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| Hayley Kanner had 17 points
for Tufts on 7-for-11 shooting. Tufts athletics file photo by Kelvin Ma |
After beating Bowdoin on Saturday afternoon, No. 5 Tufts may not have to leave its home floor for a while. The Jumbos secured the top spot in the NESCAC playoffs and added another win to a resume that will likely garner them multiple NCAA games at home.
Tufts hosted No. 18 Bowdoin in both teams' regular season finale with home court throughout the NESCAC playoffs on the line. The Jumbos seized control with an 11-0 run in the first half, turning a tie score into a double-digit lead that Tufts maintained for much of the game. Back-to-back baskets by Melissa Baptista and Hayley Kanner put the Jumbos in front by 24 in the second half and they cruised from there.
In addition to hosting the NESCAC playoffs, Tufts likely put themselves in position to have several home games in the NCAA tournament. The Jumbos are ranked first in the Northeast region with wins over the next three teams in those rankings and the NESCAC's top team has routinely hosted two weekend's worth of games in the NCAA tournament.
That race is finished, but the WIAC title chase is far from over. Sally Linzmeier notched a triple-double for UW-Superior and the Yellowjackets notched a big win over visiting No. 20 UW-Oshkosh, 56-48. Linzmeier had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and Allyssa Lindberg added 18 points off Superior's bench. The Yellowjackets and Titans are tied for first and split their regular season series.
After losing five of six games in the last month, Carthage is back on track. The Lady Reds knocked off No. 16 Wheaton (Ill.) 72-70 in overtime three days after beating No. 23 North Central (Ill.). Carthage shot 51 percent from the field (26-for-51), led by Alexis Hahn's 24 points. Despite the loss, the Thunder are CCIW champions because Elmhurst dumped slumping North Central 91-64.
No. 13 Hope survived a scare from Olivet as the Flying Dutch held off the Comets 42-35. Both teams shot 21 percent from the floor, was slightly better from behind the arc. Maura McAfee had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Hope.
Top-ranked Thomas More got 43 points and 13 rebounds from Sydney Moss as the Saints defeated Washington and Jefferson 91-70. The Presidents (17-6, 11-5 PAC) are in third place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.
In other early finals, No. 2 St. Thomas clinched the MIAC title with a 62-50 win at Concordia-Moorhead. The Tommies have held their opponent below 60 points in all 23 games this season. No. 3 George Fox finished a successful sweep of the Whitworth-Whitman road trip by beating the Missionaries 73-65. The Bruins secured home court for the NWC tournament.
Madison Wilson's three-point play with 23 seconds left guaranteed that No. 10 Texas-Tyler will host the ASC tournament after the Patriots nipped Concordia (Texas) 72-71. No. 25 Cabrini edged Immaculata 65-64 behind Amber Keys' career-high 33 points to secure home court for the CSAC tournament. Scranton
Beyond Top 25: Royals run past Lynchburg
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Shakeerah Sykes and Eastern Mennonite need one
more win to secure the top seed in the ODAC
tournament. |
Eastern Mennonite beat Lynchburg 59-43 and avenged its only conference loss of the season to date. The Royals held the Hornets to 21 percent shooting (14-for-66), a season low scoring output and two points in the game's final 11-plus minutes.
Eastern Mennonite improved to 19-3, 13-1 in the ODAC while Lynchburg slips to 16-7, 11-3. The Hornets remain tied for second because Emory and Henry knocked off Randolph-Macon 85-84 on a Chloe Harris three with nine seconds left.
Westfield State set a new school record for consecutive wins by topping Worcester State 57-44. The Owls have won 13 straight and are 10-0 in the MASCAC.
Albright set a new program record for conference wins and clinched the second seed in the Commonwealth Conference tournament in the process. The Lions edged Arcadia 71-68.