Saturday: Tigers, Bulldogs bite back

 
Mollie Dittmar did a lot of damage from the foul line in East Texas Baptist's win over No. 10 Mary Hardin-Baylor.
File photo by East Texas Baptist University athletics
 

East Texas Baptist held off No. 10 Mary Hardin-Baylor at home while No. 16 DeSales did it with defense against Misericordia. Plus, No. 8 Baldwin Wallace improved to 8-0 with a rally at Marietta and Loras upset No. 10 UW-Eau Claire in Saturday's Division III women's basketball action.

East Texas Baptist showed it’ll be a factor in the ASC title race by beating No. 10 Mary Hardin-Baylor, 66-59, on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers outscored Mary Hardin-Baylor 22-6 in the third quarter and led 48-32 entering the final period. The Crusaders cut the deficit to five at 60-55 with 1:37 left before the Tigers pulled away with two free throws from Kenidi White, two more from Mollie Dittmar, and jumper from Brooke Webster.

Dittmar led East Texas Baptist (7-2, 3-1 ASC) with 26 points in 21 minutes, including a 12-for-13 showing from the foul line. Mary Hardin-Baylor (5-1, 2-1 ASC) shot 27 percent (12 for 70) from the field.

No. 8 Baldwin Wallace improved to 8-0 with a 52-49 come-from-behind win at OAC preseason favorite Marietta. The Pioneers took a 42-31 lead on Erin Hahn’s layup two minutes into the fourth quarter, but that would be Marietta’s last points for a while. Baldwin Wallace scored the next 15 points, including a Leah Riley three-pointer that put the Yellow Jackets in front, 44-42. Marietta had the ball down one with 11 seconds to play when Emily Irwin stole the ball, got fouled and sunk two free throws to give BW the 52-49 win. Full recap

Irwin finished with 16 points, six assists and four steals for Baldwin Wallace (8-0, 3-0 OAC).

Playing without All-American Mikaela Reese, No. 16 DeSales turned in a dominant defensive performance at home and shut down Misericordia, 56-29. The Bulldogs allowed just 20 points in the final three periods and held the Cougars to 11 field goals against 26 turnovers. DeSales (9-0, 4-0 MAC Freedom) had a balanced offensive attack with all starters scoring at least eight points.

Daniella Jarrell scored six straight points late to lift Loras over No. 10 UW-Eau Claire, 88-79. With the Duhawks nursing a one-point lead in the closing minutes, Jarrell hit a hook shoot and four consecutive free throws to push Loras' advantage to 77-70. Madison Fleckenstein and Sami Martin combined for 41 points for Loras (6-2) while All-American Jessie Ruden scored 30 points for UW-Eau Claire (9-2)

Katie Titus followed up Wednesday night’s impressive performance against Ithaca by dropping 37 points on Brockport, as No. 21 Rochester topped Brockport, 67-54. The Yellowjackets held the Golden Eagles to five second-half field goals.

Megan Baxter and Keegan Schwab scored 17 points apiece, and Mary Washington defeated Catholic, 76-58. The Eagles led from start to finish, shot 52 percent from the field, and hit 10 three-pointers.

Gustavus Adolphus jumped out to a big halftime lead and cruised to victory, 60-39, over visiting Augsburg. The Gusties led 31-17 at the break and outrebounded the Augies, 40-24. Morgan Kelly led Gustavus Adolphus (7-1, 5-1 MIAC) with 14 points off the bench. St. Benedict edged Hamline 53-52 on Sophia Jonas' layup with seven seconds left. 

Yanessa Cabrera tallied seven assists, including the 326th of her career, making her the all-time leader in that category in Randolph's 59-42 win over Eastern Mennonite. The WildCats improved to 8-2, 5-1 in the ODAC.