Transylvania rolls past Ohio Northern to reach NCAA Division III’s Elite Eight
Transylvania head coach Juli Fulks scored 1,653 career points as a student-athlete at Hardin Northern High School, just 10 miles away from Ohio Northern University.
And, on Friday night, she led the undefeated Pioneers (30-0) to a dominant 67-43 victory over Ohio Northern, holding the Polar Bears (25-5) to their lowest point total of the season.
According to Fulks, the game plan was all about controlling the pace of play. To do that, the Pioneers had to step up and dust off something the team hasn’t done since the 2021-22 season: the press.
“I thought this was a good game, that that would help us,” Fulks said. “Control (Ohio Northern’s) tempo a little bit and try to get them to play a little faster with us. They’re a team that does a great job controlling the ball, and so, I thought, for not having done it for a year, and for a couple days this week, revisiting it, they did a great job.”
Transy’s defense was stifling. The Pioneers limited Brynn Serbin, the Polar Bears’ leading scorer at 14.7 points per game, to three points on a single made basket near the end of the second period.
Good defense, of course, begets good offense.
Not only did Transy force 20 Ohio Northern turnovers, more than the Polar Bears’ average of 14.1 per game, but the Pioneers also took advantage of the opportunity and scored 25 points off those miscues.
Offensively, it’s difficult to separate Transy from the three-point shot. But on Friday, the Pioneers felt it necessary to succeed beyond the arc.
“We knew that we were going to have to make some threes tonight,” Fulks said. “With their defensive style. Usually, pressing kind of helps that, ironically. Kind of gives us a little energy to shoot and go.”
Transy, a program that averages 8.9 made three-pointers a game, connected on five in the first quarter alone. The Pioneers finished with nine, rising to the occasion to reach the Elite Eight in impressive fashion.
Transy led for the entirety of the game, with its largest lead of 28 arriving late in the third quarter.
“Our goal tonight in the first half was to turn up the defensive and offensive intensity,” Fulks said. “Last week, we had played a slower and more controlled game and wanted to let loose tonight. Our players did a great job responding tonight and the crowd’s energy helped push us forward.”
Transy’s Laken Ball led all scorers with 16 points. She was joined in double figures by Maddie Kellione (12), Kennedi Stacy (11) and Sydney Wright (10).
Transylvania will face New York University (25-2) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the Elite Eight at the Clive M. Beck Center. The winner earns a trip to the Final Four next weekend in Connecticut.
This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 1:44 AM.
