William Paterson improved to 24-3 and likely preserved the status quo at the top of the Atlantic Region rankings.  William Paterson athletics file photo

Calvin and Hope were so closely matched during the regular season that Calvin only received home court advantage for Saturday's game via a coin flip. The archrivals then played a championship game for the ages with Calvin winning 67-65 on a last second 3-pointer by Jill Thomas. 

• Saturday's women's scoreboard
• Saturday's men's scoreboard
• Saturday's men's wrapup
• Selection Monday
• Who's clinched? Men's | Women's

Hope erased a 20-point deficit to take the lead 60-59 with 3:29 left. Calvin took the lead back on a three, Hope grabbed it again on a layup with 10 seconds left and then Thomas hit her heroic shot. There's video of this shot at the bottom of the page.

Monmouth rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final 4:25 of regulation to force overtime at St. Norbert in the Midwest Conference final. The Green Knights built a four-point lead and hung on for a 56-54 win.

Coe nearly had the same experience in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference final against Simpson. The Kohawks had a 10-point lead with four minutes to play until the Red Storm rallied to trial 56-54 deficit with 34 seconds left. Coe made enough free throws down the stretch to win 59-56. The Kohawks are headed to their first NCAA tournament.

Two NCAA tournament mainstays may be staying home for the first time in a while. Lebanon Valley pounded 51-33 Messiah to win the Middle Atlantic Commonwealth title. The Falcons are 18-6 in region and were ranked fourth in the Mid Atlantic coming into the game, so they have a case for an at-large bid. Further west, Juniata beat Scranton 67-49 in the Landmark final to put the Lady Royals' string of NCAA tournament appearances in jeopardy.

For Messiah or Scranton to make the NCAA tournament, they need as few surprise conference winners as possible. Mount Union helped that cause with a 92-84 win over John Carroll in the Ohio Athletic Conference final, despite 39 points for the Blue Streaks' Lee Jennings. William Paterson beat Rutgers-Newark 63-49 in the NJAC final and Mount St. Mary earned its 12th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament with a 71-50 win over Farmingdale State.

At least two teams will enter the NCAA tournament without a loss. Thomas More beat St. Vincent 66-55 to win the Presidents' Athletic Conference tournament and improve to 28-0. Undefeated Denision stayed that way by dumping Allegheny 72-54 in the North Coast Athletic Conference final. Also undefeated, Babson will play Smith in the NEWMAC final tomorrow.

Vassar is the lowest seeded team to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament so far. The Brewers, who were fourth in the Liberty League, defeated William Smith 77-67 to earn their first trip to the NCAA tournament. Chantelle Jennings scored 23 points to lead La Roche past Medaille 62-54 and into the NCAA tournament for the first time. Minnesota-Morris beat Northwestern (Minn.) 82-74 to grab the UMAC's first-ever automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Webster upended SLIAC tournament host Westminster (Mo.) 75-58 to clinch an automatic bid as a three seed. Daniel Webster had to forfeit the top seed in the NECC tournament but beat Lesley 64-52 to earn its first trip to the NCAA tournament. York (Pa.) and Piedmont also won their conference tournaments as three seeds.

As Final Four hosts, will Illinois Wesleyan get to stay home through the entire NCAA tournament? We won't know that until the bracket is announced Monday. But the Titans, who were ranked first in the Central, beat Wheaton (Ill.) 67-57 in the CCIW tournament final.

Melissa Teel racked up 39 points and blocked seven shots to lead Western Connecticut to a 74-58 win against in-state rival Eastern Connecticut. She broke her own career high, set the night before with 38 against Rhode Island College.

Having already clinched the UAA's automatic bid, Chicago knocked off Washington 61-51 to finish its undefeated run through the conference. The Maroons are the fifth team to accomplish that feat and first since 2002.

Amherst beat archrival Williams 71-64 to advance to the NESCAC final where the Lord Jeffs will play Bowdoin. The Polar Bears also beat a rival, Colby, 79-63 in the conference semifinals. DePauw will get one more shot at a SCAC title when they face Hendrix tomorrow. The Tigers, who will move to the NCAC next year, beat Trinity (Texas) 73-53 on Saturday.