No. 4 Hope shut down No. 9 Calvin and notched another win over its archrival 61-50 on Wednesday night. The Knights took a 50-49 lead on a Carissa Verkaik jumper with 5:35 remaining but the Flying Dutch held them scoreless the rest of the way. Hope has won its past seven games against Calvin.
Perhaps even bigger than the result was the return to significant minutes for Hope's Preseason All-American Carrie Snikkers. She has battled injuries this year and played limited minutes in the two previous games but tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes tonight. More women's scores.
On the men's side, Guilford made an exciting debut as the new No. 1 -- probably more exciting than it had hoped. The Quakers defeated visiting Hampden-Sydney 76-74 to stay atop the ODAC.
&&g-boxl&&Guilford saw a double-digit lead melt away after 13 to two Hampden-Sydney run midway through the second half, and the game remained tight the rest of the way. Hampden-Sydney's Harrison George finished a fast break with a dunk to tie the game at 74 with 19 seconds left but Bonner had the answer for the Quakers, scoring the winning layup with five seconds left. The Tigers fall to 6-6 in conference but three of those losses have come to ranked teams by a combined five points.
No. 15 Franklin and Marshall opened a big week with a big victory at Ursinus, 70-62. The Diplomats defeated the Bears, who entered the night tied for second in the Centennial Conference, despite shooting 1-for-9 from three. Georgio Milligan led the way with 15 points, eight assists, five steals and six assists. More men's finals.
Four days after winning at No. 6 UW-Whitewater, UW-Stout stung No. 4 UW-Stevens Point 69-67. The Blue Devils are now 6-6 in conference while the Pointers slip to 9-3. Mike Berkun hit two free throws with three seconds left to lift No. 22 Medaille over Penn State-Behrend on the road. Lycoming lost for the second consecutive time after a 16-2 start, falling 75-72 at Lebanon Valley. Zac Shaeffer scored 24 points, but the rest of the Albright team shot 8-for-38 from the flor and 1-for-15 from three-point range as Widener squeaked by, 49-48. Justin Madsen turned a loose ball into a buzzer-beater for Central in a 76-73 win against Dubuque.
In other women's action, Mark Thomas won his 400th career game as UW-Stout knocked off WIAC leader UW-Stevens Point 90-76. The Blue Devils had five scorers in double figures. No. 21 Lebanon Valley won its 11th consecutive game, beating Lycoming 66-54. Gettysburg improved to 18-2, beating Johns Hopkins 66-62 behind a game-high 19 points from Courtney Fields. Monique Salmon led Baruch with 24 points and 11 assists as the Bearcats remained unbeaten in CUNYAC play with a 77-56 win against CCNY.
On top of the full schedule, the NCAA released its first set of men's and women's regional rankings. The ODAC has three teams ranked in the south but No. 17 Randolph-Macon isn't one of them. The MAC Commonwealth has no teams in the national rankings but four in the regional rankings, including leader Albright. The NESCAC has the top three slots in the women's first Northeast ranking and undefeated Farmingdale State finds itself fourth in the Atlantic.