Kaylie Brazil drives past Mia Farrell in the Tommies' 68-62 win vs. University of Chicago. The two players combined for 35 points in a hard-fought game. Photo by Caleb Williams, d3photography.com |
Home was not so sweet for five teams on Saturday night as the field was whittled from 32 to 16 remaining teams in the women's basketball 2018 Division III NCAA Tournament.
- Second-round tournament scoreboard
- Sectional hosts announced: Amherst, Hope, Scranton and Wartburg
- Updated NCAA Tournament bracket
- Game of the Night: RIT punches ticket to Sweet 16
Texas-Dallas, UW-Whitewater, TCNJ, Illinois Wesleyan and Randolph-Macon each went down in the second round, as East Texas Baptist, Gustavus Adolphus, RIT, Trine and Christopher Newport were among those who punched tickets to the round of 16. Hosting assignments for the sectional weekend will be announced Sunday afternoon, so check back for more information.
East Texas Baptist went on runs of 9-0 and 11-0 in the second and third periods and ended up running away from Texas-Dallas as the Tigers kept their tournament debut going into the Sweet 16 with a 64-51 win vs. Texas-Dallas. The Tigers, who lost both regular-season meetings with Texas-Dallas in the American Southwest Conference, beat the Comets for the second time in as many weekends, with a win in the ASC semifinals and again in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers shot 60 percent from the field for the game, led by a perfect 5-for-5 from Sydney Saxton, en route to a team-high 15 points. She added eight rebounds, all defensive.
Gustavus Adolphus rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit, outscoring host UW-Whitewater 44-23 over the final two quarters to win 74-60. Miranda Rice posted a double-double with game-highs of 26 points and 10 rebounds, including a stretch of seven consecutive points in the fourth quarter after the Warhawks (25-4) had cut the lead to two. The Gusties (24-6) finished the game on a 15-4 run.
No. 7 Trine advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history following a 79-70 win against Illinois Wesleyan, thanks to career-high performances from senior Kayla Freeman and junior Cassidy Williams. Freeman led all scorers with her game and career-high 21 points, while Williams added a career-best 20 points. Freeman started the scoring in the final quarter with a layup to extend the lead to 12 points, 59-47, when the Titans got back into the game with a 10-2 run to narrow the gap to single digits and trail by just four points, 61-57, with 7:45 to go. IWU later pulled to within two points, 63-61, at the 6:09 mark when back-to-back layups by Hayley Martin and Dawson gave Trine some breathing room with a six-point lead, 67-61. The Titans would not get any closer than four points the remainder of the game as Trine began to pull away.
Kelly Williams got her 21 points and 15 rebounds, but Randolph-Macon was outrebounded for the first and only time all season and Christopher Newport dominated defensively in rolling over the Yellow Jackets, 84-58. Sam Porter, who scored a team-high 19 points with eight steals. Fellow senior Bailey Dufrenealso had a stellar performance, scoring 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting while adding four assists, three rebounds, and three steals
A night after Amherst set the record for the fewest points allowed in an NCAA Tournament game, the Mammoths got taken all the way to the wire before holding on to defeat St. Joseph's (Maine) 53-47. Kelsi McNamara nearly carried the Monks (28-2) by herself, scoring a game-high 30 points, including two free throws to cut Amherst's lead to 47-43 with 1:19 left in the game. But the Monks were 1-for-5 from the field the rest of the way and Amherst advanced, winning its 63rd consecutive game.
In a game which featured seven lead changes, Rochester pulled away in the closing minutes to get past Marymount 53-42 and return to the Sweet 16. Freshman Gillian Mair had a career outing while Alexandra Leslie dominated on the glass. Mair was 3-for-3 from 3-point range en route to 13 points, while Leslie had 12 points and 12 rebounds in the win. Regan Lohr scored a team-high 12 for the Saints (25-4). Rochester (23-4) is in the round of 16 for the second time in three seasons.
Montclair State saw each of the last two seasons end in surprise fashion in the first weekend of the tournament, but the Red Hawks made sure that streak didn't continue, rolling past Gettysburg 70-45 to advance. Senior Katie Sire scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds leading three players in double figures for MSU (25-3), which is headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2015.
Wartburg finshed the first quarter on a 23-3 run and never looked back, as the Knights improved to 29-0 with an 82-58 win vs. George Fox. The Knights made 12 of 18 from the floor in the first period and did not turn the ball over once, while limiting George Fox to 5-for-19 shooting. Morgan Neuendorf scored a game-high 19 points, while Kristie Sommer added 15.
Thomas More took control early and never looked back as the Saints scored the first 10 points of the game and led Juniata by as many as 21 points in the first quarter. Thomas More led 28-9 after one quarter, 43-19 at halftime and 64-32 after three quarters before posting the 83-50 victory. Junior Madison Temple recorded a double-double with game-highs of 18 points and 10 assists.
Scranton advanced to the round of 16 for the 21st time and the fourth time in five seasons, pulling away from Cabrini for a 55-46 win. Scranton, which has won 23 consecutive games, trailed at the half for just the third time all season, but pulled away behind Makenzie Mason, who posted game-highs of 16 points, nine rebounds, and four assists to go along with four blocked shots.
A Chloe Harris 3-pointer brought Emory & Henry back to within four points at Messiah, but the Falcons pulled away to win 62-49 and return to the round of 16. Messiah ended the game on an 11-4 run. Tufts had little trouble with Ithaca in a 61-39 win, while Hope ended Wash U's tournament trip and Bowdoin dominated FDU-Florham.