Schedule
Hillsdale (10-9, 6-5 G-MAC) at Ursuline (15-4, 8-3 G-MAC) | 2 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 3 | Stano Athletic Center | Pepper Pike, OH
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Ursuline Roster | 2023-24 Hillsdale Stats | 2023-24 Ursuline Stats | G-MAC Standings
Projected Starters
Hillsdale: #3 Lauren McDonald, Jr., G, Chicago, IL/St. Ignatius/Air Force (12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg. 3.4 apg, 1.9 spg); #5 Sydney Mills, Sr., F, DeWitt, MI/DeWitt (13.6 ppg, 9 rpg); #15 Kendall McCormick, Jr., G, Hinckley, OH/Highland (9.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.4 spg); #30 Caitlin Splain, So., G, Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty (13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.2 spg); #31 Ashley Konkle, Sr., C, Aurora, IL/Benet Academy/Western Michigan (4.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg)
Ursuline: #3 Madison Cloonan, F, Sr., Kirtland, OH/Cornerstone Christian (9.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 4.7 apg); #10 Sophia Kline, Fr., F, Sugar Grove, OH/Berne Union (8.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg); #12 Riley Stopp, Jr., F, Mentor, OH/Cornerstone Christian (11.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.2 apg); #20 Michaela Cloonan, Sr., G, Kirtland, OH/Cornerstone Christian (14.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.5 apg, 2.1 spg); #24 Madyson Stottsberry, Jr, G, Newark, OH/Newark (8.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
Scouting the Opposition
Ursuline: After years of building, Ursuline is putting together its best season on the basketball court since winning the second of back-to-back G-MAC titles in 2016-17. While recent upsets on the court have made the Arrows' path to a conference title difficult, Ursuline is still on track for a 20-plus win season and a shot at a NCAA Tournament berth in March.
The Arrows have reached this point thanks to the continued development of the Cloonan twins, Madison and Michaela, who are in their fourth years as starters and who've been playing at an All-G-MAC level for most of that time. Those two multi-talented players give Ursuline a strong core, and are complemented by two experienced juniors in Riley Stopp and Madyson Stottsberry.
While Ursuline's experienced players are driving the Arrows' success, it's the addition of impact freshmen that's pushed Ursuline over the top. Center Sophia Kline is a force in the post in her first collegiate season, while guard Alexis Frazee gives the Arrows much-needed scoring punch off the bench, along with an outside shooting threat to complement the Cloonans.
Ursuline has been an excellent defensive team, giving up just 58.7 points per game, and one of the G-MAC's better offenses as well. However, if the Arrows are going to pay off their promise, Ursuline must stop a severe recent slide in form that's seen the Arrows lose back-to-back games to teams outside the top eight in the G-MAC standings.
Ursuline has one of the G-MAC's coaching deans in Shannon Sword, who's been coaching the Arrows since they joined the conference and has led Ursuline to two G-MAC titles and NCAA Tournament berths, and has twice been named the G-MAC Coach of the Year.
Scouting Hillsdale
The Chargers saw an impressive recent run ended with a tough home loss to Northwood last Thursday, but bounced back immediately with a dominant win on the road at Cedarville on Saturday. At 10-9 overall, 6-5 in the G-MAC, Hillsdale is still in good position entering the stretch run and a win over the current third-place team in the G-MAC on Saturday would go a long way to helping solidify that position.
The Chargers entered the season having to replace three starters from 2022-23 but had a strong core returning from a team that played a deep bench in the previous season. Three-time All-G-MAC honoree Sydney Mills has averaged a double-double in each of the past three seasons and is on track to become the program's all-time leading rebounder in her final season at Hillsdale.
In addition to Mills, Hillsdale has several players who are in the midst of breakout seasons in 2023-24. Air Force transfer Lauren McDonald is a key piece who just scratched the surface of her potential in a half-season with the Chargers in 2022-23, and has been an all-around stat-stuffer. Now juniors, both Caitlin Splain and Kendall McCormick have grown considerably over two seasons at Hillsdale and have also made big leaps as upperclassmen with increased roles on the floor. Hillsdale also can look to senior Dani Hohlbein, a gritty veteran contributor who fills up the stat sheet when she's on the floor, as well as Ashley Konkle and Olivia Patch, two-way post presences who have carved out bigger roles in 2023-24.
Talented players in the Chargers' sophomore and freshmen classes have carved out their own roles and made important contributions to the squad's efforts in 2023-24. Sydney Pnacek, Annalise Peitrzyk, Savannah Smith and Emma Ruhlman all have played important minutes for the Chargers over the course of the season.
The road ahead will be tough for Hillsdale in G-MAC play, as the conference put four teams in the NCAA Tournament last season, including defending DII National Champion Ashland, and only gets tougher with the addition of 2021-22 NAIA National Champion Thomas More to the conference. While there will be plenty of tough games ahead for the Chargers in 2023-24, Hillsdale was able to beat two of those four NCAA Tournament qualifying teams, Trevecca Nazarene and Malone, last season, and took a third, Kentucky Wesleyan, to overtime in the G-MAC Tournament, proving that Hillsdale is capable of playing on the same level as those squads.
Other Notes
- The Chargers were picked to finish 8th in the 2023-24 G-MAC Preseason Coaches Poll in line with their 7th place finish in 2022-23. Defending NCAA DII national champion Ashland was picked to repeat as conference title-winners, while Kentucky Wesleyan was picked second and Trevecca Nazarene third.
- It's been a competitive series since 2018 between the Chargers and Arrows, though Hillsdale now holds a slight 7-5 edge over Ursuline thanks to a sweep of the Arrows in the 2022-23 season. The Chargers have now won three straight over Ursuline entering this weekend, after the Arrows had won four straight prior to this run by Hillsdale.
- The Chargers are happy to have senior Sydney Mills back on the floor after missing six games due to injury. Earlier in the season, Mills became just the third player in Hillsdale College history and the second in G-MAC history to reach 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career after grabbing her 1,000th rebound against Quincy in a 31 point, 15 rebound performance that led to the Chargers' first win in November. She's 57 rebounds away from breaking the Hillsdale College program record set by Sandy Skaisgir in 1991. Mills also ranks in the top 10 all-time at Hillsdale in blocked shots (7th with 75) and 3-pointers made (8th with 168), while her 1,301 points rank 11th all-time in Hillsdale College history.
- Junior Caitlin Splain is on an impressive trajectory from beyond the arc – with 172 made 3-pointers through two and a half seasons, the Powell, Ohio native is seventh in program history, and on track to challenge Chelsea Harrison's program record of 237 made 3-pointers set in 2012. Hillsdale has several impressive marksmen on the squad, as Mills is also in the top 10 all-time at Hillsdale for made 3-pointers with 168.
- Junior Lauren McDonald has been filling up the stat sheet for the Chargers, as the guard has helped Hillsdale to a decent start. She currently ranks 14th in the G-MAC in points per game, ninth in rebounds per game, fifth in assists and eighth in steals, all while averaging double-digit points. Her buzzer-beating mid-range shot forced overtime and was key to Hillsdale's 71-61 home win over Malone on Wednesday, Jan. 17. McDonald was a mid-year transfer from Air Force last season who showed flashes in the back-half of 2022-23, but appears to be making the leap to stardom with a full offseason with the team under her belt in 2023-24.
- Junior Kendall McCormick is starting for the Chargers for the first time in her career, and showing her bonafides as a defensive stopper. McCormick is averaging 2.4 steals per game, good for third in the G-MAC, with 11 multi-steal games so far and a career-high six steals in Hillsdale's 69-60 victory over Thomas More on Jan. 13. The junior is putting up career-highs across the board, including averaging 9.8 points per game after averaging 2.1 in 2022-23.
- Midway through 2023-24, Hillsdale is currently on track to make a massive leap defensively this season. The Chargers are giving up just 63.2 points per game so far, five full points less than the 68.2 points they conceded in 2022-23, and seven points less than the 70.2 points they gave up in 2021-22. Emblematic of Hillsdale's success defensively is a stellar opponent field goal percentage – the Chargers are allowing opponents to shoot just 39.1% from the field against them, the third-best mark in the G-MAC behind the current first and second place teams, Ashland and Ursuline.