Notable notes from the past week (Nov. 15-22):
Monica Wright Award (player of the week)
Abby Rendle, William and Mary
We weren’t sure who to pick for this until last night when Rendle put up a 25-point, 17-rebound, 10-block triple-double in an overtime win at East Carolina. Thanks, Abby, for clearing things up for us.
Jennie Simms Award (top transfer)
Natalie Butler, George Mason
To paraphrase the late Dennis Green, she is who we thought she was. Read more on Butler and the Patriots below
Dawn Evans Award (top freshman)
Alex Parson, Richmond
The young lady, shooting 48.3 percent from 3-point range for the suddenly high-powered Spiders, is performing as though she’s been the program for years, not weeks.
Fab Five
1. Virginia Tech (4-0, last week 2); 2. Virginia (2-3 last week 1); 3. Hampton (1-2 last week 3); 4. JMU (1-3 last week 4); 5. George Mason (5-1, last week 9)
Patriots on a roll
Hey, George Mason Patriots, the next time your coach is chewing you out, just know that when you guys aren’t around, Nyla Milleson talks about you as though you’re God’s gift to basketball.
Indeed, in October during Atlantic 10 media day, Milleson gushed about her players and the team’s prospects. Now, every coach talks a good game in the preseason. But Milleson was more convincing than most.
So far, it looks as though Milleson’s optimism was well-founded. Wednesday’s 56-37 suffocation of Illinois State boosted Mason’s record to 5-1 for the Patriots’ fifth straight victory – the team’s longest winning streak since the 2011-12 season.
.@MasonWBB defeats Illinois State to win fifth straight for longest winning streak and best start (5-1) since 2011-12 season.
Recap: https://t.co/NsJT1scJuf
— Mason Athletics (@MasonAthletics) November 22, 2017
Of course, the arrival of Butler, the Georgetown/UConn transfer center, was pivotal, and with averages of 15.7 points and 13.2 rebounds and five straight double-doubles, the 6-5 Butler has been as impactful as advertised. But as we learned during her freshman year at Georgetown, Butler and little else are a recipe for about 12-14 wins. To this point, these Patriots have had more – a lot more.
For example, there’s fearless freshman Nicole Cardano-Hillary, the fastest gun in the East, or actually, virtually anywhere in the country. Heading into Wednesday’s game, only four players in all of Division I had attempted more shots than the Patriots rookie (85), and she squeezed off 16 more rounds against ISU. But the Patriots have often thrived with Cardano-Hillary’s high-volume shooting – she almost single-handedly shot the Patriots into contention in the first half at Michigan.
In addition, sophomore Jacy Bolton (28 points in her last two games) has built nicely on her Atlantic 10 all-rookie freshman campaign. And then there’s senior forward Tayler Dodson, the daughter of a coach – Spotswood High mentor Chris Dodson – who, according to Milleson, has pretty much been the heart and soul of the program from the day she arrived on campus four years ago. Since Dodson excels at the stuff that doesn’t reflect in the box score, her contributions are usually hard to quantify. But after back-to-back 12-rebound efforts within the past week, Dodson’s proving that she can play the stat game, too.
The Patriots (5-1) will try to make it six in a row on Friday against Drake (2-2) in the opening round of the Rocky Mountain Hoops Classic in Boulder, Colo. Last Friday, Drake buried 14 3-pointers in a 96-68 pasting of Liberty in a Preseason WNIT consolation game.
The real McCray
A scene from Old Dominion Monday: coach Nikki McCray, wearing a long-sleeve gray T-shirt, standing at the top of the key giving instruction as players went through a layup drill. On either side of her stood assistants Ed Baldwin and Richard Fortune, each feeding post players for drives to the rim. Near midcourt, assistant Brittany Young led the guards through ball handling drills.
Fairly typical practice stuff? Sure. Except this scene unfolded about 15 minutes before a game against North Carolina State. We’ve covered tons of basketball games and can’t remember seeing a staff doing that much on-court coaching so close to tipoff.
After the game, McCray said the idea was to get the players in game-mode quickly and try to prevent a slow start. Nice try, but the first quarter ended with N.C.State up 23-9.
Still, it’s clear McCray and this staff aren’t wasting any opportunities to coach this group up.
Be it ever so humble…
Virginia Tech has gone 34-1 in regular season non-conference games since a home loss to Northwestern on Dec. 4, 2014, The stretch includes a 29-0 mark at Cassell Coliseum, the venue for all four Tech games this season. Now, there’s no crime in loading up with non-conference home games; it’s one of the benefits of membership in a high-revenue conference like the ACC. Still, given that the Hokies have also gone 10-38 in ACC play over this same span, we’ve often wondered if this home-heavy scheduling philosophy is the best preparation. Which is why we’re excited to see what develops out of this upcoming stretch when the Hokies will play six of their next eight games away from cozy Cassell.
Tech’s odyssey commences Thursday at 2:30 p.m. against Drexel. It’s the first of three games in three days at the Paradise Jam in Melbourne, Fla.
And finally….
Wednesday’s 100-63 rout of Savannah State was a fitting exclamation point to the “Embrace the Pace” style that has defined Richmond (4-2). It marked the fourth time this season the Spiders have scored at least 80 points. A year ago, the team’s highest point total in any game was 77. The Spiders will finish their three-game set in the Savannah Classic on Thursday at 2 p.m. against Wright State.
Hampton also put in a scare Virginia, just missing at the JPJ Arena on Tuesday, 66-62. The Lady Pirates are en route to the West Coast for the Tiger Turkey Tipoff in Stockton, Calif. They meet Brown on Friday, which set a program record for 3s on Sunday with 16 made against No. 20 Cal.
Speaking of the Ivy League, Virginia hosts Harvard on Saturday. Both teams have lost to Dayton: Virginia fell 61-46 and Harvard was nipped 72-66.
Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to all our coaches, players and fans!