Mallory Powers scored 17 points in No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan's win over No. 12 Hope on Saturday afternoon. File photo by Kodiak Creative

No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan used its quickness to get past No. 12 Hope, while the fourth-ranked Warhawks won the Carollo-versus-Carroll battle in Saturday's Division III women's basketball action. On the men's side, No. 7 Emory led No. 17 Guilford wire-to-wire while Illinois College and Houghton used stellar defense to rally past NCAA 2024 Tournament teams.

• Saturday scoreboard: Men | Women
• Around the Nation: An (opening) day in the life of D3
• More men’s headlines
• More women’s headlines

Illinois Wesleyan used an 11-3 run to build a 35-21 lead against Hope, and Mallory Powers preserved IWU’s double-digit advantage entering the halftime break with a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in the second quarter. Hope fought back within five on Anna Richards’ layup at the end of the third quarter and then got within 60-58 on Richards’ three-pointer.

Illinois Wesleyan responded by pushing the ball down the floor in transition and getting to the rim for open looks or free throw attempts. After six straight Titan free throws, Powers hit a jumper, Ava Bardic scored a layup, and Sara Balli followed with another layup, pushing the IWU lead to 72-60. Illinois Wesleyan finished off the 74-65 win for its second win at Calvin’s weekend event. Box score

Illinois Wesleyan (2-0) shot 48 percent and outscored the Flying Dutch 38-26 in the paint. Kate Palmer scored 20 points and Mallory Powers finished one rebound shy of a double-double (17 points, nine rebounds) for the Titans. Richards led Hope (2-1) with 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting.

No. 4 UW-Whitewater survived a game-winning three-point attempt, and the Warhawks held off No. 24 Carroll, 62-60.

Carroll built a 32-23 lead thanks to a 9-0 run capped by Julia Lokker’s jumper with 3:28 to play in the first half. The Pioneers maintained their lead until All-American Kacie Carollo scored on consecutive possessions to key an 10-0 run that put the Warhawks up 49-46 entering the final period. Bri McCurdy hit a three to extend UW-Whitwater’s lead to 57-50, but Carroll rallied back a pair of threes by Chloe Halverson.

With 11 seconds left, Carollo split a pair of free throws, giving Carroll one last chance to win. The Pioneers could only muster a deep three point attempt that was off the mark, preserving the Warhawks’ victory.

Carollo tallied 26 points with three 3-pointers, four rebounds, three steals and two assists for UW-Whitewater (3-0). Fellow All-American Oliva Rangel scored 16 points, mostly from the foul line, for Carroll (2-1).

No. 7 Washington and Lee pulled away from Emory in Atlanta for an 84-79 road victory. Emory held a four-point lead entering the fourth quarter when the Generals rallied to take the lead on Zou Raine’s layup with 3:31 to play. After the lead changed hands a couple times, Washington and Lee went ahead for good with seven points from Quinn McGuinness and Mary Schleusner.

Schleusner rolled up 32 points and 21 rebounds for Washington and Lee (2-0). Hanna Malik, who transferred from W&L to Emory for graduate school, scored 15 points for the Eagles (1-1).

No. 8 UW-Oshkosh shut down and rolled over Wisconsin Lutheran, 62-27. The Titans (4-0) held the Warriors to 11 field goals against 16 turnovers and got 13 points and 13 rebounds from Kayce Vaile.

No. 5 Bowdoin had a similarly easy time, and the Polar Bears blasted Skidmore, 74-44, in its season opener. All-American Sydney Jones notched 22 points in 23 minutes on 8-for-16 shooting, and Bowdoin outscored the Thoroughbreds 44-12 in the paint.

Saturday men: Defense carries Emory, IC to victory

Preston Thomas and Houghton claimed the high ground against Case Western on Saturday afternoon. Photo by Houghton University athletics

No. 8 Emory held No. 17 Guilford’s offense in check, and the Eagles led the Quakers from start to finish for a 75-61 win in Atlanta.

The Eagles took the lead in the first half on the strength of nine 3-pointers and led 37-30 at the break, despite Guilford shooting 50 percent that period. Emory’s defense took over in the second, holding Guilford to 29 percent shooting (10-for-35).

Ben Pearce paced Emory (2-0) with 20 points, and the Eagles held Guilford (2-1) to five assists against 19 turnovers.

Illinois College improved to 4-0 by shutting down and rallying past No. 14 Nebraska Wesleyan at home, 66-57.

The Prairie Wolves appeared to be in control when Andrew Brewer’s layup gave NWU a 51-41 lead midway through the second period. The Blueboys defense took over from there, holding the Prairie Wolves to two field goals and two free throws for the final 10-plus minutes. Illinois College passed NWU on Buzz Ritzel’s three-pointer with 4:44 to play and Ty LenHardt sealed the Blueboys’ win with three free throws in the final 11 seconds.

Ritzel scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 39 minutes for Illinois College.

No. 21 Hope went to Springfield, Ohio and dealt Wittenberg its first loss of the season, 68-63. The Flying Dutch took a 59-47 lead on Josh Decker’s three-pointer with 6:25 left. Wittenberg got as close as 63-61 on two free throws by Trey Killens with 27 seconds left, but Hope went 5 for 6 from the foul line in the final minute and wrapped up the W.

Houghton, which went 7-19 last season, stormed back from an 18-point deficit and upset Case Western, 80-75. Case Western took a 58-40 lead early in the second half, but the Highlanders rallied to victory thanks to 29 points in the second half from Jajuan Preaster and Christian Sage. Preaster set up the game-winner in the closing minute by driving and kicking to Preston Thomas for the game-winning three.

Jordan Oates continued his hot start for Salisbury and the Sea Gulls topped Johns Hopkins, 69-66. Oates scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for his third straight double-double while John Windley picked up a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) for Johns Hopkins. King's head coach JP Andrejko earned his 300th career win in comfortable fashion as the Monarchs crowned Division III newcomer Penn State-Brandywine, 74-52. Chris Patton scored 30 points and King's outboarded the Nittany Lions, 60-33.