| Jessie Ruffner and Smith College came from behind to run past Bowdoin on Saturday afternoon. File photo from Smith College athletics |
No. 7 Smith and No. 20 Ithaca rallied in the fourth quarter and pushed their record to 4-0 on the road while Ella McKinney’s strong fourth quarter lifted No. 1 Hope to its fourth win.
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Smith came from behind to defeat Bowdoin, 59-54, in Brunswick, Maine and keep its undefeated record intact. After trailing 32-21 at the break, Smith heated up in the third quarter and outscored the Polar Bears 19-11. Bowdoin pushed its advantage back to eight at 48-40 on Ali Meade’s layup two minutes into the fourth quarter. Smith went in front, 55-54, when Selam Maher hit a three with 1:35 to play, and the Pioneers shut out the Polar Bears the rest of the way.
Jessie Ruffner led Smith (4-0) with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
No. 20 Ithaca went to Catholic, fell behind early, and came all the way back to beat the Cardinals, 67-65. Catholic jumped out to a 21-6 after one period, only to see Ithaca flip the script and outscore the Cardinals 21-8 in the second. The game remained close through the fourth quarter until Zoraida Icabalceta hit a three to give Ithaca some breathing room at 66-58. Catholic cut the deficit to 66-65 when Anna Scoblick split a pair of free throws with 1:06 to play. But Catholic did not score again and Ithaca added one more point for the 67-65 win.
Emily Dorn paced Ithaca (4-0) with 16 points and 13 rebounds. The Bombers shot 6-for-17 from the foul line, but outrebounded the Cardinals 50-22.
No. 1 Hope used a strong fourth quarter to turn a close game into a 12-point win over UW-Eau Claire, 89-77. The Blugolds battled the defending national champions to a 65-all tie early in the fourth quarter but Hope went in front with a 6-0 run capped by Ella McKinney’s layup. She scored eight more points down the stretch, giving her a game-high 31 points. Hope (4-0) shot 53 percent from the field and hit nine 3-pointers.
No. 2 Transylvania completed a perfect trip to Texas by beating Texas-Dallas, 57-43. The Pioneers (2-0) led wire-to-wire and opened an insurmountable lead with a 10-0 run to start the second half. Laken Ball scored 24 points on 7-for-19 shooting.
No. 15 Mary Hardin-Baylor will return home to Texas with a 63-59 over Emory. Arieona Rosborough was the only player to score double figures for the Mary Hardin-Baylor but the Crusaders had a 29-9 bench scoring advantage on the Eagles. Morgan Laudick paced Emory with 20 points and nine rebounds.
Samantha Smith posted 20 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 25 Babson knocked off Roger Williams, 61-53, in a meeting of NCAA Tournament teams from last season. No. 20 Springfield beat Gordon, 68-57, for its fourth straight win.
UW-La Crosse took its 4-0 record and added another win, as the Eagles defeated Carroll, 58-52. Alana Gilles came off the bench to lead UW-La Crosse with 16 points. UW-Oshkosh jumped out to a big lead early at Augustana and cruised to a 64-49 win over the Vikings, making the Titans the first 6-0 team in the country. With No. 4 UW-Whitewater's win over Ripon, the WIAC's top four teams are 18-1 with the lone loss coming to No. 1 Hope.
No. 14 Millikin led Washington U. 59-55 with 31 seconds left in regulation, but the Bears got two free throws and a layup off an offensive rebound to tie the game and force overtime. In the extra period, WashU outscored the Big Blue 13-7 and picked up the 72-66 victory. Maya Arnot led four Bears in double figures with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Elyce Knudsen scored 29 points in the loss for Millikin (3-3).