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The Purple Raiders will be the top seed in the OAC
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Suzy Venet was a Purple Raider the last time Mount Union won the Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season title as well. But she was in uniform, on her way to a D3hoops.com All-American season. Tonight she was on the sidelines as No. 19 Mount Union wrapped up the regular-season title in the OAC and their first since 1998, beating Baldwin-Wallace 67-60.
The top-ranked teams dispatched opponents with their usual efficiency. Top-ranked Thomas More rolled past Thiel 74-49. No. 3 Hope had little trouble with Olivet in an 82-43 win. No. 4 UW-Stevens Point won its 15th consecutive game, defeating UW-Platteville 75-54. No. 5 Babson remained undefeated by crushing Clark 79-48.
Eighth-ranked Denison led for a total of just 40 seconds on Wednesday night, but that included the final one, as the Big Red came back to beat Wittenberg 62-60.
The playoffs came early to the Northern Athletics Conference where Marian nipped Alverno 72-71 in double-overtime to claim the last tournament slot. Alexis Becker made one of two free-throws for the Sabres with seven seconds left for the win. Wellesley beat Wheaton (Mass.) 63-58 to secure a playoff berth in the NEWMAC and push the Lyons to the brink of elimination. Coast Guard snapped its 18-game losing streak and won its first conference game, beating Mount Holyoke 48-36.
Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr played each other as competitors and worked together as partners in the same game. Swarthmore won the tip and gave the ball to Ceylan Bodur who scored her 1,000th point on an uncontested layup. Bodur suffered a career-ending injury against Gettysburg in late January. Bryn Mawr then scored an uncontested layup to tie the game. The Garnet called timeout and Bodur walked off the court hand-in-hand with her three senior teammates. Video follows:
It was also Swarthmore's turn to promote breast cancer awareness. College president Rebecca Chop and her counterpart at Bryn Mawr, Jane McAuliff served as honorary coaches to show their support for the cause. The Garnet beat the Owls 73-44 and are tied with Franklin and Marshall for the last spot in the Centennial Conference playoffs.