Wednesday: Will to power

The calendar hasn’t turned to February yet, but the conference races in the WIAC, OAC and NJAC are almost over after UW-Oshkosh, Baldwin Wallace and William Paterson once again defeated their closest competitors. Elsewhere, Albion upset No. 9 Hope and Mary Schleusner added another career record to her resume in Wednesday’s Division III women’s basketball action.

No. No. 11 UW-Whitewater held No. 3 UW-Oshkosh in check for a while before the Titans exerted control and defeated the Warhawks 55-43.

UW-Whitewater held UW-Oshkosh to 29 percent shooting and just 19 points in the first half, but the Warhawks managed just 24 points themselves. The Titans erupted for 23 points in the third quarter and took a nine-point lead in the fourth, which UWO increased to 16.

Paige Seckar posted a double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) for UW-Oshkosh, which won the season series with the Warhawks and now effectively holds a four-game lead over UW-Whitewater with six to play. The Titans (19-0, 8-0 WIAC) are trying to become the first WIAC team to go undefeated in the conference since UW-Whitewater did so in 2013-14.

William Paterson is in even better form, thanks to their own dominant third quarter, which saw the Pioneers outscore Montclair State by 20 en route to an 87-69 win over the Red Hawks. William Paterson led by just one at the half, but the Pioneers opened the third quarter with a 14-0 run capped by a Patty Walsh jumper. Jada Jacobs had a triple-double for the Pioneers (18-1, 12-0 NJAC), who have already swept the two teams closest to them in the standings.

No. 14 Baldwin Wallace didn’t need a big third quarter to beat Otterbein, as the Yellow Jackets led the Cardinals from start to finish in a 67-52 home victory. Baldwin Wallace (17-2, 10-0 OAC) shot 46 percent from the field and 83 percent from the foul line, and now holds a three-game lead over second-place Otterbein (13-5, 7-2 OAC) via the season sweep.

No. 9 Hope’s offense went cold on the road and Albion pulled away from the Flying Dutch for a 60-54 overtime victory in front of a raucous home crowd at the Kresge Gymnasium. Albion guard Ava Guilford split a pair of free throws with 29 seconds left to tie the game at 52 and then blocked Hope’s game-winning layup attempt to ensure overtime. Hope’s offense produced just two points without field goals in overtime, and the Brits made enough free throws to gradually pull away.

Meghan Trewhella scored 24 points in 44 minutes for Albion (14-5, 7-3 MIAA).

A week after setting the Division III career record for rebounds, Mary Schleusner broke the career record for double-doubles when she scored 17 points and 20 rebounds in Washington and Lee’s 69-47 win over Roanoke. That performance gave her 84 double-doubles, breaking the record held by Swarthmore’s Kathyrn Stockbower and Randolph-Macon’s Kelly Williams. The fifth-ranked Generals improved to 18-0, 9-0 in the ODAC.

The Captains’ Chaos defense was fully effective and Christopher Newport converted 30 Southern Virginia turnovers into 33 points as the Captains topped the Knights, 79-55. Madison McKenzie led five CNU players in double figures with 21 points, and Elizabeth Creed had 12 points and five steals.

Olivia Jones scored 18 points, all in the second half, including two free throws to secure Gettysburg’s 65-60 come-from-behind victory over McDaniel. The win is the 300th of Nate Davis’ career and cements the Bullets’ spot behind No. 4 Johns Hopkins in the Centennial Conference standings. The Blue Jays stayed perfect with a 60-40 win over Dickinson in Baltimore.

In other major conference conflicts…

• Concordia-Moorhead got back on track with a 57-53 win over St. Benedict, behind a big game from Maya Metcalf (27 points, 13 rebounds). The Cobbers (15-2, 9-2 MIAC) outscored the Blazers 38-26 in the paint.
• Riley Hevelow led four Lebanon Valley players in double figures with 20 points, and the Flying Dutchmen defeated Stevens 63-50 as the MAC Freedom completed its first round of conference play. Stevens’ loss combined with DeSales’ 72-69 victory in King’s win puts the Bulldogs in first place with a 6-1 record in the conference.
• Nazareth defeated Rochester-area rival St. John Fisher 70-52 in the final Battle of the Beaks. Katie MacLachlan scored 16 points, including the 1,000^e of her career, for the Golden Flyers (14-4, 8-1 Empire 8).
• Washington and Jefferson dealt Chatham its first home loss of the season, and the Presidents won the regular season series with the Cougars in Wednesday night’s 64-52 victory. Riley DeRubbo scored 17 points for W&J (13-5, 8-1 PAC), which remains tied for first in the conference with St. Vincent.
• Bethany Lutheran extended its lead over Minnesota-Morris in the UMAC to two games as the Vikings topped the Cougars 71-63. Kaylee Hunter and Morgan Hulke combined to score 35 points for Bethany Lutheran (9-10, 6-0 UMAC), while Maddy Grove poured in 24 points for Minnesota-Morries.