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Allison Long and Thomas More are top seeds in the PAC again. |
Thomas More beat St. Vincent 68-59 to clinch its seventh straight PAC regular season title in a battle of regionally ranked teams.
The Saints jumped out to a 13-point lead midway through the first half and held off the Bearcats the rest of the way. Thomas More guard Allison Long scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a full 40 minutes of action. Katie Kees added 12 points and 11 boards for the Saints. Brittany Sedlock had 26 points and eight rebounds for St. Vincent.
Before the game, the NCAA released its second set of regional rankings with Thomas More and St. Vincent ranked fifth and sixth respectively in the Great Lakes. Two other teams in the Great Lakes also won their regular season conference crowns outright on Wednesday. No. 7 Mount Union topped Baldwin-Wallace 65-58 to wrap up the OAC and Calvin took care of St. Mary's (Ind.) 72-53 to wrap up the MIAA title. The Knights finish the regular season 23-1.
Calvin would have won the MIAA even with a loss because Trine stunned No. 15 Hope 52-50. The Thunder, who entered the day just 4-10 in the MIAA, held Hope scoreless for the final two minutes. It was Trine's first win over Hope in 21 years. The loss deals another blow to Hope's chances for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. The Flying Dutch, who have not appeared in the regional rankings, may need to win the MIAA tournament to reach the NCAA tournament.
Simpson coach Brian Niemuth had a banner night in two ways. The Storm defeated Central 81-63 to clinch a share of the IIAC regular season title and give Niemuth his 300th conference victory. He is the first coach in the IIAC to reach that milestone. Kate Nielson scored 25 points for Simpson, which leads Coe by a game in the IIAC standings. The Kohawks kept pace by rolling past Wartburg 81-63.
No. 8 Mary Washington jumped to the top of the Atlantic region rankings and then jumped all over Stevenson in a 64-30 win. This was the ninth time the Eagles have held their opponent to 40 points or less.
The top three teams in the WIAC won on Wednesday night to set up two big games on Saturday. No. 10 UW-Stevens Point defeated UW-Stout 65-44 to keep its one-game lead on No. 18 UW-River Falls (69-53 winners over UW-La Crosse) and No. 22 UW-Eau Claire (75-48 winners over UW-Platteville). The Pointers travel to Eau Claire on Saturday and River Falls hosts No. 25 UW-Whitewater.
The CCIW tournament field is mostly set. No. 20 Illinois Wesleyan defeated Millikin 75-63 to clinch the regular season title and tournament hosting rights. Carthage secured a tournament berth by beating Elmhurst 72-56. Wheaton (Ill.) also has a spot locked up, which leaves Elmhurst and Millikin to battle for the final playoff spot.
LaRoche rolled over Franciscan 88-52 to win the AMCC regular season title outright. The Lady Redhawks had already clinched home court advantage for the conference tournament.