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The Roundup
It is an exciting time in the NCAA right now, as teams are going through their final tune-ups before the conference season starts. After a relatively tame first three weeks, we have seen upsets galore including the Nos. 1 and 2 teams falling on the same day, followed by the new No. 2, Louisville, losing to unranked Ohio State the very next week. Mid-majors like Gonzaga and Missouri State have been steadily climbing up the polls since day one, and Arizona has emerged as a dark horse contender in an extremely talented Pac-12 thanks to Aari McDonald taking her game to another level.
What We’re Working On
Following Ohio State’s upset win over Louisville on Dec. 5, Mike Bossetti took a look at their ceiling as well as what they need to work on to become a more consistent team. Mike also wrote about Janai Crooms and her extensive role for the Buckeyes.
This week we released a pair of features focusing on some of the best players you need to learn more about. Jenn Hatfield interviewed Princeton’s junior point guard, Carlie Littlefield, and Calvin Wetzel watched hours of film to tell you everything you need to know about the nation’s leading scorer, Rider’s Stella Johnson. These two players began the year mostly under the radar, but they are making the college basketball world take notice.
Earlier in the week, Jenn wrote about trends in Division I teams’ nicknames, and Calvin broke down the matchup between UConn and Notre Dame.
Morgan Reeder looked at The Triple-Double Queen, Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, and how she stacks up against the rest of Division I, as well as against past WNBA first-round draft picks. Come for the analysis, stay for the data viz.
Earlier this season, we put out two stories meant to bring attention to players who we think deserve more publicity. Amari Dryden talked about six of the best Native American players across all three divisions. We also released a 25-player watch list for our first-annual Mid-Major Player of the Year Award.
Weekly Series
Although Gonzaga and Missouri State did not place anyone on our Mid-Major Player of the Year watch list, they have emerged as the nation’s premier mid-major teams, coming in at Nos. 15 and 19, respectively, in our most recent HHS Top 25 ranking. The Zags and Lady Bears square off on Friday in what is likely to be the biggest mid-major game of the season. That matchup is one of the five Games of the Week in our weekly series from Marissa Sisk.
Since May, we have also been bringing you the Her Hoop Stats Podcast hosted by John Liddle. In each episode, John sits down with some of the biggest names in women’s basketball. Recent episodes have featured LaChina Robinson, Tara VanDerveer, and Kelsi Musick. We also release one “Unplugged” episode each week, in which our own Megan Gauer talks hoops (and more) with a rotating lineup of HHS staff.
Housekeeping
In addition to the content we have been producing this season, we are also excited about some new additions to our website in the past several weeks. The first new feature is called Lobo’s Look. Lobo’s Look is a report designed to aid announcers as they prepare for their next big game and anyone else who wants to see how their favorite team matches up against their next opponent.
We also recently added the Her Hoop Stats Ratings for this season, which help to compare teams’ resumes. The ratings take into account a team’s scoring and defensive efficiencies as well as the strength of their opponents.
Last week, we partnered with Debbie Antonelli to cover the cost of five subscriptions to our website. That giveaway has been closed, but keep an eye out on social media because there might be another one coming soon! 👀
You can support our work by subscribing to herhoopstats.com. For just $20 per year, you’ll get access to in-depth, easy to access statistics for women’s basketball. A subscription is perfect for coaches and players of all levels, SIDs, broadcasters, and fans.
What We’re Reading
Every week, we will also recommend a handful of stories outside the HHS footprint that should be required reading for basketball fans.
Sports Illustrated’s John Bohnenkamp wrote a very touching story about how the passing of William Fennelly, the father of Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly.
Howard Megdal recently wrote about UConn’s shot-blocking prowess this season for FiveThirtyEight and how their interior presence is fueling their dominant defense.
Our own Jenn Hatfield wrote for High Post Hoops about six teams and their foreign trips this summer, an interesting look at how some teams try to replicate in-season competition in the offseason.
In early November, Mitchell Northam of High Post Hoops wrote about the return of Kyra Lambert nearly three years after tearing her ACL in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
If you want to submit a story for this section, please email it to newsletter@herhoopstats.com.
All statistics via herhoopstats.com and are up to date as of December 15, 2019.