| The atmosphere at Endicott was incredible and the Gulls’ CNE semifinal win lived up to iy. Endicott athletics photo |
Otterbein and DePauw guaranteed that their conferences will receive an extra bid to the NCAA Tournament while New York University and Scranton completed perfect runs to the Big Dance. Elsewhere, SUNY New Paltz and St. Mary’s (Md.) healed last year’s heartbreak with conference titles, and Fred Richter earned his 700th win in style in Division III women’s basketball action.
Otterbein entered the day on the bubble for making the NCAA Tournament, but the Cardinals erased all doubt by defeating No. 11 Baldwin Wallace, 51-45. The Cardinals scored the first 10 points and led for much of the game until the Yellow Jackets briefly gained the lead early in the fourth. Mattie Walburn and Cameron Sparks scored four each in an 8-0 burst that put Otterbein in front 51-43 in the final minute.
First-year center Sparks finished with 11 points and six boards for Otterbein (22-5), which had a 26-16 scoring advantage in the paint. Baldwin Wallace (24-3), which had won 21 straight, is a lock for an at-large bid.
DePauw completed its late-season surge into the NCAA Tournament with a 64-59 win over No. 10 John Carroll in the NCAC championship game. The Tigers took a 10-point lead late in the third quarter on Bren Hill’s layup, but the Blue Streaks rallied within three on two free throws by Ava Ryncarz with 3:36 to play. A Riley Mont jumper and three Tori Allen free throws extended DePauw’s lead back to eight, and John Carroll was unable to recover.
DePauw (19-9) had balanced scoring with four players reaching double figures, led by Mont (16) and Allen (13). Ryncarz scored 16 with four 3-pointers, but John Carroll (24-4) was 9-for-30 from behind the arc.
DePauw, which clinched its 25th NCAA Tournament appearance, gives the NCAC a fourth participant. John Carroll, Ohio Wesleyan, and Denison are all locks to receive at-large bids.
Messiah entered its conference tournament likely needing to win it to secure its 25th NCAA Tournament appearance, and that’s just what the Falcons did, beating Widener, 76-72. Messiah built a 14-point lead midway through the fourth quarter before Widener went on a 13-4 run capped by Riley Stackhouse’s three-pointer that pulled the Pride within four at 71-67. Widener cut the deficit to two with eight seconds left but Liv Monturo, who scored her 1000th career point on Wednesday, calmly drained two free throws to secure another conference title for Messiah (23-4).
DeSales was the first team to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament on Championship Saturday as the Bulldogs defeated Stevens, 59-51, for the MAC Freedom title. Long-range shooting was the difference, with the Bulldogs outscoring the Ducks 18-6 from three, and Stevens going 2 for 20 form outside. Lindsay Bednarek posted a double-double (14 points, 12 rebounds) in a full 40 minutes for DeSales (19-8).
In addition to the MAC Freedom title and the automatic bid, the victory is the 700th in the career of DeSales head coach Fred Richter, who is ninth among active Division III women’s basketball coaches.
Christopher Newport will make its 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance thanks to a 73-57 win over Salisbury in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference championship. Needing a win to guarantee their season would continue, the Captains got 13 points a piece from Elizabeth Creed, Hailey Kellogg, and Madison McKenzie.
Carnegie Mellon’s hopes for an at-large bid took a hit when the Tartans went to Cleveland and lost to rival Case Western, 68-59. Emily Plachta saved her best game for last, as the senior scored a career-high 31 points for Case Western (11-14, 4-10 UAA), which swept Carnegie Mellon.
Elsewhere in the UAA, No. 1 New York University completed a third consecutive perfect regular season with an 80-58 home win over Brandeis. The Violets jumped out to a 27-4 lead and cruised from there to their 87th consecutive win. NYU (25-0) has 53 straight in conference and 87 straight overall.
No. 2 Scranton also completed a perfect run to the NCAA Tournament, punctuated by an 82-42 win over Elizabethtown in the Landmark Conference tournament finale. As has been the case much of the season, the Royals ended this one early, growing their 17-point halftime advantage to 31 points entering the fourth quarter. Kaci Kranson poured in 26 points with 10 points in just 26 minutes, and Katie Gorski and Elizabeth Bennett combined for 34 more points. Scranton (27-0) will enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated for the third time in the last 11 seasons.
Two more teams will have a chance to enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated tomorrow. No. 4 Washington and Lee earned that opportunity by downing Shenandoah 66-52 in the ODAC semifinals, and Johns Hopkins awaits Gettysburg after both teams won their Centennial Conference semifinals on Friday night.
| SUNY New Paltz, which will join the NJAC next season, finished its SUNYAC tenure as women’s basketball champions. |
Last season ended before it began for SUNY New Paltz All-American Brianna Fitzgerald, who suffered a season-ending injury before the Hawks first game. This season will end with No. 22 SUNY New Paltz crowned SUNYAC champions because Fitzgerald scored 21 points in the Hawks’ 56-52 win over Cortland.
New Paltz took the lead in the second quarter and held on the rest of the way, though the Red Dragons stayed close the whole game. Joleen Lusk’s jumper pulled Cortland within two at 48-46, but Fitzgerald responded with a jumper that took the Hawks’ lead back to four. Fitzgerald split a pair of free throws, putting New Paltz up 55-52 with 19 seconds left, and Cortland had a chance to tie but missed. Karly Wittenbauer grabbed the defensive rebound, was fouled and added the finishing free throw.
Cortland (23-4) got all 52 points from its starters, led by Kaeli McAnally who had 16. The Red Dragons are lined up to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
After suffering a gut-wrenching loss in the UEC title game last season, St. Mary’s (Md.) returned to the championship and wrote a happier ending, rolling past Penn State-Abington, 73-44. The Seahawks trailed 28-27 at the half, but broke out for 46 points in the second half, led by tournament MVP Sam Blaylock.
Coe avenged its loss to Wartburg in last season’s ARC championship game by going to Waverly and beating the Knights, 61-50. The Kohawks hit 11 three-pointers, with three apiece from Caydee Kirkham, Taryn Kravig, and Averiel Brady. Kirkham finished with 21 points, seven assists, and six rebounds for Coe (21-6), which will make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since head coach Kayla Waskow played for the Kohawks in 2012.
It was a similar story in the SLIAC where Webster defeated Principia, 70-64, in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game. The game turned in the third quarter when the Gorloks outscored Principia, 20-10. Meghan Illingworth had a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds), and Miya Webb flirted with a triple-double (11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) for Webster (19-8).
Two weeks after losing to Maine Maritime at home in the NAC season finale, Maine-Farmington went to Castine and beat the Mariners for the conference crown, 70-58. Jaydn Pingree filled the state sheet for Maine-Farmington (21-7) with 25 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Jessica Dow added 19 points and seven boards for the Beavers, who earned their first NAC title since 2007.
Less than 24 hours after beating NWC top-seed Linfield in a nailbiter, George Fox could not recapture the magic, and Whitman defeated the Bruins, 67-51. Sophomore Emma Lena Baker, whose older sister Korin was an All-American at Whitman, set the rhythm for the Blues with 19 points. Whitman has won four of the last five NWC tournaments, but this is the first time the Blues did it away from Walla Walla.
| Millaps won its second SAA title in three seasons by defeating Trinity (Texas) on Saturday afternoon. |
No. 14 Illinois Wesleyan and No. 12 Carroll each beat the other at home, and the Pioneers got hosting rights via the CCIW’s tiebreaker, but the Titans went to Waukesha and defeated Carroll in overtime, 74-70.
Illinois Wesleyan led by nine entering the fourth quarter, but Carroll held the Titans to 3-for-13 shooting in the fourth quarter and got some help when IWU missed multiple free throws at the end of regulation. That allowed Carroll to tie the score at 68 on Anna Nielsen’s jump shot with 1.1 seconds remaining and send the game to overtime. Both teams managed just one field goal in the extra period, with Natalie Gricius’s layup briefly giving the Pioneers a 70-68 lead before Ava Bardic sank a three-pointer, putting IWU back in front, 71-70. Carroll struggled to get good looks and missed multiple threes on its final possessions, and Leah Palmer gave the Titans breathing room with two free throws.
Bardic finished with 23 points in 44 minutes, and Sawyer White tallied 19 points, six steals, and five rebounds in 43 minutes for Illinois Wesleyan (22-5). Natalie Gricius paced Carroll (22-5) with 21 points in 41 minutes.
One week after dominating No. 21 Trine at home, No. 9 Hope went to Indiana and beat the Thunder, 76-62, to seize the MIAA’s automatic bid. The Flying Dutch led wire-to-wire behind big games from both Richards sisters. Leah had 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting with a pair of threes, while Anna had 24 points, five rebounds, and three steals for Hope (24-3). Ally Capouch scored 22 points and drained five 3-pointers for Trine (22-5).
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps scored 28 points from the foul line on 32 attempts, and the Athenas defeated Cal Lutheran, 69-58, for the SCIAC championship. Caleigh Edwards set the tone for CMS with 23 points, including making all 14 of her free throws, and Tanya Ghai added a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds). Alline Ballard a dozen points and a dozen rebounds in 21 minutes for the Regals (22-5).
Millsaps and Trinity (Texas) each beat the other on the road, and the neutral court game went to the Majors. Millsaps beat the Tigers, 72-66, in the SAA championship game played at Berry College behind a big game from its defense and Garin Freeman. She scored 27 points and dished out five assists, and the Majors (21-7) converted 23 Tiger turnovers into 21 points. Kylie Minter led Trinity (16-11) with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.
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Abigail Snyder had plenty to celebrate on Saturday afternoon, after leading Southern Virginia back to the NCAA Tournament. |
No. 18 Ripon completed its rampage through the Midwest Conference with a 65-29 rout of Lawrence in the conference tournament final. The Red Hawks held Lawrence to 12 points in the second half and no field goals in the fourth quarter. Ripon also outscored the Vikings 24-3 from three and outrebounded them 44-19. Sophie Schlieve had 16 points and four blocks in 23 minutes for Ripon (25-2), which will enter the NCAA Tournament on a 20-game winning streak.
Immaculata was similarly impressive in the Atlantic East championship game, as the Mighty Macs lived up to their name with a 74-49 dismantling of Marywood. Carly Coleman notched her 18th double-double of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Immaculata (24-3) completed a flawless run through its conference.
Bethel defeated No. 19 Concordia-Moorhead for the third time this season, this time besting the Cobbers in Moorhead for the MIAC’s automatic bid, 62-55. The Royals outscored the Cobbers by seven in the third quarter, and that proved to be the difference. Cally Peterson paced Bethel with 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Bethel (22-5), which was in and out of the Top 25 all season, enters the NCAA Tournament with six consecutive wins.
After losing both games to St. Vincent during the regular season, Washington and Jefferson beat the Bearcats decisively for the PAC championship, 64-43. W&J held St. Vincent to 14 points in the second half, and the Presidents shot 70 percent (7 for 10) in the final period. Katie Kovalchick led four W&J players in double figures with 22 points.
In other championship games…
- Hardin-Simmons outscored Howard Payne 24-6 in the second quarter, and the Cowgirls led comfortably from there in a 73-46 win over Howard Payne. Jacqueline Berry, who was named tournament most oustanding player, had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Cowgrils (22-5) who outrebounded HPU by 23. The ASC title is Hardin-Simmons’ ninth.
- Abigail Snyder racked up 28 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals, and Southern Virginia defeated Brevard, 82-74 in the USA South Athletic Conference tournament final. Snyder, who was named the Conference’s top player earlier this week, also took home tournament MVP honors. Southern Virginia (21-7) has won four of five women’s basketball titles since joining the conference in 2021-22.
- Transylvania opened the HCAC title game on an 11-0 run and never looked back, as the Pioneers cruised past Franklin, 85-51. Transylvania (24-4), which has won eight straigth HCAC titles, shot 53 percent from the field and held the Grizzlies to 28 percent shooting.
- SUNY Geneseo overpowered Houghton for the Empire 8’s automatic bid, 66-52, as the Knights outrebounded the Highlanders by 15 and outscored them in the paint by 18. Maggie McGrane and Grace Galgano combined for 30 points and 21 rebounds for SUNY Geneseo (19-8).
- Alaina Fabin was fabulous for Penn State-Behrend in the Nittany Lions’ 78-61 victory over Penn State-Altoona in the AMCC tournament finale. Fabin had 32 points on 14-for-21 shooting and grabbed 16 rebounds for Penn State-Behrend (22-5).
- Laila Battle scored 26 points on 14 field goal attempts, plus eight free throws, and LaGrange downed Belhaven, 69-62, for the CCS’s automatic bid. The Blazers hung tough and trailed by just one with 3:42 to play, but the Panthers held Belhaven to one field goal the rest of the way.
- UW-Superior will enter the NCAA Tournament as the ultimate underdog after defeating North Central (Minn.) for the UMAC title, 78-51. Maddie Reott poured in 23 points for the Yellowjackets who were the third seed in their four-team playoff and will go to the Big Dance with a 12-15 record.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading our longest recap of the season!