As we approach the halfway point of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference's 2020-21 basketball season, it's time for the Hillsdale College women's basketball team to make its annual long road trip to Tennessee and Kentucky in conference play.
The Chargers travel to Nashville on Thursday to battle Trevecca Nazarene, which will play in just its third game of the season to Hillsdale's 10th on Jan. 21. After taking on the Trojans, the Chargers finish the weekend on Saturday with an afternon contest against Kentucky Wesleyan in the Owensboro Sportscenter.
Due to local health department mandates, fans will not be allowed to attend Thursday's contest at Trevecca, while whether or not fans can attend the Saturday game in Owensboro will be determined by the current state of the pandemic in Daviess County, as noted on the Kentucky Wesleyan schedule page. A green dot next to the game on the schedule means a limited number of fans may attend, while a red dot means fans will not be allowed to be present for the contest. Please read this page for more information.
You can follow along with the games at home on the Great Midwest Digital Network. Links to live stats and a webcast from both of this weekend's contests are below.
Schedule
Hillsdale (1-8, 1-8 G-MAC) at Trevecca Nazarene (0-1, 0-1 G-MAC) | 4 p.m. CST Thursday, Jan. 21 | Trojan Fieldhouse | Nashville, TN
Hillsdale (1-8, 1-8 G-MAC) at Kentucky Wesleyan (6-3, 6-3 G-MAC) | 12 p.m. CST Saturday, Jan. 23 | Owensboro Sportscenter| Owensboro, KY
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Trevecca | Webcast vs Trevecca | Live Stats vs KWC | Webcast vs KWC
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Trevecca Roster | KWC Roster | 2020-21 Hillsdale Stats | 2020-21 Trevecca Stats | 2020-21 KWC Stats
Projected Starters
Hillsdale: #2 Dani Salenbien, Fr., G, Adrian, MI/Lenawee Christian (5.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.6 apg); #22 Grace Touchette, Jr., G, Northfield, MN/Northfield (13.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.3 apg); #3 Jaycie Burger, Sr., G, Pittsford, MI/Pittsford (9.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.4 apg); #5 Sydney Mills, So., F, DeWitt, MI/DeWitt (9.8 ppg, 11.7 rpg); #15 Arianna Sysum, So., F, Eaton Rapids, MI/Eaton Rapids (10.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.1 bpg)
Trevecca: #20 Olivia Pepperman, Sr., G, Maryville, TN/Maryville (12.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.8 spg in 2019-20); #34 Kaitlynn Wilks, So., F, Stanford, KY/Lincoln County (9.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg in 2019-20); #24 Keeley Carter, Fr., G, Lafayette, TN, Macon County (20 points in exhibition loss to Austin Peay); #21 Alex McFarlin, So., G, White House, TN/Heritage, Vol. State CC (10 pts in loss to Cedarville); #10 Faith Wilken, Fr., G, Nolensville, TN (15 points, 6 rebounds in loss to Cedarville)
Kentucky Wesleyan: #23 Kaylee Clifford, Sr., G, Bedford, KY/Trimble County (12.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.8 spg, 1.4 bpg); #10 Kaylee Willis, Sr., G, Dixon, KY/Webster County (5.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg); #11 Lily Miller, Sr., G, Harned, KY/Breckinridge County (7.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 4 apg); #12 Jordyn Barga, So., F, Farmland, IN/Monroe Central (6.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg); #5 Leah Richardson, Jr., G, Albany, OH/Alexander, Murray St. University (10.1 ppg)
Scouting the Opposition
Trevecca: It's been a strange and frustrating start to the season for the Trojans, who played an exhibition game against Division I Austin Peay on Nov. 28, a 90-76 loss, and then went over six weeks without playing.
Trevecca ended its month-and-a-half-long layoff on Tuesday with a 94-61 loss to Cedarville, and looks like a significantly different squad from the team that finished ninth in the G-MAC in 2019-20, despite returning all five starters.
Senior Olivia Pepperman was a second team All-G-MAC player in 2019-20 for Trevecca, leading the Trojans in points, rebounds and steals, and will be a key player again this year, while sophomores Samantha Whiteman and Kaitlynn Wilks return after starting as freshmen and will look to build off their initial campaigns.
A potential x-factor for the Trojans is the contribution of six new players to the team, led by freshman guards Keeley Carter and Faith Wilken, and junior college transfer Alex McFarlin. Carter led Trevecca in scoring against Austin Peay with 20 points, while McFarlin finished in double figures as well. If that level of play continues, the new faces could give the Trojans a boost on the court and in the G-MAC standings.
Trevecca Nazarene is coached by Chad Hibdon, who enters his fifth season in charge of the Trjoans, with a 38-71 overall record and 28-48 mark in G-MAC play.
Kentucky Wesleyan: It's also been a weird start to the season for the Panthers. Expected to be a top contender for the G-MAC title, a 1-2 start and a tough home loss to current conference leader Cedarville had KWC sitting at just 4-3 entering last week.
However, back-to-back dominant victories over Ursuline and Ohio Valley have the Panthers looking like a title contender once again, though KWC has some work to do to cut into Cedarville's two-game lead in the standings.
The Panthers continue to be a team defined by their depth and extreme balance. 10 different players average 13 minutes a game for KWC, with none averaging more than 24, and their second-leading scorer, Tahlia Walton, comes off the bench.
That depth helps make KWC an elite team in the G-MAC both offensively and defensively. The Panthers are fourth in the conference in scoring offense (78.6 ppg) and second in scoring defense (67.1 ppg) with the league's second best scoring margin (+11.4).
The Panthers are coached by the husband and wife team of Caleb and Nicole Nieman, who are entering their 11th season at Wesleyan after compiling the best record through a decade in program history a 204-93. During their tenure, the Niemans have guided the Panthers to three NCAA tournament appearances and the first conference tournament title in program history in 2014.
Scouting Hillsdale
The Chargers are 1-8 after a tough loss to Tiffin at home on Saturday, but have made strides since an 0-5 start to the year.
Key to Hillsdale's improvement has been a better effort at the defensive end. The Chargers were last in the G-MAC in scoring defense through the first five games of the season, but three strong efforts have Hillsdale up to seventh out of 11 teams (78.1 ppg) in the conference and closer to contention for a G-MAC tournament berth.
The Chargers have strong starting guards in Grace Touchette and Jaycie Burger, and have developed a good starting combination in the post with the improvement of Sydney Mills and the emergence of sophomore Arianna Sysum as a scoring threat after barely seeing the floor in 2019-20.
Freshman guard Dani Salenbien is starting to settle into a starting role, with 10 assists in her last three games, and junior guard Lauren Daffenberg provides shooting ability and instant offense off the bench as the team's sixth man.
The Chargers are coached by Charlie Averkamp, who's in his first year with the Hillsdale program after an excellent four-year run at Division III Benedictine University. His staff includes Amanda Parker, the former head coach at Division III Dominican University, former Williams College player Angela Vecchiarelli, and former Wisconsin Parkside player Hayley Maystead.
Other Notes
- Hillsdale and Trevecca are tied 3-3 all-time in their series, and split last season's meetings, with Trevecca taking the first meeting 65-54 on Jan. 18, 2020 and Hillsdale winning the second 61-45 on Feb. 6, 2020.
- Kentucky Wesleyan has a 5-2 edge over the Chargers in their all-time series, and have won five straight dating back to the 2018-19 season, including a 72-62 victory over Hillsdale on Dec. 15, 2020.
- With 11.7 rebounds per game this season, sophomore Sydney Mills continues to lead the G-MAC in rebounds per game by a full rebound over the next best player, Walsh's Mayci Sales.