After an opening week with more upheaval than in most whole seasons, the Hillsdale College women's basketball team will get two games in to start the 2020-21 campaign after all, though neither will be against the team they were originally scheduled to play.
Two days after scheduling a last-minute trip to Findlay to replace a canceled game against Kentucky Wesleyan, the Chargers worked with Malone University to put together another replacement contest for this weekend.
Hillsdale College will host the Pioneers on Saturday at 1 p.m., moving up a game between the Chargers and Malone that was originally scheduled to be played on Jan. 9. That date will now be an open date for both squads that will give the teams a place for potential rescheduled contests.
In order to comply with current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services mandates, spectators will not be allowed at Saturday's games. Fans who want to follow along with the action can do so via our internet livestream, which is linked below, or listen to the game on the radio at 99.5 The Dale.
Schedule
Malone (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) at Hillsdale (0-1, 0-1 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Follow/Watch
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Malone Roster | 2020-21 Hillsdale Stats | 2019-20 Malone Stats
Players to Watch
Hillsdale: #21 Lauren Daffenberg, Jr., G, Yorkville, IL/Yorkville (19 points, 5 3-pointers in season opener at Findlay); #22 Grace Touchette, Jr., G, Northfield, MN/Northfield (10 points, 9 assists in season opener); #3 Jaycie Burger, Sr., G, Pittsford, MI/Pittsford (10 points, six assists in season opener); #5 Sydney Mills, So., F, DeWitt, MI/DeWitt (8 points, 21 rebounds in season opener).
Malone: #2 Holly Groff, Sr. G, Macedonia, OH/Nordonia (17.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.8 apg in 2019-20); #4 Robin Campbell, Jr., G, Alliance, OH/Marlington (14.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.1 apg in 2019-20); #10 Alexis Hutchison, So., G, Centerville, OH/Centerville (7.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.6 apg in 2019-20); #13 Madison Hunter, Jr., G, New Concord, OH/John Glenn (4.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg in 2019-20.
Scouting the Opposition
Behind the stand-out play of guards Holly Groff and Robin Campbell, who each earned first-team All-G-MAC honors, the Malone women's basketball team had a banner season in 2019-20, finishing 19-12 and reaching the G-MAC Tournament semifinals.
With both Groff and Campbell returning, along with a third starter in junior guard Alexis Hutchison, excitement is high for the Pioneers entering the 2020-21 season.
Groff is one of the top returning players in the G-MAC, finishing second in the league in scoring (17.9 ppg) and leading the conference in 3-point shooting percentage (39.6%). The Chargers are well aware of the threat the redshirt senior poses, as she set a then-Malone single game record with nine 3-pointers in a 90-82 win over Hillsdale on Jan. 25, 2020.
Campbell is every bit as dangerous as Groff, whether she's attacking the basket off the dribble or creating looks for her teammates.
The biggest question mark for Malone is in the paint, where the Pioneers will have to replace forwards Sydney Wentling and Ellen Doyle, both solid contributors. Several players, including some new faces, will get the chance to step up and carve out a new role for themselves early in the season.
The head coach at Malone is Selana Reale, who is entering her third season at the helm of the Pioneers. A former player and successful assistant at Malone, Reale has led the Pioneers to back-to-back winning seasons and earned G-MAC Coach of the Year honors in 2018-19.
Scouting Hillsdale
With three starters returning and several players with more experience under their belt, as well as a new coach at the helm in Charlie Averkamp, the Chargers could be a much-improved team from their 12th place finish in the G-MAC last season.
Much of the optimism surrounding the Chargers stems from the return of a talented backcourt trio that's accumulated significant experience over the last two seasons. Leading the way is junior Lauren Daffenberg, a second-team All-G-MAC pick last season who led the team in scoring (12.7 points per game) in 2019-20 and is on pace to go down as one of the program's best 3-point shooters of all time when her career is over.
Daffenberg is flanked by junior Grace Touchette, another versatile offensive player and sharpshooter who averaged 12.6 points per game in 2019-20, and senior leader Jaycie Burger, who's entering her third season as a starter and whose versatile game makes a big impact at both ends of the floor for the Chargers.
Hillsdale will have to find rotation replacements for graduated seniors Sydney Anderson and Julia Wacker. To help replace the lost production, the Chargers will look for more from sophomore Sydney Mills, who quickly developed into the team's sixth man and its most effective post player offensively in her first season in college last year, as well as junior Anna LoMonaco, another top reserve from the 2019-20 season.
Leading the way is Averkamp, who comes to Hillsdale College as a coach on the rise after a four-year tenure at Division III Benedictine University in suburban Chicago where he led the Eagles to unprecedented heights in the history of the program. Averkamp has posted a 98-35 record as a head coach and he will aim to build the Chargers back into a contender quickly.
Other Notes
Hillsdale has a 7-4 edge in the all-time series with Malone, dating back to 2013 when both teams were members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, but the Pioneers won both meetings last season, snapping a five-game Charger winning streak in the series…The Chargers lost to Findlay 88-77 in a season-opening road matchup on Thursday. Five players finished in double-figures for the Chargers, led by junior Lauren Daffenberg's 19…Daffenberg made five 3-pointers against Findlay to give her 125 for her career and move her into 10th place on the program's all-time made 3-pointers list. She's three behind Lea Jones (2009-13) for ninth place…sophomore Sydney Mills pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds against the Oilers on Thursday, becoming the first Charger women's basketball player to grab 20-plus rebounds in a game since All-American Megan Fogt (2011-2015) had eight games with 20 or more rebounds in the 2013-14 season.
