The No. 4 is the highest seed remaining in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament as No. 1 Guilford, No. 2 Randolph-Macon and No. 3 Roanoke all bit the dust on Friday.
All three were ranked in the NCAA's official South Region rankings when the week started. One or two could still make it as an at-large bid, but all will be unable to rest easily until the brackets are revealed on Monday. Friday's men's scores and women's scores.
Also: Saturday's men's schedule and women's schedule.
Eighth-seeded Washington and Lee knocked off Guilford 82-76 in double overtime in the quarterfinals at the Salem Civic Center. Randolph-Macon fell as well, losing in the quarterfinals to Virginia Wesleyan 76-63. And Roanoke rallied with a 25-5 second-half run, but couldn't get over the top as Hampden-Sydney won 70-65.
&&f-boxr&&DePauw, which started the day behind both Guilford and Randolph-Macon, lost to Southwestern 69-62 and sits even further behind. Trinity (Texas) avoided the same fate, surviving 9-17 Sewanee 53-52 in overtime.
In women's action, Texas-Dallas got knocked out of the Top 25 this past week, and the Comets may well have been knocked out of the NCAA Tournament today. Mary Hardin-Baylor held the Comets to 1-for-15 three-point shooting in the 57-48 win. The ASC's West Division got the best of a top East team later in the night as well, as Sarah Jockers hit a layup at the buzzer to lead defending national champion Howard Payne past No. 22 Mississippi College 63-62. The Yellow Jackets have won nine in a row. UTD started the week third in the South women's rankings and Mississippi College fourth. Hardin-Simmons beat Louisiana College and McMurry defeated Texas-Tyler as the West Division pulled off a clean sweep.
Cortney Poirer scored a game-high 24 points as SUNYAC top seed Cortland State fell to Potsdam State 64-59. Potsdam will face Brockport for the conference title. It may look like same-old, same-old with Salem State in the MASCAC title game, but it's really anything but. Salem State was 9-16 in the regular season but beat Bridgewater State in the quarterfinals and Fitchburg State on Friday in the semis to advance and play Westfield State on Saturday for the championship. Thomas More and Washington and Jefferson set up a rematch in the PAC title game.
Ohio Wesleyan ended Denison's 16-game winning streak after the Big Red ran the table in the NCAC regular season. OWU will face Allegheny on Saturday for the NCAC title. Greensboro won its 21st in a row, beating Shenandoah 64-50. The Pride face tournament host Christopher Newport on Saturday for the USA South title.
In other men's action, Lawrence won its eighth consecutive game and advanced to the Midwest Conference title game, 90-66 over Carroll. They'll face host Grinnell, which beat St. Norbert 95-85 but may have lost point guard David Areseneault. No. 20 Elmhurst advanced to the CCIW championship game, edging Augustana, and will face host No. 4 Wheaton (Ill.). Kent Raymond scored 36 points, including the final 10 points of the first half as the Thunder rallied from a nine-point deficit against North Central.
In what seems like an anachronism considering how the rest of the day went, top seeds John Carroll and Capital advanced to the OAC final, as did No. 1 Calvin and No. 2 Hope in the MIAA and Rhode Island College and Mass-Dartmouth in the Litlte East.
Averett beat Methodist to reach the USAC title game, where it will face Christopher Newport. Do we really think Hamilton was one of the top Pool C contenders? We'll find out on Monday, as the Continentals lost to RPI on a neutral floor in the Liberty League semifinals 64-55. Cross-campus rivals Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer will meet Saturday night for the SCIAC title after CMS finished its game against Cal Lutheran on a 16-4 run and Pomona-Pitzer got 27 from David Liss to beat Whittier.