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| Kenedy Schoonveld and Hope are celebrating their 18th MIAA title after Saturday's win at Trine. File photo by Steve Herppich |
No. 2 Hope finished a perfect regular season with a win at No. 23 Trine and the rest of the Top 25 had a perfect record on Saturday. Elsewhere the top four seeds advanced in the NESCAC and New Jersey City won its first NJAC tourney game ever.
No. 2 Hope completed a perfect regular season and captured another MIAA title by downing No. 23 Trine, 59-52. The Flying Dutch (25-0, 16-0 MIAA) scored the final five points of the third quarter to snap a 41-all tie and made the lead hold up in the final period. Kenedy Schoonveld scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds for Hope. Tara Bieniewicz led Trine (20-5, 14-2 MIAA) with 21 points. It was the first close game for Hope since Jan. 4, which also came against Trine.
No. 24 Messiah defeated Albright 74-68 and extended its winning streak to 12 games behind another big game from Leah Springer. She filled the stat sheet with 28 points, 11 rebounds, three steals, three assists and two blocks for the Falcons (21-4, 15-1 MAC Commonwealth. Messiah already had the top spot in the MAC Commonwealth tournament and awaits the winner of the Stevenson/Lycoming play-in game.
Tamira McLemore scored 29 points in 32 minutes and No. 14 Augsburg rallied for a 77-74 win at home over Gustavus Adolphus. The Gusties appeared to be in position to sweep the season series with the Augies when Maddy Rice's three-pointer staked Gustavus to a 63-51 lead early in the fourth period. Augsburg battled back and pulled even at 71-all on McLemore's three with three minutes to play. Kaezha Wubben followed with a layup and Arianna Jones added two free throws to put the game away for Augsburg (21-4, 17-3 MIAC).
The road to the Landmark Conference title once again will go through Scranton, as the Lady Royals captured the top spot for the four-team playoff. No. 16 Scranton took care of business at home against Goucher, 64-37. Catholic, which entered the day tied with Scranton, lost 76-67 in overtime at Drew. Joey Meyers and Julia Ramos combined for 46 points and 18 rebounds for the Rangers.
No. 12 Baldwin Wallace had a huge fourth quarter to help put away Otterbein on the road, 68-50. The top seed in the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference tournament, BW will host Otterbein, the No. 8 seed, on Tuesday. Kara Marshall scored a game-high 15 points and was one of four scorers in double figures as the Yellow Jackets improved to 23-2, 17-1.
No. 3 DePauw ran the table in the North Coast Athletic Conference for the fifth time in the program's nine seasons in the conference. The Tigers won their 20th consecutive game, defeating Wooster 78-53. Wooster scored the game's first basket, but DePauw never trailed the rest of the way. A 10-0 run in the first turned a 6-6 tie into a 16-6 lead. DePauw put together a similar 14-2 stretch capped by Mya Shannon's three-point play with 3:08 left in the half to hold a double-digit halftime lead. Sydney Kopp scored a game-high 25 points for DePauw (24-1, 16-0). Wooster finishes its season at 7-18, 3-13.
The NESCAC opened its conference tournament with the top four seeds all advancing. No. 1 Tufts got a double-double from Erica DeCandido (19 points, 12 rebounds) in a 58-48 win over Wesleyan. Hamilton hung with No. 5 Bowdoin until the Polar Bears eventually pulled away for a 77-63 win as Maddie Hasson tallied 23 points, 16 rebounds and five assists. No. 6 Amherst handled Bates 69-44 and fourth-seed Williams eliminated Trinity (Conn.) 65-56.
Outside the Top 25, Wheaton (Ill.) wrapped up the CCIW title outright with a 72-65 win over North Central (Ill.). Hannah Frazier led the Thunder with 22 points and nine rebounds. Illinois Wesleyan beat Carthage 70-62 to secure the other bye into the CCIW semifinals.
Ripon beat Knox, 76-64, and secured its third consecutive MWC crown and hosting rights for next weekend's tournament. Alison Leslie scored 27 points and shot 7 for 11 from three for the Red Hawks. The teams will meet again in the MWC semifinals on Friday.
A little over a year after snapping a 58-game conference losing streak, New Jersey City has advanced to the NJAC semifinals. The Gothic Knights, who are the No. 6 seed in the six-team tournament rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to win at third-seeded Kean, 59-58. Guard Hannah Johnson drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it a one-point game (58-57) with 2:01 to go and power forward Ayanna Lewis tied the game and gave NJCU a one-point, 59-58 margin with 1:17 remaining that held up. The Knights turned forced a turnover on Kean's next possession and did not let Kean get a shot off on its final possession, with 7.7 seconds remaining.
In other tournament action:
- Salisbury got 20 points from Kaylee Otlowski in a 20-point win over Southern Virginia in the CAC quarterfinals. York (Pa.) had a similarly easy time advancing to the semifinals, posting a 79-58 win over St. Mary's (Md.).
- Home court mostly held in the USA South Athletic Conference tournament where three of four home teams advanced through the quarterfinals. Berea, which is the top seed in the bracket, hit 11 three pointers and rolled past Greensboro, 86-63. All-American Amari Price scored 19 points and Nakiyah Washington poured in 23 more in Piedmont's 78-63 win over Averett. William Peace knocked off Huntingdon 72-61 and Maryville won on the road at N.C. Wesleyan, 75-66.
- Alisha Celley posted a double-double (14 points, 12 rebounds) and NVU-Lyndon defeated Thomas in the NAC tournament, 63-55. Four of Maine-Farmington's starters scored double figures and the Beavers cruised past NVU-Johnson, 87-54.
- Kristina Sierra's late three put York (N.Y.) ahead and the Cardinals held on to eliminate Baruch from the CUNYAC tournament, 57-52. John Jay drilled CCNY 97-46 in the other quarterfinal.
- The SAA tournament got off to an early start and so did second-seed Rhodes, as the Lynx jumped out to a 33-13 lead on Sewanee and went on to win, 86-58. The rest of the conference plays its quarterfinal games on Sunday.
For more from Saturday's Division III women's basketball action, check out the list of headlines from game stories posted to D3hoops.com by Division III schools.