No. 6 UW-Whitewater used a pair of first half runs to grab the lead at No. 18 UW-La Crosse and then used its suffocating defense to finish off an impressive 66-52 road victory. With the game tied at nine midway through the first quarter, Abby Belschner scored a layup that keyed a 9-2 spurt for the Warhawks, giving them a lead they would not relinquish. Dani Craig hit a pair of jumpers to keep La Crosse close before Whitewater went on a 10-1 run that put the Warhawks ahead, 32-18. La Crosse whittled the Warhawks' lead to single digits a coule times in the second half, but Whitewater held the Eagles to 31 percent shooting in the second half, stifling any hope of a comeback.

 

Becky Raeder had 14 points in 39 minutes and Johanna Taylor added a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) for Whitewater (14-1, 4-0 WIAC). Craig led La Crosse (11-4, 2-2 WIAC) with 18 points on 8-for-20 shooting.

 

Albright sophomore Dejah Terrell put on a show and the 24th-ranked Lions hit 14 threes in an 83-72 win at home over Widener. Terrell terrorized the Pride with her size inside (17 rebounds) and her shooting from outside (6-for-10 from three) on her way to a 33-point performance. Maggie O'Hare added 19 points off the bench, including 5 three pointers, and the Lions improved to 15-0, 6-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. They travel to Messiah on Saturday.

  

The other two undefeated teams in action stayed perfect with relative ease. No. 3 Hope continued its mastery of arch rival Calvin as the Flying Dutch stymied the Knights, 74-50. Hope, which has not allowed any opponent to score more than 51 points yet this season, has beaten Calvin seven straight times. No. 13 Bethel cruised past St. Olaf 82-36 after holding the Oles to 13 field goals versus 38 turnovers.

 

No. 9 Transylvania claimed first place in the HCAC for itself by beating Hanover, 85-68. Ashton Woodard led the Pioneers (13-1, 7-0 HCAC) with 22 points, including four 3-pointers and 6-for-6 from the foul line. Zenoviah Walker tallied 18 points in a similarly strong shooting performance (4-for-7 from three, 4-for-4 from the foul line). Hanover dropped to 6-1 in confernece, but just 7-6 overall.

 

No. 7 Wartburg created a three-way tie for first in the ARC by handling Luther, 80-69. The Knights upped their conference mark to 5-1 behind 20 points apiece for Amanda Brainerd and Paytron Draper. Luther slipped to 5-1 and No. 11 Loras remained 5-1 since the Duhawks were idle. The teams have split their results against each other and will play again, starting with Luther versus Loras at the end of the month.

 

No. 5 DePauw held off Denison 49-47 in a low-scoring game between the NCAC rivals. The Tigers (15-1, 7-0 NCAC) looked like they were headed toward a comfortable margin of victory when Sydney Kopp's three put DePauw ahead 47-36 midway through the fourth quarter. But DePauw didn't score for the next 6-plus minutes and the Big Red (11-5, 5-2 NCAC) pulled within three with 35 seconds left on Lilly Morris' jumper. Hayley Cange's layup put the Tigers back up by five with five seconds left and Morris' three at the buzzer trimmed the final margin of victory for DePauw.

 

No. 10 Scranton sat most of its usual starting lineup to start its road game at Moravian and the move seemed to work, as the Lady Royals jumped out to a 20-12 lead before bringing their starters in, on their way to a 74-48 win. Kyra Quigley, who made her first start of the season, led Scranton (12-2, 2-1 Landmark) with 18 points. Emily Shurina, who had started the previous six games, added 16 for Scranton.

 

Mary Sem scored 20 points and Concordia-Moorehead upset No. 21 Gustavus Adolphus, 75-65. The Gusties (11-3, 7-2 MIAC), who trailed for much of the game, pulled within one at 51-50 on Caitlin Rorman's three-pointer early in the fourth quarter. Autumn Thompson answered with a three for the Cobbers (6-8, 4-5 MIAC) who scored the next six points to give themselves enough breathing room down the stretch. 

 

Outside the Top 25, Rhode Island College held Eastern Connecticut to 16 points in the first half and defeated the Warriors 58-46. Willcia McBorrough paced the Anchorwomen with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Rhode Island College is 14-1, 7-1 in the Little East Conference with its lone loss coming at Williams 47-46 on November 23. 

 

Nicole Mallard scored 25 points with four rebounds and Ayanna Johnson grabbed 26 rebounds with five points, and it all added up to a 71-65 win for Rowan at Kean. The Profs (13-2, 7-1 NJAC) made just one three-pointer but outrebounded the Cougars by nine. Johnson, who also finished with seven blocked shots, is fourth in Division III for rebounds per game (14.0). Rah Rah Thompson of Albertus Magnus leads the Division with 16.2 per game.

 

Katie Garrish posted a triple-double for Southern Virginia with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks, but Christopher Newport still beat the Knights, 66-50. The Captains (13-4, 2-0 CAC) turned 31 Southern Virginia turnovers into 33 points and held a 25-6 lead after one period.