Miss any of last week’s action? Then check out our new weekly feature in which we’ll hand out some hardware, update our rankings and get you caught up on the highlights of the week that was – as well as tease some of the top matchups in the week ahead.
Monica Wright Award (player of the week)
Hampton redshirt senior Monnazjea Finney-Smith torched North Carolina with 7-of-12 shooting from 3-point range and finished with 25 points in the Lady Pirates’ 70-66 takedown of the Tar Heels. The seven 3s were a career high; her previous best came on a 5-for-5 night from distance last February against MEAC rival Norfolk State.
Special shoutout to William and Mary junior Bianca Boggs, who went for a career-high 26 points – eight more than her previous high – and 11 rebounds in the Tribe’s season-opening win at Howard.
Jennie Simms Award (top transfer)
Longwood’s Kristina Antonenko, a 6-1 forward from Moscow by way of Highland Community College (Ill.) who dropped a program Division I record-tying 33 points on 14-of-20 shooting in the Lancers’ 87-75 loss at North Carolina Central Tuesday. Through two games, Antonenko, who made 50 percent of her shots last season at Highland, is connecting at a 64.3 percent clip as a Lancer.
Dawn Evans Award (top freshman)
Plenty to choose from, but we’re giving the nod to George Mason rookie Nicole Cardano-Hillary, a fearless shooter who debuted with a game-high 22 points on Friday at No. 24 Michigan, then notched a game-high 23 points in Tuesday’s 80-72 win at Loyola (Md.). Others of note: Liberty’s Ashtyn Baker, the Big South’s Freshman of the Week; Virginia Tech’s Aisha Sheppard (10.5 ppg, 5-11 3-pointers in 2 games) and Richmond’s Alex Parson (12.0 points, 3.5 steals in 2 games).
Team of the week
It’s not that Norfolk State won at VCU 66-52; the Rams are in the initial stages of a near-total rebuild. The surprise was in the unlikely way NSU dispatched the baby Rams. The Spartans blocked 14 shots – including seven by junior forward Khadedra Croker – the second-most in program history and the highest single-game total in 10 years. NSU also connected on 11 3-pointers, four more than the Spartans hit in any game last season and the third-most in program history. Norfolk State – masters of rim protection and long-range shooting. Who knew?
Fab Five
With the season just five days old, it shouldn’t be surprising to see very little movement atop this week’s rankings. Couldn’t help but give Hampton a bump, though.
1.Virginia (1-1)
Last week: 1
No shame in getting bottled up Friday at No. 7 Mississippi State. Bulldogs coach Vic Schaefer may be the game’s top defensive strategist; few teams run their stuff well against MSU, particularly in Starkville. Credit Cavaliers coach Joanne Boyle will the foresight to line up Central Connecticut State (11-20 last season, RPI 306) for a home game less than 48 hours after the Miss. St. game. As evidenced by the 103-59 final score, the Cavaliers reveled in the opportunity to knock the bitter Mississippi State taste out of their mouths. Yet for all the fun they had against CCSU, it’s the lessons they learned at MSU that figure to come in handy when the ACC wars commence.
2. Virginia Tech (2-0)
Last week: 2
A lot of junior college stars, even national player of the year types, need several games or even an entire season to adjust to the nuances and advanced level of Division I ball.
Back to back 20 points games to open your career at Tech ?
Not bad @tayemery01 pic.twitter.com/LEFi1IQV82
— VT Women’s Hoops (@HokiesWBB) November 14, 2017
Others, like Hokies guard Taylor Emery, catch on a lot more quickly. The same can be said of Hokies forward Alexis Jean, a junior college All-American who followed up a 16-point effort in Tech’s record-setting 67-point rout of Wagner with 11 points and 14 rebounds in Monday’s 72-63 win over Auburn.
3. Hampton (1-0)
Last week: 4
“Hey, Hampton beat North Carolina!”
“What else is new? The Lady Pirates are known for bagging big game..
“But it was at Carolina.”
“So? A few years ago, the Lady Pirates won at Mississippi State. Nothing surprising about that, either.”
“Yeah, but the Lady Pirates shot 50 percent from the field.”
“What?”
Much has been made about how Hampton overcame a barrage of injuries to win the 2017 MEAC title. Less publicized was the fact that those Lady Pirates also overcame some seriously shaky shooting – Hampton ranked among Division I’s least accurate teams from the field (34.3 percent, 333rd in D-I), the 3-point line (27.1, 315th) and the free throw line (61.2, 333rd). That’s why, to us, the fact that Hampton made 28 of 56 shots (11 of 24 from 3-point range) in Chapel Hill at resonated just as much as the actual result. Because we know Hampton’s always going to come with disruptive defense. If this year’s group can actually make shots, too, look out, world.
4. JMU (1-1)
Last week: 3
Enes Kanter – a gifted offensive performer with a few defensive limitations – is one of our favorite NBA players, and it appears as though JMU has its own version of Kanter in redshirt sophomore forward Kelly Koshuta. Koshuta played just 11 minutes in JMU’s season-opening loss to athletic Rutgers, a game the Dukes had to press their way back into. But two days later, with a more favorable matchup against Wagner, we got to see Koshuta’s scoring talent take flight as she poured in a game-high 20 points on 7 of 9 shooting in a mere 18 minutes. Now, we know “it all starts with defense” and we’re not trying to shove that aside. But as people who love seeing the ball go through the hoop, here’s hoping Koshuta can earn as many minutes as possible.
5. Radford (1-0)
Last week: 5
The talk out of Highlanders preseason camp was about the team pushing tempo and creating more scoring opportunities. It all sounded good, but through three quarters of Friday’s season opener against Appalachian State it looked like the same ol’ Radford – a defense-oriented, grind-it-out group clinging to a 36-30 lead. But in that final frame, we saw pace and points – 25 of them, as many as the Highlanders produced in the previous two quarters combined. We’re sorry we doubted you guys. Now let’s see if you can keep it up.
The rest of the order: 6. William and Mary (2-0, last week 6th); 7. Liberty (1-1, 7th); 8. Richmond (2-0, 8th); 9. George Mason (1-1, 9th); 10. Norfolk State (1-0, 10th); 11. VCU (0-1, 11th); 12. Old Dominion (0-1, 12th); Longwood (0-2, 13th)
Coming attractions
Wednesday
JMU at No. 13 Tennessee, 7 p.m. – With Precious Hall hitting from just about everywhere, JMU went toe-to-toe with the Lady Vols for three quarters last season in Harrisonburg. But this year the Dukes don’t have Hall, and the Lady Vols do have the nation’s top recruiting class. Tennessee also still has 6-6 center Mercedes Russell, who had 17 points and 11 rebounds at JMU last year.
Friday
Hampton at Elon, 7 p.m. – North Carolina is more glamorous, but defending CAA champion Elon may have the better team (the Phoenix were clearly better than the Tar Heels last season). In other words, the Lady Pirates may need to play even better than they did last Friday to pick up a second road win.
Sunday
Virginia at Dayton, 2 p.m. – A sneaky-tough road game against the defending champions/preseason favorites in the Atlantic 10. Virginia prevailed 66-56 when these teams met last season in the Cavalier Classic, but that Dayton team was still figuring things out under a new coach that was installed just weeks before preseason practice. So far this season the Flyers appear much more settled and will likely be 3-0 when this game tips off.