The 2008 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament will have at least two undefeated teams.

No. 1 Hope upped its record to 27-0 with a 70-59 victory over Albion, clinching the MIAA's automatic bid. No. 3 Thomas More beat Westminster (Pa.) 65-58 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference title and will also enter the NCAA Tournament unbeaten.

No. 2 Howard Payne moved one step closer to finishing a perfect regular season by beating Hardin-Simmons 83-67 in the ASC semifinals. The Yellow Jackets will meet No. 9 McMurry, 59-56 winners over Mary Hardin-Baylor, in tomorrow's ASC final. Saturday's women's games.

&&g-boxl&&No. 19 UW-Stevens Point stopped No. 20 UW-Eau Claire 62-50 on the road and clinched the WIAC's automatic bid. The Pointers finished the game on a 12-1 run and held the Blugolds without a field goal for the final four plus minutes. No. 25 Chicago built a 22-6 lead in a dominant performance against Washington U. and rolled to a 76-53 victory to clinch the UAA's automatic bid.

No. 13 Southern Maine, who hadn't lost a home game in more than four seasons, dropped its second straight contest in Gorham to Eastern Connecticut State. The Warriors picked off the Huskies 65-60 in overtime in the Little East Conference final, forcing Southern Maine to rely on an at-large bid to get into the NCAA tournament.

St. Lawrence also scored an upset, beating No. 17 William Smith 62-53 behind Jamie Wolff's 23 points. No. 21 Lake Forest will also need an at-large bid to make the playoffs. St. Norbert reserve Denise Heuser scored 20 points in the first half as the Green Knights dumped the Foresters 83-64.

With the at-large pool getting crowded, a host of ranked teams took care of business by winning their conference's automatic bid convincingly. No. 6 Mary Washington, No. 9 Illinois Wesleyan, No. 10 Simpson, No. 11 Baldwin-Wallace and No. 16 Medaille all won conference tournament finals by double-digit margins.

Both sides of the MAC went according to form. No. 23 DeSales captured the Freedom's automatic bid 75-60 over FDU-Florham. No. 5 Messiah beat Lebanon Valley 54-47 for its fourth consecutive Commonwealth title.

Other women's teams who have punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament include Becker, Bridgewater State, Brockport State, Cabrini, Carleton, Colby-Sawyer, D'Youville, Emmanuel, Fontbonne, Greensboro, La Verne, Manchester, Mount St. Mary and Utica.