February 25, 2023: NYU clinches Pool A, upsets across the nation
#1 seeds Hardin-Simmons and Wittenberg both fell on Friday night
Well…Friday certainly brought some surprises! Here’s a look at some of last night’s most notable contests!
Admittedly I’m a little biased because I’m based here in Texas, but the ASC Tournament might have provided the best two semifinals of any one conference last night. Both games came down to the final shot!
In the first semifinal, ETBU jumped out to a 10-2 lead before UMHB went on a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game. Fast forward to 3:14 left in the 4th quarter, UMHB is up by nine. But ETBU hit 3 straight 3-pointers, tying the score at 55. Lauren Baker scored on a layup for UMHB with 3 seconds left, but then ETBU scored at the buzzer on a layup from Mollie Dittmar, sending it into OT. The margin never got beyond a few points for either team in the five-minute overtime, though ETBU ended up prevailing 68-65 in a big win for the Tigers. UMHB made 11 3-pointers (a season-high), but ETBU shot 41% from the field compared to 32% from the Crusaders. And a +13 rebounding margin in favor of ETBU was key as well.
I posted the video to Twitter (and I’ll link it here), but Jordan Maxwell stunned Hardin-Simmons on its home court in the second semifinal, as #4 seed UT-Dallas took down #1 seed Hardin-Simmons, who had gone 18-0 in ASC play during the regular season. With 4.8 seconds left, HSU wanted a foul call that would’ve sent Paris Kiser to the FT line (I believe). They didn’t get and UTD got the ball back. The Comets inbounded it, and the ball found its way into the hands of Jordan Maxwell, who put up a hurried shot that hit nothing but net. It was a fantastic finish, as UTD won 73-71.
NYU became our first automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with its 85-62 win over Brandeis in UAA play, as the Violets captured their second straight UAA title. Pretty impressive as NYU shot 50% from the field, and looked every bit the top-tier tournament team we all know they are. I will say, I don’t think they will be able to host. The Brooklyn Athletic Facility just isn’t big enough. So that will be an interesting “bracketing” aspect of this year’s tournament.
In the MIAA, we had two more fantastic semifinal matchups! Hope and Trine will play for the MIAA title tonight at 7:30 p.m. EST. Can’t wait for that one.
First semifinal saw Trine take down Calvin 66-61, but it wasn’t that close all the way through, as Trine jumped out to an 18-7 advantage. A 22-12 run in the third quarter helped Calvin get back into the game, trailing by only a single point, as the 4th quarter began. Trine turned 16 turnovers into 21 points and shot 46.9% from the field as they more than made up for Calvin’s +13 rebounding advantage. Neither side had many offensive rebounds, but Calvin’s eight were six more than Trine’s total, and yet the Knights scored just two second-chance points. I’ve been told to keep my Pool C predictions to myself until tomorrow evening’s Hoopsville show. So that’s what I’ll do. I will say, without looking at the numbers, Calvin is still very much in the Pool C conversation.
Hope and Albion, much like in the first meeting of the year, played a tight and competitive game, but it was Hope who pulled away late in this one, as the Flying Dutch emerged with a 58-53 victory. Neither team outscored the other by more than 4 points in any quarter, and the team stats were pretty much even all the way down. Hope never led by fewer than five points in the 4th quarter, led by a 17-point day from Ella McKinney.
I’ve touched on the ASC and the MIAA, now it’s time for a little WIAC roundup as we’ll get to see UW-Whitewater and UW-Eau Claire play for the league title.
UW-Whitewater ended up taking down UW-Oshkosh, 65-57, in a very competitive semifinal that really could’ve gone either way. I thought UWO was in a good spot when the Titans cut the deficit to 5 with about 7 minutes remaining, but a 5-0 run from Whitewater put the Warhawks up 10 again. UWO was kept off the offensive boards, and had zero second-chance points, while Whitewater had 10. And the Warhawks made a few more shots from the field in the win, edging the Titans. We’ll see how things play out, but UWO is certainly in that Pool C discussion.
The second one was an incredible game between UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stout, a rematch of last year’s WIAC semifinal, and it had the same result, with UWEC winning, but only by a single point, 68-67. Stout held a 7-point lead entering the fourth, looking to win its second game of the year over UWEC (at home), and that lead widened to 12, as the clock ticked below four minutes. But then UWEC caught fire offensively in the form of a 14-2 run that culminated in Tyra Boettcher’s go-ahead jumper with four seconds left that put UWEC in front. Huge win and comeback for UWEC, but heartbreaking for Stout. Had the game won, in a must-win game for their NCAA Tournament hopes, and the Blugolds pulled it right out from under their fingertips.
I tell you what, Ohio Wesleyan is making me and my upset pick in the NCAC proud! OWU has been a team I’ve really enjoyed watching and picked run the tables and win the NCAC Tournament. They’re one game away now, having shocked DePauw on its home court, 79-66, last night. OWU shot 49.2%, a perfect 10-of-10 at the FT line, and tallied 25 points off turnovers. They play Oberlin for the title today at 4pm EST.
While I’m at it, Wittenberg was another #1 seed that went down, as Oberlin, the #4 seed, handed Wittenberg a 63-57 loss. Oberlin was balanced offensively, with three players in double figures in scoring, and 23 points off the bench. Very strong defensive effort from Oberlin as well.
The other pretty big surprise was Pacific’s upset of Puget Sound in the NWC Tournament semifinals. Pacific had another great game plan that led to another huge win over Puget Sound, only this one could possibly bring PS’ season to an end. They are definitely “on the bubble” right now. Pacific won convincingly, 64-49, and forced 15 turnovers that led to 25 points. Brilie Kovaloff led Pacific’s offense with 20 points.
I’ll stop there for now, but want to direct you to a great resource for conference tournament coverage. It is D3hoops.com’s Women’s Conference Tournament Tracker, which gives you schedules, game times, and info on every D3 WBB conference tournament going on right now. I believe live scoring updates are also factored in there, so you can keep up with the action from every tournament on one webpage. There are so many Pool A bids that will be decided today. Can’t wait!
That layup that got ETBU into OT literally could not have been released a tenth of a second later. And then the crazy winner for UT-D after losing control of the ball, scooping, spinning, and taking a half-hook with time running down!