| Sela Kay scored 17 points in Bowdoin's win over No. 23 Smith on Saturday afternoon. Photo by Brian Beard, GoUBearsPhoto |
No. 1 Hope and No. 13 Bowdoin won their Top 25 showdowns on Saturday afternoon while No. 7 Tufts rallied past Brandeis, No. 5 Messiah edged No. 9 DeSales and the Maine event was a triple-overtime win for the Monks.
- Saturday men's scoreboard
- Saturday women's scoreboard
- Men's recap: Randolph-Macon, Wheaton look great, feel great
- More headlines: Men | Women
No. 1 Hope started hot and never looked back, and the Flying Dutch soared over No. 21 Baldwin Wallace, 83-55.
Hope (4-0) opened the game on a 12-2 run which head coach Brian Morehouse called "critical" in his postgame comments. "If you flip that 12-2, now we're digging ourselves out of a big hole. Credit to Baldwin-Wallace for cutting it down to six by the end of the quarter, but they had to expend a lot of energy to get there."
Hope had a typically balanced offensive performance with Claire Baguley leading the team with 15 points off the bench. Each player in the Flying Dutch's starting lineup played about 20 minutes and scored 10 points. All-American Lilly Edwards led Baldwin Wallace (2-1) with 18 points.
No. 13 Bowdoin outscored No. 23 Smith 32-13 in second period and rode that big quarter to a 69-52 victory over the Pioneers. Sela Kay hit four 3-pointers and the Polar Bears (5-0) went eight for nine from behind the arc in that period alone.
No. 7 Tufts overcame a slow start and a big game from Camila Casanueva to down Brandeis, 81-77. The Judges led 27-12 after one period, only to see the Jumbos come all the way back and take the lead for good in the fourth quarter. Callie O'Brien notched 26 points for Tufts (4-0) while Casanueva posted 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists for Brandeis (4-1).
No. 5 Messiah survived two potential game-winning threes from No. 9 DeSales, and the Falcons held off the Bulldogs, 69-67. Maria Newsome briefly gave DeSales a 67-66 lead in the closing minute before Messiah's Megan Zimmerman answered with a layup. The Bulldogs missed one 3-point attempt with 17 seconds left and another at the buzzer. All-American Leah Springer racked up 23 points, 17 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks for Messiah (4-1).
No. 4 Whitman looked good in its first game against a Division III opponent this season, defeating Austin, 89-51. All-American Kaylie McCracken tallied 23 points for the Blues (4-0) who opened with three games against NAIA foes. No. 20 Christopher Newport continued its impressive start by blowing out Randolph-Macon, 95-60. Five Captains scored double-figures led by Anaya Simmons with 20 points.
Wisconsin Lutheran knocked off No. 22 Millikin 66-56 as the Warriors converted 23 Big Blue turnovers into 21 points. Sam Liesemann posted 20 points and eight rebounds for Wisconsin Lutheran (3-0) which plays fellow unbeaten University of Chicago tomorrow.
The most exciting game of the day took place in Bangor, Maine where St. Joseph's (Maine) outlasted Husson 98-92 in triple overtime. Four St. Joseph's starters played at least 40 minutes, led by Cassandra Staplefield with 51 minutes. She scored 26 points and Angelica Hurley came up two assists shy of a triple-double (24 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists). Bailey Donovan and Megan Peach combined for 47 points and 40 rebounds for Husson (2-3).
Conference play began in earnest in the MIAC and Centennial Conference on Saturday, and Gustavus Adolphus and Johns Hopkins registered key early wins. Anna Sanders had 13 points and eight boards in the Gusties' 53-42 win over Bethel. On a day when both schools advanced through the first round of the Division III football playoffs, Johns Hopkins topped Muhlenberg, 62-52. The Bluejays outrebounded the Mules 57-36.