Women's wrap: 'A' game for E-town

More news about: Elizabethtown | North Central (Ill.) | Occidental | Smith | UW-Stout
Jan 03, 2024
Elizabethtown walked off the court 67-64 winners against No. 5 Scranton and kept pace in the Landmark Conference race on Wednesday night.
Elizabethtown athletics photo by Emma Mesko
 

Upset birds flocked together in Division III women's basketball action as the Elizabethtown Blue Jays and North Central (Ill.) Cardinals knocked off ranked foes on Wednesday night. Elsewhere, UW-Stout dominated its Top 25 showdown, Smith bounced back in a big way, and Occidental continued its post-Christmas surge.

Elizabethtown enjoyed Summer during the Winter, and All-American Summer McNulty led the Blue Jays past No. 5 Scranton, 67-64. Trailing 62-61 late in the fourth quarter, Elizabethtown forward DaniRae Renno found McNulty for a go-ahead three-pointer. McNulty then drew a charge on Scranton's ensuing possession, giving E'town the ball back. The Blue Jays made enough free throws down the stretch to send the Lady Royals to their first loss of the season.

McNulty finished with 25 points and Reno posted a double-double for Elizabethtown (8-4, 4-1 Landmark), which lost two straight prior to Wednesday night's game. Kaci Kranson scored 19 points for Scranton (11-1, 4-1 Landmark), which will host E'town in the regular season finale.

North Central (Ill.) tripped up No. 11 Millikin, 84-78, by outscoring the Big Blue 51-34 in the second half. Elle Sutter scored a game-high 25 points for the Cardinals, including a four-point play that snapped a 72-all tie late in the fourth quarter. North Central improves to 2-3 in the CCIW and 7-7 overall, surpassing last season's 6-game win total.

No. 17 UW-Stout opened WIAC play with an impressive 82-53 win over previously unbeaten and 25th-ranked UW-Stevens Point. The Blue Devils held the Pointers to five points in the first quarter and just 19 field goals in the game. Raegen Sorenson led UW-Stout (11-1, 1-0 WIAC) with 25 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes. The other undefeated WIAC stayed that way, as No. 4 UW-Whitewater won at UW-Oshkosh, 79-71. Aleah Grundahl scored 24 points for the Warhawks and Kacie Carollo filled the stat sheet with 19 points, 16 rebounds (all defensive), three assists and four rebounds.

No. 8 Gustavus Adolphus topped Concordia-Moorhead 64-60 in a rematch of last year's MIAC championship game. After trailing by 12 at the half, the Gusties tied the game at 46-all on Morgan Kelly's three-pointer at the end of the third period. Then, with Gustavus protecting a one-point lead in the final seconds, Kelly was fouled and went to the free throw line for two shots. She made the first, missed the second but grabbed the offensive rebound, and got fouled again. That time she made both free throws, putting the game out of reach. 

No. 17 Smith rebounded from its Sunday loss to Dickinson by drubbing MIT, 82-54. The Pioneers shot 50 percent from the field and got double-digit scoring performances from each of the five starters. Sofia Rosa and Jessie Ruffner combined for 41 points and 26 rebounds for Smith (9-2). The game between NEWMAC foes does not count in the conference standings.

No. 22 DeSales outscored previously unbeaten Arcadia 26-5 in the first quarer, and the Bulldogs rolled from there, 74-36. Mikaela Reese racked up 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for DeSales (10-2, 1-0 MAC Freedom). FDU-Florham, which had one conference win in the last three seasons, opened MAC Freedom play with a 64-61 win at King's. Neysa Aguilar scored 27 points for the Devils who are 8-3 after going 0-20 last season. 

Occidental followed up its 2-0 performance at the D3hoops.com Classic with a win over fellow SCIAC title contender Cal Lutheran, 85-81. Toni Thompson, who was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Classic, scored 42 ponts on 14-for-23 shooting with six 3-pointers for Oxy (10-1, 2-1 SCIAC).