Saturday recap: More teams join the fray

More news about: Hope | Oglethorpe
Jan 23, 2021
Olivia Voskuil was one rebound and one block short of a triple-double.
Hope athletics file photo
 

Two of the best bigs in Division III women's basketball had big performances in victories for Hope and Oglethorpe on Saturday afternoon, while the CCIW got started and a new Coach Djurickovic got a career-opening win.

Olivia Voskuil just missed a triple-double and Hope pulled away from Albion, 86-58. The Britons hung with the Flying Dutch for most of the first half until Hope finished the half on a 12-3 run and led 38-26 at the break. The Flying Dutch turned up the defensive intensity in the second half and converted 28 Albion turnovers into 31 points. Voskuil had 12 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks for the Flying Dutch (2-0). Rain Hinton led Albion (0-1) with 16 points.

It was a better test than Hope's opener, which saw the Flying Dutch soar past Concordia-Chicago 97-30 on Wednesday night.

Savannah LeGate feasted on Birmingham-Southern's laissez-faire frontcourt defense and scored 43 points as Oglethorpe outscored the Panthers, 114-104. Birmingham-Southern is using the Grinnell-style System that emphasizes quick possessions and a large number of 3-pointers instead of playing traditional halfcourt defense. Josie Wannemuehler scored 25 points with 7-for-8 shooting from three for the Panthers. LeGate also had 21 rebounds for the Stormy Petrels (2-0). 

Rhodes lost its four-point lead over Centre at the end of regulation but won the game in overtime, 81-74, to stay unbeaten. Abigail Wehby scored layups on back-to-back possessions for the Colonels (0-2) to tie the game at 69 and force the extra period. Alexys Matthangani and Alli Mayeux combined for 12 points in overtime for Rhodes (4-0), which is scheduled to play Oglethorpe twice next weekend.

The CCIW began its season with three games on the women's side. Hannah Swider scored 21 points and Hannah Williams added 16 more as Wheaton (Ill.) rolled over Augustana, 69-42. North Park took care of North Central (Ill.) 59-47 in a rematch of last year's CCIW tournament and Bailey Coffman scored 17 points in Millikin's 77-66 win over Carthage. 

East Texas Baptist made a strong first half stand up and remained undefeated with a 69-63 win at Howard Payne. The Tigers (13-0) hit six 3-pointers in the first half and took a 39-26 lead into the locker room. ETBU went 0-for-8 from 3 in the third period but outscored the Yellow Jackets 27-12 on second chance points.

Colorado College took two in its weekend tangle of Tigers by beating Trinity 64-61 in overtime. Talia Cloud hit a three for the Tigers of Colorado College to tie the game at 52 with 1:22 left. Kelly Simmons responded with a basket that gave the Tigers of Trinity the lead back before Cloud tied the game again. Rosie Braley scored four of her game-high 16 points to start overtime and Colorado College (2-0) never looked back. Colorado College also won on Friday night, 57-55.

Rhode Island College topped Keene State 51-47 in what could be a rarity this season -- games between New England teams. Several New England conferences have already canceled conference play but a handful of teams in the Little East will try to play each other. Franciscan played its first game ever as a PAC program and lost to Bethany, 67-49.

Ohio Northern salvaged a split in its two-game season-opening series with Wilmington. Trailing 53-50, McKayla Binkley was fouled with a minute to play and made two free throws to pull within one. After a defensive stop, Wilmington, just as ONU had the night before, got possession back with a chance to win it. Kennedy Lewis' 3-point attempt was off the mark, and the Polar Bears escaped with the 53-52 win.

After losing to Transylvania by 22 in its season opener, Mount St. Joseph rebounded and beat the Pioneers, 58-55. The Lions jumped in front with a 24-point third quarter and then hung on to win. Carlee Daulton had a double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) for the Lions, who had not beaten Transy since Feb. 8, 2012. 

Saturday's men's action

Carthage got its new season off to a good start under a new Coach Djurickovic, as Steve Djurickovic's debut saw the artists formerly known as Red rolled to an 83-57 win against Millikin. Steve, a D3hoops.com All-Decade selection as a player under his dad, Bosko, took over as head coach this summer when his dad retired, and his team shot 51% from the floor and 46% from beyond the arc in the win. Joshua Washburn scored 20 points in 31 minutes off the bench to lead Carthage, while Filip Bulatovic and Garrett Horner added 14 points apiece. Illinois Wesleyan, North Central (Ill.) and Wheaton (Ill.) were all victors on Saturday as well. North Central was led by 25 points from Blaise Meredith, as the Cardinals shot 52% from the floor in the second half to defeat North Park 69-49.

The Thunder spoiled Steve Schafer's Augustana coaching debut, dumping the Vikings 88-67 behind 26 points from Nyameye Adom. "I really wanted to come into today with a grateful heart, that no matter what the outcome of the game was – I was thankful to be back playing games and competing," said Wheaton coach Michael Schauer. "People may not realize the amount of work that goes into playing today's game, so I am thankful for the persistence and willingness to try and make it happen."

Brandon Craig scored six of Salisbury's final eight points, including the eventual game-winning basket on a driving layup with 57 seconds left on the clock as the Sea Gulls (2-0) defeated St. Mary's (Md.) 69-66. The Seahawks (0-1) had two opportunities to tie or take the lead in the waning moments of the game. A Gary Grant 3-point attempt hit back iron with 36 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Jordan Oates put back a Fierstein miss to give Salisbury insurance in the late stages. Salisbury's full-court pressure forced a Seahawk turnover with a second left on the clock to seal the win for SU.

Mass-Dartmouth returned to the floor with the school's first on-campus athletics event in 322 days. The Corsairs got 23 points, 21 of them on 3-pointers, from Jake Ashworth in a 76-41 win against Castleton. 

"It was awesome," Ashworth said after the game. "A long layoff. I wish there were fans. We played well -- it would have been nice to have them, but we'll take what we can get."

Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer added 12 for the Corsairs, while Castleton was led by 13 points from Remy Brown. A handful of teams from the nine-team Little East are playing this winter.

Braedon Poole put up 24 points and 14 rebounds as Mount Union swept the season series from Baldwin Wallace with an 89-80 victory. Mount Union, who has won the last four meetings, had five players score in double figures as Ethan Stanislawski and Chris Painter each added 15 points. Collen Gurley chipped in 11 points and Logan Hill contributed 10. After trailing by a point at halftime, the Purple Raiders opened the second half on a 15-5 run.

Josiah Johnson had another of his big nights, as the Mary Hardin-Baylor sophomore guard poured in 35 points in a 94-66 win at McMurry. Johnson shot 11-for-18 from the field on the way to his sixth 30-point game of the season. The point total leaves him averaging 30.0 points exactly for the season.

Capital rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit and knocked off Muskingum as Keandre Graves converted a three-point play with three seconds left to lift the Crusaders to a 73-72 win. Graves finished with 13 points off the bench, while Carter Combs scored a game-high 21 and Joe Hartmann added 15.

Through Saturday, 112 men's teams have played in at least one game which counts, while 108 women's teams have done so.