Schedule
Hillsdale (0-2, 0-0 G-MAC) at Quincy (0-2, 0-0 GLVC) | 8 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 17 | Pepsi Arena | Quincy, IL
McKendree (1-1, 0-0 GLVC) vs Hillsdale (0-2, 0-0 G-MAC) | 2 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 18 | Pepsi Arena | Quincy, IL
Lake Superior St. (0-2, 0-0 GLIAC) vs Hillsdale (0-2, 0-0 G-MAC) | 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, Nov. 21 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Quincy Roster | McKendree Roster | LSSU Roster | 2023-24 Hillsdale Stats | 2023-24 Quincy Stats | 2023-24 McKendree Stats | 2023-24 LSSU Stats | G-MAC Standings
Projected Starters
Hillsdale: #3 Lauren McDonald, Jr., G, Chicago, IL/St. Ignatius/Air Force (10.5 ppg, 5 rpg. 2.5 apg, 2 spg); #5 Sydney Mills, Sr., F, DeWitt, MI/DeWitt (13 ppg, 7 rpg); #15 Kendall McCormick, Jr., G, Hinckley, OH/Highland (6.5 ppg, 5 rpg, 1.5 spg); #30 Caitlin Splain, So., G, Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty (13.5 ppg, 3 rpg, 1 spg); #31 Ashley Konkle, Sr., C, Aurora, IL/Benet Academy/Western Michigan (2 ppg, 5 rpg, 1.5 spg)
Quincy: #1Acheampomaa Danso, So., F, Inver Grove Heights, MN/Simley (8 ppg, 5 rpg); #2 Paige Gamble, So., F, Ashland, MO/Southern Boone (4 ppg); #4 Mikayla Huffine, So., G (4.5 ppg); #11 Karsyn Stratton, Jr., G, (4 ppg, 3 rpg); #13 Janiece Dawson, Jr., G, Chicago, IL/Muchin College Prep (10.5 ppg, 8 rpg)
McKendree: #2 Maclayne Taylor, Sr., G, Ogden, IL/ St. Joseph-Ogden/Lincoln Land CC (4 ppg, 4 rpg, 4 apg); #10 Clare Breden, Jr., G, Jerseyville, IL/Jerseyville (21 ppg); #15 Madyson Harper, Sr., G, Delavan, IL/Midwest Central/Parkland CC (2.5 ppg, 4 apg, 2 spg); #20 Naomi McDaniel, Sr., F, Attica, IN/Attica/Parkland CC (10 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.5 spg); #32 Christy Fortune, Sr., G, Appleton, WI/Appleton West (6 ppg, 4 rpg)
Lake Superior State: #13 Makenna Clement, Fr., F, Byron, MI/Lake Fenton (6 ppg, 5 rpg); #14 Breah Golden, Fr., G, Arcadia, WI/Arcadia (10 ppg, 4 apg); #21 Brittany Bowman, Sr., G, Kingsley, MI/Kingsley (3 ppg); #24 Jaden Wilder, Jr., G, Manton, MI/Manton (9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1 spg); #30 Grace Bradford, So., F, Maple City, MI/Glen Lake (21 ppg, 14 rpg);
Scouting the Opposition
Quincy: With a new head coach in Courtney Boyd, the Hawks are looking to build off a 2022-23 campaign that saw them reach the GLVC Tourney and give national power Drury a tough fight.
The Hawks lost all five starters from last year's team but are seeing several of their top players off the bench last season stepping into important roles, led by junior guard Janiece Dawson and sophomore forward Acheampomaa Danso, both of whom are putting up solid numbers. Another key player off the bench last season, Cymirah Williams, is reprising her sixth man role in 2023-24, leading the Hawks in both scoring and rebounding so far.
To this returning core, Quincy added four transfers, all of whom are playing important roles so far – JuCo transfers Karsyn Stratton and Mikayla Huffine, Cardinal Stritch product Sam Keil, and Northern Michigan transfer Taya Stevenson.
The young Hawks were competitive in two losses to open the season but need to find their rhythm offensively, as they're averaging just 56 points a game so far.
Boyd comes to Quincy after six successful seasons as head coach at Clarke University, where she led the the Pride to five NAIA Tourney berths and a national championship last season. The Iowa native played for Dixie State in college and also coached at Wisconsin-Parkside.
McKendree: The Bearcats are looking to continue to climb in the GLVC after making the conference tournament in 2022-23, and are bringing four starters back this season.
All-G-MAC honorees Naomi McDaniel, a highly productive post player, and playmaking guard Clare Breden, both return to lead McKendree, as do fellow starters Maclayne Taylor and Christy Fortune, both guards. Joining the quartet of returning starters is one of last year's top bench players for the Bearcats, guard Madyson Harper, and the Bearcats' other top substitute, Erin Golden, also returns.
With so many experienced returners to lean on, the Bearcats have enviable depth that should pay big dividends as the season wears on. McKendree displayed their veteran prowess in an easy win to open the 2023-24 season over Ohio Dominican, though nationally ranked Ferris State proved to be too much in their second game.
McKendree has a veteran coach in Kari Kerkhoff, who is now in her ninth season coaching at McKendree. Kerkhoff played college basketball at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and also spent time as a coach at Michigan Tech, Elon, Bradley and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
Lake Superior State: After a three-win improvement in 2022-23, the Lakers are looking to continue their upward climb this season.
LSSU returns three starters but must replace two impact players in graduated seniors Mattison Rayman and Margot Woughter. The Lakers are leaning heavily on sophomore Grace Bradford this season, who's blossomed into a star player in her second year and is averaging 21 points and 14 rebounds a game.
Sophomores Gracey Metz and Amanda Roach don't start but have combined to provide instant offense off the bench, averaging 20 points combined so far, and freshman guard Breah Golden also is making a big impact early in her career as a double-digit scorer.
The Lakers' offense has been solid, averaging 71 points per game, but LSSU will look to improve defensively as the Lakers have given up an average of 79 points per game to opponents so far.
LSSU is coached by Brandon Lokken, who is entering his seventh season with the program. Lokken took over as interim head coach of the women's program at LSSU in 2017 after several years as an assistant for the LSSU men's team. He has deep ties with the program, graduating in 2011 from LSSU after serving as a student manager during his time in undergrad.
Scouting Hillsdale
Hillsdale enters the 2023-24 campaign fresh off a 17-win season that saw the Chargers earn their first winning record in five seasons, and their first berth in the G-MAC Tournament in that span. First-year head coach Brianna Brennan will look to continue Hillsdale's steady climb after helping the Chargers lay the foundation during two years as an assistant with the program.
The Chargers must replace three starters from 2022-23 but have a strong core returning from a team that played a deep bench last 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, while junior Carly Callahan will look to build off a season where she shot over 37 percent from 3-point range and flashed greatly improved playmaking ability.
Hillsdale has several players who look primed for increased roles 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 could be one of the breakout players in the conference in 2023-24. Now juniors, both Caitlin Splain and Kendall McCormick have grown considerably over two seasons at Hillsdale and could be ready for big leaps of their own 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, and Ashley Konkle and Olivia Patch, two-way post presences who will compete for bigger roles in 2023-24, to play important minutes as well.
Talented players in the Chargers' sophomore and freshmen classes will push the upperclassmen as they look to carve out their own roles and make contributions to the squad's efforts in 2023-24. Sydney Pnacek, Payton Adkins and Emma Ruhlman now have a year under their belts in the program and a foundation to build on, while Hillsdale's talented three-player freshman group will aim to make an instant impact.
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.
- Hillsdale has won its only previous meeting with Quincy last season, 66-55 in Hillsdale, and is 3-1 all-time against McKendree, with the Chargers winning the most recent meeting 76-47 in 2016. Lake Superior State leads Hillsdale 35-23 and won the most recent meeting between the two teams last season, but the Chargers have largely controlled the series recently, with wins in 10 of the last 12 meetings.
- A three-time second-team All-G-MAC honoree, senior Sydney Mills has averaged a double-double in each of the past three seasons, and she has two of the top 10 single-season rebounding marks in program history with 299 last year and 291 in 2021-22. With 995 career rebounds entering this season, Mills is on the cusp of becoming just the third player in program history to surpass 1,000 rebounds, and as long as she stays healthy, she should surpass Sandy Skaisgir's career record of 1,146 rebounds later this year.
- Junior Caitlin Splain is on an impressive trajectory from beyond the arc – with 128 made 3-pointers through a little over two seasons, the Powell, Ohio native is 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 153, and junior Carly Callahan is climbing the list rapidly with 77 treys in two seasons as well.