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Danbury
Coverage of the women's Final Four
First-round tournament games
King's (Pa.) 60, Johns Hopkins 57
BALTIMORE -- Freshman guard Nikki Kingston hit a three-pointer with 14.4 seconds remaining to clinch a 60-57 King's College victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The win improves the Monarchs to 23-5 and advances them to the second round, where they will face MAC foe Allentown on Saturday night in Allentown. The loss ends the Blue Jays season at 21-6 overall.
King's took control of the game early, jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game. Hopkins would respond with a 9-1 run on two Jennifer Butterwei layups to tie the game at 11 with 14:40 remaining. King's then went on its own run (7-0) to take a seven-point lead on a Denise Igo three-pointer with 11 minutes left in the first half. After both teams traded baskets for the next 10 minutes, JHU scored the last three points of the first half to pull within 33-28 at the half.
In the second half, Hopkins took its first lead of the game at 42-39 on a Heidi Sumser putback and free throw with just over 12 minutes remaining. Leslie Ritter would extend the lead to six at 51-45 on a fadeaway jumper with 8:03 remaining. King's would fight back, led by Joanne Polakoski, who scored eight of her team's next ten points to tie the game at 51. Sumser converted a fast-break layup off a feed from freshman Lauren Martin to put the Blue Jays up 57-55 with 1:51 to go. After Polakoski missed two free throws that could have tied the game, Hopkins missed an opportunity to put the game away and Kingston nailed a three-pointer to put the Monarchs ahead for good at 58-57.
Leading the Blue Jays was senior center Marjahna Segers, tallying her 14th double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Lauren Martin netted 11 points off the bench, all in the second half, and Butterwei scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Ritter had nine points, four assists, and a career-high seven steals in the loss.
Polakoski led the Monarchs with a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds. Junior guard Denise Igo recorded her own double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while the freshman Kingston netted 11 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe.
King's moves to the second round to face Allentown on Saturday night. Three of King's five losses this season have come at the hands of the Centaurs.
Calvin 68, Lake Forest 42
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- For the fifth consecutive year, Calvin opened the NCAA Tournament with a first-round victory as the Knights rolled to a 68-42 victory against visiting Lake Forest at the Calvin Fieldhouse. Calvin will now head to Columbus, Ohio,
for a second-round game at Capital.
Calvin (22-6) used intense defensive pressure and a strong second-half shooting performance to pull away for the lop-sided victory. Despite shooting only 27.3% in the first half, Calvin held a 26-17 halftime lead as the Knights held the Foresters (21-4) to just 20.7% (6-for-29) first-half shooting.
Leading 35-29 early in the second half, Calvin blew the game open with a 17-6 run over the next seven minutes to vault into a 52-35 advantage with 8:20 left to play. Lake Forest would get no closer than 15 points the remainder of the contest as the Knights held the Foresters 33 points below their season scoring average.
Calvin finished the game with a 36.8% field goal clip (45.7% in the second half). Calvin was 7-for-17 from three-point range (.412). Lake Forest shot 25.4% overall (15-for-59).
Senior Lauren Louters (pictured) was a key component of the Calvin victory as collected her fourth career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. On defense, the 5-11 sparkled, holding Lake Forest junior guard Alison Grubbs to just 10 points as she connected on just 3-for-15 field goal attempts. Grubbs came into Wednesday night's game averaging 18.6 points a game while leading the nation in three-point and free-throw percentage.
Louters was one of three Calvin players in double-figures in scoring as senior Robyn Fennema led all scorers with 18 points and eight rebounds while freshman guard Jennifer Plakmeyer came off the bench to pour in a career-high 15 points including a 3-for-6 performance from three-point range. Senior Mindi Andringa also had a big evening for Calvin with nine points, seven assists and five rebounds. Her nine-point effort allowed her to move past Eileen Boonstra and into fourth place on the all-time Calvin scoring list as Andringa now has 1,235 career points to her credit. In addition, senior forward Jill Kreuze ripped down 10 rebounds and dished out five assists, boosting her career rebounding total to 595. As a team, Calvin outrebounded Lake Forest 50-37.
Senior Addi Murphy joined Grubbs as the only Foresters to reach double figures in scoring as Murphy also had 10 points.
Saturday's game with Capital is scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm. Calvin is now 7-7 in eight NCAA Tournament appearances. In its only previous meeting with Capital in the NCAA Tournament, Calvin was handed a 66-43 defeat in a 1997 second-round game at Capital.
Pacific Lutheran 50, Whitworth 46
PARKLAND, Wash. -- Pacific Lutheran took the first step in what it hopes is another long run through the NCAA Division III women's basketball playoffs by defeating Whitworth, 50-46, in a West Region first round game at Olson Auditorium.
The Lutes, who improve to 20-5, have a huge task on their hands in the next round as they go against St. Thomas (24-1), the West Region's No. 1 seed. The task is not an unknown one to the Lutes, however, who have most of the players back from last year's team that won three tournament games, including an upset of the West Region's top seed, Simpson, before losing in the final eight.
Wednesday's game featured the third matchup of the season between a pair of Northwest Conference opponents, and for the third time it was Pacific Lutheran that prevailed. But it was by no means easy. The host Lutes, playing in front of 625 boisterous fans, extended a 25-22 halftime lead into a nine-point bulge, 45-36, when center Tara Millet hit the first of two free throws with 3:24 remaining in the contest.
The Pirates were not done. Jamie Wakefield, Star Olson and Erica Ewart each hit a three-point field goal, the Pirates' only treys of the game, to eventually narrow the gap to 49-46 with 12 seconds on the clock. PLU's Lucy Barker hit the second of two free throws with nine seconds to go to ice the game.
Whitworth took the early advantage in the first half, leading 7-3 after three minutes, but Pacific Lutheran responded with a 14-5 run to take a 14-10 lead with 12:00 left in the first period. The Lutes took their biggest lead of the stanza with 2:46 remaining, 23-15, on Maria Geni's jump shot. Whitworth closed out the half, however, with a 7-2 run, fueled by three points and two rebounds by Wakefield. The all-conference junior forward led the Pirates with 14 points and 14 rebounds. No other player scored in double figures for the Pirates.
Pacific Lutheran got 15 points and nine rebounds from Millet, the senior who earlier this week was named to the all-conference first team for the third straight season. Lutes sophomore forward Jessica Iserman had a strong game off the bench with nine rebounds.
Roanoke 69, Shenandoah 55
SALEM -- Roanoke advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 69-55 win over Shenandoah on Wednesday night. The Maroons, who improve to 22-6 on the season, will next play at Hardin-Simmons on Saturday night. This is Roanoke’s first win in the NCAA tournament since the 1995 season.
Suzanne Webb scored a game-high 16 points, leading the Maroons to victory in the first ever matchup between the two schools. Webb was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field in the first half and ended the game with a 7-for-10 performance from the field. She also added five boards for the Maroons, who held a 48-41 edge in the rebounding column on Wednesday.
The Maroons took control of the game late in the first half, going on a 9-0 run to take a 13-point lead with just 21 seconds left in the half. The Hornets made two free throws to cut the lead to 37-26 going into intermission. Before the Maroons went on their run, neither team was able to take more than a six-point lead in the half. A Webb layup with 15:01 left in the first half, gave the Maroons a 7-6 lead, a lead they would not give up the rest of the way.
Roanoke used a 10-2 run to open the second half to push the lead to 17 points with just four minutes elapsed in the second half, but Shenandoah was able to cut the lead down to seven with 6:36 left, but could get no closer.
In addition to Webb’s 16 points, RC got 12 from sophomore Crystal Barrett, who also had 15 rebounds in the contest, marking her 11th double-double of the season. Holly Weber added 11 points for the Maroons, who also got six assists from Carrie McConnell and Cheryl Rhodes.
The Maroon defense was again strong, holding its fourth consecutive opponent to below 40% from the field. The Hornets went a combined 26-for-74 (35.1%) from the field in the game and committed 21 turnovers. The Hornets went just 1-for-13 from behind the three-point line. Shenandoah’s leading scorer, Jill VanGuilder scored 14 points, as did Ellie Tanner, to lead the SU effort.
The Maroons, making their 10th NCAA appearance, are now 6-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and pick up their first national postseason win since defeating Ferrum College in 1995. The Maroons will now play at No. 6 Hardin-Simmons (25-1) in Abilene, Texas.
Wilmington 64, Kenyon 46
WILMINGTON, Ohio -- Wilmington fought off a defensive Kenyon ball club and posted a 64-46 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The victory improved the Lady Quakers' overall record to 21-6. They will now prepare for their second round match-up with the Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets (26-1). That second-round game will be played in Berea, Ohio, on Saturday with a tip-off time of 7 p.m.
The Lady Quakers struggled in the first half, falling victim to the stingy defense of the Kenyon Ladies. Kenyon broke out to an early 7-2 lead, but it was short-lived. The Lady Quakers came back to tie the game up at 9-9 with 11:14 left. From that point on, Wilmington went on a 10-0 run that chewed up 11 minutes of game time. The Lady Quakers closed out the half with a 22-13 lead. At the half, Kenyon was 6-for-30 (20%) from the floor, while Wilmington was 6-for-23 (26%).
Kenyon scored the first six points of the second half and the pace of the game quickened. The surge cut the Ladies' deficit to 22-19, but that was as close as they would get. Wilmington regained control for good and built its biggest lead (61-39) with 3:44 remaining in the contest.
Junior guard Heather Meranda led the Lady Quakers with 15 points. She also had five rebounds and a pair of steals. Senior center Josie Eilerman was strong in the paint for the Lady Quakers. She tossed in 14 points and pulled down nine boards. Freshman guard Megan Woodruff chipped in with 13 points. Kenyon was paced by senior Stephany Dunmyer, who threw in 21 points and dished out five assists. Freshman Cori Arnold added nine points and seven rebounds for the Ladies (21-7).
George Fox 63, Linfield 51
NEWBERG, Ore. -- Junior center Katie Greller recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds, leading the George Fox Bruins past the Linfield Wildcats 63-51 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 1 at the Wheeler Sports Center.
The Bruins' fourth straight win improves their record to 22-4 and advances them to the second round of the tournament, a home game Saturday, March 4, at 7:00 p.m. against California Lutheran College, a 72-66 winner on the road over the UC San Diego. Linfield's season comes to an end with a 17-9 record.
The first half of the game was a defensive struggle with both teams appearing to have first-time-in-the-NCAAs jitters. The Bruins shot only .304 (7-for-23) from the field and made 14 turnovers, while the Wildcats hit only .207 (6-for-29) and threw the ball away 11 times. Though Linfield never led, the half ended in a 21-21 tie.
George Fox took control of the game with a 16-4 run to start the second half, Greller and Becky Thompson contributing six points apiece in that span. With their shooting improving in the second half to a .467 mark (14-for-30), the Bruins maintained that lead the rest of the way, though the Wildcats did close the gap to 48-45 with 4:22 to play. But a Wendy Clark three-pointer sparked an 8-0 run over the next three minutes that gave the Bruins some breathing room and eventually the win.
Thompson added 15 points to Greller's big night and Jenny Freeman chipped in with 13. Nicole Prazeau added nine rebounds as the Bruins won the battle of the boards 44-42, and passed out five assists, as did Thompson, who moved into ninth place on the all-time assists list at GFU with 171.
Linfield's talented post duo of Sarah Jensen and Kelly Bradstreet scored 14 and 12 points respectively, with Bradstreet also recording a double-double with 10 rebounds.
"That first half, we both looked like two teams that had never been in a tournament before!" laughed a victorious Bruins coach Scott Rueck, whose career record at GFU is now 71-29. "We looked a little shaky against an excellent press and had too many turnovers, plus we were getting good shots but just not knocking them down.
"At halftime, we told the team to stick to the game plan. Linfield was giving us the post, playing Katie one-on-one, and we knew if we got the ball to her, eventually some good things would happen. We did much better against their press the second half, kept up the defensive pressure on our own, and finally started scoring.
"I think we learned a lesson, too, when they cut that lead to three late in the game -- if you don't stick to your game plan and relax too much, a 12-point lead against a quality opponent like Linfield is nothing!"
Linfield coach Robyn Stewart admitted, "We got some good shots; they just didn't go down. Defensively, we played an excellent game, but you can't spot someone that good a 12-point lead in the second half and expect to come back very often. We almost got it done, but they out-rebounded us down the stretch, and that was the key.
"We had a great effort tonight, forcing them into some turnovers, but we didn't always take advantage of them. Still, we've had a good year and have much to be proud of."
Linfield (17-9) 51: Westley 3-11 (0-3) 7, Bradstreet 5-13 2-3 12, Jensen 5-11 4-4 14, Smith 2-6 (2-4) 0-0 6, Nielsen 2-9 (2-7) 2-2 8, Moore 0-1 (0-1) 0-2 0, Boer 1-4 (0-2) 0-0 2, Gardner 0-2 (0-2) 0-0 0, Davies 0-0 0-0 0, Gaylord 0-1 0-0 0, Wright 1-3 (0-1) 0-2 2. Totals 19-61 (4-20) 9-17 51.
George Fox (22-4) 63: Prazeau 0-8 (0-1) 2-5 2, Clark 1-4 (1-2) 1-2 4, K.Greller 7-14 6-8 20, Thompson 5-8 (2-2) 3-7 15, Freeman 4-9 (3-7) 2-4 13, Heuberger 0-0 0-0 0, Barram 3-6 (1-1) 0-2 7, T. Greller 1-3 0-1 2, Santos 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0, Schultens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 (7-15) 14-28 63.
Halftime - GFU 21, LC 21. Rebounds - LC 42 (Bradstreet 10), GFU 44 (K. Greller 13). Assists - LC 12 (Boer 3), GFU 16 (Prazeau, Thompson 5). Fouls - LC 26, GFU 19. Fouled Out - Boer. Att - 1,000.
William Smith 78, Gwynedd-Mercy 52
GENEVA, N.Y. -- William Smith shot 50.9% from the floor in defeating Gwynedd-Mercy 78-52 in a first round game of the NCAA Tournament. Sophomore Leah Cornwell scored a career-high matching 20 points, and the Herons (22-5) improved to 8-0 in eight NCAA Tournament games in Bristol Gym.
William Smith closed out the opening half with a 16-4 run to lead 34-19 at intermission on the strength of 54.2% field goal shooting. Senior Liz Brown netted her first three trifectas and scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half. Gwynedd-Mercy shot just 28.6% in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second stanza, the Herons scored the initial 12 points and outscored the Griffins 25-2 in the opening 8:02 to take a commanding 59-21 lead.
Cornwell hit 8 of 10 field goals for the game, and had 12 of her game-high 20 points in the second half. Brown had a team-high seven rebounds, dished out two assists, and added two steals. Junior Brianna Tindall was 4-for-5 from the floor, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, in providing 11 points and four steals. Senior Tricia Lockwood contributed nine points, five rebounds, and five steals, and classmate Liz Masten tied a career-best with seven assists.
Senior Rachel Pearson led Gwynedd-Mercy (23-5) with 12 points and six rebounds. Senior Michelle Costa and sophomore Mary Ann Wade added 10 points apiece. Costa concluded her impressive four-year career with 2,035 points, while Pearson finished with 1,156.
The Herons advance to the second round to take on host St. Lawrence University (22-5) on Sat., March 4, at 2 p.m. The Saints have won two of the three meetings this season, including a 60-57 overtime decision Feb. 26 in the inaugural Upstate Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship.
St. John Fisher 66, Mt. St. Mary 55
PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Senior Melissa Sewruk scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to lead St. John Fisher to a 66-55 triumph against visiting Mount St. Mary in an NCAA Tournament first-round contest tonight.
The Cardinals (21-4) led by as many as 11 in the first half, but the Blue Knights (21-7) went on a 13-2 run over a four-minute span in the second half and took their only lead of the game at 48-46 on a jumper from Kenya O'Kelley with 9:10 left. The lead wasn't enjoyed for long, however, as Fisher took the lead for good on a three-pointer from Amy Vaughan and proceeded to go on a 16-3 run over the next eight minutes.
For Fisher, senior center Amanda Waloven dished out five assists to go with 14 points and eight boards, and sophomore Missy Lock added 12 points and seven rebounds. Vaughan and sophomores Kristin Mayer and Heather Nolan each chipped in seven points.
Fisher outrebounded the Blue Knights by a comfortable 40-26 margin, and shot 50% (27-for-54) from the floor, compared to Mount St. Mary's 35% (18-for-52). Senior Sara Liebi led the Blue Knights with 18 points, while O'Kelley and Diane Sheehan contributed 16 and 14.
With the victory, Fisher advances to the second round of the NCAA tournament and will travel to Cortland on Saturday. The Cardinals, seeded fourth in the East Region, will take on top-seeded SUNY Cortland (26-1) at 4 p.m.
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