Before we take a dive into conference play, let’s reflect on the notables of nonconference. We love the alliteration; here’s hoping you enjoy our list and onward to 2018!
Nonconference Player of the Year: UConn’s loss is George Mason’s game or should we say, gain. We were excited when Natalie Butler transferred to George Mason for her final year of eligibility; the Fairfax school is 20 minutes away from her parents and offers the master’s program she wants to pursue. Butler on the floor has been pretty special thus far: the 6-5 center has been Atlantic 10 Player of the Week five times already. Her 12 double-doubles lead the nation; last week she scored 35 on 13-of-16 shooting with 20 rebounds against Houston. She’s transformed the Patriots into a contender in the A-10.
Taylor Emery
Nonconference Runner-up Player of the Year: Virginia Tech is 11-2 behind junior college transfer Taylor Emery, a 5-10 guard, who averages a team-best 16 ppg, shooting .527 from the field and .451 from 3. Bring on the ACC!
Best win: It happened early, but nothing in our state tops Hampton stunning North Carolina 70-66 in Chapel Hill. In the season opener for both teams, the golden stat line belonged to Monnazjea Finney-Smith, 7-of-12 from beyond the arc, part of her 25 points.
Coach of the Year: We’ve bragged about Norfolk State this season for good reason. Larry Vickers‘ team wraps up a marvelous nonconference schedule on Saturday vs. Longwood. A win there would give the Spartans six straight. Grab your tickets early for the Battle of the Bay, Part I, Feb. 10 at Hampton.
Coach of the Year runner-up: With Marlena Tremba, Alex Masaquel and Latrice Hunter lost to graduation, we’d want to bury our heads in the sand. Good thing for the Tribe that Ed Swanson didn’t have the same idea. The Tribe won seven straight before being nipped by Norfolk State in overtime to end nonconference play. We’re already loving the season Bianca Boggs is putting together, averaging 16 ppg, shooting .492.
Freshman impact: Nicole Cardano-Hillary started her career with 22 points in George Mason’s opener at Michigan, and she’s never failed to reach double figures since. The native of Madrid doesn’t have the prettiest shooting percentage, but remind yourself she’s a freshman and realize this is only the beginning of what looks to be a terrific pickup by the Patriots.
Another freshman on the rise: The record is grisly in Norfolk, but we’re impressed by Old Dominion freshman Victoria Morris, Nikki McCray’s first recruit. The two-time Conference USA freshman of the week leads an undermanned ODU team with 12.2 ppg. She plays with unmistakable poise despite being asked to do a lot in her first year in a college uniform.
And yet one more frosh: Michael Shafer told us how good he thought Alex Parson would be, and we listened thinking he had to be overselling. Instead Micaela’s little sis continues to deliver, averaging 12.2 ppg, scoring a career-best 27 against Wright State. Her pair of 18-point efforts came against Wake Forest and Florida.
Finally: Tera Reed is VCU’s top scorer with a 14.2 average. The 6-foot freshman from New Zealand is also second in rebounds for the Rams.
Gabrielle Swinson
Best midseason pickup: Prior to the season, we noted NSU would be without Gabrielle Swinson due to a violation of team rules. Vickers sat the 5-6 guard down for just seven games as it turned out, and since NSU’s best ball handler returned to the lineup on Dec. 12, the Spartans haven’t lost. Through four games, the senior is averaging 7.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 5.8 apg.
Most overlooked player: Longwood’s Autumn Childress is the lone player in the Big South averaging a double-double (11.5 ppg, 10.6 rpg).
Best case for a charter plane: On one hand, we present Liberty — which has flown out of nine different airports this season, including Atlanta during the Dec. 17 power outage. The Lady Flames have already spent the night in 15 hotels, making their way through Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri and Virginia. On the other hand, Hampton could use a re-introduction to its home gym after globetrotting around the country for its nonconference slate. The Lady Pirates’ travels include North Carolina, Charlottesville, Stockton (California), Oregon, Philly, Texas, Tennessee and Birmingham. When Columbia visits Hampton on Jan. 3, it will be only the second home game for the Lady Pirates this season.
Biggest question mark: Virginia entered the season with high expectations given its returning core and the memories of a year ago when the Cavaliers were unable to do enough out of conference to earn an NCAA bid. Unless the Cavaliers can make inroads in a brutally tough ACC, they will be excluded from the Big Dance again.
Best option for instant offense: While it’s hard to recover from the graduation of do-everything Precious Hall, Kelly Koshuta has been a welcome addition to the JMU lineup. The Tech transfer averages 12.2 ppg, shooting a team-best .490.
Best way to head into the holidays: Radford won its two games in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic, topping Abilene Christian and rallying to beat Towson for the first time since 1995.
Team with the biggest upside heading into 2018: It’s a whole new Hokies roster; what will the ACC plunge be like for Kenny Brooks in his second year as coach in Blacksburg?
Best almost-upset: Man, we were pulling for the Cavaliers, who erased a 12-point deficit against No. 15 Maryland and had two final shots fall short in a 60-59 loss on Nov. 17.
Most magical stretch: ODU’s string of seven 3-pointers and 13 for the game against Coppin State energized an already jacked-up crowd of 6,000-plus kids on Education Day at the Constant Center.
Most intriguing player whose name we haven’t written ever in LadySwish (until now): That would be LaShayla Wright-Ponder, a wannabe homicide detective who redshirted last year for South Dakota and joined Hampton for the spring semester. She’s 6-2 with the athleticism that matches Hampton’s style, and we look forward to seeing what she can bring to the most offensive Hampton group in years.