| Ava Bardic scored a game-high 24 points in the Titans' win over No. 11 Chicago. Photo by Kodiac Creative |
No. 20 Illinois Wesleyan and No. 24 UW-Stout will head into the holiday break with big wins under their belts, while the six ranked men’s teams cruised to victory in Saturday’s Division III basketball action.
- Saturday’s scoreboard: Men | Women
- D3football: Cortland’s storybook season ends in a title
- More men’s headlines
- More women’s headlines
Ava Bardic scored 24 points and Illinois Wesleyan held Chicago almost 20 points below its scoring average in the Titans’ 73-63 victory. Illinois Wesleyan turned a three-point halftime advantage into a double-digit lead when Bardic closed the third quarter with back-to-back threes that staked the Titans to a 56-46 advantage. Illinois Wesleyan (10-2) led comfortably through the final period on its way to a seventh straight win. Marissa Powe scored 16 points for Chicago (7-2) which has dropped two in a row.
No. 24 UW-Stout celebrated its first D3hoops Top 25 appearance in over 10 seasons with a dramatic 77-76 win at No. 17 Trine. After Amanda Giesen’s three-point play gave UW-Stout a 59-57 lead late in the third quarter, Trine responded with a 13-0 run capped by Allison Capouch’s layup three minutes into the fourth quarter. Raegan Sorenson keyed a 7-0 run that kept the Devils close and then, with less than two minutes to play, she scored five more to trim Trine’s lead to 76-75.
On Trine’s next possession, Sorenson blocked a three-point attempt and Anna Mutch grabbed the defensive rebound for UW-Stout. The Devils called time out with eight seconds left and then found Sorenson on the ensuing play for the game-winning jumper.
Giesen led UW-Stout (9-1) with 26 points and Mutch posted a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) for the Blue Devils.
Arcadia stayed perfect with two double-doubles and a 64-61 win at Kean. Delaney Bell notched 20 points and 14 rebounds while Katie Rodriguez tallied 12 and 13 for the Knights (9-0).
The MAC Freedom swept three games from the Landmark Conference with Delaware Valley beating Wilkes, FDU-Florham besting Drew, and Lebanon Valley topping Moravian. Seven of the eight teams in the MAC Freedom have a winning record and the top three (Arcadia, DeSales and DelVal) are 25-3.
Only one point separates No. 1 John Carroll and No. 2 Calvin in the poll, but a lot more separated those teams from their Saturday opponents.
Top-ranked John Carroll held Wilmington to 19 first-half points and cruised past the Quakers, 92-54. David Gentry scored 14 points in 15 minutes off the bench for the Blue Streaks (8-0, 4-0 OAC) who used 18 players.
No. 2 Calvin got double-digit scoring from its entire starting lineup in an impressive 88-66 win over St. Norbert. Jalen Overway poured in 26 points on 10-for-13 shooting in 23 minutes, and the Knights from Grand Rapids outscored the Knights from De Pere 36-9 from three.
Double-digit wins were the order of the day with No. 9 New York University (42-point win over Delaware Valley), No. 17 Washington U. (21-point win over Fontbonne), and No. 22 Trinity (Texas) (35-point win over University of Dallas) all winning easily.
After Marietta guard De’Ovion Price hit two free throws to tie the game at 100 with 16 seconds left in the second overtime, Carter Reese’s jumper put Ohio Northern back in front, 102-100, with three seconds left. But Marietta responded with a great play, as Jack Main threw a long inbound pass to Sahmi Willougby who got the ball to Jayden Bradshaw for the game-winning three.
Bradshaw and David Sanford scored 18 points apiece off the bench for Marietta (7-2, 3-1 OAC) while Will Miller and Reese combined for 52 points for the hard luck Polar Bears (3-6, 0-4 OAC).