| Carly Mulvaney was red-hot down the stretch in Catholic's road win over No. 18 Elizabethtown on Wednesday night. File photo by Rena Schild, Catholic Athletics |
No. 7 Wartburg and Catholic grabbed road wins over fellow conference title contenders, while No. 5 RIC kept rolling out of conference in Wednesday night’s Division III women’s basketball action. On the men’s side, No. 3 John Carroll survived a scare at Baldwin Wallace but No. 20 Illinois Wesleyan did not, falling at Elmhurst.
- Wednesday’s scoreboard: Men | Women
- More men’s headlines
- More women’s headlines
- Team of the Week: Two Eagles, a Kohawk, a Warhawk
In an early meeting of unbeaten ARC teams, No. 7 Wartburg went to No. 15 Loras and defeated the Duhawks, 64-56.
Wartburg held Loras to three field goals in the first quarter and just one in the final six minutes of that period, enabling the Knights to take a six-point lead that held up the rest of the way. Wartburg’s lead grew to 10 early in the second half when Taylor Runchey’s layup followed a Jaedon Murphy three-pointer. The Duhawks closed within seven points early in the final period but did not get closer until the Knights had the victory in hand.
Britney Young led Wartburg (6-0) with 18 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field and five 3-pointers, and Muprhy added 11 points and seven rebounds. Madison Fleckenstein scored 19 points for Loras (4-1) with three 3-pointers, but the rest of the Duhawks shot 2 for 17 from behind the arc.
Catholic topped No. 18 Elizabethtown 79-70 in a back-and-forth overtime battle of Landmark Conference title contenders.
The Cardinals surged to a 25-10 lead with a 15-1 run late in the first period. The Blue Jays recovered and held a 56-48 lead after Jess King converted a three-point play with 2:01 remaining in regulation. But Kerry Flaherty scored five points in 30 seconds as part of Catholic’s 8-0 run that forced overtime.
Carly Mulvaney put the game away for the Cardinals by scoring nine points in the final 1:40 of the extra period. She finished with 27 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field in 44 minutes. Catholic (6-0) went 18 for 20 from the foul line, and Mulvaney made all 10 of her attempts.
No. 20 Hope and No. 22 Trine started MIAA play on the right foot. The Flying Dutch got 28 points from their reserves in a 68-51 win at Albion while Trine took care of Calvin, 67-50, behind Sidney Wagner’s 17-point performance.
No. 4 Rhode Island College continued its impressive run through a tough non-conference schedule with a 60-56 victory at No. 11 Trinity (Conn.). Madison Medbury had a career-high 25 points for the Anchorwomen (6-0), including two 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter that kept the Bantams at bay.
Angie Choi also netted a career-high 25 points and MIT surprised No. 8 Tufts, 66-63. Choi made six clutch free throws in the final 45 seconds to secure the Engineers’ first win over their regional rival since the 2000-01 season.
No. 2 Transylvania outscored Wittenberg 41-12 in the first half and cruised to its 47th regular season victory in a row, 69-46. Kennedi Stacy led the defending national champions with 18 points in 28 minutes. Setting the COVID-shortened 2021-22 season aside, the Pioneers have not lost a regular season game since February 19, 2020.
On the men’s side, No. 3 John Carroll lost a late lead at Baldwin Wallace before finishing the job in overtime with a 99-93 victory over the Yellow Jackets. With JCU up four in the final minute of regulation, Titus Baskerville IV scored a dunk to pull Baldwin Wallace within two and then he found AJ Pestello for a buzzer-beating, game-tying layup.
John Carroll shot 56 percent in overtime (5 for 9) and put the game away on Luka Eller’s jam with 55 seconds remaining. Luke Frazier led five Blue Streaks in double-digit scoring with 26 points, and he also notched 11 rebounds and six assists.
John Carroll starts OAC play 1-0, 5-0 overall while Baldwin Wallace drops to 1-4, 0-1 in conference.
Elsewhere in Cuyahoga County, No. 9 Case Western dropped Capital 94-87 and kept its perfect mark in tact. The Spartans had a 42-22 advantage in reserve scoring, largely thanks to Sam Trunley who scored 24 points. Case Western (5-0) also took good care of the ball, racking up 19 assists against just eight turnovers. Baden Forup had a double-double for Capital (6-1) with 22 points and 13 boards.
It was rough going for the road teams on opening night in the CCIW, as three of the four visitors fell, including No. 20 Illinois Wesleyan at Elmhurst.
The Bluejays exploded for 63 points in the second half and took down the Titans, 92-73. Tagen Pearson led the way for Elmhurst with 24 points in 26 minutes on 7-for-9 shooting with six 3-pointers. North Central (Ill.) and Millikin also picked up home wins while Carroll knocked off North Park 77-61 on the Vikings’ court.
Widener defended the MAC Commonwealth’s honor against MAC Freedom foe DeSales, as the Pride bounced the Bulldogs, 92-77. Widener converted 16 DeSales turnovers into 22 points and got a double-double from Dominic Dunn (28 points, 11 rebounds).