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| Flannery O’Connor hit a career milestone and created a program highlight for Framingham State on Saturday afternoon. Framingham State athletics file photo |
A good woman was not hard to find for Framingham State. The Rams had All-American Flannery Connor who led them to a victory over No. 6 Smith. Macy Nilsen’s fourth quarter also rated highly in UW-River Falls win at No. 9 UW-Whitweater
All-American Flannery O’Connor scored nine points in the fourth quarter and Framingham State stunned No. 6 Smith, 78–74. O’Connor’s layup with four minutes remaining pulled the Rams even with Smith at 71, and then, after teammate Gwendolyn Carpenter split a pair of free throws, O’Connor scored four more points on a layup and a putback off her own miss.
O’Connor posted 26 points, including the 1,000th of her career, and grabbed 15 rebounds for Framingham State (6-1), which lost to Smith in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Macy Nilsen caught fire in the final four minutes for UW-River Falls and the Falcons rallied past No. 9 UW-Whitewater on the road, 67-64.
The Warhawks appeared to be headed towards a 2-0 conference record when Maggie Trautsch hit a jumper that put UW-Whitewater in front, 63-59, with four minutes left. Macy Nilsen responded for UW-River Falls with a layup and a three on consecutive Falcons’ possessions. She trucked again a couple minutes later with a jumper that pulled UW-River Falls within one and then hit the go-ahead basket with 18 seconds left. Nilsen capped the incredible rally with two more free throws, giving her a game-high 24 points in 28 minutes.
UW-River Falls improved to 6-2 and evened its conference mark at 1-1, while UW-Whitewater dropped to 6-2, 1-1 in the WIAC.
No. 12 UW-Eau Claire got 48 points from the backcourt trio of Tyra Boettcher, Jessie Ruden and Courtney Crouch, and the Blugolds held off UW-La Crosse, 68-57. UW-Eau Claire (8-1, 2-0 WIAC) shot 80 percent from the line in its victory. UW-Stout also upped its WIAC record to 2-0 with a 66-58 victory over No. 19 UW-Oshkosh.
The Jumbos went down to Georgia, they were looking for a win to seal. Booth No. 11 Tufts will go home with at least one loss after Emory knocked off the Jumbos, 70-55. Claire Brock paced the Eagles with 20 points and Emory’s reserves outscored the Jumbos’ reserves, 22-9. Emory is 7-1 with one more game against crosstown rival Oglethorpe before the holiday break.
The other NESCAC-UAA crossover matchup also resulted in an upset win, as Hamilton dropped No. 18 Rochester, 80–75. Tyler Lambo led the Continentals with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Playing its third 2022 national semifinalist in eight days, No. 15 Calvin fell at No. 20 Trine, 60-45. The Thunder jumped out to a 15-6 lead after one period, but Leah Harris’ three pulled the Knights within 22-19 midway through the second period. Trine pushed its lead back to seven at the half and then scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take a double-digit lead that it held for much of the second half. Sidney Wagner scored 19 points in 20 minutes for Trine (5-2, 2-0 MIAA).
In a battle between ASC title contenders, No. 24 Hardin-Simmons shot 54 percent and never trailed in its 81-65 win over East Texas Baptist. Four of the Cowgirls starters scored double figures and Kiki Gonzales added 16 points off the HSU bench.
Marymount became the first Division III women’s team to reach nine wins, as the Saints topped former conference foe Mary Washington, 63-53. After scoring 35 points through the first three quarters, Marymount busted out for 28 in the fourth quarter and pulled away for the win. Marymount (9-1) took 32 free throw attempts to just eight for the Eagles.
Carroll shot 59 percent and the Pioneers put away Illinois Wesleyan for its third consecutive win, 75-57. Emilie Wizner scored 18 points for Carroll (5-4, 2-0 CCIW) on 8-for-9 shooting.