| It was a big win and big celebration for the Denison Big Red on Saturday afternoon. Denison athletics photo by Lydia Roberts |
No. 7 Denison edged No. 9 Ohio Wesleyan for the NCAC regular-season title while No. 17 Bates erased a big deficit and advanced through the NESCAC tournament. Elsewhere, the NJAC and Empire 8 tournaments opened with upsets, and the HCAC tournament opened with mostly chalk in Saturday’s Division III women’s basketball action.
Denison seized the top spot in the NCAC playoffs in the most dramatic fashion possible, as Ada Taute’s last-second layup lifted the Bid Red over Ohio Wesleyan, 72-70. Ohio Wesleyan trailed Denison midway through the fourth quarter until Macy Miller scored seven straight to put OWU in front 67-66 with 1:30 to play. Denison regained a two-point lead on Violet Mitchell’s tip-in with 26 seconds left, but Miller scored again to tie the game at 70. Denison called timeout and found Taute for the game-winning shot.
Taute finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, and six assists for the Big Red (24-1, 13-1 NCAC), which won their first regular season title since 2016. Macy Miller paced Ohio Wesleyan (22-3, 11-3 NCAC) with 29 points and 10 rebounds.
No. 17 Bates avoided a long, painful wait for its next game by erasing a 20-point halftime deficit and defeating Hamilton, 67-64 in overtime. The Continentals held Bates to six field goals in the first half and led 34-14 at the break. But Ava James scored 10 points in the third quarter, sparking Bates back to life, and Sarah Hughes scored 11 in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime. Hughes scored five more of her game-high 23 points in overtime, and the Bobcats advanced to the NESCAC tournament semifinals.
Bates is in good shape for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but would have had to wait 13 days to play a first-round matchup.
The Bobcats will head to Brunswick, Maine for the NESCAC semifinals since No. 7 Bowdoin handled Tufts, 73-56. Grace Kinum and Abbie Quinn scored 19 points apiece for the Polar Bears (23-1), which have won 15 straight. The CBB rivals will be joined by Little East rivals Amherst (77-55 winners over Connecticut College) and Williams (75-55 winners over Trinity) next weekend.
No. 11 Hope blew away No. 18 Trine, 89-58, in the second meeting between the MIAA’s top two teams. Six players scored double figures for the Flying Dutch, led by Sydney Vis who scored 17 points with five 3-pointers. Hope (22-3, 14-2 MIAA) shot 54 percent from the field and even better from behind the arc (13 for 24). The loss ends the Thunder’s 37-game regular-season conference winning streak, though Trine will still be the top seed in the MIAA playoffs.
The WIAC playoff bracket came together with No. 25 UW-La Crosse seizing the second seed and a first-round bye thanks to a 76-69 overtime win at UW-Eau Claire.
After Reanna Hutchinson’s three-pointer gave Eau Claire a 63-60 lead with four minutes left in regulation, La Crosse locked in on defense and shut out the Blugolds the rest of the period. Molly Janke pulled the Eagles within two with a free throw and then Malia Nelson rebounded Janke’s missed second free throw and scored the game-tying layup for La Crosse. Nelson opened overtime with five points and then Janke hit a three-pointer to put the Eagles ahead by two possessions, and they held off the Blugolds the rest of the way.
La Crosse vaulted in front of No. 14 UW-Whitewater and No. 22 UW-Platteville because they both last their regular season finales.
UW-River Falls outscored Warhawks 29-3 in the second period, including a 15-0 run going into the half, but Whitewater pulled within three entering the fourth quarter. The Falcons converted seven of 10 free throws in that period and completed the Senior Day victory that gives River Falls the fourth seed over UW-Platteville.
UW-Stout rallied past UW-Platteville, 66-65, and sent the Pioneers into the WIAC tournament with three losses in their last four games. The Blue Devils outscored Platteville 17-1 over a key stretch in the final period and took the lead for good on Julia Rybacki’s layup in the final minute.
Seventh-seed Elmira stunned Brockport, 77-71, with a stellar shooting performance that sent the Soaring Eagles to the Empire 8 semifinals. Elmira shot 65 percent from three (11 for 17) and 51 percent overall, as Lauren Miller scored 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting. The Soaring Eagles (13-13) outscored the Golden Eagles 21-8 in the final quarter and will face Houghton, which dispatched St. John Fisher, 78-53.
Courtney Edmundo poured in 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead six-seed Rutgers-Camden over three-seed Rowan, 69-55, in the NJAC tournament’s first round. The Scarlett Knights outscored the Profs 24-0 from three while Rowan attempted almost as many free throws (41) as field goals (44). On the other side of the bracket, Stockton defeated Montclair State, 67-60, and will face top-seed William Paterson in the semifinals.
The rest of the conference playoffs largely went according to form.
The higher seeds advanced easily in the CUNYAC where Lehman dropped CCNY, 94-55, and John Jay downed Baruch, 94-72. Lehman and John Jay will face Hunter and Brookly respectively in Tuesday’s semifinals.
It was all chalk in the UEC quarterfinals where the top four seeds all won at home. St. Mary’s (Md.) defeated Penn State-Harrisburg, 70-58, thanks to a 27-7 bench scoring advantage, and Penn College took care of Lancaster Bible, 76-42, thanks to 17 points, 10 rebounds and four steals from Gigi Parlante.
Three of the top four teams advanced through the HCAC quarterfinals, including top-seed Transylvania blowing past Hanover, 70-48. Mount St. Joseph was the lone road winner as the Lions topped Berea, 72-64 in overtime, for a 5-over-4 victory.
While many programs finished their season on Saturday, Wesleyan (Ga.) finished its career as an NCAA Division III member with an 80-48 loss at Belhaven. Zariah Davis scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Wolves (1-19, 1-15 CCS), which will move to NAIA next season.