Tara Bieniewicz and Trine are headed to the national semifinal for the first time in program history. Photo by Gordon Mann, d3sports.com

All four tickets to the 2022 NCAA Division III women's basketball semifinals have been punched. No. 2 Hope, No. 5 Trine, No. 8 Amherst and No. 12 UW-Whitewater are headed to the Steel City. 

• Updated NCAA Tournament bracket
• Round of 8 scoreboard: Women | Men

No. 5 Trine battled past No. 3 Transylvania, 54-47, in a defensive struggle between two teams looking for their first trip to the final four. Transylvania opened the game with four 3-point plays in the first quarter and took a 19-8 lead entering the second period. Trine clamped down on the Pioneers from there and used its size and depth to hold Transylvania to 2 for 11 shooting in the second quarter and 1 for 15 in the third.

Meanwhile the Thunder found ways to penetrate Transylvania's zone defense and get the ball to its forwards for open looks around the rim. Sam Underhill and Tara Bieniewicz combined for 11 straight Thunder points over a stretch where Trine went from down nine to up three. Both teams struggled on offense for stretches during the second half but the Thunder scored a couple of baskets off broken plays late in the game, including one in which Rachel Stewart grabbed an offensive rebound, fell to her knees and found Makayla Ardis for a layup.

Earlier this season Trine (28-3) went to unbeaten Hope and defeated the Flying Dutch, ending their 61-game winning streak. On Saturday night, the Thunder struck again, beating undefeated Transyvlania (27-1) and snapping the Pioneers' 31-game winning streak.

Trine (28-3) will face a familiar foe in the national semifinals on Friday.

No. 2 Hope awaits after taking care of No. 7 New York University, 83-64. For the second night in a row, the Flying Dutch turned a close game into a comfortable win with a strong second half. Hope outscored the Violets 48-30 in the second half as Kate Majerus scored eight points in the third quarter and Kennedy Schoonveld had nine in the fourth. Schoonveld finished with a team-high 21 points while grabbing seven rebounds and making seven of her eight free throws while Belle Pellecchia had 24 points and 12 rebounds for NYU (25-2).

The Flying Dutch (30-1) are averaging 86 points per game in the NCAA Tournament and are currently on pace to break the team-scoring record for an NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament. Whitman scored 499 points over five games in 2014.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 8 Amherst secured its ninth trip to the national semifinals with a 79-68 victory over No. 13 Trinity (Texas).

The Tigers led 18-13 after one period and had a chance to win the second period, too, but the Mammoths scored the final five points of the half and trailed by three at the break. Amherst took over from there with a 28-point third period keyed by eight points from Dani Valdez. The Mammoths had five players score double figures, led by Valdez who had 17 and 15 rebounds. Hailey Coleman played a perfect first half, scoring 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting but Amherst held her scoreless on four shots in the second half. Maggie Shipley, who transferred from Amherst to Trinity, scored 16 for the Tigers.

No. 12 UW-Whitewater booked its fourth trip to a final four by beating UW-Oshkosh, 68-62, in the team's fourth meeting of the season. 

After a low-scoring first period, UW-Oshkosh shot 62 percent in the second period and hit five 3-pointers on its way to a 28-22 halftime lead. Kennedy Osterman hit a three-pointer and then scored a layup to push the Titans' lead to 50-42 in the final minute of the third period, but Yssa Santo Domingo and Aleah Grundahl responded with five points to close the deficit back to three. The teams traded leads multiple times in the fourth quarter until Kacie Carollo hit a three-pointer that put UW-Whitewater in front 64-62 with 1:59 left. The teams traded empty possessions and then Carollo scored again, this time a layup with 17 seconds left. Carollo added two more free throws to cap the scoring and the Warhawks' win.

Trine and Hope will meet for the fourth time this season in Thursday's national semifinals. The Flying Dutch won two of the three earlier matchups, including the MIAA tournament finale. 

Amherst and UW-Whitewater will also be a rematch. The Warhawks beat Amherst 64-62 in overtime in the 2013 national semifinals in one of the best finishes in NCAA Division III Tournament history.