The top three teams in Division III women's basketball each finished their conference seasons unscathed and enter their conference tournaments unbeaten overall.
No. 1 Hope got 18 points from Jordyn Boles in just 26 minutes of action, while Courtney Knox came off the bench to score 13 points in 11 minutes and Carrie Snikkers had a game-high 10 rebounds in 14 minutes in a 69-40 win against Alma. Hope (24-0) awaits the winner of Monday's MIAA Tournament play-in game between Tri-State and Kalamazoo. Second-ranked Howard Payne had little trouble with Schreiner in improving to 25-0, while No. 3 Thomas More used a 16-0 run in the first half to punctuate an 88-39 blowout of St. Vincent. Saturday's women's scores
&&g-boxl&&Melissa Beyruti scored 24 and Chari' Cooper had 17 rebounds, but No. 7 Kean was knocked off 78-75 at Rowan. The Cougars (22-3, 10-3) now will have to play a first-round game in the NJAC Tournament on Monday. William Paterson earned the top overall seed thanks to Asia Johnson's 26 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks in a 65-60 win against Rutgers-Newark.
The top four seeds advanced in the NESCAC's conference tournament, with No. 1 Amherst beating Colby, No. 2 Tufts defeating Middlebury, third-seeded Wesleyan advancing past Williams and Bowdoin surviving archrival Bates.
No. 22 Puget Sound won the tiebreaker and gets the bye to the finals of the Northwest Conference tournament after beating Willamette 73-47 in the final regular season game. No. 18 George Fox plays the league's one semifinal game, hosting Lewis and Clark. No. 23 UW-Eau Claire won the WIAC tiebreaker -- a coin flip -- to get top seed over fellow conference champ No. 4 UW-Whitewater.
In perhaps the game with the biggest Pool B implications in women's basketball on Saturday, Scranton hit a buzzer beater at the end of regulation and a bucket at the end of the first overtime in beating Moravian 92-85 in double OT. Scranton improved to 19-5, 18-4 in-region while Moravian fell to 16-9, 15-8.
Colleen Feeney notched her 22nd double-double of the season with 18 points and a game-high 17 rebounds as Bridgewater State won the MASCAC regular season for the first time since 1986. Wheaton (Mass.) won a conference title for the first time since the New England Women's 8 days, winning the NEWMAC with a 71-60 victory against Clark. The Centennial Conference ended in a three-way tie, with Franklin and Marshall winning the tiebreaker and the top seed.
Otterbein guard Sara Fee hit a three-pointer from just inside half court as time expired to send the Cardinals to a 63-62 win over crosstown rival Capital. The two teams, along with John Carroll, are tied for fourth in the league with Otterbein holding the tiebreaker.