Schedule
Hillsdale (4-4, 1-0 G-MAC) at Northwood (4-3, 0-1 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 9 | Bennett Sports Center | Midland, MI
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Northwood Roster | 2023-24 Hillsdale Stats | 2023-24 Northwood Stats | G-MAC Standings
Projected Starters
Hillsdale: #3 Lauren McDonald, Jr., G, Chicago, IL/St. Ignatius/Air Force (13.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg. 3.8 apg, 2.4 spg); #5 Sydney Mills, Sr., F, DeWitt, MI/DeWitt (13.9 ppg, 8.9 rpg); #15 Kendall McCormick, Jr., G, Hinckley, OH/Highland (9.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.5 spg); #30 Caitlin Splain, So., G, Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty (12.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.3 spg); #31 Ashley Konkle, Sr., C, Aurora, IL/Benet Academy/Western Michigan (3.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg)
Northwood: #3 Makenzie Todd, G, Sr., Grand Ledge, MI/Grand Ledge (11.4 ppg); #4 Alli Keyser, Sr., G, Spring Lake, MI/Grand Haven (10.3 ppg, 3 rpg); #21 Maizie Taylor, Sr., G, Midland, MI/Dow (4.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 5.7 apg); #22 Ava DiMilia, Sr., F, New Boston, MI/Huron (8.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.4 spg); #44 Jayla Strickland, Sr, C, Big Rapids, MI/Big Rapids (14.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1 bpg)
Scouting the Opposition
Northwood: There's high hopes for the Timberwolves this season as Northwood looks to build off a fifth-place finish in their inaugural G-MAC season with five of their six top minutes-getters returning from last year's squad.
The Timberwolves hope solid returners and improved health will give Northwood a shot at just the third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and its first since 2020-21. Northwood returns two key players in imposing post presence Jayla Strickland and high-scoring guard Alli Keyser that combined to play just three games last season due to injuries.
Those two returning players average 24.4 points per game for the Timberwolves and are joined by dynamic guard Makenzie Todd, a 2022-23 All-G-MAC honoree, as well as posts Ava DiMilia and Maddie Voelker and steady point guard Maizie Taylor.
With five senior starters and several experienced backups, the Timberwolves are a battle-tested squad whose 4-3 record is misleading – two of those losses came to nationally-ranked Grand Valley St. and Ferris St. in close contests.
Northwood is coached by Autumn Haggadone, now in her third season as the head coach of the Timberwolves. A former player and assistant coach at Albion, Haggadone spent several seasons as the Timberwolves' associate head coach before taking over the program in 2021-22.
Scouting Hillsdale
Hillsdale opened G-MAC play with a dominant 88-52 victory at home over Ohio Dominican and have a 4-4 record overall with several encouraging results. Despite dealing with serious injury trouble, the Chargers racked up three wins and are playing solid defensively, holding opponents to just 61.8 points per game.
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.
- Northwood has a 35-25 lead in a competitive series with the Chargers dating back to the two programs' days in the GLIAC in the early 80s. The Timberwolves got an early advantage with wins in the first 12 meetings between the two teams, but since then Hillsdale has had a slight edge, with the two squads splitting two meetings last season and each team picking up a home victory.
- A three-time second-team All-G-MAC honoree, senior Sydney 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 last Friday. She's 103 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 71) and 3-pointers made (8th with 160), while her 1,235 points rank 13th all-time in Hillsdale College history.
- Junior Caitlin Splain is on an impressive trajectory from beyond the arc – with 142 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 160, and junior Carly Callahan is climbing the list rapidly with 77 treys in two seasons as well.
- 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 in the top 15 in the G-MAC in points per game (15th), rebounds (eighth), assists (third), and steals (7th). 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.
- It's early in 2023-24, but Hillsdale is currently on track to make a massive leap defensively this season. The Chargers are giving up just 61.8 points per game so far, five less than the 68.2 points they conceded in 2022-23, and more than 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 37.3% from the field against them, the third-best mark in the G-MAC.