Wednesday women: Re-order on the court

More news about: Baldwin Wallace | John Jay | Rhode Island College | Widener
Feb 12, 2020
Riley Schill and Baldwin Wallace buzzed past John Carroll on Wednesday night and should do the same in next week's regional rankings.
Photo by Brittany Webb


A few hours after the NCAA released the first set of regional rankings, Baldwin Wallace, Widener and Rhode Island College won games that will reshape next week's rankings. Plus someone well off the radar continued her remarkable run with a quadruple-double.

No. 12 Baldwin Wallace held off No. 21 John Carroll 80-77 to earn a season split with its crosstown rival and seize first place in the OAC. The Yellow Jackets led for most the game until Nicole Heffington sank two free throws that put John Carroll ahead by one, 68-67, midway through the fourth quarter. Kara Marshall responded with a three for Baldwin Wallace and, after John Carroll tied the game at 70, Riley Schill scored back-to-back layups for the Yellow Jackets. Marshall, Schill and Kasey Hughes made all six of their free throws in the final minute to seal Baldwin Wallace's win.

Schill and Marshall scored 14 points apiece for Baldwin Wallace (20-2, 14-1 OAC). Olivia Nagy led John Carroll (19-3, 13-2 OAC) with 22 points. The win positions Baldwin Wallace, which is already ranked ahead of John Carroll in the national poll, to move in front of the Blue Streaks in the NCAA's regional rankings that determine positioning for at-large bids and hosting rights during the NCAA Tournament. The first set of Greak Lakes rankings had John Carroll ranked one spot ahead of Baldwin Wallace.

Widener, which was ranked a spot behind Albright in the Mid Atlantic region, beat the Lions 69-68 and secured a spot in the MAC Commonwealth tournament. Widener took a 69-63 lead with 1:31 to play on Madison Ireland's jumper. Albright pulled within two and had a chance to tie the game when Dejah Terrell was fouled with less than a second left. She made the first but missed the second, giving Widener the W. 

Rhode Island College outscored Eastern Connecticut 24-3 from behind the arc and 61-49 overall, as the Anchorwomen swept the season series with the Warriors and moved a half-game back of them in the Little East standings. Mya Villard scored 22 and Anna Barry added 16 more for Eastern Connecticut (18-4, 11-2 LEC) but the rest of the team scored just 11 points on 3 for 17 shooting. Jordyn Gauvin paced Rhode Island College (19-4, 11-3 LEC), which sits four spots behind Eastern Connecticut in the Northeast Region, with 16 points.

Trine extended its winning streak to 10 games by beating Albion, 66-50. Tara Bieniewicz filled the stat sheet with 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in 34 minutes for the Thunder (18-4, 12-1 MIAA), which sits just outside the Top 25 and sixth in the first set of Great Lakes rankings.

In Top 25 action, No. 11 Bethel started a three-game gantlet against the other top teams in the MIAC with a 65-49 win at No. 19 St. Thomas. The Royals (21-1, 16-1 MIAC) bounced back from Saturday's baffling loss to St. Mary's (Minn.) by holding the Tommies to their lowest point total of the season and 28 turnovers. Taite Anderson scored 24 points and grabbed six rebounds for Bethel, which goes to Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday.

No. 4 UW-Whitewater locked up a first-round bye in the WIAC tournament with a 59-55 win over UW-Platteville.  Becky Raeder scored 10 of her game-high 19 points for the Warhawks (20-2, 10-1 WIAC) in the fourth quarter. Whitewater is ranked first in the Central region, one spot ahead of conference rival UW-La Crosse, which beat UW-Stout, 76-61.

Nyasha Howard posted a quadruple-double for John Jay in the Bloodhounds' 97-34 romp over Medgar Evers. Howard finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in 30 minutes. She had triple-doubles in her two previous games for John Jay (13-10, 10-2 CUNYAC).

For more from Wednesday's Division III men's basketball action, check out the list of headlines from game stories posted to D3hoops.com by Division III schools.