Williams ended the first half on a 30-12 run and the showdown for first place in the NESCAC became a rout as the No. 2 Ephs ran away from No. 25 Colby, 82-58.

The only team in Division III men's basketball with an unbeaten regional record, Williams improved to 20-1 overall. Colby and Middlebury are tied for second in the NESCAC. Friday's men's scores.

In women's action, No. 1 Amherst survived to win at Bates 72-66 as Shannon Finucane had a program-record 10 steals
to go with 13 points and eight rebounds. No. 6 Washington U. avenged last week's loss at Rochester with a vengeance, rolling over the No. 24 Yellowjackets 68-40. Friday's women's scores.

No. 5 George Fox finished on a 9-3 run to beat Whitman 50-46. No. 10 Tufts finished the game on a 19-9 run as the Jumbos prepared for tomorrow's game against top-ranked Amherst by pulling away from Trinity (Conn.) 68-58.

In other men's games, No. 9 St. Norbert rolled past Monmouth 78-52. Bryan Erce scored 17 points to lift homestanding Case Western Reserve past No. 19 Brandeis 63-61. It wasn't quite a buzzer-beater, but Hunter's Rocco Rubino hit a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in overtime to lift the Hawks past Lehman in overtime 73-71. Carl Yaffe scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half to help NYU beat Carnegie Mellon 59-58. Bates crushed Amherst 76-47, Bates' first win against the Lord Jeffs since the 1987-88 season.

Get ready for Saturday's limited schedule, thanks to the winter weather on the East Coast. Check out Saturday's men's schedule and women's schedule.

William Paterson is off to a 21-1 start. Both sets of Pioneers are, in fact, the men and the women.

For Jose Rebimbas' Pioneers, it's a 19-game winning streak, since a Nov. 21 loss to Oneonta State. For Erin Monahan's Pioneers, it's a little different, after a 102-66 loss to conference rival Kean. But both are near locks to make the NCAA Tournament, barring complete collapses down the stretch.

Evans Clinchy catches up with both Pioneers in this week's Around the Nation.

No. 4 Hope shut down No. 9 Calvin and notched another win over its archrival 61-50 on Wednesday night. The Knights took a 50-49 lead on a Carissa Verkaik jumper with 5:35 remaining but the Flying Dutch held them scoreless the rest of the way. Hope has won its past seven games against Calvin.

Perhaps even bigger than the result was the return to significant minutes for Hope's Preseason All-American Carrie Snikkers. She has battled injuries this year and played limited minutes in the two previous games but tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes tonight. More women's scores.

On the men's side, Guilford made an exciting debut as the new No. 1 -- probably more exciting than it had hoped. The Quakers defeated visiting Hampden-Sydney 76-74 to stay atop the ODAC.

Guilford saw a double-digit lead melt away after 13 to two Hampden-Sydney run midway through the second half, and the game remained tight the rest of the way. Hampden-Sydney's Harrison George finished a fast break with a dunk to tie the game at 74 with 19 seconds left but Bonner had the answer for the Quakers, scoring the winning layup with five seconds left. The Tigers fall to 6-6 in conference but three of those losses have come to ranked teams by a combined five points.

No. 15 Franklin and Marshall opened a big week with a big victory at Ursinus, 70-62. The Diplomats defeated the Bears, who entered the night tied for second in the Centennial Conference, despite shooting 1-for-9 from three. Georgio Milligan led the way with 15 points, eight assists, five steals and six assists. More men's finals.

Four days after winning at No. 6 UW-Whitewater, UW-Stout stung No. 4 UW-Stevens Point 69-67. The Blue Devils are now 6-6 in conference while the Pointers slip to 9-3. Mike Berkun hit two free throws with three seconds left to lift No. 22 Medaille over Penn State-Behrend on the road. Lycoming lost for the second consecutive time after a 16-2 start, falling 75-72 at Lebanon Valley. Zac Shaeffer scored 24 points, but the rest of the Albright team shot 8-for-38 from the flor and 1-for-15 from three-point range as Widener squeaked by, 49-48. Justin Madsen turned a loose ball into a buzzer-beater for Central in a 76-73 win against Dubuque.

In other women's action, Mark Thomas won his 400th career game as UW-Stout knocked off WIAC leader UW-Stevens Point 90-76. The Blue Devils had five scorers in double figures. No. 21 Lebanon Valley won its 11th consecutive game, beating Lycoming 66-54. Gettysburg improved to 18-2, beating Johns Hopkins 66-62 behind a game-high 19 points from Courtney Fields. Monique Salmon led Baruch with 24 points and 11 assists as the Bearcats remained unbeaten in CUNYAC play with a 77-56 win against CCNY.

On top of the full schedule, the NCAA released its first set of men's and women's regional rankings. The ODAC has three teams ranked in the south but No. 17 Randolph-Macon isn't one of them. The MAC Commonwealth has no teams in the national rankings but four in the regional rankings, including leader Albright. The NESCAC has the top three slots in the women's first Northeast ranking and undefeated Farmingdale State finds itself fourth in the Atlantic.

Last season, St. Norbert went into its first game of February against Lawrence at home at 16-1, riding high. Only thing is, it didn't last. The Green Knights lost at home to the Vikings, then dropped five of their last seven and missed the NCAA Tournament entirely, while Lawrence advanced.

This year, it was the same story, but with a different ending as No. 9 St. Norbert jumped out to a 27-9 lead and cruised to a 66-48 win against Lawrence behind 16 points from Chris Peterson and 10 from Dave Wipperfurth. The Green Knights improved to 17-1. Tuesday's men's scores.

No. 25 Colby survived its first game as a D3hoops.com Top 25 team, winning at 2-18 Southern Maine 74-60, while No. 20 St. Mary's (Md.) got 34 points from Camontae Griffin, six in overtime in a 91-82 win at Christopher Newport. Mass-Dartmouth's off-balance putback with five seconds left lifted the Corsairs past Tufts on the night Jon Pierce, a member of the most recent Team of the Week presented by Scoutware, became Tufts' all-time leading scorer.

In women's action, No. 14 Carthage came off its upset win at home against Illinois Wesleyan and held off 10-9 Wheaton (Ill.) on the road 71-68. Despite trailing almost the entire game, the Thunder cut the lead to three points twice in the final two minutes but could get no closer. Tuesday's women's scores.

Elmhurst, which was tied with IWU and Carthage for first place in the CCIW, got knocked off at home by Millikin 72-64. Claire Ely scored 26 and Natasha Ludwig scored 16 points and had 18 rebounds as No. 18 Puget Sound beat Pacific Lutheran 69-54.

Following this weekend’s results, there are two new teams atop the men’s and women’s D3hoops.com Top 25 polls.

For the first time ever, Guilford sits atop the men’s poll by virtue of its run through the ODAC and UW-Stevens Point’s loss to UW-Whitewater last Wednesday. The Quakers are 18-1 with their lone loss coming at No. 7 Virginia Wesleyan in early December. They received 24 of 25 first place votes with two-time defending champion and currently third ranked Washington U. receiving the other. Williams sits between Guilford and Washington U. as the new No. 2. UW-Stevens Point checks in at No. 4.

Similarly, Amherst sits atop the women's poll for the first time in program history. The Lord Jeffs, who are 19-0 following a string of impressive road wins in conference, took over the top spot following Illinois Wesleyan’s loss Carthage on Saturday. Amherst garnered 19 of the 25 first place votes. No. 2 Kean (four votes), No. 3 Illinois Wesleyan (one vote) and No. 4 Hope (one vote) captured the rest.

The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.

Two years ago, Piedmont ran the table in the Great South Athletic Conference, went 24-3 and made the NCAA Tournament. The team has struggled to return to those heights since, but has been putting it together over the past three games, including snapping a 20-game conference winning streak by Maryville (Tenn.) on Sunday.

Since athletic director John Dzik, who won 483 games as men's basketball coach at Cabrini before being fired, took over as Piedmont's women's coach midseason, they've won three in a row. Sunday's women's scores.

Rochester knocked off its second Top 25 women's team of the weekend, defeating Chicago 54-52 in overtime after beating Wash U on Friday. Melissa Alwardt tied the game with three free throws late in regulation, then made the deciding basket in overtime as the Yellowjackets improved to 15-3. Now all Rochester must do is face the same two teams next weekend, on the road.

Piedmont's men did the same to Maryville (Tenn.), winning 80-78 in overtime and improving to 13-6, 3-0 in the GSAC. It's the Lions' first three-win season in the conference since 2002-03. Washington U. ended Emory's six-game win streak and took over full possession of first place in the UAA with a 65-56 win. Sunday's men's scores.

Three weeks ago, Illinois Wesleyan crushed Carthage 76-48 at IWU's Shirk Center, leading wire to wire, putting the game away with a 14-3 run to end the first half and going up by as many as 33.

But back at home on Saturday, No. 20 Carthage turned the tables, knocking off the top-ranked Titans 72-67. Diana Jacklin scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Lady Reds, who improved to 16-3. Saturday's women's scores. For men's coverage, scroll down.

No. 18 Bowdoin rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to edge Trinity (Conn.) 53-52 as Katie Bergeron put home the go-ahead basket with 45 seconds left. No. 11 Muhlenberg got knocked off Saturday afternoon, falling at Johns Hopkins 73-66. It was the Blue Jays' first win in 11 meetings between the Centennial Conference foes. No. 2 Amherst pulled away in the final 7:23 to blow out Colby on the road 84-63 behind 26 from Carolina Stedman. No. 8 Marymount used a 15-0 run to close the first half and break open a close game, going on to defeat Wesley 62-46.

Trailing by as many as seven during the second half, No. 9 William Paterson scored seven of the final 11 points to get past Rowan 70-67 and improve to 20-1. Edgewood improved to just 9-10 overall, but 9-3 in the Northern Athletics Conference as Shae Beckwith hit a runner with 1.7 seconds left to help the Eagles down Milwaukee School of Engineering 63-61. Mount Union shot just 29 percent for the game and took just its third loss of the season, 66-60 at Wilmington. Wittenberg extended its NCAC lead to two games and completed a regular-season sweep by defeating Ohio Wesleyan 62-56. Mary Hardin-Baylor never trailed in the second half and the Cru rolled to its 11th straight victory with a 68-60 win against Hardin-Simmons in Abilene.

A lot of games in the top half of the South Region got postponed on Saturday, but one that was played could be the icing on this week's Top 25 cake.

That game was played in Ashland, Va., where No. 2 Guilford defeated No. 9-and-falling Randolph-Macon 82-73 behind a double-double from Tyler Sanborn, with 26 points and 13 rebounds. The win improved Guilford to 18-1 and was the 14th consecutive victory for the Quakers since a Dec. 5 loss at Virginia Wesleyan. Check out Saturday's men's scores.

Guilford won't have as much competition for No. 1 votes, not after No. 5 UW-Whitewater laid a disastrous egg, losing 95-77 at home to UW-Stout, which improved to 10-9, 5-6 in the WIAC. Whitewater had been in line to move up after winning at top-ranked UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday night.

Earlier on Saturday, Hope led most of the way but had to rally in the final minutes to beat Calvin 67-64 in front of a DeVos Center record 3,665 in Division III's best rivalry. (It's still nearly 8,000 short of the rivalry's record attendance, however.) No. 4 Williams pulled away to win handily at No. 8 Middlebury. Hampden-Sydney got 17 from Turner King and Jonathan Mudd to knock off No. 11 Eastern Mennonite 80-68. The Royals had led by double digits in the first half.

Colby remained in a tie for first place in the NESCAC with Williams and handed Amherst its second loss in less than 24 hours, beating the No. 18 Lord Jeffs 72-68. Christian Van Loenen had the biggest game of his career with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting with seven assists.

Carthage moved into sole possession of first place in the CCIW with an 80-55 win against No. 21 Illinois Wesleyan. No. 16 William Paterson won its 18th consecutive game, crushing Rowan on the road 85-61. No. 14 MIT completed its NEWMAC season sweep of Worcester Polytech with a 74-66 win. No. 19 Texas-Dallas defeated No. 22 Mississippi College 80-66.

The ranked men's and women's teams from Amherst and Washington U. went on the road on Friday night with mixed results.

For Amherst, the the women won at Bowdoin 72-63 for the first time ever. Caroline Stedman scored 21 points for the No. 2 Lord Jeffs who shot 50 percent from three (10-for-20) and improved to 18-0. On the men's side, No. 18 Amherst lost a heartbreaker when Mark Phillips scored off a rebound with two seconds left, lifting Bowdoin to a 69-68 victory.

Washington U. traveled to Rochester for a double-header and had the opposite result. First the Rochester women upset No. 3 Washington U. 63-51. It was the Bears' first loss in the UAA and the Yellowjackets tenth win in 11 games. But the Bears' men's team pulled away from Rochester 82-78 thanks to a big night from Sean Wallis and a big second half from Dylan Richter. Wallis tied his career high with 27 points and killed the Yellowjackets by getting to the rim or setting up his teammates for open shots. Dylan Richter benefited from a couple Wallis assists and scored all 14 of his points in the second half.

Get the night's results on the men's scoreboard and women's scoreboard.

In women's action, DePauw dominated its conference showdown with Austin 69-38. The Tigers shot 51 percent from the floor while the Kangaroos shot just 28 percent. After a back-and-forth first half, No. 7 George Fox took control of the game in the second half and beat rival No. 16 Puget Sound 60-51. The Bruins outscored the Loggers in the paint 34 to six and swept the regular season series. In the ODAC Randolph-Macon won at Eastern Mennonite 65-61 to keep pace with Roanoke which won easily against Randolph 76-36.

On the men's side, Catholic won at Susquehanna 73-59 to stay in line for a home game in the Landmark Conference tournament. More than that, the Cardinals now share first place with Merchant Marine. The Mariners lost at Scranton 71-60 so the Royals are now just one game behind co-leaders Catholic and Merchant Marine.

Wesleyan (Conn.) outlasted Tufts 98-83 in quadruple overtime. Union beat rival RPI 67-53 to forge a four-way tie for first place in the Liberty League. Cortland State beat Brockport State 76-68 on the road to sweep the regular season series from the Golden Eagles. Methodist won its first game of the season after an 0-17 start, and did so in a big way, rolling to a 98-70 win against Greensboro behind 29 points from Tyler Sigman.

Their winning streak ended fairly early in the season, but if you wrote off the defending women's champion because they lost their top senior and the D3hoops.com Rookie of the Year, you may have been premature.

In fact, the Bruins are doing alright for themselves, to the tune of 16-2, 9-0 in the Northwest Conference, with one of the losses to a Division II school. Part of that success is due to the newest member of the George Fox starting lineup: freshman Hannah Munger. And more of it is because the rotation goes 11 players deep.

Evans Clinchy gets the lowdown on Scott Rueck's defending champs, as well as the Puget Sound team still trying to dethrone them, in this week's Around the Nation.

George Fox was a surprise team in last year's women's bracket. One of last year's surprise men's tournament teams, DeSales, stumbled out of the gate before rattling off seven consecutive games. D3sports.com's Gordon Mann caught up with the Bulldogs and men's coach Scott Coval for an interview. That and more in this week's Around the Nation.