Mary Hardin-Baylor's bench could barely watch as Paris Kiser poured in 36 points in Hardin-Simmons' 88-85 overtime victory. Photo by Scott Burkhalter

No. 16 Hardin-Simmons earned hosting rights for next weekend's ASC tournament with a dramatic win over No. 24 Mary Hardin-Baylor while the top spot in the Empire 8 playoffs will come down to math after Nazareth topped St. John Fisher. Plus, Alma scratched a 23-year itch against Hope and No. 11 Bowdoin cruised past Tufts in Saturday's NCAA Division III women's basketball action.

• Saturday scoreboard: Men | Women
• More men’s headlines
• More women’s headlines

The ASC tournament is headed to Abilene after No. 16 Hardin-Simmons secured the top spot in the conference by edging No. 24 Mary Hardin-Baylor in overtime, 88-85.

Hardin-Simmons built a 22-15 lead after one period and held that lead until the early fourth quarter when Remi Adeleke completed a three-point play and Ashley Faux scored a jumper that put Mary Hardin-Baylor up one.

Over the final seven minutes of regulation, there were nine lead changes and seven tie scores, the last one coming when Hardin-Simmons’ Parris Parmer tied the game at 79 with 21 seconds left in regulation. Paris Kiser scored the first seven points of overtime for the Cowgirls and Hardin-Simmons held off the Crusaders from there, with neither team scoring in the final 1:29.

Kiser led all scorers with 36 points, including four 3-pointers, in 43 minutes for Hardin-Simmons (22-3, 14-2 ASC). Ariena Rosborough racked up 21 points, four rebounds, and four assists in 40 minutes before fouling out for Mary Hardin-Baylor (20-5, 12-4 ASC).

Nazareth went across town and spoiled St. John Fisher’s Senior Day celebration by beating the Cardinals,  73-65. After falling behind 7-0, Nazareth outscored the Cardinals 38-19 the rest of the way in the first half. St. John Fisher pulled within two in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but Nazareth responded with layups by Molly Benetti and Sarina McDowell, and the Golden Flyers held off the Cardinals from there.

Olivia Dobrovosky led six Nazareth players in double-figure scoring with 19 points. Nazareth and St. John Fisher finish the regular season tied for first, but St. John Fisher expects to get the top seed in the conference tournament by virtue of its higher strength-of-schedule.

No. 12 Johns Hopkins and No. 23 Gettysburg both took care of business in their regular season finales, as the Blue Jays downed Swarthmore, 71-57, and Gettysburg rolled Bryn Mawr, 84-42. The teams finished in a virtual tie for first place, so the top seed was decided by coin flip. Johns Hopkins won the toss and will be the top seed.

Two teams finished perfect regular seasons with dominant performances on Saturday afternoon. No. 3 Rhode Island College got a double-double from Izabelle Booth and five 3-pointers from Olivia Middleton in a 91-51 win over Keene State. No. 25 Webster shot 53 percent from the field and scored 61 points in the first half en route to a 102-79 win over Lyon. 

The top two teams in this week’s Region 7 rankings stumbled into their conference tournaments with Saturday afternoon losses.

No. 5 Hope shot 29 percent from the field and 19 percent from three, and the Flying Dutch fell at Alma, 61-50. Reagan Thorr scored 14 points in 23 minutes for the Scots (13-12, 9-7 MIAA), which snapped a 50-game losing streak that dates back 23 years to February 17, 2007.

Baldwin Wallace also struggled at Marietta, shooting 29 percent and 5-for-34 from three in a 71-56 loss to the Pioneers. Olivia Gribble netted 13 points and Paige Tolson added 12 more for Marietta (20-5, 15-3), which will be seeded second behind Baldwin Wallace in the OAC tournament.

The NESCAC opened its tournament with four wins by the hosts.

No. 11 Bowdoin led from start to finish in a 78-60 win over Tufts. Sydney Jones scored 25 points for the Polar Bears (23-2) which will host the tournament semifinals next weekend. All-American Maggie Russell scored 17 points in 28 minutes in her final game for Tufts (11-13).

Alex Mustafaj scored 18 points and became Middlebury’s all-time scoring leader in the Panthers’ 59-48 win over Amherst. Trinity (Conn.) and Bates will round out the NESCAC’s final four after beating Colby and Hamilton respectively.

Lawrence clinched its first MWC tournament playoff appearance since 2007 in impressive fashion as the Vikings knocked off first-place Ripon, 74-71, in overtime. Maggie Culver scored 18 points for Lawrence (15-10, 9-7 MWC), which beat the Red Hawks for the first time in 23 years. The Vikings' reward is a rematch with Ripon in the MWC semifinals on Friday afternoon.

The NAC played down to its final two teams as Maine Maritime outlasted Husson 67-61 in overtime and SUNY-Cobleskill blasted SUNY Canton, 76-33. The Mariners (22-4) will host SUNY-Cobleskill in the tournament title game next Saturday.