Saturday women: Ranked and rolling

More news about: Juniata | Scranton | St. Thomas | UW-La Crosse
Jan 20, 2018
 
Hannah Spaulding racked up 23 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks for St. Thomas on Saturday.
 Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

No. 11 St. Thomas, No. 17 Scranton and No. 20 Juniata beat conference contenders on Saturday as the Top 25 teams pushed their record to a 43-1 this week.

St. Thomas rolled over St. Benedict 77-52 in the matchup of MIAC co-leaders. The Tommies (15-2, 10-0) used a 23-5 run spanning the third and fourth quarter to wrap up their 44th consecutive win against a conference opponent. With Regis' loss on Thursday night, St. Thomas has second the longest active conference game win streak behind No. 5 Thomas More. The Saints easily beat Grove City 101-60 and extended their streak to 92 straight regular season wins in the PAC, not including the wins vacated during the 2014-15 season.

No. 1 Amherst held Hamilton to six points in the first quarter and two in the fourth quarter, and the Mammoths blitzed the Continentals 72-34. Amherst has won 50 consecutive games, including its run through the NESCAC and NCAA Tournaments last season.

Scranton used a strong fourth quarter to pull away from Catholic, 62-50. Leading by one after three quarters the Lady Royals outscored the Cardinals 21-10 in the final period. Makenzie Mason led Scranton in points, rebounds and assists. Juniata stayed a half-game in front of Scranton with a 74-61 win over Moravian. Morgan Instone had 16 points and 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes for the Eagles (16-1, 5-1).

It looked like the Top 25 teams would have a chance for a perfect week until UW-La Crosse knocked off No. 14 UW-Whitewater 66-62. Dani Craig nailed a three-pointer with 1:10 to play to snap a 57-all tie and the Eagles (11-6, 4-2) made enough free throws down the stretch to hold off the Warhawks. 

No. 16 Muhlenberg erased a seven-point halftime deficit and rallied past Johns Hopkins 64-59. Brandi Vallely posted 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Mules (15-1, 10-1). Gettysburg had no trouble keeping pace in the Centennial Conference race as the Bullets cruised past Washington College, 68-45.

Outside the Top 25, Guilford moved into a tie for first place in the ODAC with a win over Eastern Mennonite and some help. The Quakers (12-3, 6-2) defeated Eastern Mennonite 68-43 behind Jasmine McBride's career-high 17 points. Then Randolph-Macon knocked off ODAC leader Lynchburg 71-59 for Carroll LaHaye's 600th win as a head coach. Those three teams are now tied for first at 6-2 with three more teams just one game back.