Maegen Martin's double-double was part of Whitman's overpowering victory at No. 12 George Fox. Whitman athletics file photo

Whitman dominated its battle for first place in the NWC while SUNY New Paltz tripped previoulsy unbeaten No. 14 SUNY Geneseo and Guilford kept rolling in Saturday's women's basketball action.

• Saturday's scoreboard: Women | Men
• Saturday men: St. Thomas wins 3 OT thriller
• More news releases: Women | Men

Whitman used a 31-point third quarter to blow open its game at No. 12 George Fox and cruise to victory, 73-54. With the game tied at 31 early in the third quarter, the Blues ripped off a 12-0 run keyed by three-point plays from Makana Stone and Kaylie McCracken. The Bruins momentarily regained their footing and trimmed the lead to nine before Whitman put together another 9-0 run that put the game out of reach.

Stone notched her third consecutive double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Maegen Martin added her third of the season (17 points, 12 rebounds) for the Blues. Whitman improved to 6-0 in conference and 12-3 overall with the three losses coming to No. 2 Thomas More and NAIA members Montana Tech and Eastern Oregon.

Earlier in the day SUNY New Paltz held No. 14 SUNY Geneseo to 26 points in the second half and pulled away from the Knights for a 71-61 win. Nicole Kaczmarczyk's layup gave Geneseo a 51-46 lead with 1:19 to play in the third quarter, but the Knights would only make one other field goal over the next 10-plus minutes, allowing New Paltz to pull comfortably in front. Lindsay Bettke scored 21 points and added six assists and five rebounds for the Hawks (9-4, 5-1 SUNYAC).

For the second consecutive Saturday Tufts found itself in a Top 25 showdown, but this time the sxith-ranked Jumbos got the victory, topping No. 25 Middlebury, 74-58. Jac Knapp, Erica DeCandido and Emily Briggs combined for 52 points on 63 percent shooting.

No. 1 Bowdoin stepped out of conference and ran past Southern Maine, 90-55. The Huskies led 22-15 after one period and then Bowdoin outscored USM 75-33 the rest of the way. Sela Kay scored 18 points on 6-for-6 shooting from three for the Polar Bears. The single-game record for made three-point field goals without a miss is 8-for-8, recorded by five players, most recently in 2012.

No. 19 DePauw rallied past Ohio Wesleyan with a big fourth quarter to beat the Battling Bishops 86-68. The Tigers (14-3, 8-0 NCAC) trailed by one entering the final period but outscored OWU 30-12 in the final period. Maya Howard led the way with 29 points, six rebounds and six assists. 

Defense was the name of the game for most of the Top 25 teams on Saturday. No. 11 Hope stymied arch rival Calvin 50-38 and All-American Francesca Buchanan scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Flying Dutch. No. 3 Scranton held Catholic to 11 made field goals versus 16 turnovers in a 53-36 Lady Royals' victory. 

No. 4 St. Thomas shut down Augsburg, 49-34, and slogged its way to first place in the MIAC. The Tommies (14-0, 8-0 MIAC) held the Augies to 24 percent shooting and their lowest offensive output in a conference game in 16 seasons. Hannah Spaulding had 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks for St. Thomas.

Guilford took over first place in the ODAC by beating Randolph-Macon 60-53. The Quakers outrebounded the Yellow Jackets, who are playing without injured All-American forward Kelly Williams, 43-26. Miracle Walters paced Guilford (11-4, 8-1 ODAC) with 24 points and 10 rebounds. The Quakers completed a week in which they beat the ODAC preseason favorites, Emory and Henry and Randolph-Macon, in back-to-back games.

Southern Virginia continued its surprising run through the CAC with a 66-50 victory at home over Salisbury. After scoring 19 points in the first half, the Knights broke out for 47 in the second with Katie Garrish (22 points, 16 rebounds) leading the way again. Southern Virginia is 13-1, 4-0 in conference and has set a new single-season record for wins in the program's short history in NCAA Division III. Next up the Knights will host No. 23 Christopher Newport, which took care of Frostburg State 89-83.

No. 22 DeSales tuned up for the big week ahead with an 88-63 victory at Delaware Valley. The Bulldogs (13-2, 4-0 MAC Freedom) jumped out to a 19-3 lead and didn't look back, as Morgan Birmelin flirted with a triple-double (12 points, 12 assists, seven steals). Bridgette Walsh added 17 points and 14 rebounds for DeSales which plays the other two conference title contenders this week. Those teams met on Saturday afternoon with Misericordia beating Manhattanville, 82-71, and improving to 15-0, 4-0 in conference.

Alex Goslin's layup with 10 seconds left was the difference in Springfield's 58-57 win over MIT. Gracie Restituyo had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Pride (10-5, 6-0 NEWMAC). Husson won a low-scoring affair at home over Maine Maritime 47-38 to claim first place in the NAC. Joan Overman tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles (8-6, 5-0 NAC).

St. Vincent pushed its win streak to 11 games with a 70-49 victory at home over Geneva. The Bearcats (13-2, 7-0 PAC) remain one game ahead of Washington and Jefferson which has an eight-game winning streak of its own after beating Bethany, 71-49. St. Vincent and W&J meet next Saturday with the Bearcats having beaten the Presidents earlier this season.

Notre Dame (Md.) continued to enjoy itself in the new-look CSAC. The Gators defeated Centenary (N.J.) 56-46 and improved to 6-2 in conference, giving them their most conference wins since joining the CSAC in 2007-08.