#HLWBB Conference Preview
Joey Yashinsky
#HLWBB Conference Preview
By Joey Yashinsky
Horizon League Contributor
In the 2017-18 women’s basketball season, there will be ten schools scrapping and clawing for the regular season championship. Mathematically, each team has a one in ten chance of capturing the crown at year’s end. But when nineteen consecutive seasons conclude with the same name at the top of the food chain, you begin to wonder if such percentages mean anything at all.
The Green Bay Phoenix, guided by program legend Kevin Borseth, are vying for their 20th straight Horizon League championship. And they’ll do so with a pair of senior leaders as good as you’ll find in the nation.
Jessica Lindstrom and Allie LeClaire are consummate Borseth players: they work extremely hard, exhibit the soundest of fundamentals, and compete with maximum effort. Redshirt junior Jen Wellnitz suffocates opponents on the defensive end. The Phoenix allowed just 30 points in their season opener against Chattanooga, including a third quarter in which they permitted just three points.
Wright State will once again provide a stern test to Green Bay’s run of dominance. The Raiders tied GB for the best record in the Horizon League last year (15-3), but lost both head-to-head matchups.
Chelsea Welch is the preseason Horizon League Player of the Year and will pace the Wright State attack. The senior guard is a relentless driver and excels at getting to the foul line. She earned ten free throw attempts in a season-opening victory, converting nine. Juniors Mackenzie Taylor and Emily Vogelpohl give coach Katrina Merriweather a wealth of talent in the backcourt. Senior Lexi Smith (preseason second team all-conference) will hold down the fort inside.
The Oakland Golden Grizzlies did lose an outstanding player in Hannah Little, but bring back reigning Sixth Player of the Year in Taylor Jones. She slides into a starting role this season, making way for Sha’Keya Graves to possibly become the Horizon League’s newest super-sub. The redshirt senior Graves popped for 17 points off the pine in a season-opening blowout over Illinois State.
Coach Jeff Tungate will look for senior Leah Somerfield to play with an attitude down low. She’ll be flanked by 6-foot-2 sophomore Nikita Telesford and promising 6-foot-3 freshman Autumn Kissman. The Golden Grizzlies have won 12, 15, and 18 games over the last three seasons. All signs point to a spirited 20-win campaign in 2017-18 and a legitimate run at one of the top two spots in the Horizon League.
Milwaukee came mighty close to knocking off Green Bay in last year’s Motor City Madness and the Panthers could be even tougher this season. Steph Kostowicz is arguably the best post player in the conference. Jenny Lindner might be the most underrated player in the conference. To top it off, both are seniors and looking to punctuate their Panther careers with an NCAA berth.
Further support will be provided by gritty freshman point guard McKaela Schmelzer. Moonlighting in the fall as one of the Horizon League’s toughest soccer defenders, Schmelzer will now hop over to the basketball court to facilitate Kyle Rechlicz’s offense. Redshirt senior Bailey Farley is one of the most dangerous long-range shooters in the midwest.
Bernard Scott and the Detroit Mercy Titans got off to a rocky start with a 27-point loss at Miami (OH), but don’t let that fool you. The Titans struggled in non-conference play last year too (4-7), then found their groove in the Horizon League (12-6) on their way to a spot in the conference championship game. Scott does lose a program legend in Rosanna Reynolds, but he’ll still have plenty of quality hoopers to work with.
Brianne Cohen is a preseason first team all-conference selection and a devastating force at both ends of the floor. She shot a league-leading 60% from the field last year and was also named Detroit Mercy’s Defensive MVP. Cohen will have a host of quality guards to get her the ball inside and create scoring opportunities themselves. Nicole Urbanick is a senior with unlimited range on the perimeter. Junior Brittney Jackson and intriguing freshman Kayla Brown will push the ball for Scott at every opportunity. Anja Marinkovic could have a breakout sophomore season in an increased role.
Cleveland State was voted just sixth in the Horizon League preseason voting, but they have more than enough firepower to contend for the conference’s top spot. Ashanti Abshaw is a high-powered junior forward recently elected first team all-conference. Khayla Livingston is a lightning-quick senior point guard, also receiving all-conference accolades on the second team.
Experience on the bench is also in abundance with Kate Peterson Abiad entering her 15th season at CSU. Peterson Abiad is hoping for a big senior year from forward Olivia Voskuhl and a super sophomore season from Jade Ely, an all-freshman pick in 2016-17. Junior forward Rachel Slaney, a junior college transfer, will bring a much-needed jolt to the Vikings’ bench brigade.
All Horizon League fans are eager to see how newcomer IUPUI will fare in its debut season. Austin Parkinson, the Jaguars’ fiery head coach, has been outspoken about his team not getting enough respect in the preseason polls. He was shocked to find his club picked to finish in seventh place and even more surprised not to find senior guard Danielle Lawrence’s name on the all-conference first team (she was voted to the second team).
Parkinson is a Gene Keady disciple and brings that same lockdown Purdue defense to IUPUI. In a recent exhibition game, the Jags permitted just 42 points and won by 64. In the regular season opener, Lawrence and Co. forced Northern Iowa into a whopping 20 turnovers and just 35.6% shooting in a 54-48 victory. Tamya Sims is a force to be reckoned with inside and Sydney Hall is going to light up many a Horizon League gym with her 3-point shooting. Add to the mix punishing freshman center Macee Williams and you soon realize this squad could turn that seventh place preseason slotting into a punchline by year’s end.
Youngstown State won just nine games in 2016-17 and were beaten handily in the opening round of Motor City Madness, but it could be a whole different story this time around. Back from injury are Sarah Cash and Nikki Arbanas, redshirt juniors looking to flip last year’s record upside-down. Cash is a tenacious defender and a terrific scorer. Arbanas will team with Alison Smolinski to form a lethal perimeter combo.
Senior point guard Indiya Benjamin will be asked to blend everything together and make sure all the capable Penguin scorers are getting ample shots. Benjamin can put the ball in the bucket, too. She led the team with 16 points in a season-opening loss at Pittsburgh. Despite the loss, John Barnes has to be encouraged by his club jumping out to a healthy nine-point advantage after just one quarter and hanging tight with an ACC team the whole way. 6-foot-3 Mary Dunn looks to capitalize on her Freshman of the Year award.
A Horizon League championship might still be a couple of years away for Camryn Whitaker and her up-and-coming Northern Kentucky team, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be laying down for anybody in 2017-18. It’s an extremely young roster, with guard Mikayla Terry as the lone senior.
Getting redshirt sophomore Molly Glick back from injury will be a major boost to the Norse cause. Glick has a soft touch from the outside and could be NKU’s top scorer this season. Taryn Taugher is another redshirt sophomore guard that will play a key role. The future is bright for this program, with fabulous freshmen Kailey Coffey and Grayson Rose sure to receive a valuable crash course in college basketball this year. Whitaker won’t hesitate to give her youngsters major minutes with an eye on becoming a Horizon League power when these gifted freshmen and sophomores develop into grizzled juniors and seniors.
There might not be much expected from Regina Miller’s UIC Flames after their 2-16 conference mark a year ago, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more competitive player than 5-foot-9 junior guard Taylor Toney. She’ll pair with fellow junior guard Brittany Byrd to try and flip the script on some of those preseason prognostications.
Gabryelle Johnson and Teodora Zagorac, UIC’s only seniors, will do much of the dirty work inside. There is also a fair amount of buzz league-wide surrounding a freshman point guard from California, Abreanna Lake. If Miller can coax an All-Freshman type season from Lake, the Flames could suddenly become one of the surprise teams in this league. That turnaround, however, would need to come with a more efficient output at the foul line. It was an Achilles’ heel for the Flames all last season and through two exhibition games this year, they’ve connected on just 21 of 39 free throws (53.8%).
Motor City Madness
This year’s Little Caesars Horizon League Basketball Championships will take place at sparkling new Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich. Fans from all corners of the conference are already buzzing about the event, which will take place March 2nd-6th, 2018.
The arena, home to the Pistons (NBA) and Red Wings (NHL), will officially open its doors for college hoops on December 16 when it hosts The District Detroit Basketball Showcase. That event will consist of a star-studded Horizon League vs. Big Ten men's basketball doubleheader; Detroit Mercy against Michigan in the opener, and Oakland tussling with Michigan State in the nightcap.
Little Caesars Arena is located right in the heart of District Detroit, a vibrant 50-block area full of restaurants, bars, parks, and other destinations. Fans attending Motor City Madness will be able to explore all that District Detroit has to offer while taking in 18 thrilling Horizon League tournament games over five days in a state-of-the-art entertainment facility. Tickets can be purchased at campus box offices now and online starting December 15. For more information, click here.
Team Previews
#HLWBB
#HLMBB