| Nina Mazzarelli scored 13 points for Albright in a 61-55 win over Stevenson. Photo by Jason Cline, Albright athletics |
League play began for several conferences tonight and the Hope and Albright women opened that portion of their schedule with big wins thanks to big play from their bench.
Calvin entered the Top 25 just in time for the first of two clashes with archrival No. 10 Hope, but the 24th ranked Knights may not stay ranked for long. The Flying Dutch (6-0, 1-0 MIAA) dispatched Calvin 82-61 in the conference opener between the programs that have won at least a share of every MIAA conference title since 1992. Hope's reserves outscored Calvin's 44-4 with Elizabeth Perkins leading the way. She tallied 28 points, four rebounds and three steals in just 26 minutes. Ali Spayde scored 26 for Calvin (6-1, 0-1 MIAA). Box score
No. 18 Albright opened MAC Commonwealth play with a tough road victory over Stevenson 61-55. Four players scored in double figures for the Lions (4-1, 1-0 MACC), lead by 13 from Nina Mazzarelli off the bench. Sarah Tarbet scored 21 with 13 rebounds for Stevenson (3-2, 0-1). Box score
The NJAC provded excitement on their second night of league play with TCNJ knocking off No. 23 Stockton in Galloway. The teams traded leads throughout the second half, before the Lions took over for good in the final minute and hit free throws to seal the victory 63-59. Kim Dana had 17 and Chiara Palombi had 16 for TCNJ (2-2, 1-1 NJAC). Sasha Williams had 18 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks to pace Stockton (4-1, 1-1).
No. 9 Wartburg welcomed Nebraska Wesleyan to the IIAC by blasting the Praire Wolves, 79-57. This is Nebraska Wesleyan's first season as a member of the conference. No. 5 Thomas More had no trouble in its conference opener, cruising past Grove City 88-47.
No. 4 Scranton survived a scare at Neumann where the Lady Royals came from behind to beat the Knights, 66-61. Bridgette Mann scored 25 points for Scranton (6-0) whose margin of victory in its three previous games was 60, 37 and 44 points.
In non-conference action No. 19 Wheaton (Ill.) visited No. 25 Chicago and came away with the victory 76-60. Katie McDaniels earned 10 of her game high 22 points on the free throw line, outpacing the entire Maroons squad. The Thunder (4-1) shot 50% from deep and forced 23 turnovers. Chicago (4-1) was led by Elizabeth Nye's 16 points.
Illinois Wesleyan put the clamps on Rose-Hulman, holding the Fighting Engineers to 29 percent shooting (14-for-48) in a 66-38 Titans' victory.
Men: Good to be Gulls
| Wyatt Smith and Salisbury grabbed hold of a victory in their CAC opener on Wednesday night. File photo by Salisbury athletics |
No. 19 Salisbury shook off a slow start and a poor shooting night from long range to beat St. Mary's (Md.) 64-59 in the teams' conference opener. After falling behind 5-0, the Sea Gulls scored 14 of the next 16 points and took a 33-19 lead into the break. Salisbury (5-0, 1-0 CAC) shot 2-for-21 from three but Wyatt Smith picked up the slack, scoring 22 points in 27 minutes.
In a meeting of two CCC programs going in different directions, No. 24 Endicott topped Curry, 85-56. The Gulls are nationally ranked for the first time in program history while Curry has the longest active losing streak amount Division III men's basketball teams (30 games).
No. 17 Augustana topped UW-Oshkosh 77-64 to halt its modest losing streak at one game. The Vikings (5-1) shot 55 percent (28-for-51) from the field led by Dylan Sortillo's 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Charlie Noone scored 20 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Titans (2-3). Box score
No. 2 Babson bounced back from a close win over Bowdoin to defeat Bates 87-53. Isiah Nelsen had a double-double for the Beavers (7-0) with 13 points and 10 rebounds; none of Babson's starters played more than 26 minutes. Malcolm Delpeche and Max Hummel had 10 points each for Bates (2-3).
Marietta is not the only team beating No. 11 Wooster these days. The Scots started off NCAC play with a home loss to Denison 65-59. Wooster shot just 37% from the floor, including 2-15 from deep. Jett Speelman led Denison (5-0, 1-0 NCAC) with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Box score
Mount St. Joseph jumped into the Top 25 this week at No. 22, but the Lions lost their HCAC opener to Anderson 74-78. The Lions are now 5-1, giving up a 14 point lead in the final 10 minutes of the game. Trevor Lucas paced Anderson with 24 points and 8 rebounds. Next up for the Ravens is a surprisingly 3-2 Earlham squad on Saturday. Box score
Outside the Top 25, Guilford and Eastern Mennonite opened conference play with a thriller as the Quakers outlasted the Royals 94-88 in overtime. Carson Long scored 32 points and Dominique Henderson added 21 more for Guilford (4-1, 1-0 ODAC). Isaiah Harris-Winn notched 27 points for Eastern Mennonite (2-2, 0-1 ODAC), which made 18 three-pointers but only 15 field goals from inside the arc.
Wheaton (Ill.) erased a 30-point second-half deficit against Chicago and briefly took the lead in the final two minutes before the Maroons pulled out the victory, 94-92. The Thunder trailed 78-48 with under 13 minutes to play and came back to lead 91-90 in the final two minutes. Six of the nine Chicago players scored double-figures, led by Jake Fenlon with 21 points. Box score
Hood used last minute heroics to beat Alvernia 76-73 and remain unbeaten. In the final minute the Blazers (6-0, 1-0 MACC) created a turnover out its press defense and Scott Bolen followed with the game-winning shot. Hobart dealt Scranton its first loss of the season as the Royals shot 33 percent (20-for-61) in Upstate New York.