Miss any of last night’s action? We’ve got you covered. Each day we’ll serve up a hockey-style countdown of the state’s top three stars from the night before (Click here for complete scores and recaps).
Tuesday’s stars
3. Dara Mabrey, Virginia Tech
– No freshmen jitters for Mabrey (18 points on 7-11 shooting, 4-8 from 3, 5 assists in 24 minutes), who generally performed as though she was still hooping at Manasquan (N.J.) HIgh in her convincing debut as the Hokies starting point guard against overmatched USC Upstate.
2. Ajah Wayne, Old Dominion
Another first-timer that didn’t look the part, Wayne dropped a game-high 22 points (on 8-of-14 shooting) and racked up four of her team’s 11 steals as ODU’s baby-faced ballers sprinted past Campbell 83-59 in Buies Creek, N.C. Apparently no one told Wayne or ODU’s other newcomers that the Lady Monarchs were 1-15 in road games last season.
1. Nicole Cardano-Hillary, George Mason
For all of the reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year’s success last season, we wanted to see how Cardano-Hillary would fare as the Patriots’ main offensive threat, against defenses specifically geared to stop her. Early returns – the sophomore torched Loyola for 26 points in a 32-point Mason rout – suggest she’ll hold up just fine.
Wednesday’s games
Hampton at Florida Atlantic, 11 a.m.
Our first thought upon seeing Hampton’s schedule was, “what, UConn wasn’t available?” Because with all due respect to the Conference USA Owls, Lady Pirates coach David Six typically seeks out more ambitious locales to kick things off. HU’s last four season openers – at North Carolina, at Northwestern, at Iowa State, at Northwestern. Perhaps it’s a nod to the fact that HU has a whopping 10 newcomers to break in. With so much turnover, it make take some time for HU’s vaunted defense to be on point. That said, a year ago, the Lady Pirates shook up the world by winning at Chapel Hill. Given that Florida Atlantic is indoctrinating eight true freshman – tied for the most in Division I according to FAU sports information – a victory this morning in Boca Raton wouldn’t be nearly as seismic. Edge: Hampton.
South Carolina State at Radford, 7 p.m.
We don’t read too much into exhibition game scores, but the fact that Radford held Roanoke to just 27 points in Sunday’s dress rehearsal suggests defense will again be a strong suit for these Highlanders. We’re also looking forward to the Highlanders debut of 6-3 forward and JMU transfer Savannah Felgemacher, who projects to give Radford the dimension of a stretch big. Edge: Radford