2021-22 #HLWBB Season Preview Notebook

2021-22 #HLWBB Season Preview Notebook

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Rachel White

Weekly Notebook
INDIANAPOLIS – The regular season begins with ten teams in action on Tuesday, Nov. 9 followed by two teams opening play on Wednesday, Nov. 10.

#HLWBB NEWS AND NOTES
  • In the preseason College Insider Women’s Mid-Major Top 25 poll, IUPUI ranked 12th while Wright State ranked 17th and Milwaukee received votes.
  • IUPUI returns three-time Player of the Year and four-time Preseason Player of the Year Macee Williams this season. Williams averaged 17.6 points and a League-leading 9.1 rebounds in League play in 2020-21.
  • After earning a share of the regular season title in 2020-21, Milwaukee brings back 13 members of last year’s squad, including All-League First Team selection Megan Walstad led the team in scoring (12.0 points per game) field goal percentage (50.0) and blocks (50) while ranking second in rebounds (8.7 per game) last season.
  • Preseason All-League Second Team selection Meghan Pingel ranked first in the League with a 2.5 assist-turnover ratio and second with 5.1 assists in League play for the Phoenix last season.  
  • Preseason All-League First Team honoree Lindsey Duvall is back to lead Northern Kentucky this season. Duvall paced the Norse with 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in #HLWBB play in 2020-21.
  • Preseason All-League First Team member Kahlaijah Dean posted 17.9 points per League game for the Golden Grizzlies last season, adding 5.0 assists and 6.2 rebounds on those contests.
  • Cleveland State will look to last season’s Sixth Player of the Year Destiny Leo this season as the sophomore averaged 10.0 points per game in her rookie #HLWBB season.
  • Following a #HLWBB title and win in the NCAA Tournament last season, Wright State is set to begin its first season under head coach Kari Hoffman. Hoffman joined the Raiders after serving as the head coach at nearby Cedarville University for the last five seasons, where she won 106 games, led the Yellow Jackets to three regular season conference titles and was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2021.
  • Four-time #HLWBB All-League Preseason Team honoree Chelsea Olson returns for a fifth season for Youngstown State. The redshirt senior guard has averaged 10.0 points, 3.4 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game in her career with the Penguins.
  • After earning All-Freshman team honors last season, Sol Castro of RMU earned a spot on the Preseason Second Team. Castro, a native of Rio Colorado, Argentina, became the first member of the Colonials to lead the squad in scoring as a freshman in almost 20 years during the 2020-21 campaign when she averaged 9.9 points per game. She also grabbed an average of 5.5 rebounds per contest.
  • UIC returns five players who started more than ten games for the Flames in 2020-21, including leading scorer and rebounder Jaida McCloud (13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds).
  • Maria Marchesano is set to begin her first season as the helm for Purdue Fort Wayne. Marchesano is a Fort Wayne native who joins PFW after a four-year stint at Mount St. Mary's that was capped off by Northeast Conference regular season and tournament titles and a berth to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. She was named the NEC Coach of the Year in 2021. After an initial season of 9-20 in her first season at the Mount, she led the Mountaineers to 20-11 and 17-7 in years three and four.
  • Detroit Mercy placed four players in double figures in its exhibition contest as senior Monique Pruitt scored a team-high 15 points followed by 14 points from graduate student Janna Lewis and 11 points each from graduate students Sydney Searcy and Tori Powell.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Nov. 9
RMU at St. Bonaventure, 11:30 a.m. ET
Milwaukee at Ball State, 11:30 a.m. ET (ESPN3)
Youngstown State at Eastern Michigan, Noon ET
Detroit Mercy at Loyola Chicago, 5 p.m. ET
Purdue Fort Wayne vs. Manchester, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Cleveland State vs. ETSU, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
IUPUI at Michigan, 7 p.m. ET (BTN+)
Green Bay at South Dakota State, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Oakland vs. Toledo, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Wright State at Bradley, 7:30 p.m. ET
 
Wednesday, Nov. 10
Northern Kentucky vs. Kent State, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
UIC at Northwestern, 8 p.m. ET
 
Thursday, Nov. 11
Milwaukee vs. North Dakota State, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
 
Friday, Nov. 12
Oakland vs. Niagara, Noon ET (ESPN+)
Purdue Fort Wayne at Ball State, 6:30 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
 
Saturday, Nov. 13
Wright State at Toledo, 2 p.m. ET
Green Bay vs. North Dakota State, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Cleveland State vs. St. Bonaventure, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
RMU vs. Akron, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Detroit Mercy at Eastern Michigan, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
 
Sunday, Nov. 14
Cleveland State vs. Quincy, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Northern Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
IUPUI at Bowling Green, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
Milwaukee at Florida State, 2 p.m. ET
 
Monday, Nov. 15
Youngstown State vs. Akron, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)