Notables

Perhaps you thought you were rid of them. When Division III Maine powers Bowdoin and Southern Maine each changed coaches over the offseason, coming off years where neither won a conference title or made it to the Sweet 16, it might have been easy to write the teams off.

When Bowdoin started off 3-2 and Southern Maine lost three out of four midseason, those temptations may have been too much to ignore. So you could be forgiven if you were surprised to see them on the list of automatic bids this past week. Where did these mainstays find this year's staying power? More in this week's Around the Nation.

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Scroll down for coverage from Thursday night, plus get ready for first-round madness with Friday's men's schedule and Friday's women's schedule. They include all the live video, audio and stats you can handle.

We'll have a new national champion on the women's side in 2009. Holly Milburn scored 18 points and Transylvania put a stake in the heart of Howard Payne. The 2008 victors were held to 34 percent shooting in a 65-52 loss. Next up, host Washington University. Jill Brandt scored 19 points and the Bears prevailed in a close call against Capital, which got 26 points from Kristen Richardson.

Lauren Orlando scored all 15 of her points in the second half and sparked a 32-9 game-ending run with a key 3-pointer as Brandeis rallied from 10 points down to top Western Connecticut State, 62-49. The Judges host Mount St. Mary, which beat Brockport State in a defensive struggle, on Saturday in Waltham, Mass. Friday night's women's scores, including a game story from every game. Saturday night's schedule.

It was a rough day for the Little East, which went 0-for-3. Besides Western Connecticut's loss, Southern Maine dropped a close call to Emmanuel. Kristen LeBel led all scorers with 26 points in the win. Photo gallery. Messiah blew out Eastern Connecticut State 81-46 to end the Warriors' season.

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TCNJ knocked off No. 23 DeSales 64-51, as one Jostens finalist, Hillary Klimowicz, exploded for 31 points while DeSales' Jostens finalist, LeighAnn Burke, scored 23 in the loss. Monique Salmon had 17 points and 10 assists in Baruch's win over Cabrini. The Bearcats draw host York (Pa.) in the second round.

UW-Whitewater got a double-double from Tiffany Morton, as the senior scored 16 points and added 11 rebounds in a 69-59 defeat of Simpson, a rematch of a Sweet 16 game from 2008. Photo gallery. Stevens rose to the occasion for its first NCAA win, knocking out Mary Washington, behind 12 second-half points from Dani Dudek. Jessica Laing became Cortland State's all-time leading scorer, notching a career-high 23 points in a win over St. Lawrence. Concordia (Wis.) got a nice win for the Northern Athletics Conference, squeaking past Concordia-Moorhead, 76-72. The reward? Playing at host UW-Stevens Point on Saturday.

Rochester finished the game on an 8-1 run to knock off Widener, 67-56. Carrie Snikkers scored a game-high 27 points, shooting 10-for-15 from the floor and 4-for-5 from three-point range as Hope rolled over Washington and Jefferson 87-64.

Pool B wasn't necessarily expected to have much of a presence or a deep run in the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament, but to get swept in the first round was a surprise.

The biggest surprise was Elms, however, losing to the NEAC champion, SUNYIT, 85-77 behind Diloo Brown's 21 points and David Golembiowski's 20. Elms, which was 26-1 during the regular season but played just one NCAA Tournament team in a region full of them, fell in the first round. Friday night's men's scoreboard, including a game story from every game. For women's coverage, scroll down. Saturday night's schedule.

The Bracket of Death's most preposterous pod had two stellar games. Aaron Thompson hit a three-pointer at the top of the key with 12.3 seconds left to lift defending men's champion and No. 2 Washington U. to a 67-65 win against No. 25 Lawrence. In the second game, Myles McKay had a game-high 30 points and nine rebounds as No. 7 UW-Whitewater survived at No. 20 Elmhurst 81-79 in overtime.

Wooster got coach Steve Moore his 600th career win, making him just the eighth coach in Division III men's basketball history to reach the milestone. Nathan Balch delivered 21 points, including 8-for-9 shooting fromt he floor, in the victory.

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Jimmy Bartolotta helped MIT to a first-round upset win at Rhode Island College, scoring 27 points in a 73-68 overtime victory. Richard Stockton advanced handily at home against RPI. Wooster topped Gettysburg 79-66, while Brandeis beat Scranton 74-60. Gwynedd-Mercy ended Amherst's tournament run significantly earlier than its past few, dumping the Lord Jeffs in the first round. Capital survived Thomas More in overtime 80-77. Carnegie Mellon needed two overtimes to beat a .500 team, edging Brockport State 75-70. Centre lost at home to Averett, one of the few home teams not to hold serve in the opening round.

All three WIAC teams got through the first round, with UW-Platteville beating Hope handily and UW-Stevens Point holding off Cornell. Richard Stockton advanced past RPI thanks to 30 points from Jerome Hubbard who scored 27 of those points on 9-14 shooting from beyond the arc. Hubbard hit six of those three-pointers when he scored half of the Osprey's 40 points at the half when the game was tied.