FDU-Florham is the eighth undefeated NCAA Division III women's basketball national champion. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com

By Josh Smith
D3sports.com

So the Devils felt that they had something to prove when they faced Whitman in front of 1,223 spectators in the NCAA Division III national championship at the Quandt Fieldhouse at UW-Stevens Point.

FDU-Florham went on a 7-0 run late in the second half to take control of the game and went on to defeat the Missionaries, 80-72, to cap a perfect 33-0 season and win the program’s first national title.

“Not so much against Tufts, but today you kind of saw exactly what FDU Devils basketball is all about,” Mitchell said after his program completed its second ever NCAA tournament run with a championship. “It’s about mental toughness, resiliency and just a bunch of great young ladies.”

More coverage of the Devils' title run

* Jalessa Lewis postgame interview
* Semifinal victory over Tufts: Game Story - Mitchell Interview - Photos
* Dayon named 1st team All-American, Mitchell Coach of the Year
* Road to Stevens Point: Shalette Brown feature
* Hoopsville: Coach Mitchell talks about hosting sectionals
* Around the Region: Kyra and Kara Dayon feature

“This is what we work so hard for since the summer – 6 a.m. practices, 7 a.m. runs, weightlifting every week. This is what we’ve been working so, so, so hard for. And it feels great,” said senior Jalessa Lewis, who shot 11-of-16 at the free throw line and led FDU-Florham with 21 points. “I love my team, and I wouldn’t have wanted to go out any other way.”

The game was tied, 62-62, when FDU-Florham went on its late run. Shalette Brown scored four points in that surge, including a three-point play that gave the Devils a 69-62 advantage with 4:20 remaining.

“We have that mindset. Here’s the point in the game where you have to lock in and get stops – get stops without fouling,” Mitchell said. “And I think during that stretch, we did a pretty good job.”

Whitman (31-2 overall) never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

“I thought our kids did a great job staying in the game, battling,” Whitman head coach Michelle Ferenz said. “We just couldn’t quite bridge the gap. In the second half, they got a little ways away from us and we just couldn’t quite get it back.”

Nineteen of the Devils’ 39 rebounds came on the offensive glass, which led to 19 second chance points. FDU-Florham also got to the line often, sinking 26-of-34 free throws.

“That’s how you win championships, just getting the basketball. Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding is something that we emphasize – we stress,” Mitchell said. “Without those second shot opportunities we wouldn’t be sitting here now. We understand that as a unit, and we just went out and got the job done.”

“We got out of rotation trying to help on drives, and then we just didn’t quite get back to the block outs,” Ferenz said. “Those break downs – every time we had to have a post come help, they got to a rebound.”

The game went back and forth early. The Missionaries struck first as they opened the game on a 13-4 run.

“I was really proud of the start we got off to. We knew how athletic they were, and I thought the kids did a great job of attacking it,” Ferenz said.

Florham responded as Kyra Dayon – the tournament MVP – scored the team’s first 10 points. She scored 15 of her 18 points in the first 12 minutes of the game.

A Dayon bucket capped a 12-3 run that tied the game, 16-16.

“Kyra doing that is nothing new,” Mitchell said. “She’s that kind of kid that says ‘I’ll carry us until you guys are ready.’ She did a great job of that in the first half.”

Rachel Groom added 11 points for the Devils.

Whitman got a team-high 25 points from Heather Johns. Sarah Anderegg added 15 points and Tiffani Traver shot 4-of-8 from 3-point range to finish with 13 points.

Johns and Anderegg pulled down seven rebounds each.

FDU-Florham finished the season undefeated, marking the second year in a row the women’s Division III champion finished the year with an unblemished record. The Devils last loss came on March 1, 2013 when they dropped a first-round tournament game against Widener.

“I'm just mad we didn’t have 34 games to tie DePauw’s record,” Mitchell joked.

“The regular season was a little bit of a grind for us. We got caught in the middle of the season where I felt like we were about to get hit by the complacency-bug,” he continued. “But the kids, they’re just strong minded kids, and they understood ‘let’s just get through the regular season... and let’s get to those last six games.’ And that’s what we were really focused on."

NOTES: The 2014 All-Tournament Team selections were Kelsey Morehead, Tufts; Mary Merg, UW-Whitewater; Heather Johns, Whitman; Jalessa Lewis, FDU-Florham and Kyra Dayon, FDU-Florham...Dayon was named the Most Outstanding Player...UW-Whitewater defeated Tufts 72-54 in the third place game. Mary Merg scored 30 points to become the all-time leading scorer in UW-Whitewater basketball history, passing Jody Landish (1991-95) with 1,378 points.