#HLWBB Weekly Notebook – January 5
Rachel White
#HLWBB Standings | #HLWBB Statistics | #HLWBB Weekly Notebook
INDIANAPOLIS – Week three of #HLWBB play featured Youngstown State moving to 6-0 in League play, RMU earning two victories and Northern Kentucky and Oakland each posting 1-0 records on the road.
#HLWBB NEWS & NOTES
• In this week’s College Insider Women’s Mid-Major Top 25 poll, IUPUI ranked No. 13 while Cleveland State, Youngstown State and Northern Kentucky received votes.
• Youngstown State’s Lilly Ritz tied for the Horizon League lead in rebounding and was the top scorer among players who won twice last week as she averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 60.6% from the field. She began the week by scoring 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbing eight rebounds in 27 minutes against Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday. In a battle for first place against Cleveland State on Saturday, she scored 20 points and grabbed a season-best 14 rebounds while going 9-for-15 from the field in 33 minutes. It was her third double-double of the season and her first in conference play. Ritz has scored at least 20 points in all four of her Horizon League games and is averaging 22.8 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 68.3 percent from the field against the League.
• Esther Castedo was the driving force behind a clean sweep this weekend for RMU. The senior went off for a team-best 19 points in their upset win over Cleveland State Thursday, going 7-11 from the field and 3-6 from three while also grabbing seven boards and dishing four assists. She followed up the effort two days later leading RMU in scoring again with 11 points and five boards in RMU's victory over Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday.
• Friday’s NKU win at IUPUI was the first for the Norse during Coach Whitaker’s time at NKU and was also the first victory for the Norse at IUPUI since the 1995-96 season with the Norse winning 47-44. Lindsey Duvall paced the Norse with 26 points, collecting her second Player of the Week award of the season.
• Kahlaijah Dean turned in another two-way performance for the Golden Grizzlies in a road win over Milwaukee. Dean had five steals in a game where the Oakland defense controlled the tempo, forcing 24 turnovers as a team. Dean's point of attack defense helped Oakland overcome a shorthanded rotation, where multiple starters and bench pieces were missing. Dean finished with 19 points, forcing contact consistently with 10 free throw attempts, of which she converted nine. The senior had three rebounds and three assists as well.
• IUPUI’s Macee Williams averaged 22.0 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in the Jaguars’ two contests of the week, shooting 63.0 percent from the floor as IUPUI went 1-1 with a home victory over Wright State on Sunday.
• Jada Roberson averaged 18.5 points on 50-percent shooting along with 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks over two games for Wright State. Against Dayton, she reached career-high marks in points (20) and blocks (2) while adding a season-best seven rebounds, four steals, and two assists.
• Green Bay’s Meghan Pingel has posted a League-best 5.3 assists per game in #HLWBB contests this season.
• In League play this season, CSU’s Destiny Leo and UIC’s Jaida McCloud lead #HLWBB with 22.8 points per game.
• Milwaukee’s defense is holding League opponents to just 53.4 points per game, best among League teams.
• Shayla Sellers leads the Mastodons and all of #HLWBB with a three-point field goal percentage of .524 in League contests.
• Sydney Searcy is averaging 12.0 points per game for the Titans.
RESULTS
| DATE |
GAME |
RECAP |
| Thursday, Dec. 30 |
Youngstown State 64, Purdue Fort Wayne 41 |
Box Score |
|
RMU 63, Cleveland State 55 |
Box Score |
|
Oakland 66, Milwaukee 53 |
Box Score |
|
Green Bay defeated Detroit Mercy |
Forfeit (COVID) |
| Friday, Dec. 31 |
Northern Kentucky 54, IUPUI 53 |
Box Score |
|
Dayton 75, Wright State 65 |
Box Score |
| Saturday, Jan. 1 |
RMU 52, Purdue Fort Wayne 48 |
Box Score |
|
Youngstown State 70, Cleveland State 59 |
Box Score |
|
Milwaukee defeated Detroit Mercy |
Forfeit (COVID) |
| Sunday, Jan. 2 |
IUPUI 77, Wright State 62 |
Box Score |
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 6
Green Bay at IUPUI, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Oakland at Purdue Fort Wayne, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Milwaukee at UIC, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Friday, Jan. 7
Youngstown State at Wright State, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
RMU at Northern Kentucky, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Saturday, Jan. 8
Oakland at Cleveland State, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Detroit Mercy at Purdue Fort Wayne, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Green Bay at UIC, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Milwaukee at IUPUI, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Sunday, Jan. 9
Youngstown State at Northern Kentucky, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
RMU at Wright State, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)