Endicott celebrates its upset victory at No. 12 Scranton in the first round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament. Photo by Tim Dougherty, Scranton athletics

Scranton has played 100 more games in NCAA Tournament history than Endicott College. The UMAC teams had never won an NCAA Tournament game. None of that mattered in wild opening night of the 2020 Division III women's basketball NCAA Tournament.

• Updated 2020 NCAA Division III Tournament bracket
• Game of the night: Bethany Lutheran bounces Bethel
• First round women's scoreboard
• First round men's scoreboard
• More NCAA Tournament headlines

Endicott made its NCAA Tournament debut by knocking off No. 12 Scranton, 65-56, in Northeast Pennsylvania. The Gulls grabbed the lead with a 12-2 run capped by Shannon Gilbert's three-pointer with a minute left in the first period. The Lady Royals pulled even at 25 in the second quarter, only to see Endicott score the next five points and take a lead into halftime.

Scranton once again pulled within one in the closing minute of the third quarter and Endicott responded with five straight points, including a Mikaela Rogers layup that put the Gulls in front, 52-46. Makenzie Mason's layup cut the deficit to five with five minutes to play, but that would be the last field goal for Scranton until the game was out of reach. The Gulls held Scranton to 3 for 12 shooting in the final quarter and secured the victory.

Kaleigh Putnam led Endicott (19-10) with 22 points on 7 for 16 shooting and the Gulls outscored the Lady Royals 21-6 from behind the arc. Endicott will face No. 24 Christopher Newport tomorrow night in Scranton. The Captains turned 19 Widener turnovers into 25 points in an 82-66 first round win.

It was a rough night to be a Royal as the Royals of Bethel also fell at home. Bethany Lutheran knocked off No. 6 Bethel 62-58, scoring the UMAC's first win in the NCAA Tournament in our Game of the Night.

Redlands scored a big win for the SCIAC as the Bulldogs came off the West Coast and beat No. 8 UW-Whitewater, 70-62. The Bulldogs shot 48 percent from the field and 50 percent from three (5 for 10) and overcame a 28-4 deficit on second-chance points. Cassandra Lacey led Redlands (22-6) with 26 points in 32 minutes and Alyssa Downs added 18 more for the Bulldogs. 

Redlands advances to play No. 23 Trine which roughed up Benedictine, 65-37. The Thunder held the Eagles to seven points in the first half.

Randolph-Macon All-American Kelly Williams had a good night and got plenty of help as the Yellow Jackets eliminated No. 15 Transylvania in Lexington, 78-68. Williams tallied 12 points and 15 rebounds, but the night belonged to teammate Becca Arrington who scored 26 points on 10 for 17 shooting. Randolph-Macon earned a rematch with No. 11 Oglethorpe, which pulled away from William Peace for an 88-74 win. The Stormy Petrels defeated Randolph-Macon 73-53 back on November 16.

The ASC took both games against the SCAC in the tough Texas pod that featured two Top 25 showdowns in the first round. No. 14 Mary Hardin-Baylor had a 16-point scoring advantage in the paint, led by Allaira Jones double-double (14 points, 12 rebounds), and the Crusaders defeated No. 22 Austin, 78-63. No. 21 Texas-Dallas fought through some first half foul trouble and rallied past No. 16 Trinity (Texas), 64-59. 

Despite being in the same conference, Texas-Dallas and Mary Hardin-Baylor will meet for just the second time this season tomorrow. The Comets won the first game, 69-55, in early January.

Trinity's loss dropped home teams' record to 10-6 on Friday night. Last season home teams went 37-2 in the NCAA Tournament.

No. 10 Whitman erased an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit against Wheaton (Ill.), forced overtime and eventually prevailed over the Thunder, 86-83. The Blues closed the fourth quarter on a 12-4 run after Wheaton took a 72-64 lead with five minutes left in regulation. Whitman's Taylor Chambers and Maddy Burdett hit back-to-back threes in the closing mintues of overtime to put the Blues ahead for good.

Hannah Frazier concluded her stellar career with 27 points in 42 minutes for the Thunder. Mady Burdett scored 22 points for Whitman which won despite playing without NWC Player of the Year Makana Stone.

Most of the early finals produced lopsided wins, including Williams handling Albright, 68-46. The Ephs held Albright star Dejah Terrell to three points on 1 for 15 shooting and rode Mikaela Topper's 23-point performance to an easy victory. Williams faces Ithaca since the Bombers took care of business against New England College, 72-54. All-American Cassidy O'Malley poured in 31 points and 11 rebounds for Ithaca (23-5).

The shooting performance of the night took place in Upstate New York where Smith shot 65 percent from the field and knocked off No. 20 DeSales, 81-72. Amelia Clairmont, Katelyn Pickunka and Dashelle Gleissner combined for 58 points for Smith (25-4). 

In a duel between likely All-Americans, New York University's Janean Cuffee outscored Emmanuel's Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda, 24-20, and Cuffee got far more help in an 81-62 victory over the Saints. Jenny Walker scored 20 and Katie Foos came off the bench to add 19 more for the Violets (21-5). NYU draws Bowdoin next since the Polar Bears polished off Brooklyn, 90-51.