Undefeated Transylvania headed to NCAA Division III Sweet 16 after opening-weekend sweep
Transylvania head coach Juli Fulks had one thing to say to junior point guard Sadie Wurth ahead of the team’s 70-55 victory against Ohio Wesleyan in the round of 32 of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday night — “Shoot the ball more.”
Wurth proceeded to deliver a career-high 25-point performance on a night where Ohio Wesleyan (23-7) used full-court pressure to force the Pioneers’ balanced offense to find new ways to attack the basket.
“It’s always amazing, each player always has a night,” Wurth said. “And it happened to be my night tonight. I’m not saying it’s gonna be my night every night, but I put in the work, so hopefully it continues to happen. But kudos to my teammates for giving me the ball when I needed it. So that’s a shout out to them.”
After a dominant first quarter where the Pioneers (29-0) took a 25-9 lead, Ohio Wesleyan’s players came out to start the second quarter looking like an entirely different team. The Bishops’ defensive confidence took hold and rocked Transy’s momentum.
“I don’t know if it’s because we were a little more tired than we’ve ever been,” Fulks said. “And we just lost confidence in what we normally do, and so all of a sudden, we were holding the ball much longer than we were. But I thought in the first quarter, you know, we got through, we had all of our normal rotations and I thought we were playing really well. I mean, the good news is, and it just shows over and over, if you can rely on your defense to get stops, and, they probably, I don’t know, had 30 more possessions than us. And to be able to just keep relying on your defense and your ability to rebound, that saves you a lot. Usually it has to save us if we didn’t shoot the ball well, but today it had to save us because we didn’t get enough shots up.”
The Pioneers took just 42-field goal attempts, almost half of the Bishops’ 74. But what shots Transy did take, its players made count. Transylvania shot 59.5% (25-for-42) from the field, carried by Wurth’s banner night, and double-figure scoring games from seniors Kennedi Stacy (13), Dasia Thornton (12) and Laken Ball (10). Thornton also pulled in 10 rebounds for her fourth straight game with a double-double.
“Coach Fulks always tells us that it’s a game of runs,” Thornton said. “So we can go on a run and then the other team can go on a run, and as long as we keep our composure, we’ll be able to withstand that. And you know, we just, our defense has to cut down their runs.”
After trimming the Pioneers’ lead to nine in the second quarter, the Bishops could never quite manage to get any closer despite forcing an unusually high 26 Transylvania turnovers over the course of the game. There were also a total of 37 fouls called during 40 minutes of play, which, according to Fulks, wasn’t something the team was used to.
“Some of (the turnovers) was just we were in a lot of really weird lineups today,” Fulks said. “That game was called a lot tighter than a lot of games we’ve had, and so that was an adjustment. So we just, I felt like, we just kept finding ourselves in a little bit of unusual lineups. But really, you know, I give them all the credit. One, when things were not going well we kept it together and were still defending. And so, really, at the end of the day, that was what mattered most.”
Three Bishops scored in double figures. Senior guard Kasey Schipfer had 12 points, junior center Alyssa Griner scored 11 and Macy Miller added 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
With this victory, Transylvania’s win streak extends to 62 games and the team punches its ticket to its third straight Sweet 16. The Pioneers will face Wisconsin-Stout, which defeated Puget Sound 61-40 in its round-of-32 matchup, at 6 p.m. EST Friday in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
First-round action
The Pioneers handled business in Friday night’s first-round game against first-time opponent Chatham (24-4), winning 61-40 in front of their home crowd.
Transylvania took a quick 18-5 lead after the first quarter, and, despite a tough-shooting second quarter where the Cougars outscored the home team 17-10 — the Pioneers hit only 36% of their field goal attempts in the first half — Transy muscled the momentum its way through rebounding, winning the battle of the offensive boards 23-10.
Transy clamped down on defense in the third quarter, holding Chatham to just four points in the period as the Pioneers’ offense found its rhythm. The Pioneers outscored the Cougars 33-18 in the second half, and finished with two players in double figures. Thornton led Transy in scoring with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Sydney Wright tacked on 12 points and eight rebounds.
Next game
Transylvania vs. Wisconsin-Stout
What: NCAA Division III Tournament Sweet 16
When: 6 p.m. EST Friday
Where: Whitewater, Wisconsin
Other Sweet 16 matchup at site: Hope at Wisconsin-Whitewater, 8:30 p.m. ET Friday.
This story was originally published March 3, 2024 at 9:28 AM.
