| Sydney Weyant helped Susquehanna push past Catholic in overtime and bolster the River Hawks’ NCAA Tournament hopes. Susquehanna athletics file photo by Megan Falvey |
Susquehanna bolstered its NCAA Tournament hopes with a road win at Catholic while St. Vincent seized the upper hand in the PAC, and UW-Whitewater and UW-Eau Claire picked up critical wins in Wednesday night’s Division III women’s basketball action.
Susquehanna lost a 15-point fourth-quarter lead and two players to foul trouble, but the River Hawks persevered and pushed past Catholic in overtime, 72-70.
Julia Pinckert’s layup gave Susquehanna a 57-42 lead at the end of the third period and put the River Hawks in good position to beat Catholic on the road. But the Cardinals opened the fourth quarter on a 19-4 run and tied the game at 61 on Carly Catania’s layup with 2:52 to play in regulation. Carly George briefly gave Susquehanna the lead with a layup, but McKenna Mason answered with two free throws, pulling Catholic even at 63 and sending the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Susquehanna lost the lead and George when she fouled out with 2:38 to play, and CUA split a pair of free throws, tying the game at 65. The teams were still tied when Sydney Weyant grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a putback that Susquehanna in front by two. Catholic missed its final shot and the River Hawks headed home with the victory.
George posted 22 points and seven rebounds before fouling out and Pinckert added 19 points for Susquehanna (19-3, 12-3 Landmark). The River Hawks sit one game behind Catholic in the Landmark standings, but lead the Cardinals in the NCAA Power Index (NPI) that determines which teams receive at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Both teams have games remaining with No. 2 Scranton, which blitzed Lycoming, 104-29.
No. 16 UW-Whitewater went on the road and beat No. 17 UW-Platteville, 50-46, sweeping the season series from the Pioneers. Mia Gillis racked up 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for the Warhawks (17-5, 7-4 WIAC) who held UW-Platteville to 30 percent shooting. The teams are now tied for second in the conference, and UW-Whitewater holds the tiebreaker advantage. UW-La Crosse made it a three-way tie for second by beating UW-Stout, 90-80, as the Eagles five starters all scored double figures.
Those three teams sit two games back of No. 4 UW-Oshkosh since the Titans stumbled at UW-Eau Claire, 65-54. Paige Seckar scored 24 points for UWO, but the rest of the Titans shot 22 percent (10 for 46). Meanwhile, the Blugolds had a balanced attack with 15 points from Reanna Hutchinson, 14 from Kyla Overskei and 12 apiece from Kailey Tulachka and Olivia Witkowski.
UW-Eau Claire (14-8, 3-8 WIAC) is tied with UW-Stevens Point for the final WIAC playoff spot, but it has split with first-place UW-Oshkosh. The Pointers, which lost to the Titans earlier this season, host them in the regular season finale.
Camdon Bashor played hero twice for St. Vincent as the Bearcats edged Washington and Jefferson in overtime, 77-74. Bashor tied the game with a layup with one second left in regulation, giving the Bearcats second life. Then, she hit a jumper in the final minute of overtime to give St. Vincent the lead. Brooke Evans paced St. Vincent (16-6, 11-2 PAC) with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and five rebounds while Katie Kovalchik scored 30 for W&J (16-6, 11-2 PAC).
No. 22 Concordia-Moorhead remained a step ahead of the crowded field in the MIAC with an 80-70 road win at St. Catherine. Maya Metcalf tallied 32 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for the Cobbers (19-3, 13-2 MIAC). Saint Mary’s sits a game back after blowing past Augsburg, 88-43, but No. 24 Bethel lost ground with a 59-53 home setback to Hamline.
In a rare February cross-region matchup, No. 14 Hope welcomed Texas-based Hardin-Simmons to Holland, Michigan and held off the Cowgirls, 63-57. The game turned in the third quarter when the Flying Dutch outscored HSU by 13 and took a five-point lead into the final period. Maddie Petroele scored a career-high 29 points for Hope (19-3) while Abbie Crow had 13 points for Hardin-Simmons (17-5).
La Verne garnered its second SCIAC win of the season in a most unexpected way, as the Leopards held first-place Cal Lutheran to just 29 percent shooting and 4-for-21 shooting from beyond the arc to win 64-56. ULV snapped a six-game losing streak and won for just the sixth time all season, with its only previous conference win coming against Caltech (2-17, 0-13). Alyssa Smith shot just 6-for-17 but it was enough to get 18 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, as the Leopards made things super tense for Cal Lu (19-4, 11-3).
Aurora had a night in which it literally could not be stopped, as the Spartans rolled out to a 33-4 lead and tied the Division III single game record by hitting 26 three-pointers in a 111-50 win against Rockford. Twenty players got into the game for Aurora (17-4, 9-3 NACC), 15 of them scored, and nine of them sank three-pointers in the win. Nobody played more than 16 minutes for Aurora. Courtney Schuk tied for the team high with 18 points, shooting 6-for-7 from three-point range, while Alina Anderson and Krystyna Manzanarez added four threes apiece. Three previous D-III teams have also hit 26 threes: La Verne vs. Pomona-Pitzer, Feb. 11, 2012; LaGrange vs. Mary Baldwin, Jan. 20, 2013; and North Central (Ill.) vs. Monmouth, Dec. 16, 2014. Rockford fell to 1-20 overall, 1-12 in the NACC.