And then there was one

More news about: Amherst | Transylvania | Trinity (Texas) | UW-Oshkosh
Mar 11, 2022
Hailey Coleman was unstoppable against Christopher Newport and the Tigers ended the Captains' perfect run in the Round of 16.
Photo by Amherst College athletics
 

Division III women's basketball is down to one undefeated team after No. 13 Trinity defeated No. 1 Christopher Newport in the sectional semifinals of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Transylvania remains as the lone unbeaten team after the third-ranked Pioneers survived a late push at home from No. 21 Mary Hardin-Baylor and UW-Oshkosh is the last unranked team dancing after ousting No. 10 Baldwin Wallace.

No. 13 Trinity (Texas) built a double-digit lead and then held off No. 1 Christopher Newport, 76-71, at the sectional semifinal round played in Amherst, Massachussets, ending the Captains' 43-game winning streak.

The Tigers shot 61 percent in the first period (11 for 18) and jumped out to a 25-14 lead. The teams played evenly in the second quarter and the Tigers took a 12-point lead into the lockerroom. Ashlyn Milton hit a three with 3:38 to play in the third quarter that staked the Tigers to a 60-45 lead, but then the Captains mounted a comeback. The Captains closed the period on a 10-3 run with Sondra Fan hitting to three-pointers. Christopher Newport pulled with two early in the fourth quarter but the Tigers scored nine of the next 11 points and led 70-63 with 2:15 remaining. Fan hit another three to cut the deficit to four but Maggie Shipley answered with a layup and a free throw for Trinity to put the game away.

Hailey Coleman scored 28 points on 13-for-19 shooting with eight rebounds for Trinity (28-2). The Tigers have won 27 in a row after starting the season 1-2.

Fan scored 25 points in her final game for Christopher Newport (26-1), which was the first team ranked No. 1 to play three games away from home since Hope did it in 2008. "This doesn't take away from what this group has done, you know, starting 26 and 0. I'm just really, really proud of these seniors," said CNU head coach Bill Broderick in the post-game press conference. 

Trinity (Texas) will play sectional host Amherst in the Round of 8 on Saturday after the eighth-ranked Mammoths defeated No. 11 Tufts, 48-45. Amherst (24-3) took a 45-34 lead with 6:17 left in the fourth quarter on Jade Duval's jumper, but the Jumbos scored eight straight and had a chance to tie the game in the final minute. The Mammoths stole the ball and, after missing two free throws, got the ball back and got fouled again. Valdez hit both free throws and put the game out reach.

The teams played a typical low-scoring affair with Tufts shooting 21 percent (13 for 62) and Amherst 33 percent (16 for 48). Amherst improved to 3-0 against Tufts in the NCAA Tournament with the other two wins coming in the same round of the 2013 Tournament and the 2017 national championship.

No. 3 Transylvania built a 17-point lead in front of a packed home crowd and then hung to beat No. 21 Mary Hardin-Baylor, 63-58. The Pioneers led 50-33 entering the fourth period on the strength of a big night from Kennedi Stacy (19 points, eight rebounds) and a 21-0 advantage in three-point scoring. The Crusaders charged back and pulled within three on a Arieona Rosborough three and a Bethany McLeod layup. Mary Hardin-Baylor fouled Transylvania guard Madison Kellione with 32 seconds left and she split two free throws. The Crusaders had the ball back down four but failed to score and Stacy split two more free throws to finish the scoring.

"I have a lot of faith in [my players]. They are able to do a lot of things," said Transylvania head coach Juli Fulks in the postgame. When asked whether fatigue was a factor in the fourth quarter, Fulks said, "I'm sure it was. I though Maddy and Kennedi took a lot of contact all night. It was a really physical game." 

Stacy played 40 minutes, as did Dasia Thornton who had a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds) for Transylvania (27-0).

At that same sectional, No. 5 Trine hit a flury of threes before the snow started to fall in Lexingthon, Kentucky and the Thunder advanced past Springfield, 58-59. Tara Bieniewicz tied a program record with 8 three-pointers, the last one coming with 36 seconds after Sam Hourihan's jumper pulled the Pride within four. Trine (27-3) shot 12 for 23 from three. Hourihan capped her strong Tournament with 20 points and eight rebounds for Springfield (24-5).

No. 7 New York University shook off a bad start and defeated No. 9 Scranton, 73-58, to win the first game of the sectionals at Hope College. After Scranton opened the game on an 11-0 run, the Violets scored 13 of the next 18 points and finished the first period down just four. New York University continued its surge in the second quarter as Jenny Walker made two jumpers and Erica Miller followed with a three that put the Violets in front 29-21. The Lady Royals tried to get back into the game early in the fourth quarter and cut the NYU lead to seven, 64-57, on Maddie Hartnett's three pointer. But Brooklyn Shelton immediately answered with a three for the Violets and they led by double digits the rest of the way.

No. 2 Hope ended Millikin's postseason run by beating the Big Blue, 91-77, on a big night for Kennedy Schoonveld. In a battle of All-Americans, Schoonveld hit six three-pointers and scored 24 for the Flying Dutch while Millikin sophomore Elyce Knudsen tallied 25 points for the Big Blue. Schoonveld scored 10 points in a third quarter in which Hope expanded their lead to double digits.

The fourth sectional final will have Division III's last unranked Tournament team and the winner of Friday night's most dramatic finish.

UW-Oshkosh outcored No. 10 Baldwin Wallace by 10 in the fourth quarter and ousted the Yellow Jackets from the Tournament, 74-63. The Titans went 7 for 14 from the field and converted eight of their nine free throws in the decisive final period. Leah Porath scored 27 points in 37 minutes and Nikki Arneson added 21 more for the Titans (22-6), who have now beaten the teams ranked 18th, 4th and 10th on their way to the Round of Eight.

The Titans will see a familiar face in the sectional finals because No. 12 UW-Whitewater stunned No. 16 Smith 78-76 in overtime. Smith led 76-74 in the closing minute of the extra period until Whitewater's Maggie Trautsch was fouled with eight seconds left. She hit both free throws to tie the game at 76 and the Pioneers called timeout to advance the ball across half court. On the ensuing play, Smith's inbound pass was tipped and a Whitewater defender managed to save the ball to a wide open Rebekah Schumacher who streaked down the court and scored the game-winning layup with 0.5 seconds left.

Kacie Carollo scored 19 points for UW-Whitewater before fouling out and the Warhawks (26-4) hit nine 3-pointers. Morgan Morrison scored 31 points on 11 for 19 shooting for Smith (25-3).

UW-Whitewater took two of three games from UW-Oshkosh so far this season, including a 67-59 win over the Titans in the WIAC tournament. The home team has won all three matchups and Saturday's game will be played at Whitewater.