Schedule
Malone (9-6, 5-2 G-MAC) at Hillsdale (7-8, 3-4 G-MAC) | 5:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, Jan. 17 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
Kentucky Wesleyan (10-3, 5-2 G-MAC) at Hillsdale (6-7, 2-3 G-MAC) at | 1 p.m. ET Saturday, Jan. 20 | Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena | Hillsdale, MI
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Malone Roster | Kentucky Wesleyan Roster | 2023-24 Hillsdale Stats |2023-24 Malone Stats | 2023-24 Kentucky Wesleyan Stats | G-MAC Standings
Projected Starters
Hillsdale: #3 Lauren McDonald, Jr., G, Chicago, IL/St. Ignatius/Air Force (11.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg. 3.5 apg, 2.1 spg); #5 Sydney Mills, Sr., F, DeWitt, MI/DeWitt (14.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1 spg); #15 Kendall McCormick, Jr., G, Hinckley, OH/Highland (10.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.8 spg); #30 Caitlin Splain, So., G, Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty (13.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.2 spg); #31 Ashley Konkle, Sr., C, Aurora, IL/Benet Academy/Western Michigan (3.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
Malone: #4 Nataley Armstrong, So., G, Garrett, IN/Garrett (3.2 ppg, 2.8 apg, 1.3 spg); #22 Kyli Horn, Jr., G, Millersburg, OH/Hiland (10.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.3 spg); #23 Brinn Hunt, So., G/F, Perrysburg, OH/Toledo Central Catholic (6.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg); #25 Brooklyn Troyer, Jr., G, Apple Creek, OH/Waynedale (9.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.2 spg); #33 Erin Kaufman, So., C, Glandorf, OH/Ottawa-Glandorf (15.2 ppg, 9.5 rpg)
Kentucky Wesleyan: #10 Corina Conley, Sr., G/F, Englewood, OH/Franklin Monroe (12 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.8 spg); #12 Jordyn Barga, Sr., G, Farmland, IN/Monroe Central (11.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.2 spg); #14 Shaylee McDonald, Sr., G, Washington Courthouse, OH/Miami Trace (11.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.5 spg); #20 Shiya Hoosier, Sr, G, Hendersonville, TN/Beech (6.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.8 spg); #21 Emmy Ralph, Sr, G, Louisville, KY/Bullit East/Indiana SW (12.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.5 spg)
Scouting the Opposition
Malone: Coming off one of the best seasons in program history that included an NCAA Tournament berth, the Pioneers have been forced to reload with the loss of their two leading scorers to graduation.
Holdover guards Brinn Hunt, Kyli Horn and Brooklyn Troyer have played well in larger roles than last season, while 6-foot-1 center Erin Kaufman has been the team's leading scorer and averages nearly a double-double despite coming off the bench for the Pioneers the last several games.
Two new faces have been big for Malone so far – Akron transfer Aila Miller, who has brought significant perimeter scoring punch in her first season with the Pioneers, and freshman Kayla Curry-Brown, who's spent time in the starting lineup and given Malone an up-tempo five-guard attack in games.
The Pioneers remain one of the league's best defenses, conceding just 63.7 points per game, and have started to get on a roll in G-MAC play after a tough opening slate.
Malone is coached by Selana Reale, who has posted winning records in four of her first five seasons with the Pioneers and led Malone to one of its two NCAA Tournament appearances in program history.
Kentucky Wesleyan: Always a contender in the G-MAC, the Panthers are off to another solid start that has them near the top and enters this week on a seven-game winning streak.
Kentucky Wesleyan returns four starters from a veteran team that won 23 games and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23, led by multi-year starters Corina Conley and Jordyn Barga, as well as steady and talented guards Shaylee McDonald and Shiya Hoosier.
Smart work in the transfer portal has brought a high-scoring guard to add to the mix in Indiana-Southwest transfer Emmy Ralph, as well as a key bench player in DI bounce-back Sydnee Richetto. Sophomores Myah Montgomery and Hadley Lytton and freshman Jordan Gilles also play important roles off the bench for the up-tempo Panthers, who love to press and force turnovers to generate easy offense at the other end.
The Panthers are one of the G-MAC's stingiest defensive teams, giving up just 59.7 points per game, and one of the best offensive teams, scoring 75.6.
Kentucky Wesleyan is coached by the husband and wife team of Caleb and Nicole Nieman, who are in their 13th season with the program, including five NCAA Tournament appearances and over 250 wins with the Panthers in that time frame.
Scouting Hillsdale
The Chargers split a tough road weekend by picking up a win at a strong Thomas More team last Saturday, and now sit at 3-4 in G-MAC play, on the outside looking in of the G-MAC Tourney picture but very much alive in the race to secure one of the eight spots.
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 has missed time with an injury, but when she returns will look to build off a 2022-23 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 and Malone are currently tied at nine wins apiece in the all-time series between the two programs after Malone's 58-49 home win over the Chargers on Dec. 16. The Chargers and Pioneers have split their meetings in each of the prior two seasons. Kentucky Wesleyan, meanwhile, has dominated the series with the Chargers, winning the last 10 games in a row and holding a 10-2 advantage. Hillsdale is looking for their first win since 2018 over the Panthers, but did take KWC to overtime in the G-MAC Tournament last year before falling 74-73.
- 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 in November. She's 91 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 161), while her 1,251 points rank 12th all-time in Hillsdale College history.
- Junior Caitlin Splain is on an impressive trajectory from beyond the arc – with 160 made 3-pointers through two and a half seasons, the Powell, Ohio native is ninth 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 161, 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 sixth in the G-MAC in rebounds per game, fifth in assists and sixth in steals, all while averaging double-digit points. 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 2.8 steals per game, good for second 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 10.4 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 63.1 points per game so far, over five full points 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 39.4% from the field against them, the third-best mark in the G-MAC behind the current first and second place teams, Ashland and Ursuline.