic preseason picks. Nisea Burrell has been a revelation for Kiefer Haffey, as the sort of understated point guard who can lead things on the floor while chipping in nearly ten points and two steals per game.
On Thursday at No. 21 Ohio State, Northern Kentucky fired out of the gates to a 12-3 lead, and stayed ahead for the rest of the opening quarter. The Norse then scored 12 of the final 16 points of the first half to jog past a stunned Schottenstein Center crowd and into the tunnel with a 43-38 halftime lead, largely behind Karina Bystry (14 first half points on 5-for-6 shooting). After the break…well, the Buckeyes ended up winning 94-62, put it that way. If that pattern sounds vaguely familiar, it might be because that’s roughly how NKU’s game at then-No. 20 Louisville played out back on November 9th. The Norse are clearly good enough to throw a scare into some of the nation’s best, and their brutal early schedule should pay off as the Horizon League season resumes.
If NKU doesn’t lead the league in moral victories, it’s probably IU Indianapolis, which managed to take Northwestern and Ball State to the wire early this season, but only has two Division I victories to show for its efforts. There were at least a couple of encouraging signs against Green Bay on Wednesday as well, even though the affair ended in a 27-point loss. The Jaguars were able to get inside at times in a way rarely seen against the Phoenix with their deep arsenal of cuts, and were at least modestly competitive until late in the third quarter. Neveah Foster’s 15 points and six rebounds both led Indy, while Hailey Smith chipped in ten tallies. With the Jags’ next four HL games including the Norse, Milwaukee, and Wright State, it’s imperative that IU Indy rapidly starts to earn results.
Friday night’s game at Canisius offered both the best and the worst of Wright State. In the third quarter, the Raiders deployed some trapping pressure, and forced eight Golden Griffins turnovers during the frame. Even in the half court, WSU has active on defense and masterful away from the ball on offense, with Olivia Brown doing fantastic work as a primary ballhandler. All of that sparked a rally from a lethargic first half, and had the Raiders up by five while holding the ball in the last 2:30 of the game. It didn’t matter. Wright State missed its final five field goal attempts, and was outrebounded 4-0 down the stretch (finishing a whopping 49-17 count for the game), while Canisius went on to score the last ten points of the evening. Regardless, with some consistent intensity and improved finishing around the rim, Kari Hoffman may still have a quality team on her hands.
Milwaukee, all things considered, did not have a bad week. The Panthers played extremely tough with league favorite Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday, thanks largely to the exploits of Jorey Buwalda, who fired home 20 points, including four three-pointers in eight tries. There’s probably an argument to be made that UWM was artificially propped up by hot shooting in that contest. However, at the same time, they outrebounded the Mastodons and limited them to 39 percent shooting (and just 31 percent from three-point range), so there are definitely signs that the Panthers have a bit more in the tank. On Sunday, Milwaukee snapped a six-game losing streak by battering Division III opponent Ripon, led by Payton Rechlicz’s 14 points, and a 10-17 double-double from Buwalda.
Like Youngstown State and Detroit Mercy, Oakland took the entire week off to close out the academic semester. It was a well-placed break for basketball reasons too, given the Golden Grizzlies’ schedule from their return to action through January 8th: at Loyola Chicago, at Illinois State, at Michigan, at Robert Morris, Purdue Fort Wayne, at Youngstown State, Green Bay. Yikes. All in all, OU is probably ahead of expectations for Keisha Newell’s first season in charge, thanks largely to the three-point exploits of Cali Denson, who has hit 22 of her 55 tries from deep (40 percent). Though she’s experienced the typical rookie ups and downs, Makenzie Luehring has been one of the better freshmen in the league, an effort that included 13 points against Cleveland State in OU’s most recent game.
Player of the Week
Alana Nelson (Purdue Fort Wayne)
During a week where three teams were off entirely, and two others only played a single game against an overmatched opponent, there weren’t a ton of legitimate candidates. Nevertheless, Nelson earned it through yet another pair of sturdy efforts, helping the Mastodons to two wins against decent competition.
Also considered: Karina Bystry (Northern Kentucky), Jenna Guyer (Green Bay), Jorey Buwalda (Milwaukee)
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