| Erica Miller and New York University took the court after nearly a month off and ran past Brandeis in the Violets' conference opener. New York University athletics file photo |
Three ranked teams made successful returns from long layoffs while UW-Whitewater held off UW-Eau Claire in a battle of Top 10 teams and Trinity (Conn.) saved the best for last in Saturday's women's action. Plus Saturday's game was really worth the Waite for Rochester Tech.
- Saturday men's scoreboard
- Saturday women's scoreboard
- Saturday men recap: Streaks get stronger for CWRU, CNU
- Friday night: Bantams outlast No. 12 Bowdoin
- Around the Nation: Coming back from a long break
- Hoopsville: What's next with scheduling turmoil?
- More headlines: Men | Women
No. 8 UW-Whitewater completed a perfect week against its ranked conference foes, as the Warhawks defeated No. 10 UW-Eau Claire, 73-64. UW-Whitewater built a double-digit lead by working the ball in the post for Aleah Grundahl who had 28 points. Midway through the fourth period, the Blugolds pulled within six points, only to see Rebekah Schumaker hit a three that pushed the lead back to nine, 62-53. Maggie Trautsch ended any hope of a Blugold rally with a three pointer that pushed the Warhawks' lead to 70-58 with 1:15 left.
UW-Whitewater, which defeated No. 18 UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday, outscored UW-Eau Claire, 40-8 in the paint. The Warhawks improved to 13-1, 4-0 in the WIAC.
Playing its first game since December 12, No. 11 New York University surged past Brandeis for a 76-68 victory in Waltham, Mass. The Violets outscored the Judges 23-12 in the fourth quarter by shooting 8 for 16 from the field and 7 for 8 from the foul line in that period. Erica Miller posted 21 points and four rebounds for NYU (10-0, 1-0 UAA), which had four of five starters score double figures.
No. 3 Amherst came off a more-than-month long layoff and blasted archrival Williams, 72-51. The Mammoths held the Ephs to 16 points in the first half and led 57-30 entering the final quarter. Reeya Patel tallied 16 points in 34 minutes for Amherst (8-0, 1-0 NESCAC) which outscored Williams 40-18 in the paint. The teams will play again on January 19 in Williamstown, Mass. for the Little Three game that does not in the conference standings.
No. 23 Wisconsin Lutheran returned from its long layoff and rolled over Rockford, 53-37. Jenna Mace paced the Warriors (9-0, 5-0 NACC) with 18 points on 8 for 17 shooting. Wisconsin Lutheran held the Regents to five assists against 20 turnovers.
The list of unbeaten women’s teams shrunk by one when Hartwick defeated No. 18 St. John Fisher, 65-56. The Hawks held the Cardinals to 28 points entering the final period and, while St. John Fisher doubled its offensive output in that one period, Hartwick made enough free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. Hartwick (7-3, 2-0 Empire 8) will face another undefeated conference foe on Tuesday when the Hawks travel to Utica (11-0, 2-0 Empire 8). The Pioneers cruised to victory past Keuka, 65-32.
Trinity (Conn.) completed a long, successful trip to Maine with its second overtime victory in less than 24 hours, this time beating Colby at the buzzer, 52-50. Colby led 50-48 with less than 30 seconds to play in overtime when the Bantams pulled even on Reilly Campbell’s short jumper. After Colby lost the ball on its ensuing possession, Trinity called timeout with 1.1 seconds left. The Bantams executed a beautiful inbounds play with Indianna Delrocco lofting the ball to Campbell who caught it while cutting to the basket and scored at the buzzer.
Campbell finished with 12 points for the Bantams (9-3, 2-0 NESCAC).
One of the strangest endings came in Upstate New York where Rochester Tech edged Skidmore 57-56 in double overtime. Rochester Tech's Kaleesha Joseph scored with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 52 and send the contest to overtime. Neither team scored in the first extra period, so the game went to a second. In the final minute of double overtime, Clare Driscoll scored twice to put the Thoroughbreads in front, 56-54. But Emma Waite scored a layup to tie the game with one second left, got fouled and made her free throw to win the game for the Tigers.
All-American sophomore Elyce Knudsen erupted for 33 points and Millikin used a big fourth quarter to down North Park, 91-80. The Big Blue and Vikings battled into the fourth quarter when Knudsen took over, repeatedly hitting long fade away jumpers. North Park struggled with foul trouble and had to play multiple first year players in the back court simultaneously. Millikin (11-3, 5-0 CCIW) has won eight straight after dropping three in a row.
The UAA played its first conference games in 679 games and its long wait was rewarded with lots of bonus basketball.
Washington U. and Chicago went to double overtime in their opener, and the Bears outscored the Maroons, 102-97. Karisa Grandison scored nine points in the second extra period to put the game away for Washington U. (7-5, 1-0 UAA) but Jessica Brooks was the story of the game. The sophomore guard came off the Bears' bench to score 32 points in 45 minutes. After starting 0-4, WashU has won seven of its last eight.
Rochester and Emory also went to overtime where the Yellowjackets prevailed, 71-66. Rochester's Hannah Lindemuth hit threes on consecutive possession in the final minute of the fourth period to erase Emory's 63-57 lead, and then Rochester held Emory to 1-for-11 shooting in overtime.
Salisbury converted 25 Ursinus turnovers into 31 points and the Sea Gulls topped the Bears, 64-47. Kaylee Otlowski scored 16 points for Salisbury (12-2) which has won 10 straight.