PITTSBURGH – Warhawks junior forward Aleah Grundahl scored 18 points as the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater edged the Amherst College women's basketball team, 55-51, in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Championship on Thursday at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Neither team led by more than five at any point of a hard-fought, back-and-forth affair.
The Mammoths, playing in the national semifinals for the ninth time since 2009, finished the season at 25-4, the 14th consecutive season in which the Mammoths have lost only four or fewer games. Senior forward
Dani Valdez led the Mammoths with 14 points in her final collegiate game and first-year guard
AnLing Vera joined her in double figures with 12 points.
The Warhawks improved to 28-4 and advance to face Hope in Friday's national championship game.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* Neither team led by more than two for most of the first quarter until Valdez scored on back-to-back possessions to give the Mammoths a 13-9 lead. The Warhawks tied the game back up as Grundahl and sophomore guard Maggie Trautsch scored on back-to-back possessions before Vera drove to the basket to give the Mammoths a 17-15 lead after the first quarter.
* The Warhawks took their largest lead of the game early in the second quarter, opening the period on an 8-1 run to take a 23-18 lead when senior guard Rebekah Schumacher hit a pull-up three for Whitewater. The Mammoths soon erased that lead as Vera hit a three and Valdez made a layup to tie the game at 23-23. Trautsch made the last basket of the first half to give the Warhawks a 27-25 halftime lead.
* The Mammoths had their best quarter in the third. After Grundahl scored to give the Warhawks a four-point lead, the Mammoths came back and tied the game when senior guard
Courtney Resch hit a three. After senior center Johanna Taylor scored to put the Warhawks back on top, Resch drained another three to give the Mammoths a 34-33 lead and senior guard
Lauren Pelosi put the Mammoths up by three with a mid-range jumper. After first-year guard Kacie Carollo scored on consecutive possessions to flip the lead back in the Whitewater's favor, sophomore guard
Reeya Patel closed the third quarter with a free throw, a put-back layup and a three to give the Mammoths a 44-41 lead heading to the fourth.
* Trautsch hit a three for the Warhawks to tie the game at 46-46 with just under seven minutes to go. Grundahl made a pair of free throws and then converted a fast-break layup to give the Warhawks a lead they never relinquished. Pelosi scored to bring the Mammoths back within one but Whitewater senior guard Yssa Santo Domingo answered with a three and the Warhawks held on for a four-point win.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Senior guard
Jade DuVal grabbed 10 rebounds for the Mammoths, senior guard
Gabrielle Zaffiro tallied three steals, Patel dished three assists and Resch blocked two shots.
* Carollo scored 11 points and Trautsch scored 10 for the Warhawks to join Grundahl in double figures while Taylor tallied 14 rebounds.
* The Mammoths held a slight edge in shooting, going 31 percent (20-of-64) from the field while the Warhawks shot at 30 percent (18-of-60). Threes were at a premium on both sides as the Warhawks went 5-of-18 while the Mammoths were 4-of-18.
* The contest marked the final collegiate game for Amherst's five seniors, all of whom made significant contributions in their final appearance in Purple and White. DuVal, Pelosi, Resch, Valdez and Zaffiro went 74-12 in careers interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The group reached the NCAA Round of 16 as first-years and made it back to that point as sophomores but never got to play that game as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the tournament to a halt. Their junior season was wiped out entirely yet they made their final season a memorable one with an appearance among the final four teams in Division III. Notably, Resch concludes her career with 178 career blocks, second all-time in Amherst history in just three seasons.
