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| New York University won two games in Central Pennsylvania this weekend to advance to its fifth national semifinal. Photo by Ryan Murray |
New York University cruised to victory at Gettysburg and UW-Stout won a thriller in Scranton to complete a weekend in which road teams won all four NCAA Tournament sectionals. The Violets and Blue Devils will be joined by Smith and UW-Oshkosh in next week's national semifinals in Salem, Va.
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No. 22 UW-Stout continued its historic run right through Northeast Pennsylvania and into the national semifinals, as the Blue Devils downed No. 3 Scranton, 81-77.
Scranton entered the fourth quarter trailing by three but scored the first four points of that period to take a 69-68 lead. The game remained tight throughout the period with Stout taking a 77-73 lead on Amanda Giesen’s layup and then Scranton pulling even with back-to-back baskets from Kaci Kranson. With 32 seconds left, Giesen scored the biggest basket in Stout women’s basketball history to date, hitting a floating jumper that put the Blue Devils up 79-77. The Lady Royals turned the ball over on their final two possessions and Raegan Sorenson added two more free throws for Stout.
Both teams shot exceptionally well. Stout hit 50 percent of its field goal attempts (30 for 60) and 47 percent of its three-pointers while Scranton was even better with a 58 percent field goal percentage, 10 three-pointers in 15 attempts and a 7-for-7 showing at the free throw line.
But Stout took better care of the ball, committing just eight turnovers to Scranton’s 18, and converted those Lady Royal turnovers into 18 points.
Sorenson and Giesen combined for 55 points for Stout, while Kranson and Meghan Lamanna tallied 49 combined for Scranton.
UW-Stout (23-7) advances to its first national semifinal while Scranton’s season closes at 29-2.
The Blue Devils’ victory also completes a weekend in which none of the four sectional hosts advanced to the national semifinals. The last time that occurred was 2001 when Washington U, Messiah, Emmanuel, and Ohio Wesleyan all advanced as road teams.
The Titans looked like they were headed toward another comfortable victory when they jumped on Baldwin Wallace for a 17-2 first-quarter lead. Avery Poole’s free throws sent Oshkosh into halftime with a 14-point lead, and the Titans maintained that double-digit advantage until Kayla Jones hit a three and Caely Ressler added a layup that pulled Baldwin Wallace within six with 7:42 to play.
The Yellow Jackets got as close as three points on a Ressler jumper that cut the Titans’ lead to 51-48 and Baldwin Wallace still trailed by three with 11 seconds remaining. But Oshkosh super sub Sammi Beyer absorbed a BW foul and made both free throws to sustain the Titans’ lead.
Beyer scored 18 points in 28 minutes off the bench for Oshkosh (27-4), which advanced despite being outscored 21-6 from three. Emily Irwin and Bella Vaillant scored 12 points each for Baldwin Wallace (29-2).
The Titans will play in their third national semifinal but first since 1996.
With those two wins, the WIAC improves to 9-1 in the Tournament against teams outside its conference, with only Stevens Point losing to a non-conference foe.
The other two teams making the trip to Salem are the two that played for the 2024 national championship.
In a repeat of Friday’s sectional semifinals, No. 1 New York University turned a close game into a comfortable win as the Violets pulled away from No. 10 Gettysburg in the second half, 76-51.
Gettysburg stayed within striking distance of NYU and scored the final six points of the second quarter to cut the halftime deficit to 31-27. But the Violets opened the third quarter on a 12-4 run and led 43-31 after Jamie Behar’s layup. Belle Pellecchia capped a 6-0 NYU spurt with a turnaround jumper at the end of the third quarter and Caroline Peper’s three-point play took the advantage to 66-40 midway through the fourth.
Peper finished with 29 points on 12 for 25 field goal attempts, eight more than her previous high this season. Natalie Bruns and Pellecchia scored 16 points apiece and the Violets outscored the Bullets 42-26 in the paint.
New York University advances to its fifth national semifinal in program history while Gettysburg finishes its season at 28-3.
Meanwhile, No. 8 Smith shut down No. 5 Gustavus Adolphus in the fourth quarter and pushed past the Golden Gusties, 61-50.
Gustavus Adolphus established its inside game early, feeding the ball to Rachel Kawiecki who scored six of her 12 points in the first period. Smith recovered and took a 30-29 lead into the locker room thanks to Ally Landau jumping the passing lane for a steal and transition basket in the closing minute. Smith maintained its lead by shooting 50 percent from the field in the third quarter and then held Gustavus to 3-for-13 shooting in the fourth. Landau put the game out of reach with a layup and four free throws that gave her a game-high 22 points.
Smith forwards Jazmyn Washington and Ella Sylvester combined for 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting and the Pioneers outscored Gustavus 15-3 from three.
Smith (30-2) advances to its third consecutive national semifinal, and Gustavus Adolphus’ best season in program history ends at 29-2.