| Madeline Homoly scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to power Washington U. past Illinois Wesleyan. Washington U. file photo |
The Washington U. women and Wooster men rebounded from recent losses to beat ranked opponents on Saturday afternoon, while Keene State cooled off MIT and the Claremont women defeated Ithaca at the David Wells Classic.
Playing its first game in a week, No. 10 Washington U put its loss to Wisconsin Lutheran behind it and outlasted No. 25 Illinois Wesleyan 89-81 at the Midwest Challenge. The two teams traded leads throughout the second half until Rachael Sondag hit a three-pointer to put the Bears in front 73-71 with six minutes left. Sondag's shot keyed an 11-0 run capped by Madeline Homoly scoring two her game-high 29 points. Homoly also led Washington U. (2-1) in rebounds with 16 and Kristina Schmelter scored 19 off the Bears' bench. Box score
Washington U. will play No. 15 DePauw tomorrow because the Tigers beat nearby rival Rose-Hulman 55-49. Maya Howard scored 23 points for DePauw (4-0) which stayed unbeaten despite shooting just 32 percent from the field (15-for-47). Box score
In a showdown of All-Americans, Wartburg's Katie Sommer outperformed Elmhurst's Mikaela Eppard and so did her team, as the eighth-ranked Knights beat the Bluejays 67-59. Sommer nearly posted a triple-double for Wartburg (2-0). finishing with 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Eppard tallied 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three blocks for Elmhurst (1-2). Box score
Bethel's five starters each scored double-figures and the Royals defeated George Fox 68-64. Hannah Johnson rolled up 17 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks for Bethel (3-1) while Kaitlin Jamieson led the Bruins (2-1) with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Box score
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps held off Ithaca 74-68 in the marquee matchup of the women's side of the David Wells Classic. The Athenas (3-1) shot 6-for-8 from the foul line in the game's final 32 seconds and converted 21 of 33 three throw attempts in the game. Julie Yacovoni led Ithaca (3-1) with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
On the men's side, Wooster looked like a vastly different team from the one that lost to St. John Fisher by 33 on Tuesday night, as the Scots led wire-to-wire in a 87-79 victory over No. 4 Hanover. The Scots jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the opening minutes and carried that seven-point lead into the half. Wes McKinney's three-pointer pulled the Panthers within two at 36-34 with 18:50 to play, but Wooster responded with a 19-5 run and didn't look back.
Wooster made 21 of its 26 free throw attempts and blocked 12 Hanover shots. Reece Dupler scored 23 points for Wooster (3-1). McKinney scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Hanover (3-1).
At the other end of the spectrum, MIT could not maintain the momentum coming off Tuesday night's win over Tufts. The Engineers held a two-point lead over visiting Keene State with 1:29 to play, but could not contain Ty Nichols down the stretch. Nichols scored a layup to tie the game and then hit a three with 22 seconds left to lift the Owls over MIT, 67-63. Nichols notched 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists for Keene State (2-2). Hamilton Forsythe scored 17 points in 20 minutes for MIT (3-1). Recap
No. 17 Emory got Adam Gigax back but LaGrange got 26 points from Jamison McCray and 20 more from Alex Bonner in the Panthers' 84-78 win. LaGrange outrebounded the Eagles 44-34, led by Travis Thompson's 11 boards. Box score
Mason Jones and Jaqhawn Walters combined for 51 points to put Albertus Magnus in the win column with a 77-73 victory over WPI. Rhodes had its System offense running full throttle in a 141-107 victory over Howard Payne. The Lynx hit 23 of their 49 three pointers with 12 different players making at least one.
The tough start for the SCIAC's top two teams continued. George Fox outlasted Pomona-Pitzer 96-90 in overtime and Puget Sound took care of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 87-74. Claremont and Pomona-Pitzer, which were picked 1 and 2 in the SCIAC preseason poll, are a combined 0-9. Six of the SCIAC's nine teams are still looking for their first win.