Hope College will be going home for the final four, but not like they would have wished after losing to UW-Whitewater women’s basketball team 65-60 at Kachel Gym in Williams Center in Whitewater Saturday night.
UW-Whitewater, 25-6, advances to the final four, which will be hosted by Hope in Holland, Mich. March 15-16. UW-W will face Amherst College, 31-1.
“We’re excited; they delivered,” said Warhawk coach Kerri Carollo. “They were maybe outmatched in a couple of positions, but they believed in each other.”
A slow start for the two teams, two UW-W turnovers and three missed jumpers by Hope, opened the March 2 elite eight matchup.
At 18:36, a three pointer by junior guard Mary Merg ignited a 9-0 Whitewater run that ballooned into a 13-point lead over the next four minutes, making the score 17-4. UW-W’s largest lead of the first half came at 8:47, after a three-point basket by junior guard Kaitlyn Thill, making the Hope deficit 18 points, 30-12. Thill delivered the “lets have fun” message to her team before the game, and it showed in the first half.
Hope clawed back into the game over the next five minutes and cut the lead to eight, 34-26, after a layup by senior guard Liz Ellis at 3:18. The Warhawks went into the locker room with a 13-point advantage, 39-26.
Whitewater shot 15-30 from the floor, including 4-5 from the three point line, and 5-5 from the free throw stripe, while Hope shot 9-28, 0-6 from three, and 8-13 from the free throw line. Whitewater had the advantage in the rebounding department 22-14.
Thill led the Warhawks in the first half with eight points and five assists. Rebekah Llorens led the Flying Dutch with seven points.
The Warhawks’ lead hovered around double digits for the first 15:30 of the second half until the Fying Dutch finally broke through with a 7-0 run with 4:16 left to play, making the score 58-56.
A Merg three pointer, at 2:21, swung the momentum back to the Warhawks with a five-point advantage, 61-56.
An Ellis layup with two seconds left cut the lead to three, 63-60, but Merg sank two free throws with one second left to send the Warhawks to the final four for the first time since 2008.
Whitewater’s advantage came from the three-point line, making 6-12, compared to Hope’s 2-14. The Warhawks also controlled the boards 49 to 34.
Hope was led by senior guard Courtney Kust and Llorens who both scored 11 points for the Flying Dutch.
Whitewater had two players score 14 points, senior center Cortney Kumerow and Merg. Kumerow also pulled down 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season. Thill took game honors in assists with seven.
Sabrina Hookstead, a freshman from Whitewater, is a member of the team.
Hope ends the regular season 29-2. This will be the fourth time Hope has hosted the final four. Last year they didn’t make the tournament, but in 2008 and 2009 they also lost in the sectional finals, and the team they lost to won the Division III national championship both times. In 2008 it was Howard Payne and in 2009 George Fox.
“This team showed resiliency, got right there to the door step,” said Hope head coach Brian Morehouse. “Of course we’re disappointed, but the disappointing thing is not that we won’t play next weekend, but that I don’t have seven more days with these women.”
“I don’t want to take anything away from any of the other teams I’ve been a part of, but this group has a little angel on our shoulder,” Carollo added.
Schedule
UW-Whitewater will play Amherst College in a national semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Friday at DeVos Fieldhouse at Hope College.
Williams College, 26-5, and DePauw University, 32-0, will meet in the other semifinal at 6:30 p.m. The winning teams will meet for the NCAA III title at 6 p.m. on Saturday, preceded by a third place game at 3:30 p.m.
Tickets will be sold through Friday from 9-4 p.m. Call (616) 395-7890 or visit www.hope.edu/athletics/announce7.html to order.
Meet the teams…
UW-Whitewater, 25-6, won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title and was second in the league tournament.
After receiving a bid into the tournament, the Warhawks topped Wisconsin Lutheran College 68-48 in the first round and Carthage College 71-51 to advance to sectionals. A 76-63 win over Simpson gave UW-W entry into the sectional final and the win over Hope brought Whitewater back to the Final Four.
The Warhawks will face Amherst College, 30-1. The 2011 NCAA III champions had a share of the New England Small College Athletic Conference and won their fourth consecutive league tournament title.
The Jeffs topped Farmingdale State 67-39 and the University of New England in the regional. Amherst topped Tufts 47-42 in the first game of sectionals and used a 59-45 win over Widener to advance to the Final Four.
DePauw University remains unbeaten this season, 32-0. The Tigers won the regular season and North Coast Athletic Conference tournament. DePauw’s regional victories started with a 73-43 rout of La Roche and ended with a 78-51 win over Maryville, Tenn. In the sectional rounds, the Tigers topped Washington University-St. Louis 59-42 and advanced to the NCAA tournament semifinal with a 76-55 win over Christopher Newport.
Williams College, 26-5, is slated to take on DePauw in the Final Four. The Ephs shared the NESCAC regular season title with Amherst and advanced through the regional with a 79-59 win over Scranton and 68-60 rout of Rochester, N.Y. WC topped Ithaca 64-60 in overtime and defeated Whitman 63-53 to advance to Holland.
